TheBanyanTree: Thump, Thump, Thump

[Pam Lawley]

great story Neek!!  And glad the bumper was nothing worse!  my gosh!

On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 6:44 PM, Monique Colver <monique.colver at gmail.com>wrote:

> I still turn my music up loud in the car. I have to, because, if the
> weather's nice, I like to have the windows down. That, and I'm delaying
> fixing the fan/air in my car because the money for it is sitting safely in
> an account and I like to look at it. If I spend it, I won't be able to look
> at it and think, "Gee, I'm glad that's sitting there in case I need it."
> When it starts getting hot I'm sure I'll decide to go ahead and spend it.
>
> Today I was returning from lunch with two of our esteemed members, and I
> was
> stopped, peacefully, at a red light. I was looking around for something, as
> I tend to do because I'm so easily bored, when my car lurched forward. At
> first I thought that perhaps there was something wrong with it -- it's old,
> and has issues from time to time, like all of us who are aging. Then I
> looked in the rear view mirror and realized the car behind me was way too
> close for comfort. In fact, so close was she that she'd rammed into my rear
> end. I could see there was a little old lady driving.
>
> The light changed, and I ventured to the right, and then, since it was a
> busy boulevard, I turned right, and stopped half a block up. I turned on my
> emergency flashers and got out of the car. Little old lady was getting out
> of her car, and she looked so distressed I just wanted to run up to her and
> put my arm around her and ask her if she was okay.
>
> But she had run into my car, after all, so instead I just walked up to her
> and slugged her.
>
> Okay, that's a lie. I'm not quite that awful a person.
>
> She began apologizing, and explained it was her damn cell phone. Perhaps
> she
> didn't say damn, but her expression telegraphed it quite efficiently. She'd
> been trying to get it out of the pocket of her fairly fashionable jeans
> while stopped at the red light. This can be a tricky maneuver, as one must
> move one's leg, which could result in one letting up on the brake if one
> isn't careful. And one was not careful this time.
>
> "You've got to be careful with those things when you're driving," I said,
> "They're dangerous!"
>
> Normally we're warned about using them when driving as being dangerous, not
> necessarily retrieving them from our pockets, but it all works out the
> same.
>
> We looked at my back bumper, and we looked at her front bumper. Her car was
> newer, and unscathed, as far as we could tell. My car didn't look any more
> scathed than usual, so I told her it was quite all right, and that
> sometimes
> accidents happen, but let's just to be safe out there. I asked her twice if
> she was okay, because once people get to be, well, older than me, they
> become terribly fragile. I myself will never become that age (older than
> me), a fact I take great delight in.
>
> I'd hate to see the little old lady get banged up because she was
> retrieving
> her cell phone, an item she isn't legally supposed to be using while
> driving, so I cautioned her against texting and driving. She left smiling,
> which is handy when you've run into someone.
>
> Since I'd turned I was off course, so I continued on the road, then took a
> right. My random driving method means driving in the general direction of
> where I'm going with the hope that somehow it'll work out. Sometimes it
> works, sometimes not.
>
> This time, not so much. I quickly found myself headed up a mountain road,
> which I thought quite amazing since I'd just been in Portland seconds
> before. I passed by a large Bible school campus, then went up a winding
> road. There were old stone walls at the side, something which always
> delights me because, well, they're old. The road became narrower, and the
> drop off was quite a drop off, and so I continued up. Since my windows were
> down I could hear birds chirping and doing their birdly things. By this
> time
> I'd turned down the ultra loud alternative rock. I just wanted to see what
> was at the top of this hill, and it was such a nice drive. I passed a
> runner
> headed up the road, with a black lab at her side. Off to the left I could
> see the freeway, and landmarks. I reached the top, and there was what
> looked
> to be a large radio tower, surrounded by old moss covered walls. People
> were
> parked to look at the view or the old moss covered walls, I'm not really
> sure, and I drove around in a circle, and was then faced with a choice of
> several roads to go back down. Or at least I think they went back down. I
> headed back down the way I'd come, and enjoyed the trees overhead.
