October 15, 2020

The scene looking out the back porch this afternoon looks somber.

I am feeling anything but somber.

I didn’t have a head of white hair thirty-eight years ago, as I was trolling up and down the visitor’s sidelines at James T. Blevins Stadium at Brownstown Central High School on a cool October night in 1982.

Today I did.

This was the story thirty-eight years ago.  A least it is a good part of it.

I was a freshman.  We had a good team.  Being there was enough for me.  I had been there before, Brownstown, that is.

For North Harrison, it was our finest hour.  Brownstown Central…they get out of joint if you don’t put Central in there mind you…was coming in with an 18 game winning streak.  North, a fledgling program five years in the making was there to take care of business that night.  We did.

The Cougars featured a potent wishbone offense the likes I don’t know if we have seen since in the Mid Southern Conference.  Yes there are variations of a Wing-T floating around and that’s nice.  But this was different.  This was Thomas Lott and Billy Sims and David Overstreet and Kenny King in the form of QB Kevin Samons, FB Mark Smith, RB Anthony Sieg and RB Jeff Brown showing up from Ramsey to run the Braves over and that is what they did.  Thanks in large part to Rick Gunter, Pat Prince, Tony Lawson, Jeff Rudolph, Randy Kilgore, Ted Smith and Brian Henrich with David Hood and Jim Titus running in the plays. No one saw this coming.  A victory over the Braves?  Yes, that was on the table.  A butt-whipping that was 21 to 0 at the half?  No.  But we were glad to take it to them.  Coming into the game, Brownie, A. Sieg, and Burger King (Mark Smith) were three of the top four leading scorers in the conference.

Kevin Samons and my Dad.

In earnest, I stopped by the BCHS football field today because of the sky.  As my dear wife, Carrie, and I were driving home from Columbus this morning, I told her I wanted to stop at BC and look at the field.  I wanted to take this picture…

It was on this space that I remember kicking a football over a goal post for the first time as a child.  I went on to tell Carrie that there is not a better day to kick than one that is cool and overcast.   The ball looks different under a grey cloudy sky.  I like that look better.

As I turned away, it hit me.  “Carrie, today is October 15th.  Thirty-eight years ago today we had some fun on this field.”  In fact, there were fire trucks waiting for us in Palmyra to escort us back to Ramsey.  It was a nice night.

In 1984 this was also the first space I ever kicked an extra point in a game.  Two years after THE GAME we would be back at Brownstown Central to defeat the Braves 59-0.  I told Carrie it still means a great deal to me that on the two occasions I came to the field I grew up on as a child, I walked off with the winning team.

My Dad coached the Braves from 1970-1978 and the Cougars from 1979-1985.  To say I was there, would be an understatement.  I lived it.

I must say this.  As I looked at that same North goal post, some 70 yards away, it was the first time I ever felt a little age on a football field.  How did I ever take two steps and kick a ball over a goal post from here, I asked myself?  60 was kind of routine at one point.  But with a kind wind behind me one day in Shreveport, LA in 1986, I two-stepped one in Caddo Stadium, now Lee Hedges Stadium from 70 with room to spare.

I had to take a picture of the kicking net.  I have had some fun kicking a football around.  Whether it was splitting the uprights in The Rose Bowl, or putting North up 3-0 in the first ever sectional game in school history (we won 17-12) or having Matt Stover hold for me as I nailed one from 55 and he told me it was a nice kick, or swinging legs with my dear friend Jerry Brown in the summer time kicking balls over an electric line at Medora Junction.

But for this field and these two teams, I think I might enjoy this kick the most…

(Photo by Brian Smith)

Ben Waynescott was true on the last  play of the game in 2017.

NH 17  BCHS 14.

Walking on the new artificial surface at Blevins Stadium was like walking into a place I felt like I was familiar with but couldn’t quite place.  It was not home.  I know there are merits to artificial grass.  I’m just glad I was there when I was.

It was a great game.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

I don’t fancy myself as much of a photographer.  When the light is right most anything can happen I have found.  Be it a photo on a bridge over a train track in the morning at JUST the right time in Harrison County or as a pink hue is falling over the water on the sound side of Topsail Island and some of that light manages to find a few of those clouds adrift at our urging over the ocean shore, the light makes it for me.  Edward Hopper is testament to that.

On a walk yesterday I found the light to be quite nice for taking a few shots.

