The Roadrunner, Friendship Homecomers, Scanner Chatter
I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
Irony comes to haunt me. One of my “reminder notes” for today’s Wrambling listed: “Write about “Beep Beep,” which was inspired by recent road-work activity in my area. At about 7:00 this morning I was awakened as apparently the Roadrunner went running by, threatened by the front-end bucket loader scraping, and apparently widening, of Charles Young Street which is a cut-off road between Rte. 31 and Back River Road in Scio, and which is also placed at one corner of the Young family homestead.
The “beep beep…beeping” is a mandated safety issue for all, or most, utility vehicles and/or implements. It does serve a purpose but after hours of listening to it, if it is in your very close proximity area, it also can trigger headaches if you are prone to them. Unfortunately, my recently diagnosed Occipital Neuralgia does lead to headaches, and one is raging now triggered, or amplified by, the nerve condition.
I wanted to headline this Wrambling start with the punchline of an off-color joke which plays off the famous Road-Runner line. The first three, out of four, words in the punchline are “Beep Beep My —“. That sound carries for miles. A reminder of the history or link to the theme is as follows.
“ Beep, Beep is a 1952 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on May 24, 1952, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The cartoon is named after the sound the Road Runner makes, which is also known as “Meep, meep”.
The Plot: “The Road Runner is being chased by Wile E. Coyote carrying a knife and fork, but the Road Runner is too fast for him. Wile E. tries using a spring-loaded glove, which fails. He crosses a tightwire to drop an anvil on the Road Runner, but the anvil is too heavy, and Wile E. is stretched all the way to the ground, alerting the Road Runner, who taunts him and runs off. Wile E. drops the anvil and is slung up into the air. As he falls, he tries using a parachute, but only random objects come out of it. He then takes some ACME aspirin and waves goodbye to the camera before hitting the ground.”
Re-reading and recalling that cartoon is a vivid throw back to me, and likely many others of my generation. Also. those more recent if you tune in to re-run cartoon shows. And so, I Wramble on.
My column a few weeks ago featured the “Friendship Homecomers” celebration that comes around on the last Saturday in July every year. This Saturday will be that day, night, and for many, the entire weekend. The 100th year “century” celebration will be presented this year having been de-railed by a year due to the pandemic. Formal festivities begin with the Community Parade at 11:00 AM Saturday, sponsored by the Friendship American Legion. The informal meet and greet time featured at Island Park is scheduled from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the park. Refreshments will be served. Seating at the park is limited so please bring a lawn chair if possible.
The dinner will be offered at the Friendship Bingo Hall at 6:30 PM with seating beginning at 5:00 PM when the doors will be opened for those wishing an early greeting time. Dinner reservations were required.
Grammar, as a topic, is my passion these days, and seems to be appreciated by many who comment on my Wrambling’s. I don’t preach it or teach it, and just mention the oddities or nuances of it. Had it been taught via a comedy routine in school, many more may have paid attention allowing some threads to soak in. This week I continue with some of the special words that are as difficult to pronounce, as is their spelling. I will start off with the longest non-technical word “Floccinaucinimilification,” This word, defined as something “meaningless or worthless” popped up when I did a word search for words that are difficult to pronounce. I use my “sounds right” sensory ability but find many words for which that doesn’t work. Some words that I have found somewhat difficult, and often mis-pronounced by others, immediately come to mind. They are; Ignominy, Apropos, Mischievous, Anathema, Segue, Worcestershire, Egregious, Poignant, Prerogative, and Draught. The problem of pronunciation of many of those words is where to put the “emphasis” or hesitation, and/or the sound of the vowels that separate the consonants. At this point I have to confess to a frustration experienced throughout my thought process on the use of these words. There is one word in particular that I struggled to pronounce properly until I learned to double the sound of the consonant earlier in the word than the spelling would imply. Why frustration? I can’t think of what the word is. Every time I recall this topic, like right now, I start running words through my mind trying to recall that one puzzling word. It has a double consonant occurring early in the word that if not pronounced with the proper emphasis makes it awkward to pronounce. I only recently discovered the proper pronunciation, but now have forgotten the word completely.
