Welcome to the end of a hectic week. We are gathered at the bar, as we always are on Saturdays, and we are going to try to wrestle Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt to the ground. She’s given us the following to consider:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘growth.’ Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!”
If we were having a beer, you’d be wondering about “clues” as you’re calling them, that I’ve been leaving.
“Welcome, my young friend. Are you here in search of a cold beer, or do you have cold beer at home now?”
“Our new refrigerator is working, David, but it’s not the beer fridge, that one is downstairs.”
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but we have cold beer right here. And, we have fresh lime slices.”
“I’ll take one of those cold beers, Cheryl, and bring the old man some John Howell’s Bourbon, with all the fixin’s.”
“Fixin’s? Dan, I think we need to work on your vocabulary. For someone who writes as much as you do, your vocabulary should be in growth.”
“OK, Lwaxana.”
“Excuse me?”
“OK, one cold Corona with a perfect lime wedge, one glass of bourbon, one snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice. The bourbon should make the journey easier, David.”
“Lawaxana? Journey? What’s going on here?”
“David, Dan is about to beam you up to the Enterprise.”
“Star Trek? Ugh. Is this true, Dan?”
“Well, your comment about growth reminds me of an episode of Star Trek Next Generation. The episode is called ‘Haven’ and Lwaxana Troi is in a humorous scene where she tells a woman she considers inferior, ‘unlike you, I am in growth.’ I love that scene.”
“Lwaxana Troi, isn’t she the ship’s counselor?”
“No, that’s her daughter, Diana.”
“That’s nice, Dan, but let’s talk about things here on earth. I know you got a new refrigerator, but did you get a second one?”
“Yes, David. The first one had a hole in the freezer.”
“I take it you’re not referring to the door.”
“No. There was a gash inside the freezer compartment.”
“Ouch. Well, you have the new one. Did you do anything else interesting this week?”
“I did. On Wednesday, I took the train to Springfield.”
“The train? Dan, It’s only a fifteen-minute drive from your house to Springfield. Why would you take the train?”
“Because the train rolls across the Connecticut River on the hundred and fifty year-old trestle that I have admired for years.”
“You’re a dichotomy my young friend.”
“How’s that, David?”
“You’re a romantic nerd. You waste time rolling across the river as if it were nineteen-twenty-one and yet you’d give it up in a heartbeat if you could step into a transporter.”
“Well, you did say I should be in growth.”
“Yes Dan, but growth implies progress. I don’t see how stepping back in time to an outmoded means of transportation is progress.”
“David, trains carry passengers and cargo much more efficiently than cars. I paid four dollars for a round-trip to Springfield. That’s less than the gas I would have used and less than the cost to park my car at the museum.”
“The museum? What museum?”
“You’ve never been to the museums in Springfield?”
“I’ve been to the museum of art, fine art, history and the science museum. Is that where you went, Dan?”
“They’ve added one since you and I had been there before.”
“A new museum, Dan? What kind?”
“A Seuss Museum, David.”
“Is that where the Dr. Seuss Museum is? I knew they opened a few years ago, but I didn’t know where it was.”
“Yep, it’s at the end of the quad, between the Science Museum and the Museum of Fine Art.”
“I assume you enjoyed yourself.”
“I did, and I also enjoyed the Seuss Sculpture garden in the quad.”
“Is there a sculpture of Horton?”
“Is he your favorite, too, David?”
“He is. I like his philosophy. Say what you mean and mean what you say…”
“And be faithful, one-hundred percent. Would Thing One and Thing Two like another round?
“Hahaha – yes we would, Cheryl, and we would like them here or there. In fact, we would like them anywhere.”
“I don’t think Dr. Seuss wrote a bar story, but you two do remind me of Sam I Am and the guy who doesn’t like green eggs and ham.”
“Who’s who, Cheryl?”
“Oh, David. Which of you is likely to say a train, a train, a train, a train?”
Since we were speaking of writing, I want to let everyone know that we’re going to have a special guest at the bar next week. Author Gwen Plano. I am currently reading “The Choice” – Book 2 of THE CONTRACT thriller series, and I asked Gwen if she would like to visit the bar and discuss her writing with David and me. I hope you can join us.
