For What It’s Worth

Here's another suggestion: try snapping pictures with a film-camera sometime. You might have to search antique stores just to find one.

Kids, be good listeners. I don’t know much, but I do know that good listeners are few and far between. Sometimes, it seems there too many talking heads, not enough ears. But if you listen, you can figure out nearly anything you want to.

Except politics.

And women.

But otherwise, you’ll be all set.

Here’s another suggestion: try snapping pictures with a film-camera sometime. You might have to search antique stores just to find one. But you’ll discover photographs last longer than computer screens.

We once spent an entire hurricane in a dark bathroom with our wedding album. For hours, we thumbed through pictures by candlelight.

Most fun I’ve had in years.

Keep a first-aid kit in your car. You never know when you might need it. Cuts, blisters, scrapes, puncture wounds, rattlesnake bites, disagreements with your spouse. You never know.

I once watched a man drive his Chevy into a tree off the road. It happened right in front of me. The impact made such a loud boom, it sounded like God was bowling.

I hopped out of my car to help. I bandaged his forehead using all the gauze I had. He was as drunk as fish, his blood was as watery as paint thinner.

He kept mumbling, “Lydia, Lydia…”

“Is that your girlfriend?” I asked.

“No, it’s my sister. She died last week.”

I don’t think he realized how close he came to joining her.

Use the word, “love,” more than, “like.” For instance: I LOVE nachos, I LOVE baseball, I LOVE my friend Melissa. The more you use it, the easier it comes out of your mouth when someone needs it.

And the more you’ll hear it back.

Similarly, don’t eat fried fish without cheese grits; don’t pee in the shallow end; play the Lotto from time to time; take a nap in a hammock; sing Elvis songs. And occasionally, eat something experts tell you not to. Like ham, hickory smoked pork, or buttermilk pancakes.

Above all, find someone who likes to talk. Who laughs too loud. Someone unafraid to pick a piece of spinach from your teeth. Who makes you feel like you could leap off a roof and fly to Venezuela using only your arms. And I should warn you, kids, this special sort of person doesn’t grow on trees.

But if you’re a good listener, don’t worry.

They’ll find you.

1 comment

  1. Susan Irene Fox - May 19, 2016 7:38 pm

    Wonderful. Listening to your words. Loving them.

    Reply

Leave a Comment