I know how fleeting this fall season can be.  These beautiful trees and the colors they radiate will be a legion of twigs in a few short weeks.

For now, I will just enjoy it.

My dear wife, Carrie, joined me as I was on the way back to the house from the regular walking trail.  We decided to head to the corn field behind the house and then a little farther down to a nice place to photograph on the Blue River.

This corn has to come down soon.  I am a bit corn-shocked that it has lasted this long really.

I thought of Pete Rutherford when I took this one.  We used to “ground corn!” on the road.  It dealt with a sudden sturdy application of a car’s brake pedal atop field corn kernels that accumulated on the road near a field.  How can I articulate this goofy act into sophisticated verbiage?  Well, I just tried. I feel unsuccessful at it.

For Pete, GROUND CORN!

Of course the deer around here outnumber the people largely.  Carrie and I had a couple of them grunting at us last week.  We were in their space and they wanted us to clear out.  We acquiesced in time.

Blue River is down.  But very lovely nonetheless.  Looking South.

Looking North.

Mark Twain said that golf is a good walk spoiled, didn’t he?

This walk was not spoiled for us.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

First things first.  A photo looking up the road East of Mailbox (my apologies to Gordon Lightfoot) taken this Saturday morning.

Fall.  Forever Autumn.  Whatever you want to call it.  I look around this time of year and I see football season.  In all its glory, heartache, or celebration.  Many a good day I have had on or around a football field.  I’ve seen a few games I can tell you.  Watching from the couch this year, I have looked back on many of those times with a little extra thanksgiving in the old heart.  I have been blessed.

This weekend last year, my dear wife, Carrie, and I stopped in Huntington on the way home from Topsail Island.  This time she said, “You go ahead.”  I walked the 1.6 miles from downtown up 5th Avenue to Joan C. Edwards Stadium.  I’d been sitting all day in the car.  I was ready to stretch my legs.

Old Dominion.  That is who the Herd was playing that day.  It marked the 71st FBS team I have seen play a game.  Albeit the Hawaii game was a Spring Game Scrimmage in 1991.

Oh, that trip to Topsail last year.  Carl is missing the beach this year.  He loves that place.  So do I.

It was a year ago that I found this pebble among a million shells and rocks and sand all together getting along quite nicely.  I carried it around for a while.  The ink started to fade.  Now it sits on my book shelf in the home office.

On to this week’s picks!

You know how I said it had to get better last week?  It didn’t.  Five winners and five losers again.  Pitiful!

I am leaving my affection for Coach Cut and the Dukies on the sideline this week.  And how about Ole Miss last week?  Should I pick them to beat BAMA?  Naaaa.

The State Bulldogs should have saved some of those passing yards against LSU for the Hogs last week.  That was a shock.

So, here goes nothing…

LSU beats Mizzou…Moved this on to avoid Hurrican Delta.  Tigers will win!  Uh, the LSU Tigers that is.

Texas beats Oklahoma…You’re old Uncle Dan can remember the day before ESPN when we got a couple of college games on TV a week and you knew this was going to be one of them.  The Texas State Fair and the game played at the Cotton Bowl.  It was special.  It still is.  Texas needs this game.  So does Oklahoma.  Texas by 4.

North Carolina beats Virginia Tech…Yes, I do love love my North Carolina teams.  Good to see the Heels.

Georgia beats Tennessee…They get after it don’t they, these two?  Another classic match-up.  Until Georgia plays Alabama, we won’t know who is number one.  I still lean toward the Bulldogs.  Silver Britches are playing well.

Auburn beats Arkansas…The Hogs can’t win two in row can they?

Pitt beats Boston College…Let’s hope Pitt comes out in the yellow helmets and the blue trim that resembles the Days of Tony Dorsett and Danny Marino instead of those hideous dark blue things they wear.  I have fashion sense!

Bama beats Ole Miss…I can’t do it.  I was going to.  Aunt Barbara talked me out of it yesterday afternoon as I was picking up to-go vittles.  It would be nice to see the Tide take it on the chin in Oxford.  Ole Miss is living Life in the Fast Lane Kiffin…sorry Chris Berman.  I had to.

Marshall beats Western Kentucky…The Herd hasn’t played a game in awhile.  This should be a good contest.

Mississippi State beats Kentucky…Coach Mike Leach does not go to Lexington and get beat.  It would like Indiana beating Ohio State which is against the natural order of things.

