It’s 6:05 and I’ve got veggie beef soup in the crock on high, it’s only just now warm because I forgot to put it in as soon as I got home so I’m drinking local brandy finished in sherry casks until it’s ready.  

It seems I’ve spent half my life getting ready to do some...momentous thing.  Momentous mostly to me of course but sometimes to others too.  I was a starter on my high school basketball team in the state of Indiana; not a forgiving crowd.  I was a pallbearer for my grandpa’s funeral when I was 12.  My bowels still loosen when I recall that night before I left for basic training and maybe more so the night before my son left for basic.  Twice I’ve deployed to foreign lands for national emergencies.  That first night I drove D to the hospital as she labored is etched in my mind; far scarier for her, I know.  

I’ve been out of the service for fifteen years now and most of the momentous moments in my life are behind me.  But sometimes...sometimes

...some times I miss the excruciating tension in the  lead up to a momentous event.  When I do, I schedule a big party, a public speaking event, and sometimes the MF’ing Red Sox win through to the World Series and I’m a GD nervous wreck!   

The Gruff - Wagon Wheel - April 14 2010 - The Slice - Lethbridge