Random Recollections

Some bits of our recent road trip keep floating up in my mind. One is the image of the little Missouri town of Marmaduke. Almost every structure we saw as we passed through was bandaged with blue tarp. Evidence of a tornado which blew through a couple weeks before. Then there's the look on My Beloved's face when he realized the middle aged white guy not 4 feet away from him was the one providing the vocals to "Love and Happiness" as we sat idle after dinner at Josie's in Waldenburg. He had just been speaking mockingly about lousy kareoke singers. The man went on to serenade us with a little more "Memphis music" but I forget now what he sang. I also keep thinking about the photo we have of Hazel as a girl standing on the porch of the bungalow which she showed us last year. She told us that in the picture her fist is closed around a nickel she had just received and prized highly. She could still recall the feel of that nickel against her palm. Finally I remember sitting at the Thanksgiving table next to Hazel. My Beloved's sisters and their mother were trying to drum up some drama around a perceived misdeed of some kind. Not being a fan of drama I sighed and dismissed the whole thing aloud with a "Live and learn." My jaw dropped open when Hazel completed the phrase with "Die and forget it all."