The Old Man has appeared tired, broken down, demoralized and generally mopping around these days. “Woe is me,” he constantly moans.   His failed judicial race, horse wreck, difficult people and general malaise are some of the circumstances The Old Man blames for his January woeful state of mind.   However, The Old Man and The Wife’s recent trip to the nation’s capital was great medicine for The Old Man’s self-inflicted pity (redundant as the English major’s say.)   A powerful one hour sermon on the blind beggar in John 9 was used to slap The Old Man out of his selfish mindset and rejoice in the fact that “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”    The Man that preaches at the church (located 4 blocks from the center of  a lot of confusion and chaos) ain’t afraid to speak clearly and truthfully.  Aren’t you glad Jesus died for sinners?  The Old Man is.  Here is a brief summary of goings and comings of The Old Man and The Wife in DC:

After a 1/1/2 hour cranapple refreshed flight(no more peanuts on US Air) from Charlotte to Baltimore, The Old Man and The Wife were greeted at the airport by The Brown Haired Daughter, Angel Pie and Young Bodacious (also the name of one of the greatest bucking bulls of all time – google “Bodacious bucking bull” and see resemblance to Young Bodacious who lives on 6th street in DC). The city dwellers were clogging the roadway from Baltimore to DC and the normal 30 minute drive lasted 1 hour with Young Bodacious and Angel Pie often demonstrating verbally and physically a great desire to be out of the car and traffic (much like the 4 legged stars of the PBR in the chute – someone will need to educate yuppie readers on this reference).

image from Google

We all arrived at the quaint bungalow on 6th street to a warm house and delicious meal ( see recipes on this blog site.)  Highlights of the weekend: eating at the famous chili dog place on Saturday night, (a sleepless, fitful night for the Old Man followed), The Old Man riding to the home of the nation’s President on a woman’s mountain bike in his big black hooded overcoat, several trips with Young Bodacious to the  market, watching scandalous parts of  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Angel Pie, watching it snow, looking for real estate deals with The Yankee Son-in-Law and going to a party with friends. Interesting note: the young DC crowd defines party as cramming 75 people  into 800 square feet of house, scattering some chips, popcorn and sodas around and then turning Young Bodacious loose – it was quite the sight.

The Yankee Son-in-Law holds himself out to be an “entrepreneur”.  The Old Man possesses no ability to generate “value”  but after the recent DC trip recommends the following investment advice:

Do not invest in men’s combs. Most of the young men in DC, even in church do not comb their hair. The style seems to be: to appear that you just got out of bed.

Corner the market on water bottles. The young men and women in the nation’s capital seem to have an enormous fear of dehydration. The Old Man who fancies himself as a runner saw a young lass with 5 water bottles on her side. Young people take water bottles to church, walking, to work and seem to never be more that 3 feet away from the hydrogen-oxygen mix.  “Pop” Hall would say the young people need to do an honest days work with water at breakfast, dinner and supper. “Bub” Meeks used to warn The Old Man when he was a young lad that “drinking too much water when you are hot will put the monkey on your back”.

Do not invest in belts. After spending most of his life being told “boy, tuck your shirt in” by mamma,  untucked shirts are the style, even by the church song leaders!!! The Old Man assumes this is because the young men do not want to be seen beltless. At one point during the trip, The Wife says to The Old Man: “honey, untuck your shirt, you look like a nerd”. To which The Old Man muttered to himself: “I  will die a nerd”.

White dress shirts are doomed. Only two white dress shirts were worn on Sunday, The Old Man’s and another old man’s.

Buy loads of white t-shirts. The once popular “undergarment” is now seen protruding above the neck, sticking out longer than the untucked dress shirt and often just plain by itself.

The last night of the weekend was spent watching that TV program about the English blue bloods with The Neighbor. We had a great time listening to The Neighbor’s commentary  and speculating on next week’s show. The flight home was uneventful and bookended with another cranapple on the plane. The bungalow on 6th street is a place of rest and rejuvenation for The Old Man and The Wife. What a blessing!!

Clearly Angel Pie and Bodacious weren’t pleased to say goodbye.