The Daily (W)Rite March WK o4

The Daily (W)Rite

wk o4

Monday, March 23, 2o15

 

Have you dined at Pepe Delgados on Campus Corner? Pretty Damn good Tex-Mex. A very nice place for Sunday brunch with David, his daughter and son-in-law. Pepe's use be Liberty D's back in the day. Mostly LD was a bar. Yeah, they did serve food  . . . burgers and  . . . . well, Liberty D's was mostly about drinking . . . at night, listening to bands. Food? Not so much. But Pepe's is all about the food! Tons of different menu items and served pretty damn fast.

 

Anyway, we drove down there and as we went in these two women walked up to me with big smiles and relatively loud voices shouting, "WOODIE!" It took me by surprise. I looked at them for second and said, "I'm sorry I don't know who you are!" They looked a bit hurt, and being the gentle I am I added, "Wait a minute! I DO remember your faces." And they started smiling again. See, that's how you do it when you run into a stranger who you don't know from Jesus. Just say you remember the face.

 

Anyway, it turns out I did know them somewhat. They were both regulars at the Town Tavern back in the 80s. And I worked there and did Street Players there for years. Yeah, I was a bit of a celebrity back in the day, and yeah, and a lot of people knew me because . . .  I cooked them breakfast. That was my specialty, breakfast. I had Street Players Theatre at night so I could only work during the day. To be totally honest . . . I sucked as a cook. I was really way to slow to run the grill, and the Tavern? Man, it was always crowded! I mean, people didn't just eat there they practically lived there. It was the coolest place. The owner, Bette, was really big on the arts so she always had bands and poetry readings going on, AND she was one of Street Players main sponsors. Actually, she WAS the sponsor. She gave us rehearsal space to prepare our shows in  AND even allowed us to build a little stage in the Tavern to perform on!  You see, the Town Tavern wasn't just a restaurant . . . it was a home for artists. It was a life style, the Tavern  . . . I miss it. The ladies I talked to at Pepe's? They missed it too. {nostalgia sad face}

Tuesday, March 24, 2o15

I hate worrying about money. Being retired and living on a fixed income really makes you pay close attention to what money comes in and what goes out. I mean, I really gotta watch what I buy at the store, always the cheapest noodles, rice, chicken, etc. BUT a little trick grocery stores play on us is that each store has cheaper prices on several items and higher prices on others. For example, Braums Ice Cream & Dairy Store has the cheapest Red Delicious apples (76 cents a lb.) and Walmart has the cheapest meats. Sooooo, when I do a food run, I have to go to at least two if not three different stores to get a week's worth of groceries!

But my doctor appointments are the worst. Seems I got some kind of heart problem and I needed a bunch of tests. Okay, I know all this costs a lot, but the way the hospital billed me just drove me nuts. The hospital's billing office called me four weeks ago leaving an "urgent" message on the answering machine. I called and they tell me a bill is over due. I counter their statement with, "That can't be, I always pay the bills on time." The guy on the phone puts me on hold, comes back, "Oh, I'm sorry. We had a computer glitch and the bill didn't get sent!" I tell him it's okay, and he says he'll mail it right away! Guess what? Two weeks go by and no bill. Third  week another urgent call, different person. I explain the situation that had gone on with the first caller, but caller #2 wasn't gonna buy my excuse. However, she would (begrudgingly so) send me another bill. Two more weeks go by and I finally get a bill (without an itemized statement) for $213.oo ! AND the following Saturday I get the same bill again, and another (the third) urgent call on the following Monday! It's a mess. I'm writing them a letter and giving the billing agency a big dish of bad attitude. Okay, not too big, but enough that they get the point! YOU WANT ME TO PAY MY BILLS? THEN GET THE DAMN STATEMENTS TO ME ON TIME!

Politics are drivng me crazy too. All the Conservatives are jockeying for position. They ALL want to be POTUS! The Liberals are starting to get into it also. Wrote a little poem about it this morning that I'm sort of proud of:

Evolution

 

I prefer plastic Dinosaurs

over those made of flesh
and cold blood  . . .
Plastic ones don't bite
and they melt away
if left too long
in the morning sun . . .

 

The real Dinosaurs,

the vicious ones
are far too dangerous
to live with us
in our civilized world . . .

 

And yet,

there they are

walking about,
running for office,
gobbling up
all the tiny
little dinosaurs
that we've become.

Evolution sucks

Woodie o3-24-15

Wednesday, March 25, 2o15

Stormy night. In Oklahoma the weather can more than scary. It can be deadly. Spring brings the thunderstorms which are rather beautiful. But tornadoes, flooding can be horrifying, and as I said before . . . deadly.

the city of Moore was hit again by tornadoes. Not as bad as a few years ago, but bad enough that the local weather guys commandeered the whole night telling us about the advancing storms. And we listen to them even though sometimes they get a bit too carried away with their warnings. Sometimes the scare people more than they help folks stay safe.

Ran into my sister at Walmart today. Seems she had a couple of minor strokes over the weekend. And she had trouble getting a doctor to see. her. Can you believe it? Someone has a stroke and the receptionist says, "Well, the doctor can't see you for two weeks." I worry about my sister maybe not as much as I should but I do worry. We don't talk much anymore. Was a time when we talked all the time, went to the movies, sometimes to dinner. I don't know. I'm not a very nice person, I guess. I mean I really didn't get very upset about her having a stroke. David did. But I think he may no more about it than I do. Or maybe my humanity is just shriveled up to a nothingness. I don't feel much anymore. Things don't bother me like they use to.

