I was there and I saw what happened the night the Argento River reversed course and started flowing backwards. It was the same night we christened the Sam Houston Express.
If you ask the locals to tell you about that night and the things that followed you’ll hear all sorts of different stories but most of them won’t be true. They won’t tell you they are lying because you can’t lie when you think you are telling the truth.
But some of us know better because for one reason or another we weren’t affected by that thing, well at least not our memories. Whatever made the Argento River flow backwards didn’t do any sort of harm to our heads, at least none that I can tell.
Heck, it didn’t do much of anything at all to us other than turn us into people who never get sick, don’t age and seem to have lifespans that are ridiculously long.
Look hard at the picture above and you’ll find me and Bill Peebles looking back at you. Chances are you’ll look at the date, 1893 and then make a comment about how Bill and I look an awful lot like our great grandfathers.
It might be factually true to say Bill and I look like our forefathers but the reality is the reason those men look so much like us is because that is us.
I know, it sounds ridiculous.
People might live to be more than a 100 years old but they don’t do so without some significant changes in their physical appearance.
Well I can’t explain exactly how or why things turned out this way but when you have lived as long as we have you learn life is filled with much more of the “I can’t tell you why it happened but it did” than you realize.
Who Is Bill Peebles?
I suppose before I answer the question I should clarify that everything that came before the first subhead is part of ten minutes worth of fiction that I just threw together.
Bill Peebles is a real man but I don’t know him in person.
We met through a dad bloggers group on Facebook. Truth is I can’t tell you much about him. Sure, I can pull bits and pieces from his blog and things he has shared in the group but I think it is up to him to share more with you if he chooses to.
What I can tell you is that he is married, the father of two boys and he plays guitar. I can also tell you he is diligent in reading the posts the fellas share in the group and tat he often leaves a comment about those he has read.
My impression is that he does it because that is who he is. He is a nice guy who likes to let the authors know what he thought about their posts.
He has been doing it long enough that it has turned into a thing in the group. A Bill Peebles comment is worth something, it is meaningful.
I hope he understands the headline for this post is supposed to be playful and not mean or malicious.
Teasing and Friends
It is a timely topic for me, teasing and friends because the stories I am hearing from my son about middle school include a lot of tales of teasing.
The guys he hangs out with are doing a lot of the same crap we used to do when I was their age. Some of it is just silly and fun and some of it isn’t.
Or maybe it is more accurate to say it is not always taken as being silly and fun.
Every now and then I’ll hear a story from my son about how one of the guys did something that upset him. Thus far those are the exception and thus far he has handled everything quite well.
But I am wondering if any of this is going to transition into something less fun and more ugly. I hope it doesn’t but I remember that age and how crazy kids can get.
When I listen to these stories I think back and I remember how a few moments changed for me and well, I hope they don’t for my son.
But he has to figure these things out for himself so unless he tells me about something that sounds dangerous I’ll keep my mouth shut and let him figure out what temperature is comfortable and what isn’t.
Parenting isn’t for the weak.
Bill Peebles is the man! I love getting a Peebles compliment – makes my day.
Peebles is the man and I am with you, always happy to get a Peebles comment.
Jack, I truly love being an player in your surreal world. But your fans may soon come to the suspicion that you, clever, brazen you, invented me, my blog, my children, my wife, my happy home and Ford F150. Inventing even the slider-style hamburgers I may or may not serve every Saturday night here in our little ranch home with a plate he has us call “the Fixins'”
Definitely playful Jack. Actually, “always taken as being silly and fun.” was my nickname in college. I was an actor that, well, learned to build a lot of sets. I was often, uncast shall we say.
Thanks for having me aboard for a while, I appreciate it. You have heat…
Bill,
You might show up as a regular player here, never know. 😉 It has been a pleasure hanging out with you at the DB group so I figured it never hurts to introduce good people around a bit, especially those who make “fixin’s.”