Editor’s Note: Marlow contributed one this morning that rocked us back. It was one of his song lyrics, old memory and new colliding. Problem was the graphic insert, very short memory clip of a senior citizen doing some dramatic tap-shoe moves. It is quite effective, but the only means to get it over to .html format is as a static image. So, technical challenges between IT, creative and graphics threatened to erupt into a meeting.

Meanwhile, the Tractor issue loomed on a luminous Fall morning . The Chairman is selling off current inventory to support what he calls “restructuring.” The tractor went yesterday at an informal auction to another member of the generation in another transition. Lido is his name, and he always brings the optimistic feel of his homeland when he arrives. He is taking possession of the Turf Tiger tractor that kept the pastures clear for several years. New models are like everything else now, fifteen-grand on the hoof, so even this old one is worth his time to haul away.

But like we said, he has an operating style that evokes the old memories of business in the Filipino manner. Sometimes improvised, always in a state of motion. Yesterday’s adventure was getting the Tiger out of the barn without personal or property damage. Wrong trailer, though. Today’s effort was to return with a borrowed trailer, slightly larger, and enlist the able support of neighbor Matt to help load the thing.

Matt is out of town. So, while en route, a WTF bubble hung with beeps between our phones. In happenstance timing, the husky young African American guy delivering the groceries from Safeway happened to be unloading at an appropriate moment. Lido hired him on the spot for the ten minutes of precision work required to load and leave.
Exactly like being back in Olongapo. The day’s warmth brings it back. And the chaos. Just checked, an hour into the ten-minute project.The Safeway delivery guy left his engine on.
– Vic

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Old Age Shuffle

Off our rockers, actin’ crazy
With the right medication we can’t be lazy
Doin the old age shuffle
Down on the farm
Wheelchairs locked arm in arm
Pacemakers a-plenty with matchin alarms
Give us jus one more chance
To spin one more yarn, do one more dance

We know that we’re over the hill
When our minds make promises our bodies can’t fulfill
Doin the old age shuffle
And dance we will
‘Cause to us the thought’s as good as a thrill

Back at the “home”
Time’s not our own
Facilities there, they’re all out on loan
The banks foreclose, our bankruptcies show
Our credit dropped to an all-time low
Yes, we know, that we’re over the hill
When our minds make promises our bodies can’t fulfill

Still trying and get a rise from atrophied muscle
And the nerves in our legs just quiver and fizzle
Yes, we know, that we’re over the hill
When our minds make promises our bodies can’t fulfill
Doin the old age shuffle
And dance we will
‘Cause to us the thought’s as good as a thrill

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