Howdy! Grab a chair an’ a beer! Well, here in Madtown, we’ve already had our traditional three-day spring, an’ moved right on into summer! Lots goin’ on, an’ the weather’s perfect right now!
Reggie an’ I went to the Frog Jumps like we do every year, an’ I had a really nice surprise. At dinner, we met a great couple named Robert an’ Sharon Dees, from El Dorado Hills. He reads my column every month (See Terry? I told ya there was at least one!) an’ recognized me an’ Reggie. We had a great time chattin’, and I hope we can get together again soon! It’s always fun to make new friends, so ya have more stops to look forward to when ya travel. Any good bars or donut shops in El Dorado Hills?
While we were holdin’ down the wall in front of the Murphys Hotel, a chick on a cinnamon-colored bagger started to take off, lost it, an’ flipped into the big ceramic planters they used to have along the sidewalk. You remember, the ones with the skinny little tree things in ’em? Well, I said “used to have” for a reason. I don’t know if it just got away from her or if she was tryin to use her roll-over minutes, but she took a nasty tumble, an’ wiped out every one of those potted trees! Merrrrrcy! Shit flyin’ everywhere! No major injuries, but it did liven up the evening. The cops gave her the usual, “If you wrecked your motorcycle you must be drunk, loaded or both!” field tests, but they didn’t find any incriminatin’ evidence, so they let her go. I can understand her bein’ so excited that she’d turn cartwheels, but she shoulda got off the bike first. Huh? Well sure… I’ve done stuff like that, but I caught shit for it, too, so I’m passin’ it on!
Songster Roger Miller once sang “good ain’t forever, an’ bad ain’t for good,” an’ I guess that’s true of everything, includin’ the Frog Jumps. No more block-long burnouts down Main Street, an’ things settle down by around 1:00 in the mornin’ now, instead of rippin’ it up all night. I sure miss the parties Sherrie Lockhart used to have at the Avery Hotel, but the same crew is still hangin’ out, an’ at least we still get to spend some time with ’em. Even the accommodations are gettin’ more civilized. Ya don’t see people sleepin’ next to their bikes rolled up in damp blankets as much anymore. Maybe those of us who used to do that kind of stuff are a dyin’ breed. The breed probably died of pneumonia from sleepin’ in wet blankets.
Reggie an’ I stopped by the Red Barn in Tuttletown to see Stan an’ Miss Becky, two of our favorite folks, an’ we were shocked by all the improvements they’ve made to the place! They’ve filled in most of the old creek that I nearly busted my ass fallin’ in a dozen times over the years, they’ve put in a new patio, showers, an’ lots more touches of civilization! They’ve even got RV hookups for those of ya who go in style. Oh, well… Like my ol’ grandpappy used to say: “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.”
Reggie won an award the other night from an organization called “A Spoonful of Sugar.” It’s to honor people who’ve overcome challenges an’ adversity in life. They caught us on Bike Night at QN4U, a barbecue restaurant in Clovis, an’ surprised her with two tickets to a Tim McGraw concert. A beautiful young lady named Shannon started it a while back, an’ she and Reggie became instant friends. I didn’t find out till later that she has stage four breast cancer, and wanted her kids to remember her as being happy and helping others. Now that, boys an’ girls, is one brave lady! Kinda makes the challenges the rest of us face seem small by comparison. If ya want to support her an’ A Spoonful of Sugar, just log onto www. aspoonfulofsugar.org. There’s a little video of Reggie gettin’ her award, an’ a lot of other interestin’ stuff! It’ll make ya smile, so get up an’ get logged on!
Speakin’ of gettin’ logged on, is anybody on Facebook? Yeah, I am… I get bored pretty easy though, an’ that’s when I start gettin’ myself in trouble. I got tired of all those games where ya need bricks ta build an outhouse in Farmville, or your poor baby whatever’s cold an’ hungry, or ya just shot somebody on Mafia Wars, so I started my own game called “Biker Bar Life” on my profile page. It’s a lot more fun than feedin’ somebody’s imaginary fish, an’ I get ta inflict my sick an’ demented sense of humor on all my friends. I’ve got pictures from a lot of runs on there, too, an’ some from when I was a kid, with the bikes I had almost 50 years ago. Can ya see ’em? Sure ya can! Just come on in an’ grab a chair an’ a beer!
