Rock on, kid

And bless that boy walking along the road in his black framed glasses with a little smile on his face. He's got music in his head, I can see that. He's better for it and so are we. Thanks, kid. 

I stop into a bar for a beer and then a cocktail after work. The place doesn't work for me. I'm remembering a primarily Mexican joint in San Angelo, Texas where I had a few beers and was party to some good talk and real laughs with strangers while waiting there for a girl. 

I walk back to my car and stop into a store that sells wine and cheese and craft beer and very precious small-batch condiments. There was a salesman in there talking too loud introducing wines to various hipsters. Do they still call them that? Anyway, he kept using the word structured to describe some aspect of the wine he was hawking. 

In my head, I approached him saying, "Young man, if you say the word structured one more time, I am going to gut you right here with a trench knife."

I'm not well, and it's right and proper that I live alone. 

Driving home I was thinking about my first two or three years of school and how I don't have many memories of those years. From kindergarten, I remember the teacher leading us in a song. The lyrics might have been a mix of English and maybe German-tinged nonsense. 

"My hunts by my sides, my teacher dear..."

And I remember being partners with a girl named Diane Avery. Her hands were warm and it felt nice to hold one when we walked to and from school. I felt happy when we held hands. She seemed like she always felt happy. She had freckles on her cheeks and she wore her hair in dark braids. I think walking with her was my favorite thing about that year. 

I got in trouble for stealing erasers and other stuff the following year. And I was afraid to use the bathroom at school. I remember knocking and knocking on the front door of our house after running all the way up the street having to pee and not being able to hold on any longer. That feeling of defeat. 

Like there was no help anywhere. 

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And by the way, Mr. President? I forget stuff too if I don't make a list (in order of priority). For example:

    1.     Evacuate American government employees, contractors and other civilians.

    2.     Evacuate all the Afghans, and their families, who provided assistance to our military operations.

    3.     Notify the Afghan government and military, and our military allies, that we're leaving pretty soon.

    4.     Have a planned, orderly change of command ceremony filled with gratitude and encouragement. 

    5.     Finally, when everything seems somewhat buttoned up, withdraw our troops. 

It's very important to remember to start at the TOP of the list.