Tim – thank heaven you did not just leave us in Forum Interruptus after all. Great story-telling, my friend. Very good descriptions that really put us into the center of the the action and the in the center of your thoughts. I think my favorite line was, "If a flea farted I was down and no longer breathing." I do have one little quibble with your ending however, because it puts lie to the old expression of being scared shitless. In your case, being the contrarion that you are, and always have been, you instead came through that ordeal somehow being completely scared shit-full.
The real damage was done last night while I was reading it. I had started some hard boiled eggs on the stove and sat down to start reading the conclusion. Towards the end of my reading, I realized there was a noise on the stove top -- OOOOOOPS!
I'm sure glad it was enjoyable. Made me wonder how Mike and others have spent their lives writing under a deadline. Remember please that this intense/foggy memory of an event....well, it lasted only ten days...all condensed into that one last night. A recent MOH winner was shown to have gone on fighting even after being left behind. Or remember that soldiers the world over go out and go out and go out, time after time, days extending to months of looking into the eye of the tiger and trying not to let down their side or their family. We have quiet guys right in our midst, our class, who did that. I am so effing astounded by that courage that I don't know how to even think about it.
Dave, I took your hint and looked up Millett on You Tube. Damn man, there are lots of stories, interviews and so on there. He was even more of a star than I ever imagined.
Jeanine, thank you.
Mark, you made me laugh out loud this morning. Forum Interruptus...hilarious. My loud laugh disturbed Renee's daily reading of the Catholic Digest. No doubt god will get you for that. You know me well...I have spent my life running off at the mouth proving each day to be either less or full, depending on your point of view. Very funny take on the ending.
Sooooo, who thinks Urban should have gotten more than three games off?
Moving on from Tim's jungles of Massachusettes (no disrespect Tim, that was a terrific piece of writing), how about a nostalgic trip back that starts even a few years earlier? Everyone remember collections to "buy" a pagan baby? Here's my version of Mary Chapin Carpenter's song Stones in the Road. When I first heard this on the radio one day, I immediately decided to try to do a cover version. However, two things also became immediately clear: 1) I could not duplicate the catchy musical arrangement she had, so I had to come up with something else melody-wise and 2) I had a compulsion to expand upon her lyrics. The lump she put in my throat came directly from her lyrics, and hopefully what I have added to them will not detract from her beautiful song.
If your curious as to how I changed the lyrics, here are the Mary Chapin Carpenter's original lyrics:
When we were young, we pledged allegiance
every morning of our lives
The classroom rang with children's voices
under teacher's watchful eye
We learned about the world around us
at our desks and at dinnertime
Reminded of the starving children,
we cleaned our plates with guilty minds
And the stones in the road
shone like diamonds in the dust
And then a voice called to us
to make our way back home
When I was ten, my father held me
on his shoulders above the crowd
To see a train draped in mourning
pass slowly through our town
His widow kneeled with all their children
at the sacred burial ground
And the TV glowed that long hot summer
with all the cities burning down
And the stones in the road
flew out beneath our bicycle tires
Worlds removed from all those fires
as we raced each other home
And now we drink our coffee on the run,
we climb that ladder rung by rung
We are the daughters and the sons,
and here's the line that's missing
The starving children have been replaced
by souls out on the street
We give a dollar when we pass,
and hope our eyes don't meet
We pencil in, we cancel out,
we crave the corner suite
We kiss your ass, we make you hold,
we doctor the receipt
And the stones in the road
fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal,
before we get back home
And the stones in the road
leave a mark from whence they came
A thousand points of light or shame,
baby, I don't know
I am embarrassed at the light punishment for Urban Meyer.
