Geography will be the subject of today’s post. I am almost positive the majority of us can remember our “geography” teacher from junior high school. Geography is all that separates that special girl and myself from sharing good morning coffees and extra special goodnight kisses. Geography is that medium which distances myself from our two growing daughters who have certainly come into their own over the past couple of years; one a graduate from the USC and the other who readies herself for her freshman year at Humboldt State University. Proud parents for sure. ¶ So while Dad takes regular walks along the Pacific Ocean and Bonnie does her thing keeping the house effectively running there’s this thing called geography standing in the way of hand holding, some pecking, and perhaps even some PG-50 rated making out in the front seat … and then there’s possibly the best day at work ever which does nothing to minimize the distance between us – believe me. ¶ I realize it’s been a month of Sundays since I’ve posted and there’s been plenty of reason for that. 1. NHL playoffs – yes the Bruins are playing the hockey of their lives and I’ve been there for every minute of these frozen ice fanatics … 2. Work – the new job has completely wrapped me up, a good thing, but one of those things that has just consumed me physically and physiologically. The new command has just taken me in with wide open arms, laughter and even cab fare (more on that later). So suffice it to say that I’ve been busy busy busy after my brutal 1 mile commute after work to even entertain the idea of populating this page with my thoughts , my mind has been writing page after page almost daily but fingers to the keyboard have been another subject, until this evening. ¶ After a phenomenal day with the fair amount of members of the staff for a going away luncheon in nearby El Segundo to be followed up with a late afternoon Chiefs Mess call (mind you I’ve been a member of the civilian community since 1998) later this afternoon, beverages provided, has certainly been the highlight of my tour thus far and it’s not been the beverages, but the invitation to attend that’s made things especially inviting. ¶ From this world you get what you put into it … wouldn’t you agree? Wasn’t our attendance on The Ellen Show evidence enough of that? ¶ These guys I work with could care less about the gifts received, or the upcoming trip to Hawaii … what they care about is what they HAVE in place with regards to the WHO I am, WHAT I am, and really nothing more than that – and that’s all I care about. ¶ Tonight, after leaving perhaps the best bar I’ve been to within local driving distance; The Tavern in El Segundo I cranked the radio, peeled back the moonroof, opened all the windows and let KLOS 95.5 FM pump all the bass possible into the speakers while I did my best to lipsynch the words to Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. This anthem is possibly repeatedly the #1 song on request lists across the nation and as I did my best (while wearing my BOSOX hat) to manage the lyrics (which I should know by heart) I realized almost immediately I still have a long way to go in learning each of the words precisely which got me thinking about my bride. ¶ We had spoken to each other about 2 hours beforehand, both in good spirits, and regardless, I am ALWAYS thinking about Bonnie … good, bad or ugly, and when Jimmy Page and crew light off with the lyrics to STH I can’t help think about that special girl some 400+ miles north along the Pacific Coast Highway … you think you know the lyrics, and good on ya if you do, but I’m guessing the majority of you do not, and perhaps because you’ve got those Jensen triaxil speakers so juiced you can’t hear yourself missing those critical points of this phenomenal song … so let me help you out, at least with one of the choruses. Bonnie, before I get started, know this … we probably danced to more of Pinball Wizard and Dream On while we dated in high school, but I strongly believe Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had you in mind when they wrote this song: ¶ … and as we wind on down the road / our shadows taller than our soul / there walks a lady we all know / who shines white light and wants to show / how everything still turns to gold / and if you listen very hard / the tune will come to you at last / when we all are one and one is all / to be a rock and not to roll / and she’s buying the stairway to heaven … When we all are one and one is all … I CANNOT WAIT!!
Okay … finally a post worth publishing.
I love you sweetie.
Klink / Klink
Keep her close guys …
Love,
Paul