because I’m trying to post straight from Word 2007 for the first time, so if it works, it works, if not, well…
Pop called first thing this morning wanting to go visit one of our church members in Hermann. Had an urgency in his voice, wasn’t sure why. Asked him who it was and he told me, and then said that he had been in a motorcycle accident. Ah, there’s the urgency. He doesn’t much like me riding and this has upset him again. Sure, I told him, give me an hour or so.
We went and had a drive by visit. Couldn’t help but laugh after we left, I bet we weren’t in the room more than two minutes, maybe three. Dude was very banged up. Very. He ran a red light and ran into a Mercedes that still had the paper plates on it! Totaled his bike, broke his left arm and wrist, right leg, numerous bruises and one big ‘ol black eye. But he was wearing his helmet and will be out in a few days.
After leaving the hospital, we went and had lunch at Langfords. That place has the best food and the nostalgia reeks. First built in 1939 as a corner store serving sandwiches, they now serve breakfast and lunch 6 days a week for all the urban professionals in Montrose. Very weird, the old dude that has worked the counter every time I’ve ever been there through the years wasn’t working. Thinking the worst (hey, he’s like 200 years old), we inquired as to his health. Fortunately, he’s fine, just cut back to three days a week.
From there we went to the junk shop. What a weird and fun place. I swear some of the same things I first saw in their 20 years ago are still there, in the same space. No idea how that guy makes a living, he told us today that he’s been there 28 years now. Fascinating. The picture below is from the shop.
After leaving there, we drove the long way home through downtown. Ended up on the east side in Magnolia Park and Pop started reminiscing about meeting my mother there. Showed me an old building where she worked for awhile, it was a print shop. Went by Don Carlos and he started reminiscing about my stepmom. One man, two women he loved, over 50 years total in marriage.
Magnolia Park has turned into a small Mexican village. I don’t mean that in a bad or disparaging way, it just has. As the whites fled for the suburbs, they left the older, dilapidated houses behind and the poor moved in. The streets are in complete disrepair because the city neglected basic maintenance in favor of sending the tax money to the growth areas. There also seemed to be a problem with heavy trash pickup, I’m not sure how it is supposed to work in Houston but it hasn’t worked in Magnolia Park. But the streets are clean, the houses clean (just old and broken). Makes you think about all the rhetoric in the media today.
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