Other word challenges include those words that can be either combined or separated to have a slightly different or grammatical type meaning. Some of those include: Awhile or A while; Always or All ways; Away or A way; Someday or Some day and many others.
I apologize for Wrambling off the track.
Scanner Updates: Reported 5-year-old driving a 4-wheeler and hitting a tree; Sadly, all too many requesting “lift assist” after having fallen; Several weekend calls to report 4 wheeler, or “Side by side” off road accidents; Bicycle broken down while riding on I86; I’ll end discussion on this as I often do with a reach out of “THANKS!” to all emergency responders.
I was a little concerned yesterday fearing that the Orioles had already started migrating back to their wintering grounds as hours went by without a sighting of them. Later in the day visits did resume and have picked up again today. Most of the adult males have either already left or are back to eating insects or feeding from other feeders in the area. What used to be visits only seconds apart at times, has now declined to just a few each day from the males. Females and fledged juveniles look so much alike that it’s hard to distinguish a juvenile Oriole gender wise.
I try to avoid political commentary herein, but recent events have me feeling a little more at ease in this election year as our current President has decided not to continue his candidacy. Nuff said!
Recent trips through Wellsville and even Olean have me shaking my head at the stupidity or lack of common sense displayed by pedestrians. Stepping out into traffic at any location along the street, crosswalks or not, is lunacy. YES, pedestrians have the right of way but not if they burst onto the street when traffic is mere feet away. That is not to absolve the drivers that don’t seem to acknowledge the pedestrian’s rights while in a crosswalk. I don’t know if it’s not knowing, not understanding the traffic rules, or just arrogant “I don’t give a damn, I was here almost first.”
I sometimes offer the “head scratching” terminology denoting something I don’t understand. Well now I have my own “head scratching” and it is real. A couple of days ago my head started itching and at times it was particularly troublesome. I was beginning to think that “maybe I had cooties.” My wife reminded me that I had been outdoors, sun shining, for several consecutive days, and I hadn’t worn a hat. I was likely just experiencing the peeling that results from having sunburn on my head and it had begun to peel. Yep! That’s our answer and I’m sticking with it.
Speaking of hat wearing, I despise hat wearing myself. That may be a spin-off of my military days when in the Navy we had to be “covered” any time (or anytime) we were outdoors. Unlike what seems to be most other guys, I don’t wear a hat. Many wear their hat indoors or outdoors, or, what peeves me somewhat, even when in a dining establishment. Proper etiquette as I learned it, was to remove your hat when inside, and especially when you sat down to eat. The only time I will wear a hat is when I am playing golf, and it starts raining. I keep a hat, albeit an ugly one, in my golf bag for that time or reason only.
This has been a great year for having the pool up and running. Pool opening and maintenance can be a real chore but on those high 80’s and 90’s days it is a Godsend. Without mentioning names or facilities I cuss under my breath a little when walking on the “floor” of the pool which has a new liner only two years old. The Pool installer that I used to install my new liner sent his crew out to install the new liner and did not accompany them. They completed the install and via the good will of the Scio Fire Department, we filled the pool. A couple of days later I had the first use opportunity. As I entered and walked around on the pool “floor” I noticed several bumps and indentations in the pool liner. Apparently, the installers did not add to, or level out, the layer of sand immediately beneath the liner. The sand if properly applied cushions out the smaller stones and levels the indentations. I did notify the installer but didn’t get any response on that issue. It being near the end of the season, and not using the pool much anyway, I more-or-less forgot about the issue last year and didn’t think it would do any good to bring it up again this year.
I love this time of year when freshly grown and harvested vegetables become available. I did plant some garden boxes again this year but for one reason or another they have suffered neglect. I have picked a couple of Zucchini and one small cucumber but once again I have taken advantage of a neighboring roadside garden stand. The little stand is closer to the Friendship end of County Rte. 31 and is a pretty good early season vegetable source. On one of my many visits there last year I stopped by after the corn was ripe and the son of the owner mentioned that his mother had named me “The Cucumber Guy,” given that I buy so many there. Well, I have already stopped by there again this year for their Cucumbers, as well as their Zucchini and Yellow Squash.
I will end this with a Happy Birthday to our youngest, recently USAF retired son, Shawn Wiser
You can always contact Chuck with questions, comments, or complaints by email, IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com