>
> I've always loved driving down roads with trees overhead. I'm quite fond of
> trees and have often thought of adopting a few.
>
> I passed the runner with the black lab. She was still heading up, and the
> dog was trotting along slowly beside her, his pink tongue hanging off to
> the
> side.
>
> I came back down into the city, and turned my radio back up a few hundred
> decibels (how much is a decibel? I should know this but, strangely enough,
> don't.) I headed back home, my windows down, the air rushing through my car
> like a mini-cyclone, and life was good.
>
> All of which is irrelevant, isn't it?
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 1:19 PM, Russ Doden <russ.doden at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > There is a car in the parking lot in front of the building I’m in.  The
> > driver leaves the radio on for his passengers while he goes in to the tag
> > agency next door.  The radio is playing Latino music.  A strong low
> > frequency beat with a higher pitched mass of voices doing the Spanish
> > speaking vocals emanates from the car.   It isn’t much of a distraction,
> > but
> > it is noticeable.  The song ends and another song takes its place.  The
> > passenger turns the volume up.  I can clearly hear the music inside the
> > shop
> > where I’m sitting.  No one seems to pay any attention to the “sounds”
> > radiating from the car.  I find myself starting to get a little on edge.
> >
> >
> >
> > Soon the driver comes out and the car leaves leaving a noticeable quiet
> in
> > the parking lot.  Not for long though.  Another car pulls in, also with
> > speakers pumping out sounds.  This time it is rap with a strong “thump,
> > thump, thump” vibrating from the car.  I can’t understand the lyrics but
> I
> > can hear the voices of the rappers.  The sounds continue on, getting
> louder
> > and more annoying.  I think they are only annoying because of the
> > vibrations
> > that are produced by the strong base line - “thump, thump, thump”.  Soon
> a
> > group of young people are standing around visiting.  In order to hear
> each
> > other, they have to speak loudly.  Then someone turns the volume of the
> CD
> > player in the car up even louder.  “THUMP, THUMP, THUMP” with a mash of
> > noise mixed in – every once in a while a word will be clearly heard
> through
> > the base line.  As often as not, the words heard include obscenities.
>  This
> > is music?  I guess to some it is.  Soon a patrol car swings into the
> > parking
> > lot, just making its routine rounds.  The radio gets turned down
> instantly,
> > the group scatters and comparative silence returns to the parking lot.
> >  Once
> > again I can hear traffic on the street and the voices of children whose
> > parents are getting something done next door.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am left sitting and wondering, “Am I getting old?”  Way back when, back
> > in
> > the 60’s, I played my music loud and I’m sure annoyed the people in the
> > area.  I still like to “Crank it up” once in a while at home or sometimes
> > even in the car.  Not so loud as to drown out the sound of sirens on
> > emergency vehicles but still much louder than necessary.  I usually only
> do
> > hat for one song though.  Two at the most, then it gets turned back down
> to
> > a comfortable level.
> >
> >
> >
> > What happened to my love of playing “my” music and listening to the
> “thump,
> > thump, thump” that went with it?  What happened to the young man that
> > enjoyed going down the road with the windows open, radio blaring the
> latest
> > Beatles or Doors, or Iron Butterfly, or Santana, or whoever I was into at
> > the moment?  When did Celtic music replace hard rock?  When did Classical
> > music replace “acid rock”?  When did I change?   I can’t really fault the
> > people for listening to their music.  I did the same thing – and often
> > heard
> > “Turn that noise down” from the oldsters.  I refuse to be an oldster.  I
> > may
> > be getting older but I refuse to be one of those who can’t remember their
> > own days of turning the radio up and listening to the “thump, thump,
> thump”
> > vibrating through my body.  I just have to remind myself to not get upset
> > at
> > what they enjoy listening to  I don’t want to be one of he “old people”
> > that
> > get upset like the old people did when I was young and I was listening to
> > my
> > music.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Take things one day at a time
> > IF that is too much go 1 hour at a time
> > If that is too much, go 1 minute at a time
> > Miracles come one minute at a time.
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Monique Colver
>