Is There Anybody Out There?

-
So.

I was hanging out in the Midwest late this week and I woke up Thursday morning in Kansas City and got on the road early for the drive to Iowa.

It's a three hour plus drive, but I got on the road about 7...which makes it 8 back home.

A little early for the start of Camp Clifford activities, but the head counselor with the healing knee had to be in the middle of coffee hour.

I dropped a text:

"Good morning, how's the knee?"

No answer.

Mile after mile of corn.

60 or so miles passed. I stopped at a rest stop.

"You there?" I texted.

Back in the car.

Another hour passed.

I tried to ring her...straight to voice mail.

More corn.

Your mind wanders to crazy scenarios.

A couple of the campers should be rising soon:

I texted them.

"Anyone up? I'm looking for Mom."

No answer.

I arrived at the site and got ready for the meeting.

The meeting started.

My phone beeped.

"I'm here, I'll look," one of the campers sent back.

A minute later my phone rang.

"I'm alive," Kathy said. "Drinking coffee, resting the knee. Watching a crime drama."

"How, in 2016, are you the only person in America who is not reachable for hours on end?"

"I left my phone upstairs," she said.

"And evidently you didn't think of me once in three hours," I said.

"Oh, I haven't stopped thinking of you," she said. "We're all so sad. It's been a crying festival here since you left!"

"I gotta' go," I said.

"No! Please don't go!!" She answered.

I'm thinking of getting her a collar with a zapper on it. The phone rings and she gets a little jolt of electricity.

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Maybe then I can reach her.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Suits

-
Like a lot of other people we got pulled into the series, ‘Suits’ on Netflix. I’ve never had much fun hanging around lawyers who have questioned me as a construction safety officer. I once testified in a case where the opposing lawyer started questioning me by going through my educational background. “So,” he said, racing to a crescendo, “You graduated from college with a degree in Communications-Journalism and suddenly, 30 years later, you’re a ‘safety expert.’” He actually made the quotation marks with his fingers. I just looked at him. “How does that happen?” He bellowed, sure that he was going to discredit me. “Well,” I said. “I knew I was overqualified to become a lawyer.” The courtroom erupted in laughter. Even the judge chuckled. The rest of his questions landed flat. So, I wasn’t all that keen on a show about lawyers, but ‘Suits’ is great. Meghan Markle became a princess because of the show, and she is very good in it (and a beautiful woman). Yet, there is so much more. The wri
Read more

My Buddy, Dave

-
Way back in 1997, I started working with a steel erection company out of Syracuse. I was coming straight from a long stint with a steel erector here in Buffalo so I knew my stuff when it came to steel erection safety rules. On day one, I met with the safety director and he was just getting started as a safety guy, but man, he certainly cared about the guys he worked with. Dave was a good man from the start. He’d say things like: “You’re so full of beans.” Just a down to earth, hardworking guy who became a fast friend. We drove all around New York State setting up jobs. I always let Dave drive so that I could rest. One fine day, way up North of Syracuse, we passed a state trooper.  I glanced at the speedometer. “You’re screwed,” I said, and seconds later, the lights came on. Dave was beside himself.  The cop stopped by the window, grabbed the license and registration and headed back to his vehicle. “Here’s the thing,” I said. “You’re pissed, but you’re such a good guy that I bet you tha
Read more

Hot & Dusty

-
Back about 18 years ago I worked with a project manager who taught me to always include the weather in my recap of the days events. This was during the summer months, and before long I was getting descriptive in my accounts. I used to always write something like, "Cloudy with a drizzle of rain," or my personal favorite, "Hot & Dusty." The project manager used to laugh at some of the strange one's I'd come up with, but I thought of it again this week when a buddy texted from Philly to let me know how much snow was coming down. "How's the weather there?" Gag asked. "Hot and dusty," was the quick reply. An my oh, my isn't this refreshing - people out there in computer land are whining and crying about all of the snow and the postponed school and the treacherous driving, and here in sunny Buffalo, we wait, and laugh, and laugh and laugh. I probably shouldn't jinx it because we deserve our rep up here, but it is kind of funny t
Read more