Coincidentally, In my second job (driving Hilton Head folks to airports and vice versa). I was assigned to pick up at the "private aviation" side of tiny little Hilton Head Airport (one gate) a few months ago. The passengers were Urban Meyer, Gene Smith (the A.D.) and another guy (didn't know him) and two wives and one female coach (volley ball maybe?). At the "private avaition" side, we go out on the tarmack and wait by the door of the Gulfstream plane. I drove them back to Bluffton into a local gated community called Colleton River, to the mamouth home of a very wealthy OSU booster. Colleton River has two courses, a Jack Niklaus course and a Pete Dye course, which is reputed to be the best in this area (of about 30 golf courses - 19 or so on the Island, and about 10 or 12 here in Bluffton). The Pete Dye course was the setting for the golf scenes in "The Legend of Bagger Vance" with Will Smith and Matt Damon.
I wonder if the Meyers will be welcome guests there again? My guess is yes. It's about money, not proper behavior.
He said some nasty stuff about Obama and I sent him an e-mail to him telling him he was no longer a hero of mine. Then when Orange made fun of him I sent another to John M in total support of him. He was a true patriot. Sad day.
We all knew Tim Lavelle to be a funny guy, a tad hippy, congenial, provocative with the right, compassionate with the left but THIS….. Really who knew?
Tim, my recently acquired best buddy, your gift of gab and love for playing with words have been transformed into a grasping narrative that keeps your readers captive to the end. You had a story to tell and boy, did you tell it! You took us with you into the jungles of Massachusetts to experience the fears of all who have entered the war jungles around the world throughout the ages.Your wit sneaks through the most intense situations showing that humor is also a trusty weapon.
With breath bated….We anxiously awaited… Now we again await your next story narrated.
Not a Haiku, not even a poem it's just a little "hats-off" to a friend who knows how to write.
He wiped his cell phone. Pretty clear circumstantial evident to that effect. He learned that he was being investigated and hid information. I do not think his initial mistake, of overlooking bad behavior, was as terrible as some are making it out to be. As with the situation with Tressel, it's the lying about it that stains everything.
I could forgive Woody. His outburst was a crime of passion. This was calculated. Big difference. In Dante's Inferno, his version of hell, he has circles of torment, some worse that others. Crimes of passion get off easy, if you can call being in hell easy. The worst circles are reserved for crimes of calculation. And....that's the kind of info you have at your disposal, kids, when you graduate from a Catholic college.
I can't get it out of my craw about Urban. The Bucks have been a source of heartbreak and joy to me over the years. That's a journey whose bumps and bruises you accept. This is a source of .... not sure what to call this feeling. Disillusionment, I guess. Heavy-duty --anguished, even -- crestfallen, heartsick disillusionment. Like somebody stole or vandalized something precious to me.
Somewhere there's a lesson in this, having to do with priorities, and letting go. It's a lesson I didn't particular want to see turning up in my curriculum at this point in my life, thank you very much.
Before Tim's "great escape" story gets too far past us, I have to add the following video about a man he referred to in his first "installment" - Colonel "Bayonet" Millett. It's a name I had heard, but never knew the story that went with it. Tim's reference aroused my curiousity. There are several clips on You Tube about him, but I want to show you this one because it is so genuine and so touching. He is a hard-nosed combat soldier from 3 wars, but also a very sensitive and even funny human being. He was, in fact, a "deserter" at one point in his young military career, but you have to hear and enjoy his version of the story to get the full meaning of it in his case. When I heard this part (at about 2:10), I had to laugh out loud! A simple man, with a sense of humor, and a gracious heart.
Tim, thanks for introducing us to such a great story - within your great story.
It seems like we have all been captivated by Tim's story and his talent as a storyteller. It makes me wonder how many other tales are out there waiting to be told.
In posts 3818 and 3822 Mark and Tim put out a call for more of our classmates to join in on these Forum discussions and I know we would love to read their stories. So I, too, ask others to tell us your moments of fun, humor, tragedy, adventure, fear or whatever on the User Forum or, if brief enough, on this Message Forum.
You could also use the old TV series, Dragnet, approach: "The story which you are about to read is true. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent."
