This Weren't No APRIL Fool...
I had hoped to wake up this morning, wipe the "sand" from my eyes, turn on the TV, grab the paper and find out that this past year was nothing more than a dream; a marvelous hoax perpetrated upon yours truly.
Alas, I was wrong.
The sky was turning that really neat shade of blue...the cornflower color you see right before Old Man Sol makes his daily showing. Birds were chirping...REAL ones, and lots of 'em.
The air smelled a bit cleaner than usual (the nearby Burger King hadn't ramped up for the breakfast rush yet, and the wind hadn't shifted OUR way, so no smell of vegetable oil anywhere)...I MUST be dreaming. This CAN'T be the same neighborhood I went to sleep in last night (actually early this morning) .
It's too..."nice". Made me wanna look for Grandma.
But aside from nature welcoming me into another day, everything else WAS THE SAME as the day before.
We STILL had a foundering economy, rampant spending in government, an educational system in wonderful disarray, and crime in abundance everywhere.
The REAL dichotomy came when seeing those beautiful cherry blossoms in D.C. on TV. Then, I read about a drive-by shooting in the same city that killed 4 and injured 5 more.
Yeah...reality check, Bob.
You're STILL on "BIZARRO WORLD"....April Fool!
But, in all this mess, there was one ray of light, shining through my darkness.
Ann T. Hathaway (her blog is at left - "the usual suspects"), has bestowed upon me (and this blog) a rather prestigious award.
Well, it's prestigious to ME...so ease up, and back away from the keyboard...slowly...LOL.
I am now the recipient of the:
QUILL FEATHER AWARD, given to me for, as Ann put it:
"...For flowers and bald eagles, crime reports, and boot-strappin' philosophy".
(wow...boot'strappin, huh? Move over Hegel and Kant...there's a NEW "Pale Rider" in town...LOL)
Now, I am requested to speak about how I prefer my eggs (part of the initiation), so here goes:
When I was working for the Treasury Department back in Philly, we had a black cook (rather older gentleman) in our cafeteria. He was one of those people you just KNOW God sent into your life. Salt-of-the-earth kinda folk, you know?
I wish to hell I could recall his name, as it wasn't a typical name...I think it may have been an Old Testament name.
Let's call him "Cookie" for now.
Once he knew you...he knew you for life, and always got your order perfect!
Took real PRIDE in his work, and we loved him for it.
Now, I've always been one of those people that when it comes to EGGS for breakfast....anything goes.
I've had 'em soft-boiled, hard boiled, poached, scrambled, fried, over easy...you name it.
And yes, anything is good in MY omelets.
I even liked to bust on Mom once in a while by asking her to prepare them the way MOE (of the Three Stooges) wanted them:
"Sunny side DOWN...and DON'T turn 'em over!"
That confused the hell out of a LOT of folks as I grew up...Mom just said "Don't be a smart ass."
(well, it was way better than being a DUMB ass, right?)
But this cook at the department got me HOOKED on lightly scrambled eggs...forever.
He folded them ever so nicely, and it was poetry to watch him make them.
Cookie was FAST...AND GOOD at the same time.
He'd shout out "the man says TWO...and WRECK 'em", and then turn around to you and laugh.
He used butter on the griddle, and his hands were a blur all the while.
And the really neat thing...he could hold a conversation with you the WHOLE DAMN TIME, and never miss a flip of the hen-fruit.
He's probably passed on now.
Lord knows he was at least old enough to be my Dad.
And if I know him well enough, I'd wager he's STILL making those scrambled eggs...somewhere much more in tune with his demeanor.
Yeah, people of such quality are few and far between these days.
When I go to a restaurant for breakfast, I ask for scrambled...JUST to see if they make 'em the same when "Cookie" made 'em.
Nope....not even close, but fluffy...I give 'em a 6 out of 10.
I still try to emulate the way HE made them, and once in a great while...I get close, but never AS CLOSE as I would like.
I'm still in the "fives" when it comes to that.
So that's my story that I will take to my grave...
Next, who to pass this award on to?
...lemme see now.
I have to choose at least TWO, so here goes...
Please note that the ones I pick are not a slight to anyone else.
I'd choose all of you for different reasons.
But, I'm weird like that, remember?
(and mind you, I have NO idea if they already WON one or not)
--FIRST, I want to present the award to Bunkermeister at the blog:
"SGT SAYS"
He's got great LEO expertise, speaks common sense, and provides good tips to people on BOTH sides of the shield.
--SECOND, I want to present the award to the blog:
"I'M WAITING FOR GOD"
This wonderful woman (MSNRKEY) never fails to make me smile, especially on MONDAYS, and I love her for it. She comes up with some good (deep) thoughts, insightful observations, and down-home humor.
--THIRD, the award goes to Dan over at the blog:
"ANGRY WHITE BOY" (aka AWB'S GIG)
Now, he's not REALLY angry (much...just "misunderstood" when it comes to chipmunks...lol) and his blog is mostly about a lot of local issues (Fort Wayne), but Dan also covers politics, crime (sex offenders - he KNOWS where you live and work) and a LOT of dumb-asses (local as well as national), and he also creates (and finds) some damn funny videos along the way. Not to mention, he knows computers inside and out.
(my check IS in the mail, right?)
And there we have it...if you already got this award...well, 'ya got TWO now, so suck it up, trooper...LOL.
Lastly, today IS April Fool's Day, and I would be remiss to not mention that a LONG time ago, I used to look forward to tying ALL my Dad's shoes together into one LONG "shoe", which, as a youth of elementary school age, wasn't the "best" way to endear oneself with one's paternal figure, especially if he was running a bit late for work.
Fortunately, Dad was ahead of the curve in that regard...and switched to wearing LOAFERS...!?!
Well, that shot my gig in the ass, but I did consider placing an EGG in each shoe...
It would be SCRAMBLED...that much is certain...
And I would have been eating MY eggs standing up for about a week, would I have done that.
So, here's to the start of another month, and may all your fools be APRIL ones (mine will just be loud and obnoxious).
Now...about those SHOWERS that bring those MAY flowers...
Be well, make a difference today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.