Notre Dame beats Florida State…Another 7:30 PM EDT game….which there are troo many tonight!!!

Have a good weekend y’all.  Hope I have spoken the football predicting rights.

Danny Johnson

So I can’t pick football games.

I was 5 winners and 5 losers yesterday with my college football picks.  Same result as last week.  Worst efforts ever.  But alas, I will try again next week.

I was delighted to Ole Miss beat Kentucky.  One point is all it takes to win.  And by the way, Georgia looks like number one to me.  My apologies to Brother Tim Petty and his Bama crew.  Clemson would be third or fourth place in the SEC.  I don’t usually purport such a thing.  But then again, what the heck do I know?  I picked UK to beat Ole Miss.

So I can’t pick football games.  I can walk.  And that I did today.  6.21 miles worth.

I needed it and it felt good.  Just hope it feels as good in the morning.

This was part of the path.

Last year, on October 2nd, as I was pulling out of the school parking lot it was this hot in Ramsey, Indiana…

As I sit here this evening before the sun has gone down on October 4th, it is an autumn like 56 degrees.  As the photos indicate, it has been cloudy today.

I have walked around Walden Pond on three occasions.  Today, I focused on the nature around me and took a few extra deep breaths and it wasn’t Walden Pond but it was pretty nice.

New mown hay is an Indiana tradition.  You’ve heard the song before the Indy 500, haven’t you?

The old bailed hay.

Rest assured I know how fortunate I am to be able to walk this path in seclusion and anonymity.  I think I saw five cars pass during my walk.

I have not sat down to watch pro football.  I might catch the end of the Colts game here in a minute.  They are playing the Bears in Chicago.

No, I am not one of those who won’t watch football for political reasons.  If that were the case, I would have stopped watching long ago.  Capitalism is a byproduct of politics I suppose.  It sure costs a great deal of geat to go to a game these days.  Same with concert tickets.  Don’t get me started.  I don’t blame a game for the way people feel.  I still enjoy watching sports. If you want to turn off the games, do it.  Just don’t blow off about it on social media.  No, I guess that is asking too much.  I forget sometimes.

As I walked I thought of a great many folk.  I thought about Uncle Roger and how it has been too long since he heard from me or I have heard from him.  He is a writer for sure.

I thought about Bart Bigham and how he too appreciates Henry David Thoreau.  The time I got to spend in Bart Bigham’s classroom, whether it was shooting the breeze, solving the world’s problems, talking about music, or having literary speaks, it was an honor to be in the room with him.  I am humbled that he gave me the chance to hold forth with his students on occasion, as he knows I still enjoy talking to students about writing and writers.

For the most part I just walked and took it all in.  When a six mile walk goes by too quickly you know for sure you have had a blessed day.

Not unlike on this day 35 years ago when I kicked a 38 yard field goal against Clarksville.  Revisionist history may not let you know about it.  I don’t mind.  I was there.

I have said it before and I will say it again.  Take care of each other.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

First, let us hope and pray that Donald Trump and his family get well.  I don’t wish illness on a single soul.  Strange days and tough times.

A line at the end of a Tim Krekel song comes to mind this morning.

“At the end of the tunnel you can see a light.  Well if that ain’t a train, you made it through the night…”

“The mist is lifting slowly, I can see the way ahead…”  Justin Hayward.

Took this one on the walking course this week.  I’ll soon have three seasons of walking course pictures during this pandemic.  Looking forward to some nice colors on the leaves soon.  I so enjoy the sights of autumn. They are here and gone like no other time.

And this fall is like no other for sure.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I have no plans to attend a college football game this year.  I know that.  It is still hard to believe.  I know its out there and I know they are playing.  As my Granny used to say, it’s “weirdo”.

Last week I gladly reported that my picks from the previous week were 8-2.  Last week’s picks were 5-5.  I must do better this week.

It was a glorious sight to get the SEC back on the field last week.  How about that passing game from Mike Leach in Starkville?  Long a passing game fan, and Mike Leach enthusiast, I love how he wrote in his book about telling the quarterback to in part determine a defense based on how many defenders were on each side of the center’s butt crack.  He’s awesome!  That and the story of how, while a student at BYU he was called on the carpet for letting his hair grow to the point it was reaching his collared shirt and was told to get it cut.  He then asked the higher-ups about that statue of Brigham Young out there in the courtyard with his hair hanging below his shoulders.  Mike Leach makes me laugh.