To all i apoligize for a quick political commeny but i could notlet this go by with it. I did not know voach meyer erase he cell phone . Knowing that my question, how can you hold coach to a different stand when the democratic party and their candidate for president of the united states not only erased30000 emails and then destroyed her phones with hammers. Meyer who knows what he was doing but this is someone who was jtrying to keep ohio state unharmed. The other was trying to hide her plans to hide the facts of all her dealings that would cause her to go to jail. Double standard? I think so
Great segue, Frank. But you left out the voodoo. I'm sure some of that was involved, too. Just be grateful it turned out the way it did. That would have sucked, having a president with so much to hide.
So to all of you "guys" who have been asking for it............here it comes!!!!
For those classmates who may not be aware, I published a family blog for about 5 years or so titled, Diaryofanut. And while my life has not been what anyone would declare "exciting", it has certainly never been routine!! LOL And so, for anyone out there with a longing for a simple, mundane, humdrum, ordinary, dull as dishwater account of the day-to-day life of a self-proclaimed "nut", I refer you to this link which chronicles a portion of the diary from three years ago https://diaryofanut.com/2015/11/11/diaryofanut-the-cliff-notes/
P.S. Truth be told.....this illustrious title was bestowed upon me by Jim/Crick following a very heated discussion (argument) during which he refused to abide by the rules of engagement for married couples........#1. The wife is always right. #2. When the husband feels she is wrong, he must slap himself and refer to rule #1 again!!!
Tim , as the class has told me of my talent for writingI will now voice my learned opinion! What a great story of adventure, fear and loathing of the enemy. Loyalty to your brothers in harms way and huge balls to fave the consequeces of your actions. Now if i was directing you thru the jungle ( cue the music , run thru the jungle) . The look if fear on your face as tou plunged that biology probe into my hip, yes it still gives me nightmares, i can imagine was double that at a minimum! While running thru the palm here in flouda the palmetto palm you are sliced to pieces but add fear, pain, and terror i imagine no oblivious to it all except survival. Cue the sound man “tell tale heart) but when the light at the end of the tunnel must have been almost the thrill of you life.. i am glad though you did not go in to your great catharsis , a story to be untold. Tim it is stories like your which is way i tried to join the navy , rejected not for brains you all no matter what you think i had a crack in my spine.
Enjoyed your "Cliff Notes" diary stories and those are the kind of tales that personalize this Forum. Oakland Park backyard croquet games reminded me that we did that on Brevoort also. The biggest hazard was dog poop! Clintonville was a great place in which to be raised. But that also says something of the era when we were kids.
Hope more of you IC girls (and guys) share some stories of your pre- and post-Clintonville and Watterson experiences here on the Forum!
I am writing this with the heaviest of hearts. Today we lost our precious Zarina Abigale , her heart just gave out. She was perfect , not one sign of downs. We are struggling right now but the Lord will see us through this. We are comforted by the the thought my sainted mother needed a baby to rock. We know the Lird works in mysterious ways and not to wuestion Him. We rejoice in the fact she is wrapped in the arms of the Lord. I know i don’t have to ask you for prayers as we know we are in them. Thank you
Frank, my heart aches for you, Deb, Nicole, Jason and Natalia. Zarina's footprint may have been small, but she left an imprint on all of your hearts that will remain forever. Please accept my deepest condolences and may the grace of God bring you all strength, peace and comfort in the days ahead.
Twinkle, twinkle little star, up in heaven is where you are. Flying high and twinkling bright, my guiding star, my shining light. Twinkle, twinkle little star, my perfect angel is what you are.
Frank, God tested all of you and you passed with flying colors. You were ready and willing to accept this little angel but for some reason He decided he needed her in Heaven. You are a wonderful family, good people. Trust in Him and life will be good. Enjoy your little Natalia and give her some extra hugs tonight. Thoughts and prayers being sent your way.
