Dick Summer Connection

I’m back in my big, comfortable, manly, leather poppa chair, with a bit of a tan, a substantially thinner wallet, and a head full of vacation snap shots to run past you:  Here’s one…Walking along the beach, and all of a sudden, a shadow rippled ascross the sand…and then out into the bay. It was a big pelican coming in for a water ski type landing…feet first. He settled into the water, looked around at the people on the beach, and tossed his head, as if he expected at least a quick cheer for his performance.

Here’s another. In that same beach’s parking lot, an old time Chevvy station wagon, with a license plate that expresses a deeply felt urge for many a Louie-Louie Generation lad and lass. It said, “I-Gotta-P. And speaking of beer, the new Budweiser slogan is “Grab some buds.” That’s ok on their TV commercials. But they probably didn’t think about how that slogan would look, when it is proudly displayed on the tight T-shirts of the young ladies selling their beer at the ball park. Or maybe they did…I don’t know. It sure got my attention…and that got a few un-ladylike comments from Lady Wonder Wench.

And there’s one of those snapshots I think I’ll frame, and hang somewhere very close to where I live; my Lady Wonder Wench and I were taking a little walk in the park across the street from our hotel. There was an old guy sitting on a park bench…just sitting…not even reading…just sitting and watching the people walk by.  As we walked past, I noticed a brass plaque on the bench. It said, “In memory of Amelia… my wife and my best friend. Please save me a seat.” I didn’t let go of my Lady’s hand for quite a while.

Dick’s Details Quiz. All the answers are in the current podcast.

1-    What’s with the drunk ants ?

2-    What burns 150 calories, but drives you nuts in the noggin?

3-    How come I claim I’ve heard all million words in the English language ?

Dick’s Details. They take your mind off your mind.

I’ve noticed that the guy in my shaving mirror sometimes looks a little different when I’m on vacation. And I wonder if seeing yourself like that surprises you too. The first morning we were there, he was waiting for me…the guy in my mirror. It was like he was happy to see me, because he had been up taking care of me all night while I was sleeping…and it was a long night. I started thinking about him. Was he on vacation too? Was he a small plane pilot like me ? Did he get to sleep with my Lady like I did ? And if he did, how did she feel about that? Then I started thinking, I’m looking at retirement pretty soon. And he’s got to know that.  And I started wondering if that guy in the mirror is as scared as I am that he may be…suddenly…finished…with the life long daily process of becoming somebody new ? 

The guy in the shaving mirror….How about the other end of his life. The first times. What kind of secret celebration did he enjoy  the first time his mom let him comb his own hair before he went to school. Or how big were the monsters that prowled around in the attic when he was home alone in an empty house for the first time. How did he learn to ride a two wheel bike. Who taught him to swim. What did his first kiss taste like. Who was his first real date. How did he feel when he passed his driver’s license test. How did he talk some girl into having sex for the first time. What did his 21^st birthday feel like. When did he do his first radio show. What did he feel like the first time he realized that he really managed to hypnotize somebody. What was it like to hold his first born child in his arms. How about the first time he landed an airplane by himself. How did he take being fired for the first time.

The face in my shaving mirror…sometimes lives a little different life from the one I remember. I often look at my Lady Wonder Wench…I like doing that…and I wonder what she sees in her mirror. In fact there’s a short story about that in the lovin touch personal audio cd, and in the current podcast. It’s called, Mirrors Like You.

She’s told me that her mirror face doesn’t look at all like the face I see…lying on her pillow in the first light of dawn…slowly opening her eyes, and turning the whole world blue…the face I’ve seen for all these years…smiling, and crying, and…eating lobster, and cheering for the N.Y. Mets. I wrote Mirrors Like You a long time ago. Because I had a hunch she didn’t know how beautiful she is. She doesn’t spend a lot of time looking in her mirror. 

Mirrors Like You is in the lovin touch personal audio cd. If you like it, you can just keep the current podcast.  Or if you want a fresh copy, just download it from the lovin touch icon on the home page.

It’s a fascinating thing…seeing your vacation mirror face. You should try it. It’s like meeting somebody who knows you, but you can’t quite remember him. I was thinking about that, when my Lady Wonder Wench and I were walking in the park, and we saw that old guy sitting on a bench…just looking…at the passing people…eyes wide open…but it was obvious that he was seeing a face the rest of us didn’t know about. He was seeing a very familiar face…smiling…and saving a seat next to her…just for him…just like he asked.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2012 at 4:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.