“I’m a little worried about that metal thing being thrown in the general direction of your head….”
“Nahhh man, I’ve had much worse than half a coat hanger hurled at me” I told my concerned buddy.
The unexplained hoop of silver seemed to be related to the plush cow, but one doesn’t ask toddlers to make sense. Besides, I got distracted first.
“You’ve never heard The Cow Jumped Over the Moon?!”
The kids gathered around. “I want to seeeee!”
“But it’s only my phone and words.”
“I want to seeee!”
So we read it. Displaying a knack for poetic comprehension, they wasted no time in making “Uncle Josh’s” head the moon, and the plush cow a high-jumping star.
“Wheeeee!”
A little more pizza, a little more ice cream.
“Why are the sprinkles green?”
“Well….will you pass me the blue ones and the yellow ones? It’s all for science, kids.”
(I am to be a good example. Apologies to J&A for the sprinkle bill.)
What an oasis from Twitter and negotiations and articulating things so people don’t get mad but saying them anyway because they need to be said and…
Then it was time to go.
And this is what I saw.
Blue Dusk
Back out onto the blacktop ocean
A captain at an economy wheel
Running swift towards a blue dusk
Vaulting over the mighty Potomac
Wide and quiet and still at day’s end
Then setting me back down gently
To run hushed through still pines fragrant in the heat
South
The current batch of katydids chirrup in the night
The current batch of contenders sweat under municipal lights
Of some small roadside diamond
Stee-rike!
Maybe
I don’t know, I couldn’t hear over the wind rushing at the window
hurtling on down a road that I used to chase a second dream on
(Baseball was an idle one, I never did want to practice, so I became a musician)
The 80’s jams on the radio seem to have an extra echo, of things that could have been
From a summer past in a place I used to live, the scent almost drifts in on the heavy air
But doesn’t
A yellow moon watches from above
Cowless.
Speaking of radio, here’s that “Late Night Radio” column that’s running in the local paper, with something a bit more reasonable. Kind of.
Late Night Radio – With Josh Urban
Appearing in The Altavista Journal, The Union Star, and The Casewell Messenger
Wednesday, July 26th, 2023
“Shush”
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to the show. Who's doing summer reading? I just finished Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby for the third time. They're both set in the summer in the 1920s, and both made me sit there and go “Wow”, Owen Wilson-style. The goldfinches were surely annoyed. I wouldn't leave the patio, and they couldn't swoop in and pick at the flowers.
As I sat there, realizing it was time to get more books, a strange question came to mind: Why I haven't been thrown out of a library yet?
I haven't even been shushed lately. (Amtrak's quiet car is another story. Worst seating assignment ever.)
I get on quite well with librarians, which must be my saving grace. Maybe they see that I try to behave–truly–but...They've had plenty of reasons not to be patient, starting with that time in New Jersey. They had invited me and my electric guitar to a branch event, showing kids how to build noisemakers. Realization dawned on me too late that percussion instruments out of boards and nails (and washers that jingled) might not be ideal. Musical skirmishes promptly broke out, and little Johnny went running through the medieval history section with a fitting clatter.
Then there was the incident in the city, listening to the radio one day. Some high-falutin' lady with too many degrees invited the community to stop by their local library and build the culture. Coffee makes me doubly impressionable and impulsive, so off I went. Apparently, my neighborhood branch hadn't heard the same program. Excitedly asking about the deeper meaning of Crime and Punishment (the icky but brilliant work involving an ax murder from 1866) isn't a great way to Win Friends and Influence People, if you'll pardon the book pun. (Bet that poor lady quits the help desk.)
I thought the move to country air had cured me of my loose cannon library habits, but Rustburg has a shiny bell behind their information desk. They told me it's for staff to call other staff. I missed the first bit, and rang it one day with glee, causing much confusion. Somebody give them a medal for their patience.
The point is, folks, if I'm welcome in a library, so are you. (But please try to do better than me.) Summer reading season is upon us, and now's the time to dig into a great story. Still, a paper book isn't for everyone.
I used to work at a retirement home, and had a pal who had trouble seeing. “Have you heard about audio books?” My powers of persuasion were lacking. She had no interest. But I got hooked on them. They're great for road trips, too. Check out the Chirp and Audible smartphone apps if you'd like to spend money, and the Libby and Hoopla platforms from the library if you'd like to get the books for free. If you'd prefer something easier than an app, they've got plenty of audio books on CD.
Can't get to the library? Many branches offer delivery services. If you want to read a good book this summer, let's make it happen.
Building on what that fancy lady said on the radio so long ago, here's an updated announcement.
Go to your local library, and do better than me. Don't weird 'em out. Leave the bell alone. But do say hello. Tell them I sent you.
Actually, don't.
Catch you on the flip side,
- Josh