This week’s picks:

Baylor beats West Virginia…Things aren’t the same in Morgantown.  I feel for them.  So many natural rivals gone and playing far reaching conference teams.  It’s a bad look, feel, and the Mountaineers aren’t going to celebrate with much couch burning this year.

Tennessee beats Mizzou…Will there be a band at Neyland?  I hope not.  I can’t stand that song.

Pitt beats NC State…Pitt is not bad.  They have not hurt themselves.  Some teams can’t get out of their own way.  I’ve watched the Indiana Hoosiers play football for nigh over 50 year and I know what I am talking about.

UNC beats Boston College…Coach Brown and the Heels will ruin a nice day at Chestnut Hill where the games are a sight to see this time of year.

Alabama beats Texas A&M…I debated with Aunt Barbara yesterday.  I said a school won’t fire a coach this year will they?  That’s cold.  Her answer:  They will in the SEC if they don’t win enough.  And we ain’t talking about Saint Nick here.

Kentucky beats Ole Miss…let me say this first…Hotty Toddy!  I am for the Rebels.  UK has a running game that will flatten the Rebs and hold the ball.  The Rebs are fun to watch on offense.  Defense wins championships?  That is an old adage that reminds me of the Steel Curtain.  You gotta have both.

Duke beats Virginia Tech…Yes, I know, my appreciation for Coach Cut knows no end.  But the boys from my adopted home state have to come around some time, even if they are from Duke.

Mississippi State beats Arkansas…Get that popcorn ready.  This will be fun.

Georgia beats Auburn…In what may be the game of the day in “slobber-knocker” parlance, if you can still say that.  It doesn’t mean you are leading with the crown of your helmet, it just means this will be a physical game with a great many “good sticks”.

LSU beats Vandy...The Tigers need this one.  They will be ready to tee off on Commodore Perry.

Oh how I miss going to college football games.  I am blessed to be able to watch them on television and I know that.  It is more than enough for this selfish heart.  And I am also fortunate that I have the chance to…speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

DISCLAIMER:  You may not want to look at college football picks made by anyone who pays as little attention to pro basketball, if that is something you take joy and invest time in.  This morning in the local metro daily, I saw a story in the sports page with a headline that read “James, Barkley, and Shaq…”  I looked at it sideways and thought, okay, I know two of those guys.  James who?  I thought to myself.  Later I came to realize it was LeBron James. Had the headline used LeBron like Shaq I probably would have connected the dots.  I understand there was not room for “Round Mound of Rebound” in the headline.  Most of my affinity for pro basketball left when Julius “Dr. J Erving” hung up his Converse Dr. Js.  I did enjoy watching Bird and Magic.  Two one-namers for sure.  You’re old Uncle Dan even remembers watching the Buffalo Braves coached by Jack Ramsay on CBS on Sunday afternoons on what looked like a very dimly lit floor compared to today’s arenas.

Oh well.  It ain’t just basketball.  The NFL, yes, I am still watching, all you political experts. Poor leadership was never a game’s fault, regardless of lens or angle or slant you prefer.

My problem is there are no Mannings out there for the the first time since 1997.  I feel like I did in 1986 when Ken Anderson retired. I have said it before.  With pro ball I root for the player.  College ball I root for the team.  I must say when Lamar Jackson is on TV I am probably watching just to see what happens.  His play is quite compelling to me.

It is football season.  This shot was taken this morning back from the paper box.  Walk 3 miles down this road and you will find Milltown.

The Indiana State Sycamore is in the backyard behind the hoop.  Tribute to Larry Bird.

College Football Picks.  Ten games.  That’s it.  Last week’s picks were 8-2.  I followed my heart.  Wanted Duke to beat Pitt and I thought they would.  Wanted Louisville to beat Miami…hoped they would.  This week I am going to touch a couple and not follow my heart.  Maybe it will backfire?  I would be delighted.

A year ago this weekend we were in Tuscaloosa.  Here I am with Brother Tim Petty.  It was a good time, even with an Alabama fan.

This week’s picks…

Florida beats Ole Miss…Hope the Gator get whipped.  Soory, Aunt Barbara.  Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Imagine that.  We don’t have too now.

