A Fitting Tribute

I know the heart of the matter will evade my grasp, but the attempt has to be made.

In a message to the family, I identified Chuck (1942-2024) as a boon companion. Old-fashioned phrasing, to be sure.

He--"Doc" many of us called him--was one of my closest friends for more than a decade. A friendship that included some serious moments, but mostly a lot of foolishness. A lot of foolishness.

Dependable. Especially when I needed help.

Few people know he tumbled into the Cooper River while trying to come aboard my sailboat after releasing a bow line. "Let the boat go," I said. Nope. After being pulled from the water by marina staff, he insisted we still take the boat out. We did. Nice sail.

Doc had a way of enjoying new experiences like a kid in a candy store for the first time. Standing in the companionway during a Wednesday night race. Setting out stakes for a house my wife and I were having built. 

Working with Special Ed kids weighed on him more than he let on. The very notion that some of his students may not make it to the end of the year ate at him. Rarely did he address that reality, but it hovered nearby.

He dutifully listened to my rants. Not too many I hope, but always he listened patiently. 

He loved a social gathering, especially the ones he instigated. Food, drinks, and pool, and, man, could he stir the pot.

Hundreds of games of pool were shot upstairs in his house. Full bar. Good table. Really, hundreds of games. 

Smart. More than he sometimes let on. And more than that, clever. 

Summations such as this one seem to me less than time well spent, but somehow they seem necessary. Somehow, to get said what needs to be said--too elusive in the end.

His was--and here I borrow a phrase--a life lived. 

Rest in peace, Doc.

The Book of Cortland (F)

Was on the road out of Hickory Grove, was on the way to Smyrna.

The road was dark, the double-bottom crossed the double yellow. The slow roll surprised me. Don't remember much. Broke my hand against the driver side glass. The car just kept rolling and rolling. 

"Mr. Bass?  Mr. Bass? Do you hear me?"  Yep, heard that. Told me later I didn't open my eyes until inside the ambulance. Bright and noisy and confusing is what it was. Loud. 

Funny how quiet leaving the road. And then don't remember much.

Deputy at the hospital taking my statement. "You missed the trees." Young guy, swallowed hard. "You lucky to be talking to me."

Yep, some kind of luck.

Those headlights nearly on me. Flashing brights. Brakes screeching.

Think I said out loud "son of a bitch". Turned the wheel. And then don't remember much.

Lucky.

So lucky, hiked from Hickory Grove to Smyrna. 

Nancy cried. "Why go back to that road? Ever?" Debbie cried. "Daddy! What? Daddy, that's crazy talk!" Stuart just shook his head and walked out the back door.

Wanted to know the road under my feet. To see what I didn't see. Trees. Lots of trees. Barns. Fields for haying. Horses. Farmhouses.

"I'm not driving you down there, Cort. Never."

"I'll drive myself and make it a round trip."

"You just got cleared to go back to work."

"Don't need my hand to walk. So all good."

"Daddy, let me go with you."

"Nope."

Call it enlightenment. Book says eyes open wide. Clarity comes. 

Saw nothing, saw everything. Faint tire marks still. No sign of where my car went in. A lot of trees. Some dogwoods blooming in the woods. Cell tower about 100 yards back.

Looked hard. Didn't remember much. 

But now at least I know.

Lyman 2024

Junk Drawer (6)

File under 'Not nice to fool with Mother Nature': In a drastic attempt to protect their beachfront homes, residents in Salisbury, Massachusetts, invested $500,000 in a sand dune to defend against encroaching tides. After being completed last week, the barrier made from 14,000 tons of sand lasted just 72 hours before it was completely washed away, according to WCVB. (From The Daily Beast)

The paddywhack is a ligament that connects a cow's head to its neck. So the next time you sing that song--well, now you know.

The 2024 South Carolina Presidential primaries: Trump - 452,496 votes and Haley - 299,084, and Biden - 126,336. In 2020 over 2.4 million votes were cast in the presidential election in SC. 

The ad for a product using the phrase "LOAN CANON" is dumb. The ad for a product that turns your lungs into a "PHLEGM CANON"--boom, there's a visual that's hard to unsee. 

In 2005 South Carolina's electric co-ops' coal-fired power plants generated 79% of the co-ops' power production. In 2023, 31%.

Kellogg's CEO Gary Pilnick recently suggested "The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure. If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that's going to be more affordable." Yep, nothing says going somewhere special like a bowl of Rice Krispies. I'm thinking-just spitballin' really--that Pilnick and family are not supping on bowls of cereal for dinner. Pilnick earned $5 million in salary and incentives last year.

Dallas Seavey has won the Iditarod sled dog race 5 times. Unfortunately this time around his dogs got into it with a moose and Seavey shot and killed the moose. Fair enough, rules-wise. But he needed to gut the moose before continuing the race. Yep, it's in the rules. Officials determined Seavey didn't get the gutting done in a proper manner, so they docked him 2 hours as a penalty. 

Mush.