Adding to the "Stuff they never told you was gonna happen to your body when you get older' file. I ran cross country in high school, which instilled a life long hatred of running as sport/exercise. but did "run" in all of the other sports I played. Why I mention that is that runners tend to have a problem with chafing, especially the nipples.
Over the last week, mine have gotten really hard and have become raw and chafed. I do walk for exercise and my clothes are drenched almost all the time, so this is becoming a problem. Am combating it by putting body glide on them but the question remains...is this something that happens to all older people? What the hell can be next?
Important announcement. As part of this book I'm writing, or perhaps it'll be stand alone, am starting to write a 'self-help' guide. Not gonna be your typical one but rather one that is very direct. Aggressive perhaps. I have the title already..."Knock It Off". The first chapter, and really the theme of the whole thing is that whatever you are doing that is destructive, knock it off. Other chapters will be about 'Moving your ass' and 'Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day'. Am accepting pre-orders now.
Was talking to a buddy recently and he related a story about a kid that he had watched grow up. For some reason starting about the age of 7 and lasting a few years, whenever someone asked the kid what he was gonna do when he grew up his reply was "sue the government". That tickled me to no end and now include it in my responses when someone asks me what I am going to do when we move back to the States.
Travelogue Part II Act 3
Had a few days in DC. After a week, it was nice to reconnect with people and staying with one of our oldest friends was a treat.
I was holding a coffee in my other hand as I snapped that photo and immediately following, my friend knocked it out of my hand and all over her white couch. Hilarity ensued.
This is the 4th straight year we've visited and so don't have a ton of appropriate for this space travel stories. Plotted out the itinerary to be in town for a rare show by one of the all time bands The Feelies.
I came late to their initial run and saw them once back in '92 in LA. They stopped touring shortly thereafter as one of the principles decided to become a family man. A few years ago, once that guys kids had grown up, they got back together, have put out a couple of really good albums and play a handful of shows each year. As they are always occur on the east coast corridor between Boston and DC, have not had the chance, but the stars aligned.
Show was at the 9:30 Club, which we used to go to back in the college days but had moved locations and was my first time there. It gets voted one of the nation's best clubs regularly and while good, seemed pretty ordinary.
The Feelies on the other hand are icons and were in fine form 41 years after they began. So great.
The Boy took the train up from C-Ville and we went to a Nats game. It happened to be UVA Day at the stadium and we got UVA themed Nats caps. A bunch of us went and we all had seats in different spots....I sat with another good buddy from back in the day, who is a Virginia alum and took an opportunity to get a snap with some Hoo's
A Seattle buddy of the Boy's met us in DC and we drove down to Charlottesville to spend a few days together. On the way, Boy said there was a great BBQ place and so stopped for dinner. They had a sandwich called Hell that was loaded with Ghost peppers and advertised as being the hottest you could eat and survive. I ordered it and they tried to talk me out of it, saying they offer it almost as a joke and that people really don't eat it, which made me want it that much more. The kitchen staff came out to see who would dare accept their challenge. Not gonna lie....it was searing and it hurt, but plowed through it best I could while keeping as straight a face as possible. Mentioned that peeing after the hot chicken in Nashville was hot and tangy, but this was different in that the heat was felt from deep inside the urinary tract and came out burning. I thought I was old enough not to take on a stupid dare. Apparently not.
We spent the days in C-Ville helping Boy-o set up his new pad. He had moved into an off campus group house and as it is really the first time he was on his own, needed some kitchen supplies and a few cooking lessons. A Costco run to start (yes, I did buy him a case of beer).
I assumed that they had a can opener in the house but when we went to look for it as we needed to open something, there wasn't one to be found. These two are both engineering students so they were tasked with figuring it out. It wasn't pretty but they did it. Reminded me of the gag that goes...Optimists see the glass as half full and pessimists see the glass as half empty. Engineers wonder why the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Took our Seattle friend on a tour of the gorgeous campus and told him about the tradition where first years have to streak the 400 yard lawn down and back. We learned a bit more about it from the Boy since he has passed this initiation ritual. Once you go half way, you must circle the statue of Homer three times then kiss him on the butt, then at the other end go up to the door of the Rotunda and say 'Goodnight Mr. Jefferson'. Apparently the Boy did it twice and that they do the run for fun. His second time he went to support a friend. The lawn isn't all flat and there are some small slopes with fairly steep grades. His buddy crashed on one of the slopes and not only did they all laugh, but made him do it again. Some truly devilish/awesome students will booby trap the lawn making them trip. I thought that all colleges had become PC havens and were scrubbed clean from these kinds of shenanigans. What I wouldn't give to go back in time...