Auburn beats Kentucky….Hope Auburn gets whipped and the Cats might pull this off.  The whole Covid season is a new season to all.  There will be some head scratchers this weekend and this may be one of them.

Louisville beats Pitt…The Cards improve over last week’s inability to keep up with the Hurricanes in the Schnellenberger Bowl.

LSU beats Mississippi State…Rootin’ against ole State got tougher for me the day they hired Mike Leach.  When one of his players ain’t being sent to the shed, things usually work out.  I wanted Indiana to hire him.  He’d be a great fit there one day.  No offense, Coach Allen.  I am DELIGHTED we have you at IU.

Duke beats Virginia…Duke can’t sputter that bad two weeks in a row can they?

Georgia beats Arkansas…UGA will be yawning mightily in third quarter.

Alabama beats Mizzou…They still callin’ this an SEC game?

Florida State beats Miami…We will find out just how good Florida State is in this one.  This could be my cheese-squezzer.  I just look for FSU to play sound on both sides.

Tennessee beats South Carolina…Good ole Rocky Top.

Southern Miss beats Tulane…That one point loss to La. Tech has to have the Golden Eagles ready to fly.

Before we go, a big shout out to the Paoli Rams for defeating Indianapolis Shortridge 48-8.  Thanks to the team from the North for heading down Highway 37 to play last night!

Have a good weekend and take care of each other!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

“Change is a constant feature”, so said Mr. Larry Martin in my 7th grade World Geography class around fall time of 1980.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein brought down President Richard Nixon.  You know the story, or at least you should.  All the Presidents Men.  This was even made into a movie so you wouldn’t have to actually read about it.  Anyone worth their political savvy salt any age older than I am should have some idea of what talking to Bob Woodward could mean.

But, low and behold we now have a sequel.  Bob Woodward’s new book Rage.

Had I been in charge of the title it would have read All the President’s Wind.  History has never shown us such a blow-hard and that may be part of the problem.

The problem, whatever it is, certainly manifested itself early in the Bob Woodward-Donald Trump interviewing process.  You’ve seen the pictures.  There in the Oval Office.  Bob Woodward sitting in front of Donald Trump with the vice-president, a guy from Indiana for goodness sake, he even had  a radio talk show in Indianapolis at one time.  You’d think he would have more political and streetwise media wherewithal than to be in that picture.  Along with Mike Pence, there were other presidential administrative folk as well.  For me it was certainly the most bewildering image I have seen of Donald Trump yet.  And that is a befuddling catalog.  I didn’t think he could outdo that surreal image of himself holding a Bible in front of a church after folks were cleared out for him to say “cheese” and he didn’t even smile.

I can’t get away from all those folks around the president in the picture with Bob Woodward.  This is all too indicative that even the vice-president can’t give the president a piece of advice to follow.  This is the picture of a portent of being hoisted with his own petard.  You don’t outfox Bob Woodward.  That desk doesn’t care who you are.  Even it knows there is always going to be a next man or woman up.

But I sure hope it is not Donald Trump again.  He is not conservative enough for me.

The guy has single-handedly destroyed so much conservatism I don’t know where to start.

Presidents used to not blatantly lie like this guy does.  While sad, we can recover one day from this.

Presidents should not make fun of journalists who get injured doing their jobs.  So much for the old conservative value that “we are better than this…”

Presidents don’t have any business tweeting like a twelve year-old saying nothing that can be actually taken seriously.  So much for common sense.

Presidents should never say anything as dumb as telling folks he likes war heroes that did not get captured.  As a Republican, I weep for the party and pray for those who still support this guy.  They need help.

I guess I am just too conservative.  I liked it better when I looked at the Democrats and thought, dang, at least I don’t act like that.  But.  Republicans are not better than this.

How the Republican religious base, I cringe at the thought of using the word Christianity because of the regard I have for my faith, bought into Donald Trump being a good choice for president will haunt me forever.

I know. I know.  There are pro-life overtones and Supreme Courts to uphold and I get all that.  I do.  But if we are going to uphold something, lets do it right.  Let’s be as interested in taking care of the folks that are here as much as we are the ones who have not been born yet.  Maybe I am just too conservative.

If you get me started on the whole Covid-19 Pandemic, and the lives at stake there for the sake of one, be it for a lack of responsible behavior or packing folks in like mask-less lemmings who may or may not make it over the cliff.  I know, I know, they have a choice to be there.  I guess I am just too conservative.

