Rite of fall

It just occurred to me that Autumn/Fall is the only season with two names. Perhaps because it’s so depressing they figured they’d divide it up into two bundles to make it easier to carry.

Oh yes, buy my book: Death’s Doors.

So. Fall. This means that my blog posting, never regular even during summer break, will diminish materially. It’s back-to-school time. I’m in my second year of graduate school already. How time does fly!

No it doesn’t. I feel like I’ve been at this for a decade, and have about 30 years left to go.

I had a gratifying moment on Saturday. It’s my ancient custom to go out for lunch somewhere on Saturday noon, and then go to the local Dairy Queen for a Dilly Bar.

As I approached the window, the manager said, “I always like to see you coming. You remind me of better times.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Better customers. Better employees. Nowadays everybody’s a knucklehead.”

The interesting thing is that he’s a black man. And not that old. Forty at most.

I think I know what he meant. Or I imagine I do.

I try to dress neatly. I wear shirts with collars and hats (not caps). And I drive a PT Cruiser, a classic looking car. He was thinking back to a time when society was more polite, and our neighbors generally less dangerous.

Of course back in the “good old days” genuine wrongs were being done by society to his community. No denying it.

But his community was — generally — also safer to live in back then. I think that’s what he meant.

Or maybe he was just peeved because he was working alone that day. I suspect an employee or two failed to show up for work.

How is my hip doing? Very well, thank you.

I joined LA Fitness (I get a rebate from my insurance company), intending to work out in the pool, which is what everybody recommends for joint problems.

But I found out I don’t like the pool as much as I did when I was nine.

So I started using the exercise device they had me use when I took therapy — a stationary bike where you sit rather than straddle.

Every time I use it I feel better. I genuinely think I’m rebuilding the bone.

Makes sense. It’s a circulation problem. What could be better than exercise that doesn’t put weight on the hip? Just what Asclepius ordered.

Have a good fall. I’ll drop in when I can make the time.

4 thoughts on “Rite of fall”

  1. Making friends with the owner of the DQ reminds me of a Kaminsky novel that you reviewed some years back that set me to reading every volume of his catalog available in my local library system. Maybe you’re destined to become an adventurous process server.

  2. Husband and I have eaten at the same Mexican restaurant for so long that at 11 A.M. on Saturdays, a note now pops up in his android cell phone that tells him how far away, and how long it will take us to get to the restaurant. If the assistant manager spots us arriving, a waiter will automatically bring us our standard drinks order. It’s a most gratifying experience.

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