A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.
~ Marcus Aurelius
The good and the bad from last weekend:
Friday at 5:00 was good; but that’s a no-brainer.
The chicken on the grill was good, all thighs, seasoned with Famous Dave’s.
The national news was bad, specifically the drought out west, Cecil the lion’s death, and all those politicians telling us how bad we have it. It’s funny how bad we seem to have it every four years.
The moon was good – full, bright, and orange, but not blue. KM and I drove east awhile on Friday night to get a better view, which was worth it, but the turn for home was even better as the sun set over the skyline.
It was bad passing the airport, though – bad I was passing it and not stopping to get on a plane to Michigan or Seattle or Victoria or Iceland.
The woman’s post on Facebook Friday night about Tiger Woods being an embarrassment to the game of golf was bad, but my thoughts about her and her ignorance were probably worse. More about that and why I disagree with her next time.
The weather Saturday morning was good.
The climb to the top of Pinnacle Mountain was good. I’d better rephrase that. Getting to the top was good; the climb itself was as hard as the granite on the south face. There were lots of folks who had the same idea Saturday. Three of the more memorable ones were two guys and a girl who were huffing and puffing at a quick pace up that same south face. I had found a pretty nice rock to sit on and admire the valley below when they came by. The two guys led, and the woman, struggling more than a bit, followed. She wanted to stop but they said no. A few yards later, she asked again. “Keep moving,” was the answer. I assumed they were her trainers. You need two trainers on Pinnacle, I thought. Then, much further past me, when they were nearly out of sight and earshot, I barely heard one of them tell her again, “Come on, keep moving.”
“I AM MOVING!”
That I heard with no trouble. There was more, but I’ll leave it out. This is still a family newspaper.
It was good I didn’t have trainers.
The other one I remember was a young black guy I saw on my way down. He was sitting on one of the four benches that offer a break along the way. The benches are good, but Saturday, they were like a parking place in the Big Apple. If you got one, you didn’t want to give it up. The young man was talking on his cell phone to his friend, who apparently had made it to the top.
“I told you I’m not coming any farther... I’ll meet you at the bottom ... No ... I don’t care how beautiful it is... I’ve seen it before... I know what it looks like.”
It was good when I made it to my car and the extra bottled water I’d been smart enough to bring.
The movie KM and I watched Saturday night was good. It’s called “What We Did on Our Holiday.” It was very good, in fact. The Sunday Night movie we rented, “White God,” was good too, but not as good as the one on Saturday.
The bounty bought at Bernice Gardens after church Sunday morning was good. It consisted of five tomatoes, six peaches, and a watermelon. Actually, we haven’t tried the peaches yet.
The nap, Sunday afternoon was good.
So all in all, it was a good weekend. But they usually are.
Jay Edwards is editor-in-chief of the Hamilton County Herald and an award-winning columnist. Contact him at jedwards@dailydata.com.