My faith in this president was originally lost in my own conservative world.  I work in a school.  In schools there is a defined good old-fashioned decorum that we are charged to live up to.  Behavior and language that would get you sent to the office for disciplinary reasons did me in a long long time ago with this fella.  I guess I am too conservative.

Let me also say I am too tired of hearing that the Covid-19 Pandemic will be gone when the election is over.  It won’t be.  And those 200,000 plus folks dead and dying won’t be coming back.

I feel a little like lamenting similarly to what Coach Herb Brooks said at the end of the movie about his 1980 US Hockey team beating the Russians when he (his character) commented that when the Olympics started allowing professionals, Dream Teams, to play, there was less to dream about.

I used to enjoy being a conservative Republican.  But now, since this president has been enabled and allowed by other Republicans to thrown those values aside for Donald Trump’s gain, there is little left to hold up as being truly conservative.

Thank God we have elections.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

So the Big Ten is back in the fray.  If they are, so am I.

I did not think we would get here.  A year ago my dear wife, Carrie and I were had sweat rolling everywhere in a scorching Memorial Stadium as the Indiana Hoosiers got pummeled by the Buckeyes from that state to the East.

I did run into Anthony Thompson that day and that was a highlight.  In this photo I was asking him if he had any eligibility left.  He told me no and he was glad.  He was right!

So, here we are  and the Big Ten is supposed to kick off on October 23rd.  Why not?

So much has been made of the politics of this decision.  I don’t care about that.  The players don’t care about that.  The coaches don’t care about that.  Fans or no fans, folks are hurting for a sense of NORMALCY in this country.  Don’t look to Washington, DC for it either, if you are looking for normalcy.  You will find lunacy.  Enough of that and this disgruntled old Republican’s opinion.

So with a nod to my old friend Keith Jackson,

Whoaa, Nelly… lets make some college football picks!

Duke beats Boston College…The Dukies were not bad in South Bend. Durham will be kind.

Western Kentuck beats Liberty…Is Hugh Freeze still coaching this team or is he making plans to be at Southern Miss?

Pitt beats Syracuse…The Panthers play better at home.  Don’t they all?

Notre Dame beats South Florida…The Irish could be a team to look out for and they could lose this one.

Marshall beats App State…You know I ain’t pickin’ against the Herd at The Joan.

UCF beats Georgia Tech…The Varsity across the street from Bobby Dodd Stadium will be serving more chili dogs after halftime than interest in this one by then.

Clemson beats The Citadel…Pat Conroy went to The Citadel.  That is the most interesting point of this game.

Louisiana Tech beats Southern Miss…Southern is bad, or did they just need a new coarch?

Louisville beats Miami…The Cards look good at times and Miami is a question mark.  Am I the only one who calls this the Howard Schnellenberger Bowl?

NC State beats Wake Forest…The boys in Raleigh are ready for a win.

Next week things will really get fun when the SEC joins in.  Looking forward to seeing Ole Miss beat Florida.  My Aunt Barbara is a real fan of Dan Mullen…well, not really.

Usually one to attend many college football games in a season, I will be holding down the couch as I watch the season unfold.  Just grateful for that opportunity.

Have a good weekend and take care of each other.

Speaking the college football picking rights…

Danny Johnson

It was not until my dear wife, Carrie, and I found a nice after school vacation spot in The Berkshires in western Massachusetts did we realize that visiting New York City was actually something we could pull off.

There was a matter of getting to Poughkeepsie Station in Poughkeepsie, NY where we would catch a train and ride a couple of hours into Grand Central Station.

The first time we went to New York City we saw a taping of The David Letterman Show in the Ed Sullivan Theatre.

Two summers ago we went back to New York once again.

This time it was not so much fun.  We did not take selfies. One of the places we visited that day was the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Some things never leave us.  I walked into Bobby Russell’s room on September 11, 2001 one morning to ask him a question.  He, a Social Studies teacher, and me, an English teacher, at South Central Jr-Sr High School in Elizabeth, Indiana.

Bobby:  Dan, you’re not going to believe this, but a plane just flew into one of the World Trade Centers in New York.

Me:  Huh?

It was on a television screen hanging from one of his classroom walls.  As I peered at the screen, it was not long before I saw an image of a plane flying through the second tower.  I will never forget it.

Nor will I forget images I have seen where it happened.

