A.G.E's Joint

What a morning.  Jimmy had won a trip to the beach at the dealership. But it wasn't a Kingdom by the sea and a big yacht. Instead, it was a small four-room cabin and a flat-bottomed barge designed to troll the marshes. Jimmy smiled when he saw it.  "Ooh, fresh seafood." As he put the car in park. "And who do you think is going to clean it, Cowboy?" The kids giggled in the backseat.  "I'll help you. Uncle Chuck taught me." Kathy wasn't sure about that. Chuck might have been who their son was named after, but he was about as useless as a fish on a bicycle. That was going to be her job. She didn't mind, though. It didn't take long to offload everything and set up the cabin for the night.  The next morning the four of them stood in silence when the Captain, a tall thin black man, introduced himself and walked them around the rusty craft. Emily spoke up.   "So, how do you make it go?"  The man laughed. " Hop aboard and I'l...

Cherished memories? Given the holiday theme. you would think I would go all mushy about great family times, or special presents (like the purple Schwinn Fastback I got when I was 10), or whatnot.  But if you have been reading me for any length of time, you know I don't get into the cinnamon and clove falseness of the Feast of Conspicuous Consumption. My hero was pre-ghost Ebeneezer Scrooge and his wise words about pocket-picking.  That said, I do have an interesting story. The week after Christmas 1979, I was scanning the want ads in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before lining my cat box with them. My eye landed on a 4-line one for an Accounting Clerk, if interested call this number. Well, I was unemployed at the time and while I still had a little money in the bank, I didn't see that holding out for much more than a couple of months. So, I called. The perky secretary told me to bring my resume up the day after New Years.  The office was on the third floor of an offic...

 "And this is the training room you have always wanted to see..." RRRNG! I look at the clock.  4:20AM. Oh, yeah. I got an appointment early this morning.  What a nightmare. I was a salesman at a World Wrestling Entertainment themed resort and I was below my quote for the month. I had been showing this short guy around. I was having problems with the software getting in and I wondered if they had already fired me. I pray to Heaven send Hell away , but I still come back like Groundhog Day.  I need coffee. Brr! It's cold in here. Did Kathryn turn down the heat again? 67. Yep. I fix it and head into the kitchen. Nobody up the hill Griswolded their houses,. The only shadows are the transmission towers from the river. I see the shadow of a pod of deer crossing the backyard. A doe looks toward the lit window for a few seconds then plods on toward the dam. There is peace in the house. And that is something money can never buy.  Merry Christmas to Writers Weekly, Blogoph...

 What is naughty? Most of the time, naughty is more fun than nice. You think you are getting away with something When you are not.

 It finally happened.  The Disco Kroger Has Closed Atlanta's most notorious grocery store finally succumbed to high-rise development.  It was a good life, as far as stores go. A 24 hour pickup bar for years. The most convenient place to get munchies for when the dancing was done and other liberties began.  It got its name from The Limelight and continued its reputation through Ruperts and the Buckhead Saloon.  Some people like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past , though. It makes them more money. 

She paints her fingers with a close precision And takes a moment to assess the sins she’s paid for  A message, an ad-hoc declaration Maybe it shouldn't have been made Dispute between people I've never met in the real world One is stuck The other tried to help and failed. She is still bewildered Will reaching out make it better or worse? Responsibility? Honestly, none. Must move on. The song lyrics are from "The Ballad of Mona Lisa.  This one was a bewildering challenge, to say the least. 

ALMIGHTY  God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever.  Amen. The above is from the Book of Common Prayer service for the first day of Advent. In the Christian tradition, Advent is both the beginning of the Church Year and the beginning of the Christmas season. It is a time of preparation and introspection. It has its roots in various Roman and Goth overwinter celebrations as European humans hibernated in the winter. The first candle is hope against the darkness of the world. That the snow would go away and warmth return.  These days, it's all about commerce. No one cares about the weather or war...