Captain's Log, March 15

Many years ago, when I still lived at my parents' home, I went with my dad to Oklahoma. He used to go over there every Friday evening and buy a case of beer. At that time, our county was "dry," (no alcohol sales) but Oklahoma wasn't. His dad, my grandfather, lived less than a mile from Oklahoma, so he always stopped to visit him. This was when my grandfather was a bachelor, his second wife (dad's step mom) had passed away from a heart attack. Curiously, my paternal grandmother also died from a heart attack.

Anyway, Dad said something to Grandfather that Grandfather didn't believe to be true. By the way, I'm using "Grandfather" as a formal title because the man was an ass and I didn't like him. Anyway (again), Dad argued that what he said was true because he saw it on TV. Grandfather said, "Son, there's lies on the TV." Dad argued, "I know it's true! I read it in a book!" Grandfather said, "Son, there's lies in them books just like there's lies on TV." Dad never won the argument. Both men went away convinced that they were right. This memory came to me today for no particular reason. I'm an old man now, and I am often the recipient of random memories.

I'm still tired from Friday. I helped my son-in-law take one of their dogs to the vet around 1:30 on Friday. The dog is 67 pounds and hard to handle. She's a good girl but hasn't been on a leash too much. I guess it went well, but it was too hot in the non-air-conditioned car. I did meet, at the vet's office, two adorable American bulldogs named Denali and Margo.

Friday evening we went to Walmart and the sky was quite hazy. It's dust, they say, blowing in from West Texas. I've seen it happen before. It always looks weird. We were also under a fire warning. My wife told me that homes are burning somewhere out in West Texas.

I stopped by Taco Bell on the way home to pick up some tacos for dinner. After I ordered, a man spoke to me from across the dining room. It was my cousin. I hadn't seen him in a while. It was good talking to him. Like us, he has his own health problems.

On Saturday we went back to Walmart to get our own groceries. Grocery shopping is one of the few things that my wife and I get to do together. Hopefully, after her surgery, we'll feel like getting out and doing some things.