I saw this plane today as the storm was just coming into Norman Town. It was hauling serious ass like it was trying to out run the storm. It didn't make it. I shot pictures of it for as long as I could and then it just disappeared into this huge rain cloud. It just vanished. Like it never existed. No sound of its enormous engines,  no flashes from its wing lights . . . nothing. It just dissolved into nothing. I feel that way too sometimes. I'm disappearing into a big cloud . . . not as fast as the plane, but disappearing all the same. {no smile today}

Thursday, March 26, 2o15

Went for a bike ride today. I love getting out, feeling the wind zoom by me, focusing on the world around me . . . nothing quite like it. Can't say I can ride like I use to, bit of a chore this days. The lungs don't work as well as they once did, and if the lungs don't work, nothing else will. Legs go, head starts to ach, the arms get tired . . . I'm physically a mess. BUT it wasn't too bad and if I keep going out the lungs will get better . . .and when the lungs get better every other part of my being (physical and spiritual) will start functioning at a higher level. No, I'll never make it back to 30 years old, but life will be . . . better.

Friday, March 27, 2o15

Hee! I gotta laugh at David sometimes. We went to the store a couple of days ago and the parking lot at Walmart was filled with Grackles! Grackles, Grackles everywhere, in the parking lot, under cars, on top of cars . . . hell, there was a bunch just sitting up in the trees  . . . like the crows at the school playground in Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds? Remember that? Yeah, scary doo-doo to say the least. AND when I was getting ready to step out of the car . .  and there was this bad ass Grackle perched on the roof of this Range Rover parked next to us . . . looking straight at me! It freaked me out a bit. But I got my camera out real slow to take its pic . . . and that damn bird just stood there posing for his close-up, lick, click, click and then . . . swoosh . . . it flew away!

Saturday, March 28, 2o15

Yep! Medieval Fair day today. I got up earl, big smile on my face as I thought about the MF days of yore . . .! Jumped on the bike and flew like wheeled bird down South Jenkins Ave. heading towards Reeves Park . . . and was stopped by a traffic jam on the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey Street. Man! For a few moments no one moved! It was a car graveyard. I should of brought flowers! But there wasn't any honking of horns or yelling out the window at the asshole who just scooted in front of you when he got the chance, no road rage, no shootings or stabbings. Quite civilized are the Medieval Fair folk! Of course, no problem for me on the mountain bike. I was floating like a metallic bright orange butterfly in and out of the traffic . . . until I got closer to the park where a sea of people in shorts and t-shirts and Jesus sandals clogged the frigging sidewalk.

But a crowd at the Medieval Fair? A glorious thing to be a part of. Costumed characters everywhere. Well, not all of them dressed in Medieval attire, but how wondrous of a thing to wander about passed Vikings and kings and their queens and knights of old, and fairies and plague doctors . . . Yeah, that's right. What's a Medieval fair without plague doctors? And there's plenty of food: funnel cakes, turkey legs, iced teas and sodas (not quite in period, but what the hell).

It is a wonderful thing that we have here in good ol' Norman Town. Yeah, of course, we aren't the only Medieval Fair in the magic land of USA. In fact, most of the artists hawking their wears and many of the cosplayers are not local but spring travelers who go from fair to fair (for as long as the season and their 60s Hippie van lasts) just to make enough money to continue their art and maybe make enough money to last through the winter. It's a great time. And if you are a Normanite,  I know I'll see you their tomorrow. {smiles}

Sunday, March 29, 2o15

Another day at the Medieval Fair and my body soaked up a lot of sun. It still feels warm, not unpleasant, but I still very warm like human toast. No, don't get all crazy in my face. Yes, I wore a ton of sunscreen . . .  and a hat . . . I'm fine, but I do appreciate your concern for my physical well being. {smile}

I'm drifting into a contemplative mood tonight. I really don't want to bother you, reader, with these strolls through my gloomy mind, but you already know I tend to roam around in those bleak fields where unpleasant memories flower, grow.  Sometimes, the past catches up with me, grabs my head and gives it a little shake. Sometimes I deal well with the intrusion of my "day-mares;"sometimes I can't find the strength or the will to fight back. Luckily, you chose to read me on a night when I'm capable of tossing those morbid, sad thoughts out the door. A little tussle, yes, but nothing I can't handle this evening. So, I won't bore you with the details, the full story because . . . well, because it's not a big thing tonight. An important note: tonight I don't wish to give my torments the satisfaction of letting you, my dear reader, know who and what they are. Want to get rid of the troubles? Don't feed them. I'll see you tomorrow.

Tuesday, march 31, 2o15

Last day of March. I'll miss you. I'm hoping that my new love, April, will be as gentle to me as you have been. Granted, there were those days when you turned away from me Sometimes you can be quite cold, at times a bit scary, so frightening that I've had to hide myself away inside a heaver coat and refuse to go outdoors just in case you were waiting there to attack with your chilling breath! But all relationships have their moments of pain and sorrow. When you chose to be warm and approachable, you were; I forgive without hesitation all those moments when you weren't. Goodbye, dear, dear March! I shall miss you the whole summer long. {sad smile}