The image of this young lady rubbing a name of one who perished that day will stay with me, forever.

I typed these words as I listened to The Concert for New York City, the songs The Who played.

Carrie and I saw The Who at Deer Creek in 2018, and I could not help but to think about 9/11.  It was an honor to hear those songs. I shed a few tears and breathed harder than I ever have at concert before.

Our house, some 40 miles from the Louisville airport, gets the westbound landing pattern traffic.  I remember how the skies were so quiet over our house that night.  I still remember meandering out to look up.  It was a silence that I have never heard.

The Pandemic of late slowed things down for a while for sure…but don’t get this embarrassed Republican started on that.  The Honor 9/11 does not deserve to be diminished.

I know I will never forget.  If I don’t hurt for what all I know about this, I am not worth the powder to blow me up (I paraphrase my dear late Granny).

Take care of each other.  Lord knows we could use more of that!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

George Harrison sang it.  All Things Must Pass.

I was taken aback on a walk a little more than a week ago.  I came across a spicebush swallowtail butterfly in waiting.  He looked like this:

This little guy looked like a fish crawling on the pavement.

In earnest, I don’t recall seeing one of these little guys before.  He looked at me like he had good sense.

Even when I startled him on purpose, he rared back and looked startled.

I’d like to think I came across this little guy two days ago as I was walking on my regular South St. Louis Rd course.

I asked if he was the one I came upon recently.  I swear he looked at me and acknowledged…

I then told him that I have read up on his short lifespan which is 6 to 14 days.

If this is not him, I am sure it is a close relative.

All Things Must Pass…

Justin Hayward made the announcement a  few days ago.  All 2020 concerts are cancelled.  No great newsflash there.

Rescheduling for 2021 is in the process I have heard, providing we make it to 2021 in one piece.

On a phone call with Aunt Barbara this past Friday I told her this will be the first year Carrie and I had not heard Justin sing, either as a solo artist or as a member of The Moody Blues since November 12, 2003.  I went on to tell Aunt Barbara, as a point of perspective, that this was eleven days after she and I watched the Ole Miss Rebels beat South Carolina in Oxford when senior quarterback Eli Manning threw for his most yards in an Ole Miss win.

At the time I was taking a graduate statistics class taught by a big shot professor at the University of Louisville.  One of those profs you don’t speak to until spoken to.  He was a stickler for attendance.  So imagine my angst when I actually stopped him in the hall before our Monday class to tell him I was not going to be there on Wednesday.

Me:  Dr. Cunningham, I know you have a strict attendance policy.  But I want you to know          I will not be here on Wednesday for our next test.

Him:  Why not?

Me:  My wife and I are going to Indianapolis to see The Moody Blues at the Murat Theatre.

Him:  That’s the best excuse I have heard in three years.  I wish I could be there.  Go                   have a good time.  We’ll get the test made up.

A few years later, after I had met Tim Krekel and made some music with him and made a point to go to listen to him around town wherever he was playing, more times than not Dr. Cunningham would be there enjoying Tim’s music.  We nodded at each other a few times.  He knew the face.  He didn’t know my name.

Our 17 year run of hearing Nights in White Satin is over for Carrie and me.  It sure has been fun.  I hope we get there again.  And I hope when that day comes that Julie Ragins is still playing with Justin.  It is always a delight to visit with her.  She and I went back and forth via email a couple days ago.  If you are a member of AARP go vote for her on the AARP Superstar Contest:

https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/music/superstar-2020/.

If you are not, become one!  It doesn’t cost a thing.  Voting goes until September 11th.  You can vote once a day.

One day I will get Julie and her husband Curtis Brengle into a studio to make some music together with Jefferson Carpenter.  That is a personal goal.

From Indianapolis to Denver to Newberry, South Carolina to Chicago to Wilmington, NC to Louisville to Durham to Elizabeth, Indiana in our own Harrison County.

Crowds of 10,000 at Red Rocks

to less than 300 at the City Winery in Nashville below.

Murat 2016 Indianapolis

The “quaint” Kent Stage 2018

Murat 2016

The last Moodies concert we saw at The Ryman  in 2017.

Lexington Opera House with Mom and Dad joining Carrie and me in 2017.

2019 Nashville with Julie

2018 Kent, Ohio

2017 Nashville in the alley between The Ryman and Tootsies.

Murat 2012

It has been a great run.  Live music is kind to my soul.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson