Is it over yet? Can we come out of hiding? You would think that the winners and losers are not put into the same sentence. However, this election seems to have been going on since the last one. I’m not very old, so I haven’t seen as many elections as this last one, but it made up for all I have missed.
I am young enough to remember that if someone called you the names like the two candidates for President called each other, it would be settled after school behind the backstop of the baseball field. There are a lot of reasons why I’m not doing that anymore. One reason is that I heal so slowly now that I am grown.
It’s just as I have written before, we are losing our civility. It’s just that sometimes folks take these races and transpose them over to the local races. I want to congratulate all those who put their neck on the line to help lead this city and the schools. It isn’t just our council and mayor, but all elected folks that got more votes than the person they were running against. I’m proud to live in the city where so many folks have found it in their hearts to quit complaining about a certain subject and gave their quarantine time to hopefully make this town better.
Since we have been inside, we have to find something good. Well, I’ll tell you what we in this house have completed. First we got our house painted. You want to do something that makes your house look new, just place a coat of paint on the outside. It wasn’t easy, but worthwhile is easy.
Then, because we have watched two boys and a girl grow up in this house, it was also easy to tell where something really needed paint. A little hole there and little nail hole where photos once hung. There was even a large dent right on the corner of the wall as you walk in the door. My oldest son did that while chasing his little brother even though they knew it was forbidden. When he slipped and fell, his mother and I ran over because it sounded as if he might have cracked his head. No, he was fine, but Lorraine and I decided that we would not fix the dent or paint it, as it is a reminder that the house is not for running games.
In addition to the house being painted, we looked around at what might be the most important utility for us to buy. It was settled that we needed a new refrigerator. I could have thought of a better way to spend the money, but I was outnumbered when I suggested new suspension for my truck. Of course all my heirs want the truck, but they keep forgetting that regular maintenance is important. Besides, both boys have new pickups through their jobs.
I am finally at the stage where I can drive my truck on the highways and have sufficient confidence that it will get me to Salinas and back. I finally found a guy who is a real glass man. He fixed my electric windows and installed these two pieces of chrome that have been in the back of my truck. They are installed by installing the window and then placing the chrome strips inside a small groove. That’s probably more news about my life and truck than you are interested to know.
Remember, I have had that truck for over 50 years and when you have had a relic that you have to walk around every time you go into the garage, it becomes sort of part of the family. Now all I have to do is sell my precious motorcycle, and my blushing bride informed me that I could use all the money it sells for to do more things on my truck.
One time about 25 years ago, I was visiting my older brother when a mutual friend walks up and asks Roger (my brother), “Hey! Does Woody still own that Ford?” (Woody is my name for all the kids I went to school with over in the San Joaquin Valley.) My brother looked at him and said, “He doesn’t sell vehicles very much. I’m pretty sure he has every car he’s ever owned.” I don’t, but I sure wish I did. I had a 1958 Corvette that I think was my favorite car, a 1959 T-Bird that I sold when I went to Vietnam and a 1956 Mercury Montclair, my prettiest car.
I guess we all have a regret of something that gave us great pleasure when you were younger. I regret I didn’t ask Lorraine to marry me earlier. I regret that at some time during my children’s childhood I didn’t make them do work with me. Not for the work, but just to have them near me. Just yesterday my younger son came down and helped me with something I had planned for years and just didn’t get it done. It was a lot of work, but not a whistle of complaint.
My God has blessed me so much this year I pray you have been touched by his grace. Wash your hands, put on your mask and hug your kids.
God Bless.
