Good morning, mountain dwellers. Another Monday to tick off the calendar, but that’s no reason to be ticked off.
Your first concern might be whether or not roads are icy today: they are not. It’s chilly, fo’ shizzle, with temps a little below freezing, but the roads are dry (no drizzle). It doesn’t matter how cold things are, if there’s no moisture, there’s no ice. Now, I’ll certainly entertain the idea, as should you, that there COULD be small patches of road, identified by being a little darker than surrounding pavement, that may not have entirely evaporated all moisture, and thus, there COULD be a little bit of very thin ice… even the notoriously famous thing called “black ice.” However, even IF there are small patches on some side roads under shady trees with puddles and streams running across them, the vast majority of roads, including all of the main thoroughfares, are dry and iceless.
Finally, there’s no fog, the wind isn’t blowing, there are no rocks, and precipitation is not happening now, or soon. Bottom line to the bottom of the hill: rock-bottom easy. That’s not really even a thing people say, but you get the idea.
We lost 41… President George H. W. Bush passed away on Friday. I’d like to share a couple of personal tales.
Well, okay… they’re not EXACTLY personal, BUT, these happened to a close personal friend of mine, so I’m calling them personal.
I lived in Houston, TX, for a few years. I had a friend there… we’ll call him “Matt,” since his real name is, “Matt.” While putting himself through college, Matt worked at a very upscale restaurant in Houston. The place was frequented—frequently, even—by many celebrities. Among the regulars were George and Barbara Bush. Matt had the pleasure of being THEIR server many times… and always enjoyed doing so, as they were very kind people.
One time, Matt was walking through the dining room, as George was headed for the restroom. At that time, The Senior was using a walking cane, and was not terribly steady on his feet. Somehow, he tripped, stumbled… began to fall. Matt happened to be closer in proximity at that moment than any Secret Service agent, and actually caught the man in his arms, preventing him from hitting the floor. It turns out, you don’t get medals or TV interviews for doing that, but you do get pretty good stories to share with your friends.
One incident that Matt related, which is more than simply trivial, was remarkably revealing as to what kind of people the Bushes were. Matt observed the entire thing… but said he wasn’t surprised at the way things went down.
The pair (and their entourage, as required) were dining at the Houston eatery one evening, when one of the kitchen staff ladies, a dishwasher, arrived for work. She happened to notice that the former leader of the free world and his wife were RIGHT there… in that very dining room!
Now, it’s sort of an unspoken rule that approaching celebrities at times when they are just trying to be regular ol’ folk is sort of, well, not cool. As Southern Californians, most of us are aware of this etiquette. But… maybe in Texas, not so much… Texans probably don’t randomly run into celebrities as often as we do. But then, employees, in particular, are NOT supposed to treat the famous any differently than they would anybody else. However, this woman simply lost her inhibitions regarding these rules, and was unable to NOT approach them, and express her adoration.
The Bushes were very gracious… they were not bothered by this “washerwoman” in any way. In the same way that employees are expected to treat celebrities as regular people, well, the Bushes treated regular people as if the regular people were celebrities.
At one point, the woman asked if it would be okay to take a picture with the Bushes. The elderly couple agreed that it would be fine. However, to the woman’s dismay, she discovered that the disposable camera that she USUALLY carried in her purse (this was before the days that we all had cell phones with cameras) was not there. Not to worry… Barbara to the rescue! Mrs. Bush found a camera in her OWN purse… and offered to use this camera for taking the picture.
A few weeks later, this woman who washes dishes (and approaches famous people when she is not exactly supposed to… ahem!) received an envelope in the mail from Mr. and Mrs. George H. W. Bush. Inside the envelope was a note (it probably read something like, “You may not remember this, but a few weeks ago, we met you in a restaurant in Houston, TX…”), and a snapshot of the three of them. The president and his wife had even signed the picture.
Did they gain anything from this act… other than being able to rest assured that they were simply decent people, doing decent things? Of course not… they were simply decent people.
Please remember this… decent people SHOULD be remembered for the decent things they’ve done. The Bushes were truly class acts, good people, an asset to The United States of America, to the world, and to regular ol’ folks. We’ve lost a good team.