Humpday Happenings...
This is one of those days where I had what I as going to blog about all ready to go....well, in my HEAD, anyway.
I'm usually writing these "on the fly", as it were.
Rare is the time when I will do a blog post PRIOR to the day I put it up here.
I was all set to opine (today) about the *new* type of warfare in America, but I will put that on the back burner...for tomorrow.
And I promise it WILL make you think.
Today, I want to instead talk about something that jumped out of this morning's paper and smacked me right in the kisser.
It's those damn OBITS.
As we get older, we get a curious fascination with glancing through them.
Call it a selfish indulgence.
We look to see if anyone we know has passed away.
Personally, I know whenever I look through them, and DON'T see MY name and picture there, I can pretty much expect a decent day ahead...as well as a long sigh of relief. But, it's different when we "discover" someone else we really didn't expect to see.
Bill Usher, our former neighbor, and a friend of my wife's family for a long time died this past Monday. The service is tomorrow.
He lived right across the street from us, was a motorcycle owner (nice Harley), had two dachshunds, and was a good neighbor, in the time I knew him.
Bill was one of those people you could depend on when you needed a hand with something.
Hell, he helped move US into our home almost 14 years ago.
Sure, his personal life might have been less than stellar, but whose life really is void of any nasty stuff, right?
We ALL bring along our emotional baggage on this train ride through life...it all depends on how LARGE and HEAVY that baggage really is.
Still, Bill was good people, and always flew his POW-MIA flag from the pole in front of his garage.
Every year, he'd travel to motorcycle meets and spend a week away...and we'd watch his house for him. No big deal for us.
Bill owned two "weener-dogs" (Dachshunds), and they always came over to me when I stopped across the street.
But for some reason, they ALWAYS barked at black people walking by, to which those people would get that "deer in the headlights" look, and even cross the street to be farther away from them...like THOSE two little dogs were worse than pit bulls or something...LOL.
Bill and I were about the only ones that shoveled our walks during the winter, and regularly mowed our lawns in the summer.
Our other neighbors down the block did the same...and it was a lot nicer neighborhood six years ago than it is today.
I recall one Halloween when Bill dressed like a scarecrow and parked his butt on the porch...sitting perfectly still.
Until some kids came by for candy.
Then he sat bolt upright and scared the piss out of them.
He also gave them a lot of candy for their trouble.
He was a good soul, and his sense of humor was almost as wacky as mine.
I admired that.
Bill was an Air Force vet from the 'Nam era, and was only 5 years my junior.
And I always have a place in my heart for ANY vet,but especially for a USAF one.
(it runs in the family)
Bill moved away about five years ago, saying the neighborhood was becoming "too much", and I can appreciate his stance.
When your neighborhood starts sounding like Tan Son Nhut Airbase on a busy night back in 1972, you have to make some tough choices.
He owned his house outright, paid-in-full, but he DID take a huge hit on it. He sold it for around $35K, when it was clearly worth damn near double that.
It was the area that changed, forcing prices into the gutter, but curiously enough, the year that he moved, his property taxes jumped 102%, while our taxes only jumped over 70%. I found the records online for our entire area. Our taxes have since tanked into LESS than $100 a YEAR.
Amazing what becoming a "ghettohood" and being surrounded by Section 8 rentals (and their vermin) will DO, isn't it?
Still, Bill wanted out of the area, and moved out around Lima Road, because when he stopped by later to chat me up, he mentioned that the highway was a lot closer by to his new place, but he didn't mind. It was better than gunfire and boomcars.
Every few months, I'd see him drive through the area, I guess to see what's become of his old house.
People of MY generation are like that.
We want to believe that OTHER people will take care of things the way WE used to.
Well, you win some and lose some there, right?
Yeah, tomorrow, the missus and I will say our final goodbyes to a good neighbor...and a damn good person to know.
I'm not big on the finality of such goodbyes...I prefer the "so longs" a lot better.
I'd like to think we'll all get together again...someday...someplace better.
Somehow, I think we ALL feel that way to some degree.
Rest easy, Bill.
You will be missed, BUT, you will also be remembered.
And NO person is ever truly GONE...as long as we remember them.
Be well, make a difference today, and,
Stay safe out there, America.