Speaking of Mr Jefferson, The Boy had work while we were there so I took his buddy out to visit Jefferson's home called Monticello. I had never visited and after being disappointed in the tour Washington's home in Mt Vernon, was not expecting a lot.
I was wrong and it was an exceptional experience. First, it is lovely...built on a hill and immaculately maintained. Jefferson built it here so he could see the university and they cut a hole in the trees so you can still see it.
No photos are allowed inside, but it is loaded with all of his shit. Things like maps on animal skins from Lewis and Clark, gadgets and inventions from the time, just loaded. Jefferson was in to octagons and many of the rooms were 8 sided. Jefferson thought it was the most optimal shape for maximizing space and allowing light. The tour guide was excellent in pointing out all the details and there were a lot. You could spend years studying the relics and architecture. One that was cool and that I want in my house were the dumbwaiters so they could have bottles of wine brought up from the extensive wine cellars below during dinner.
This was a interesting way for the guide to discuss the paradox of Jefferson. The people in the wine cellars that sent the wine up, and all of the other workers during his time (over 600 in all) were slaves. The guides at Monticello were very good at telling this side of the story too.
I know about Sally Hemmings but was enlightened a bit on the full story. Jefferson is said to have loved his wife intensely and they had children, but she died after 10 years of marriage and he never took another wife. He was also enamored with French culture...food, government, etc. He was living there for many years and he brought over one of his slaves to learn how to cook in the French style. In France at that time, there was no slavery and the black men were free to stay if they wanted. This particular slave decided to go back to Virginia. Also at this time, Jefferson sent for his 13 year old daughter to live with him and along with her, sent a slave girl of the same age to be her companion. You probably have figured out that this was Sally Hemmings, who happened to also be the sister of the chef slave/slave chef.
A couple of years later, it was time to go back to America. Sally could have stayed but she negotiated what they call "Extraordinary privileges". She agreed to return home but only if her children were to be allowed their freedom, so she knew she was gonna be Jefferson's whatever you want to call it. Jefferson did give the 4 children he had with her their freedom when they turned 21, but never gave Sally hers, and these children were the only 4 people that he allowed to leave his custody.
We are hearing this story evolve over the tour and the last room is the dining room with the dumbwaiters. The guide then tells us about how Jefferson was a life long friend of the Frenchman Lafayette and how he would visit Jefferson at Monticello late in their lives. If you don't know about Lafayette's role in US history, you should check him out. On a visit to Monticello when they were in their 80's, they had a discussion about slavery with Lafayette admonishing Jefferson about all of the talk about the dichotomy of his actions with regards to the slaves and his stance in politics of 'all men are created equal'. This debate got serious and Jefferson refused to accept Lafayette's argument and kept his slaves until he died. The two men never spoke again. As the guide told us this and ended with the 'paradox of Jefferson' line, the tour group was silent. Really powerful.
My plane out of the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) was at 7am and as C-ville is 2 hours away, arranged to spend my last night with the buddy from the baseball game at his place in rural Virginia that was 40 minutes from the airport. He said that he had a nice place but it was way more than that. They have 5 acres and the house was fantastic inside. Outside was all lawns and rolling hills and as we're walking around, he tells me they just bought the property next door that was 17 more acres. Lovely views of the nearby hills and loaded with fireflies. Idyllic. He says it takes them 6 man hours just to mow the front paddock, but that they have an arrangement with an outfit that comes to mow the rest and that they use the grass to make and sell hay. They mow for free but the company sells it for their own profit and as they are using it for agriculture, our friend can claim his property as a working farm for tax relief. Pretty nice deal.
They built a "barn" to house their mowers and such and above it is the most eloquently furnished guest pad I have ever had the fortune of staying. This place is so serene and am looking for another opportunity to visit with Betty as she would fall in love with it too.
That's the end of part 2 and the next stop was visiting my family in the Bay Area. Until then...
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