A Trip to the Past, A New Friend

      

Nostalgia is not one of my vices. The past is gone, and I can live with that. There is a line from an old song that sums things up pretty well. "I only wish that I could see yesterday, the same way that I can see tomorrow.¹ I can't really explain it, but it makes sense. Maybe you would like a little more anger with your with your enigma, "I'm getting nothing and expecting oblivion, the past ain't even worth living in, it's just a nail that keeps being driven in.² I'm not really sure what that means either, but I have no real attachment to the past. The present has enough problems, intrigue, drama and pleasure for me. I don't need to go digging into yesterday.

However, there was a small town about halfway to Big Bay called Grayling. We stayed there last night and it was like stepping back in time. The buildings were old, Main Street lined with small, single story buildings. Locally owned businesses serving the community, street level symbiosis. Insurance agency, bank, diner, and bar all within shouting distance. All, presumably, on a first name basis. Park once, take care of everything.

We ate at the place rated #1 in Grayling by Trip Advisor, Paddle Hard. It was a crowded little bar that had an amazing number of micro brewed beers. The place was crowded, it was noisy and it was a perfect place for us. Loaded with humanity, all shapes, sizes, ages, all manner of fashion choices, all wedged into a small, cramped place. Flatbread pizza was the specialty and we had the mashed potato, cheddar, green onion and bacon. We like to eat things we don't have at home. Mashed potato flatbread pizza qualifies.


It was a such a charming little town we decided to have a "walkabout." It was like going back to the town I grew up in, or the town I grew older in. It really drove home the changes in my life.

We stopped in to buy some fireworks. It was owned by an elderly couple who had been selling fireworks for years. I was wearing a Louisville Cardinal National Championship shirts, and the old man, who was sitting on a chair behind a little folding table, with a glass of water and a newspaper laid carefully, meticulously in front of him, asked "are you a two point guy or a three point guy?" A question any real basketball fan can answer without thinking.

"I am no fan of the three point shot, it has changed the game in ways I don't care for." I answered, without thinking, no real fan is neutral about the 3 pointer.

"Me either. I played before the three point shot." He said.

He was stooped, and leaned constantly to his left, even while sitting in his chair. He looked old and frail, and a little brittle, but his eyes lit up when we talked about basketball.

He had played for a season at Michigan State and he was Spartan Green through and through. When I told him my wife knew a young man who played for the Spartans, and told him who it was, his eyes lit up, he was excited, he knew the name.

"Oh, he is good. He won a few of those games by himself." He was happy to be talking to a person whose wife knew somebody who played basketball at his alma mater.

It was one of the best parts of the trip so far. This small, fragile old man sharing his memories, and asking about mine. His wife told my wife he had been a high school hoops star, and he still had the passion. His wife said he would be thrilled to talk about basketball, he still loved the game. And, he did, and it was obvious. And I was happy to have had the opportunity. I can't speak for the old man, but I came away a little richer.

Life is made up of small seconds, seconds that flash into nowhere. Too often we rush past the good things to reach our goal. How many things do we miss? I am not sure I want to know. But, these few seconds were among the best of the trip so far.

                           

1 The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Give My Compliments to the Chef

2 Graham Parker and the Rumour Empty Lives

Ah, the good old days.

Sometime today I will be 54 years old.  It used to seem like 54 was old, and anybody who actually lived that long was probably very lucky, took very good care of themselves and was either on a transplant list for something, or in cryogenic storage, waiting for some fortunate soul to discover the Fountain of Youth. Now, it seems pretty young (heck, most days I still feel like a child, no more than 48).  Everything is relative.  Our view of the world depends on where we are.

I am old enough to "remember" when everything was better, athletes, music, television, movies, all of it, a golden age of life too powerful for any of today's generation to endure, let alone understand.  Of course, on the few occasions I run across someone even older than me they tell me how good things were in their youth.  Maybe, they are right, maybe "progress" is not helping.  Maybe we need to look into stagnation for a while.

Albert Einstein is supposed to have said, "technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."  Well, that does not sound like a very good idea, and considering how much the man helped with the progress of technology lends a little weight to his words.  So, what can we do?

I am glad you asked, because I have a plan, 54 years in the making.  One day every week we turn off all of electronic devices.  Cell phones, tablets, lap tops, televisions.  Everything needs to be shut off.  Don't use the microwave, or oven, grill all of your food, or better yet, eat it raw?

Timing is critical, nobody wants this to happen on a really good television day, last night was game 5 of the NBA finals, (never mind that sports used to be infinitely better when I was young, like everything else) and nobody should have to miss something like that.  And, if you need to check scores you can switch on one internet connected device up to twice a day.  These are important things.

If you are checking the scores on your cell phone, you might as well check your text messages, and voice mails, oh well take a quick peek at emails as well.  Since you have gone this far it would probably be all right to make a few quick phone calls.

Hey, don't forget to post that picture of yourself wearing the beer vendor racing uniform, complete with flashing police light helmet, driving that golf cart down the drag strip, that one is great.  Nobody will top that!  Here, let me start my phone, so I can be the first one to like it.

While you were posting that picture I saw that the original Godzilla vs. Mothra is on TV in 20 minutes.  What do you say we fire up the blender, whip up some margaritas, make some nachos, and microwave popcorn and call it a party?  I love that movie.

Well, that is all we have time for today, don't forget to tune in tomorrow when we discuss how to decrease your carbon foot print by starting a bicycle delivery service, and how to get home after delivering the bike.  Spoiler alert, have your friend pick you up in his huge SUV.