1 Wednesday. And according to Google, the 120th Anniversary of the Modern Greek Olympic Games. I didn't even notice that until this entire DN was written last night. Fancy that. Keep it in mind as you read along. It plays. So. Wednesday.
2 Just like that, right?
3 Those who had Monday off get it. I discovered yesterday that the ESUHSD didn't have Monday off. M'bad.
4 Work week. Four days. Pay people. The economy will overall get better, because IMHO productivity would increase, as might thievery.
5 I could be full of beans, which I am anyway, considering we all hit Iguanas the day before yesterday.
6 East Side.
7 Lovin' it.
8 Don't get me wrong. I LOVES me some Sac. Wouldn't have gone there if I didn't like the place.
9 I'm finding it well-placed for old geezers.
10 Or even young geezers, which, IMHO, I am.
11 I think a lot of people out there would like to take my HO and shove it where Mars don't shine.
12 Hey, it's all a lark.
13 Lark.
14 Where I'm stayin', that's considered a street.
15 Aha! Clues.
16 You ain't gonna find me unless you own a drone.
17 I vant to be a drone.
18 Anybody lookin'?
19
20 So much for that.
21 Moving On, Part One: Jeff and I were at Smoky Joe's one summer evening enjoying a smoke and a joke when a drone flew at us and hovered.
21 I felt violated. We were just two geezers enjoying a summer night, and this snoop came over us and hovered.
22 We were laughing and enjoying a great convo, but Le Capitaine Mssr. Le Snoop assumed we were droning our sorrows.
23
24 In a manner of speaking. I clearly don't do French. In a manner of speaking.
25 It's anybody's guess.
26 <looking around> Anybody lookin'?
27 Moving On, Part Two: I've no pics to prove it, but I happened upon Independence High School yesterday morning, and came upon this speedy creature in the Band Room.
28 Yup.
29 Told you I was going to move around this week and turn up places.
30 I saw me old friend and confidant Sir Kenneth Ponticelli.
31 I hinted that I might be popping by, but I got interrupted by all sorts of sirens and tractors, yellow-helmets and orange flags. It all made texting impossible, unless you wanted to run down a flag man.
32 Sirens sounded, dust and vapors attacked the senses, and fear struck my heart. This Odyssey began the same. Listen:
33 I looked to the skies and thanked Zeus for the immortal Siri.
34 She became my Athena, beginning the journey by helping me sail past the Sylla and Charybdis of the South Bay, Valley Fair on the port side, and Santana Row on the starboard. Let your mind wander through these visions.
35 At the wrong hour, or on the wrong day, squeezing through that highway strait is scary for the simply faint of heart, and downright treacherous for the mildly psychotic.
36 Siri got me through all of that, and then through the backstreets of the Flea Market, and then on through Educational Park Drive, where a motorcycle cop became suspicious and pursued me, and finally out to McKee, ending with a perfect backward lunge up Jackson, as the cop gave up and chased after some hoodlums sans sleeves.
37 The hoodlums. Not the cops. Good God.
38 The Band Door was open, and Band kids moved in and out. I made sure I wasn't chilling on someone's kettle drum, or sitting on someone's stool. Mallets give it away.
39 Mr. P was dressed like a champ, and we exchanged hugs and "DUUUUDE!"s. He got me some amazing coffee, and showed me around. We talked lots of shop, and then about Sweet Baby James, li'l Jamie, and about the rest of the fam, and of good times.
40 He also told me how the Band has a club, and other major secrets. I saw. I watched. All business. And then he introduced me. I enjoyed talking to students, and they were kind, and a wonderful bunch. For about one half second I missed teaching.
41 I said, "He loves you guys..." or words to that affect, and gave some thanks for allowing me to sit in and watch, and then I scooted.
42 I probably should have stayed longer, but got anxious to move around the South Bay and pop in on people.
43 My next stop was Yerba Buena High School, where Ponch, Shawna Fleming and I worked and played, and where some of my fondest memories lay. My target: Tracy Wolcott, one of my dearest friends. I stopped in at Lee's Sandwiches and got some fried wings and iced coffees. I find Lee's underrated. Evergreen Valley had a Lee's nearby, and I loved the place. Sorry, my Asian friends. Lee's is fine by me. I got to YB, parked the TOOOOOOONDRA out front, and walked across campus.
44 I was suddenly hurled back in time, almost crazily to many times, as I strolled the campus that never seems to change. Memories? Uh...got about six years? Hell yes, memories, and LOTS were fun ones. I saw students. It felt as though I had never left. It didn't even feel small, you know how sometimes that happens when you visit a place from the past?
45 It took me around four seconds to bust into her room. No explanations. Connections. I don't want to get anyone in trouble. But it was that easy.
45 The room was dark in front, but I turned on the lights for the other two-thirds of the room. It was Tracy's prep period, and she was off campus. It was right before lunch, so I set down the food, sat in a low chair, and put my feet up on a stool. Total relaxation. Loved the classroom, the wisdom all over the walls, quotes by Einstein everywhere, and tons of history.
46 And I sat.
47 And I sat. I texted her. No answer.
48 And I sat. I texted again. Again, no answer. I got worried, but not too worried. I rather enjoyed the stillness, and the memories.
49 Imagine that. The thoughts, the memories, the atmosphere, unchanged. Time stood still for a lonnnnnnng time. I was back in the classroom, that's for sure.
50 "When," I asked no one in particular, "was lunch EVER forty-five minutes?"
51 Time distorts. Siri told me that. Finally another teacher, an old friend who shall also remain anonymous, walked through the room and opened the doors for the students. I instantly became the sub.
52 Tracy had an exercise on the board involving balloons, so I started the kids off. I told them I was not a sub, but an old friend bringing my friend some coffee and wings.
53 I'm pretty sure they saw me as a sub.
54 When she came in, she was stunned. She laughed, hugged, and said she hadn't looked at her phone. Huge, beautiful smiles, the smiles of two great friends.
55 Her lesson completely rocked it. Something having to do with balloons, and your most difficult pressures being put on a note in the balloon, and how it tied into our lives.
56 Brilliant stuff. The class completely followed the entire lesson, some making smart-aleck jokes, others whispering things, some staring in wonder, and others saying some remarkable things about exploding, imploding, or keeping control over the air in the balloon.
57 And she felt it wasn't working! She came over and whispered, "I don't think they're getting it..."
58 That, ladies and gents, is a GREAT teacher. Because she thought a lesson that had over ninety per cent of the class completely engaged was deflating.
59 I loved the lesson, and it worked even better the last class of the day.
60 We talked, laughed, and summed some stuff up, managed to catch up, and even to clean up.
61 And the room was ready for Part Two of the lesson today.
62 In the end, we talked a bit about the upcoming Paul Simon show at...Where else? Berkeley's Greek Theatre, dovetailing nicely with my earlier feelings of Odysseus, Scylla, Charybdis, and Siri/Athena guiding the way through it all.
63 I told her to have a closer look at the complete lyrics to Scarborough Fair/Canticle.
64 And then the day moved on; I found my way back, not necessarily to Ithaka, but to somewhere close.
65 And to fight for a cause.
66 Thanks Kenny and Tracy. You are legendary.
67 Gottago.
69 See you again.
70 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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