The Inevitable Hand Dance

      Happy World Canoe Day! It’s also World Drug Day, World Refrigeration Day, National Handshake Day, and National Beauticians Day. None of those really apply that much to me, which I’m kind of glad about, because, the last few took up my whole post, and I feel there’s a lot I haven’t gotten too. I will say this, just because this is what we’re doing now: I can’t imagine where we’d be without refrigeration. Sometimes I get a little bummed at how loud mine is, but I love that it keeps things cold, and inhibits spoilage. It must have been rough before. I can’t really conceive of having to get things fresh every couple of days. Sometimes getting to the store once a week is a challenge. I know in Europe, and probably some other places, they have small refrigerators, so they still mostly buy fresh. I wonder if we’ll get there? I don’t know, but, for now, I think it’s good to remind ourselves how lucky we are to have refrigeration. The world wouldn’t be the same without it. Taking time for the handshake? That caught my attention. But the thing that popped up first is: are handshakes going away? Most of the time now, I can’t tell whether I’m going to shake hands, or fist bump! It’s weird, I tend to look at what the other person is about to offer, because if I’m not paying attention, I end up covering their fist with my hand, or vice versa. Or, even more weird, maybe, is that we neither one know, and end up doing some kind of “hand dance,” with each of us trying to guess what the other was going to do. When that happens, I usually just look at them and say: “Sorry, I’m never sure which one we’re going to do.” Because, it isn’t regulated! A few years ago, that was the norm: Shaking Hands. But now, who knows!? I’ve increasingly met more people who are huggers right from the jump. That’s a bit off-putting. Will the handshake eventually be just a formal greeting?

     Okay, there, narrowed it down to one paragraph. Without thinking too much about it, Father’s Day popped in, as where I should go back to. Father’s Day was pretty fun. We decided to take my father to the Air & Space Museum. They have a new exhibit about Da Vinci’s beginning flight ideas. I thought he would enjoy it, and I was right. I feel kind of bad for him because he doesn’t get to do much. He’s about to turn 80, and no one can believe it. He still has things he wants to do. He wants to enjoy his retirement. But, my mom doesn’t. She just seems to want to watch TV. So, I try to think of things to take him to, so at least he gets to do something. And, hopefully, feel like someone’s thinking of him, and what he may like. I don’t think he gets that very often. It’s kind of sad. He’s a very vibrant old man, and I feel like he sits around, just so as not to upset my mother. Which, of course, doesn’t work, she gets upset anyway. There’s nothing he can do. This is not about that! Moving on: We had a nice time, the exhibit was cool, and he smiled so much, I thought his face might break. It was no shock to me that my mother and sister did not want to go. It was probably best, the 3 of us had a great time, doing what he, and I, wanted. Later on, they did meet us for some barbeque. There is a Smokey and the Bandit themed barbeque in La Mesa. I had only been there once, and had been wanting to take him there for a while, so we finally did. It was okay. The theme wasn’t as prevalent as I had thought, and the food wasn’t all that good. When you go to a barbeque place, and the best thing that anyone can talk about is the meatloaf, you may need better barbeque!

     I told you about the fire situation. To finish that up: everything worked out well for us. The fires got contained, the drummer made it to practice, and our show was awesome! Three weeks back-to-back, and practicing the night before, was the answer! We killed it! I don’t think we ever played so good. People, for hours afterwards, were still saying how well we played. People who’ve seen us before! It felt good. My whole band was on cloud 9 after the show. Which continues to baffle me, because they’re always so resistant before a show. They always seem like it’s a “pain in the ass,” and “not worth it,” until we play, then it’s awesome! I don’t know why they can’t remember the outcome before they start bitching and moaning. Every time!  It’s frustrating. The Calvins, whom the show was with, are just as bad. It’s like everyone forgets that we’re supposed to be having fun! This is supposed to be enjoyable, not torture. What the fuck!? The closing act had cancelled, so we weren’t sure what was going to happen, and I know that is never fun, but still, with only a little notice, they weren’t bringing a crowd. We had about 30 people. Not too bad. All but about 5 or 6 were there to see us. And, those 5 or 6 stayed! That was cool. About as cool as the fact that about 30 people showed up to see us! They weren’t there for anyone else. It felt good. I wish a few randos had shown up, especially for the Calvins, but they didn’t. However, there were a lot of shows that same night. After all, it seemed like the Calvins wished we had cancelled, whereas the Eruption had one of its best shows ever. The Calvins’ drummer didn’t even want to post our performance on YouTube! He posts everything. I saw my daughter’s recording, and we sounded good, I don’t know why he’s so reticent about it.