09-07-09

Labor Day always reminds me of my first full-time radio air -shift, “The KROC Dr. Pepper Top 9 @ 9 Labor Day Special”. I think it was 1996.
There was a city picnic in Port Orford. Trinity and I walked around and found it, but walked on by as we weren’t in a very chatty mood. We got the joy of the smell of burnt meat without the calories and had a healthy walk. Besides, we had another picnic to attend later at the RV park. Corey had planned a “Labor Day Soiree”.
It was a beautiful day for a soiree; sunny 66, but a tad windy. Most of the RV park showed up. Everyone who was at home did. It was nice to meet the people I hadn’t yet and to get to know the others better. I had only seen Curtis, my elderly next door neighbor, once riding in a car. He is a funny clever frail man. Larry can be seen walking around town seemingly aimlessly everyday. He reminds me of “The Old Man in the Sea“. He was at the city picnic and had wandered over several times in the afternoon waiting for this picnic. Andrew was there and Jutta too. They have become close friends. I could see why by the way they drifted off into their own conversations. Jutta made what she called “cabbage salad”. We all called it coleslaw. It was very good. Sharron helped me grill by getting a spatula from her trailer. It was melting, so Michelle ran and got a metal one from her trailer. When I first got here Michelle had a black and pink truck, then a black one. One day I saw her painting it with a brush and can of black paint. It seems to be an ongoing process. The texture of the truck is thick paint brush strokes, with a wood grain pattern. “Sharron 2” was there too. Her disabled, obese husband, “couldn’t walk that far”, about 30’, so we made her a plate to take to him. “The Kid”, who recently had a young man screaming, “Fuck you!” in the middle of the night and pounding on his door until it broke got a good dose of teasing. The man’s ex-girlfriend was in “The Kid’s” trailer. Turns out “The Kid” is 35 years old.