Wishing Wells

...I wait.

There was a shuffle of feet on the sidewalk. It sounded like smoothed out sand paper rubbing a shiny stone, his footsteps were gentle and well placed. Every check his foot made against the ground was followed by the click of his cane. He was a tall man, thin, and very systematic in his movement. Nothing he did was without purpose. I couldn't help but stare at the hat that wore, quit similar to ones I wear - a driving hat. It was black and tucked neatly underneath it was a field of gray swaying stalks that darted from the hat and hid behind his ears. He was humming an amazing song, glimpses of which I was able to pick up. Yes, I knew it well; humming "If it had not of been" he reached into his pocket and removed a shiny quarter and looked over at me.

I stared back and wondered what secret, if any was resting behind those story filled eyes. He continued to hum and began rubbing the quarter between his fingers.

"What did you wish for young man," he said to me.

"Good question," pausing I told him, "I haven't figured it out yet."

"Oh, you've got to know," his cane clicked on the ground and he tapped the edge of the reflecting pool that held many hopes and few dreams. "Why else would you come to pool unless you've plans on making a wish?"

"I think wishing is a waste of time," I said as I grew uncomfortable with him moving closer to me.

Flicking his coin into the pool, "Look at how it twists and turns on the way to the bottom. My mom used to tell me that the ones that merely glided to the bottom didn't churn the water well enough to create magic."

Raring my hand back to drop my coin into the pool as well..."Stop!" he yelled. "Don't throw your coin in yet, you've not told an old man what it is you're wishing for...

Wishing Wells for Veterans?

Sometimes I wish that when I stood in front of a wishing well rubbing a shiny quarter between my fingers that the "ploop" noise the coin makes as it spins and twirls its way to the bottom was the beginning of a wish coming true and the end of worrying about what I was wishing for. You see, I'm the kind of guy who's played a game for a certain amount of time. If I were an athlete, well I am, but not a professional one, I would not be considered a rookie and I would not green. I've played the game just long enough for people to consider my talent a waste as opposed to potential. I would be considered a veteran; crafty, aware of the rules and a master at bending them. Some would appreciate that, but others would not. I for one am not one who appreciates the craftiness I've brought to the game. The only person who has been fooled is me. The coaches, the other players, the staff at the organization see my dodging of the rules as indication that I don't believe in their message. They see all the loses that could have easily been wins and wonder where they failed. My opponents sit in locker rooms laughing, jeering, smoking cigars and bathing in the champagne bubbles that were meant for me. Instead of standing in front of a wishing well and casting another coin full of a wishes for somebody else to make me what I know I should be...

Those Beautiful Birds

When I wake up early in the morning, start scratching that yellow stuff out my eyes, pat my lips together to realize that that smell is my breath, pull the covers back and hear the birds sitting on the edges of branches, with their chests full of air, their heads thrown back, and their tiny bird voices singing loud enough to fill an amphitheater, I want to shout, "Shut the hell up! Can a man get some peace and quiet." Dag, I'm glad I don't live on a farm or else I'd have to listen to a rooster and eat Corn Flakes for breakfast. Whatever happened to that cereal by the way? It was nasty. It was as mushy as overcooked oatmeal as soon as you added milk.

I'm an 80's baby and had so much fun looking up the old shows I used to love as a kid: Airwolf, Streethawk, The Misfits of Science, The A-Team, The Flash, The Greatest American Hero, The Fall Guy, BJ and the Bear; that was a bunch of fun. I loved how Airwolf, the super secret military chopper full of all kinds of ordinances was sitting in a cave in Arizona or something and that this chopter was performing global missions but nobody knew where it was. In the 80's, I don't think they spent much time trying to plug in plot holes. For example, the Streethawk bike would reach speeds of 300 mph on city streets - that rider would have had to of been a better rider than Valentino Rossi and I don't see that happening.

The Lakers won by 40 last night and all I can say is, IT IS ABOUT TIME. Now that Nike is starting to air Kobe and Lebron commercials, would it be implausible to think that the NBA really, really, really wants that matchup - much like myself.

I haven't blogged in so long, my forearms are getting cramps from typing...LOL. I've been so busy that I haven't been able to play my guitar. I am sad that I have been practicing my Do, Ray, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do's and my voice still sounds like metal crawling down a chalkboard. If I joined those noisy birds in the morning, I could rile up the entire complex, "Shut up Man!" I was just kidding about the birds anyway.

This blog has been pretty random, but that's me. I'm a bit scatterbrained until I focus in on an objective, or truly until I have a hot cup of coffee. My pops always tells me that he can tell what is going on in my life by what I blog about. I wonder what he is going to derive from this one.

Oh, I went to Chick-Fil-A this week. The patrons were not persons of ethnic descent, which makes me think that they need to get that black lady out of the Popeyes commercials because EVERYBODY loves chicken! It is in every culture, every type of dish and can be up to 5 items at the buffet whether it's Hometown Buffet or a local Chinese food spot.

I've enjoyed reading everybody's blog this week. I have learned that it is good to sometimes revisit high school; read old poems, look at old pictures, read old goals, gauge where I am now compared to who I was and what I dreamed about then. I learned that judging others only makes me the fool. Every look of scorn, and disparaging feeling I have for someone who doesn't live up to my standards eventually amuses me when I realize that I can't even live up to my own standards sometimes. Lastly, relationships - they're only strengthened when time is spent together so today I'm going to send God an email.