March 24th. It’s the feast day of the archangel Gabriel, patron saint of communications workers. I wonder if in ye olden days, Ma Bell (i.e. AT&T: American Telephone & Telegraph) workers commemorated this day? Anyway, “communications workers” means postal workers, too, so you know I made a point of throwing up the sash on my front window and hollering, “Happy St. Gabriel’s Day!” at our letter carrier this morning. (Whimsical of me, eh?)
On this day in history, rock-n-roll singer Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army–he had been drafted, and he served. This reminds me of the handful of years I was the book disposition specialist for a small village’s public library, in charge of selling donated books. We had an author-autographed copy of Alan Levy’s illustrated 1960 book Operation Elvis, which I appraised, and we ended up selling for $20. Would’ve gotten more, if our copy had either been in better condition, or been autographed by Elvis himself.
It’s the birth anniversary of illusionist / escape artist Harry Houdini. Of course I remember the biopic starring Tony Curtis, but I recommend the Adrien Brody miniseries version, too. (While we’re at it, I also liked the magician movies “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist”. And I liked the Masked Magician series, and Penn and Teller’s Fool Us show.) I could make it a whimsy to have my wife handcuff me and then escape from the cuffs, but–oh, wait. We don’t have handcuffs. The only “shade of grey” in this house is our cat, Gray.
Today is Philippine Independence Day, which makes me think of the delicious cuisine served at the hostel I stayed at in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). The chef was Filipino, and only too glad to cook for an appreciative audience. When I drove commercially, I usually just slept in my truck, but occasionally I stayed in hostels. It was a great way to get to know people from all over the world. When you’re driving long hours and “freshening up” at bathroom sinks in the driver’s section of truck stops, a nice hot shower followed by clean sheets feels like heaven. I’d rest my bones after the standard 14-hour shift, close my eyes, let my muscles relax, and sigh, “Oh, thank you, God. Thankyouthankyouthankyou, God.”
Then I’d wake just as dawn was a mere suggestion in the still-rather-dark sky, and begin again. I loved getting up and getting on the road while the sky was still rather dark. I loved watching the new day be born. Loved watching the world come to life again. God, the ultimate illusionist: Presto! I guess my whimsy for today has been sharing this anecdote with all y’all. G’night!
tigerwhimsy 