Don't want to make this moment last
Just fallin' on the cobblestones
Lookin' for luck and feeling woozy
O.K, I haven't fallen for some time and generally I feel pretty good. I know I am declining because whenever I turn, leave a room without holding the door frame, or stand up quickly, I feel like I am high on drugs - not the "feeling groovy' kind of high but a more sinister type that I have yet to name. Needless to say, my balance has been affected and a few times I have actually wobbled like a happy drunk. When my drugs are at their peak, I approach normalcy, so it is not all bad. I remain optimistic albeit a tainted optimism.
I am back in the city. My Vancouver trip was both bad (the sadness of the wake) and good (seeing my brother and his family). The 3 hour plane ride was tolerable because I reserved Economy Plus and I had plenty of leg room. Later in the year we are going to Europe. That flight I am looking forward to - business class - sleeping pods - catered to - airport lounges. This will be the first and last time we fly in that fashion and for me, it might be the highlite of the trip. I should have no PD problems flying in luxury.
First we go to Paris and then Barcelona where I am visiting a very good friend whom I have not seen in 20 years. He has cancer but for now his defenses are holding the disease at bay. Still, cancer or no cancer, PD or no PD, at our ages, this will be our last visit. We are growing old and .....I was going to tell you all the bad things associated with aging but there is no need, it is your destiny to find out for yourselves. There are some really good moments involving children and grandchildren, but for the most part it is true that growing old ain't for sissies.
One last Brian story
Brian and I and occasionally our brothers, were into all things science with runaway imaginations. Upon their return from a sojourn in El Paso, Texas, the Howies brought with them a rocket powered by liquid fuel. It was a wicked looking thing with 2 stages. The nose cone was where we put our astronauts (grasshoppers) none of whom survived the flight (we gave them a proper burial). The first stage was the fuel chamber where two chemicals (my memory is vague on this detail) mixed together to build up the pressure to push the rocket skyward. To keep it on the ground while it pressurized, there was a pin, attached to a 20 foot string, holding the rocket in place. To make the rocket fly, you waited for the pressure to build and, standing 20 or so feet away from it, you pulled the string which released the pin and the rocket went on its way with another astronaut with a short lifespan. The whole rocket was mounted on a mechanism that enabled it to be aimed at any angle. One summer day, Brian and Bruce decided to launch the rocket. I was a bystander while the two brothers readied the rocket. We allowed the chemicals to mix and the pressure built up and it was ready to fly. Bruce pulled the string but the pin didn't release. Rather, it got snagged on the rocket and caused it to slowly swivel downward until it was pointed directly at us. We stood mesmerized, waiting for a disaster. But for some reason, that rocket remained on the pad and fizzled out. We were lucky and broke into nervous laughter. That rocket would have seriously harmed someone,but the gods look after crazy people and idiot children and the incident became another glorious Howie brother deposit in my rapidly filling memory bank.
No comments:
Post a Comment