I love it when a post idea bubbles up organically from real life.
I was exchanging emails today with incendiary blogger Sally-Sal, who writes “You. Me. No Adult Supervision...” and we had the following exchange. Sometimes blogs just write themselves.
Sal: In my town, I can always tell when the weather gets bad because they block off the hill on my street. When it ices over, kids slide down it. And I have to say, I’m not above that either.
Bluz: I would totally do it. My dad grew up in a neighborhood in Pittsburgh that had these steep hills, like you see in San Francisco, and they’d to the same thing… close the roads and let the kids sled. If it weren’t for a pile of ashes at the bottom, they would end up flying over the railroad tracks and straight into the Ohio River.
When the roads weren’t closed, it was entertaining to watch out the window as the cars tried unsuccessfully to get up the hill and go sliding back down.
Wait, they have hills in Oklahoma?
Sal: A hill. It’s the only one in Oklahoma and we have to share.
On Christmas, we had an ice storm so bad that pretty much everything closed here.
About midnight, I heard a bunch of boys sledding down the hill, so I went to check it out. There were 3 or 4 of them, and they were in these camo coveralls, just having the time of their life.
So I got talking to them, and they let me sled down with them. There were 4 of us packed on this one little sled and it was so much fun.
I let them come into my house to warm up before we all slid down again. I even broke out the Jackie D for a couple of shots. Good times…
Bluz: Sounds like a grand time… A fast moving Sally sandwich on ice! With a JD kicker even! The heck with “Silent Night”.
Sal: It was as moving as Baby Jesus in the manger.
Bluz: Which makes me wonder how fast Baby Jesus could go if pushed down an icy hill in Bethlehem. Now picturing the 3 Wise Men all pushing, then hopping in like it was a bobsled.
That sounds like it should be the subject of the next Christmas carol. Beats Rudolph, anyway.
Sal: Baby Jesus and the Wise Men would be the best bobsledding team evs. Nobody could beat the Jesus.
Bluz: And with the halo, they could bobsled at night. I bet you could have used the Baby Jesus on your sled too. He could have blessed the JD, but then you’d run the risk of turning it into wine.
You do realize that this is how I come up with blog postings… Random emails generate crazy visuals and next thing you know… it’s a post.
Sal: He could turn the snow into wine. Frozen, yes. But when it thaws… wine. A snowball that not only hurts, but gives you a nice buzz. Win.
I think it’s a killer way to come up with posts.
Bluz: Complete win! I can see opening a snowball stand of wine snowballs. (In Baltimore, they call Sno-Cones “Snowballs” and have stands all over town in the summer.) This would kill at the Italian Festival in August. Blessed Holy Wine Snowballs. Just look for the halo over the stand.
Sal: The specialty of the house would be a triple-decker snowball, aptly named “The Judas”.
Bluz: All for the low price of 30 pieces of silver. One bite and you’ll be feeling cross for the rest of the day.
Sal: Now I want to taste The Judas.
Bluz: By Ernest and Judas Gallo.
That was the end of the exchange. But do you ever wonder if there was anyone ever named “Judas” after the famous one? I bet it would be really hard to go through school with that name. How hard must it have been to get a date for the prom?
Judas: Excuse me Missy, but can I ask you something?
Missy: Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Get away from me, narc!
Judas: Is it I?
Note: For some good times and good storytelling, check out Sally’s blog, “You. Me. No Adult Supervision…” Click the name or you can always find it on my blogroll.
This post? IT is complete win.
ReplyDeleteOne Sunday in December, a bunch of my friends came over for dinner, and my friend Katie brought her children and, of course, a sack full of their toys to keep them occupied. Among the toys was a plastic nativity in which the baby Jesus was permanently anchored to his manger/crib.
Katie's son H. had a fine time making the baby Jesus ride the nativity's donkey. He made the donkey buck up and down like a bull in a rodeo.
I turned to my friend Ryan and said in my best ghetto dialect, "That baby Jesus gon' get hurt if he keep ridin' around on that crazy-ass donkey."
For some reason, everyone thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard, and they still quote it to this day.
Guess you had to be there.
B. Girl:
ReplyDeleteHomegrown quotes are the best. It doesn’t matter if anyone else gets it… they’re always funny to the people that were there.
There's nothing better than good conversation, when it meanders, digresses, spins, turns and somehow comes back to topic. Love it! Like listening or playing good jazz.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this conversation. We've been talking about sledding today too! But we'll be use a more conventional hill. :)
Did you ever bumper hitch? I can't believe I used to that. Hang on the back of a car during a snowstorm and go for a ride.
We need to gather the three of us in Minot, North Dakota on Hiawatha Street. Madness will ensue, but I promise it will be a blast. Just don't go over the curb at the end of the street or you'll wind up in someone's living room.
ReplyDeleteGUY:
ReplyDeleteIt’s so much easier to think up goofy crap when you’re bouncing it off of someone. I get a lot of ideas from email exchanges, but this was the first time I just posted one, pretty much in its entirety.
I totally remember bumper hitching… I don’t think I ever did it myself, but I saw a lot of friends do it. When I was in junior high, we lived on a very small neighborhood street that was never plowed, so it was a perfect place for it, with cars going by very slowly on packed snow. No accidents, luckily.
Burgh Baby:
ReplyDeleteWow… Minot is pretty far north. You’re practically Canadian…