This has been a good week for cleaning out the old storage bin and start throwing away things that have been sent there to molder away. Of course they don’t just go away by themselves, so the city will be having a citywide garage sale in October. This garage sale at your house won’t count against the amount of sales you are allowed each year. Pretty cool, huh? Gonzales has always been at the cutting edge allowing folks to get rid of junk at no cost.
I have a storage unit that I have been filling over the years. You know, tires that no one wants that you can’t take to the dump because they are still on a rim. Oh, and the trunk I found by the side of the road that cost more to fix up than it cost to haul it away.
Of course, if the guy in Washington keeps handing out money, you will have to have garage sales to pay the rent. Inflation at 22% does not equal money in the bank.
I see on television all the folks that are coming to our nation to make a better life, and I wish them well. I have always said that the border has to go. Too many folks dream of coming here, and now they have a chance to come no holds barred.
Some cry about the increase of our population and that we can’t handle the influx. I should point out that these folks will not only help the United States be the greatest country, but will make the country a better place to live. Of course there will be growing pains along the way about jobs and homes, but it might surprise you that labor is one thing we are always short of.
It is true that I’m a little nervous about the people that come to us from a country that keeps saying they want to destroy us. But let us hope that this group will love our country as much as you do.
As I cleaned out my little storage room, I got to thinking about what we keep. The things that I bought or had handed to me that ended up in storage. Could it be that guitar that I bought before some of you were born? I was going to be the next Elvis, only I couldn’t sing, didn’t have black curly hair and wasn’t handsome.
A lot of things haven’t changed. I’m still not handsome, but I still have that guitar. I guess it will go during the next garage sale.
The guitar is not only the first thing I bought before giving up on my career as a heartthrob. I also have a drawer full of very nice harmonicas. I did put a lot of effort into playing them. My collection didn’t have to be large because you can throw a harmonica into your pocket.
Still it’s not necessary to have a bunch of them. I started playing the harmonica when I lived in San Jose and worked the midnight to eight shifts. Playing kept me awake on the drive when I wasn’t talking on the CB Radio. Remember those?
I might have mentioned once or twice in the many columns that I have written that my beautiful bride can shame a robin for beautiful singing. She will tell you that it’s been awhile, but she still sings around the house. A number of years ago we were already attending church and the priest convinced her to help with the music and she convinced me to play in the background on my harmonica.
I still blow a few notes, but like most things if you don’t practice, you lose the skill. I have spent a lot of time trying to convince my kids to pick up an instrument, but they had other interests. Can you spell girls? They love music, but to listen to rather than participate, a malady I share with them.
Their love and appreciation for the different types of music comes from their mom. Our oldest son will call up Lorraine and just say, “Mom, you need to listen to this,” and she will. During these moments, she will just sit, and tears will be running down her cheeks. Not so much because of the song recommendations, but that he felt it important enough to share it with her.
As for me, my love of music was nurtured early in my life by the different churches we attended. These were gospels and dirges that my mom hummed and sang as she worked around the house. Even a child as young as me could understand.
Then Elvis came along and music was changed forever. Elvis sang and gyrated around the stage. Grownups buried their head in the sand, but kids loved it. Then the Beatles came over the ocean and grownups went crazy, just one more reason to hate rock ’n’ roll. The Beatles needed a haircut!
Music keeps changing and I keep saying I’m going to learn to play the guitar.
God Bless.
