To this day, to this hour, I recall every detail of that spring day and our trip to Callaway Gardens. I recall the two-hour drive south from Atlanta, the fresh spring countryside passing outside the Opel’s windows and the enchanting sounds of the conversation and laughter coming from the passenger’s seat. I recall the delightful spontaneity and seemingly endless variety of enchantments in the girl who walked with me for hours through the gardens and along the water’s edge.

Over the years many useful and important things that I was taught as a child, and some things I learned on my own, have found themselves being ignored and unappreciated. When I am reminded of these things by example or comment I blush and vow to be more mindful in the future.

The way Carl figured it, if he stood up to Mayweather, called his bluff and demanded to be treated with respect, one of two things could happen. Either Mayweather would back off and find someone else to pick on, or Carl would be out of a job. He figured the odds at roughly 50/50.

There is nothing so unbecoming a woman, nothing that speaks so persuasively against her competence and development of mind, nothing so distracting from her skills and accomplishments, and nothing that so diminishes her dignity, as profane and obscene speech in the workplace and in the public forum.

All year round, for two years, we traveled coast to coast and border to border in our tan and white VW bus. Eating chili dogs from drive-in restaurants shaped like teepees and bologna sandwiches expertly prepared in the moving bus, we were two kids truly lost in America. We weren’t hippies, gypsies, commies or crooks. We weren’t affiliated with the Weather Underground or the John Birch Society. We weren’t running from the law, but in a way, we were running for our lives.

If you are one of the fortunate few who inherited a good set of bones, you got a good start on a happy life! I was not so fortuante, but Mary Ann remedied that situation on Christmas morning when she presented me with a brand new set of shiny bones. Vintage rhythm bones from the folks at Bone Dry Musical Instruments Company. She also presented me with a challenge—learning to competently play this ancient and wonderful instrument.

Think down and dirty, grass roots political action doesn’t work? Feeling discouraged about the prospects for genuine health care reform? Well, take heart. The power of the people is real. I was there in the 1970s when a dedicated group of true patriots united in common cause to take on the corporate potty patroons—the powerful Pay-To-Pee syndicate. At stake were our most fundamental bodily function rights—rights then being literally flushed away by capitalist greed and exploitation.

A recent national poll indicates that 22% of non-Christians take offense when someone wishes them a Merry Christmas. We suspect those folks aren’t really offended. We think they’re just faking it for effect. If someone tells us to go to hell, we take offense. If they tell us to have a good time, we don’t. We suspect it’s the same with everyone.

Americans, even ten-year-old American bowlers, have always been willing to believe that what looks good is good, and what looks best must be the best. In almost every case, perception outperforms substance in the American mind.

A soundtrack for a book? Why not? Everybody experiences a book differently, and every author experiences the telling of their story in a unique and personal way. I know I did. As I was writing "Sticks And Stones" every scene, every twist and turn in the story, and every moment of joy and sadness played out in my mind like a motion picture. The experience seemed more like watching a movie than putting words on paper. 

Life lessons. Sadly, we learn too many of them the hard way. But once in a while, usually at the most unexpected times, life brings us those special sweet moments that set us aglow inside and teach us the most precious truths of all.