Flag This!

Well it’s official now—I am O.L.D.—and Luby’s Cafeteria in Kerrville—proved it today! Tony and I had to go to Kerrville this afternoon, so I could run a few errands. When the errands were done, we decided to eat at Luby’s—so I could eat their Three Vegetable Combo, and Tony could eat some fish and vegetables.

I did a quick head count, as I walked to my table. “Tony, there are twenty-six people eating in here right now, and everyone of them has gray hair or no hair at all! Look!” I whispered, but Tony didn’t hear a thing I said, because he is hard of hearing, too—so I repeated myself, as I unloaded my tray.

When we started to eat our lunch, music started playing, and I nearly choked when I heard it! “Tony, listen! That song is ‘Wooly Bully!’ I can’t believe this! It proves that I am really old!” Tony slowly nodded yes, which was not the response I had wanted. “Thanks Tony. I’m glad to know that you think I am really old, too, but I will guarantee you, that I am the youngest person in here, with the exception of you.”

Before Tony could open his mouth— ‘Hey there, Georgie Girl,’ started playing! “Nance,” Tony said. “I was just teasing. You’re not that old. You look good for your age...”

“Thanks Tony, now I am depressed, and that song still sucks after all of these years.” Tony and I ate in silence, as we listened to George Benson singing, ‘They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. They say there is always magic in the air. But when you’re walking down that street and you ain’t had enough to eat...’

I had had enough to eat, so I put my fork down, on my half eaten plate of vegetables, and then I looked around the room for another head count. The count was now down to fifteen senior citizens, plus Tony and me. And, all of the old people were tapping their canes, or moving their heads to the beat of ‘On Broadway!’ By the time George was done, so was Tony—they played the long version.

As Tony paid for our meals—the late, great Jerry Garcia, and the Grateful Dead started singing, ‘Truckin’ and I wanted to stay so I could listen to it, but Tony opened the door for me, and we left. “Are you still depressed?” Tony asked. “I really was just kidding you.”

“No, I am fine now. Tony I think that there are two kinds of old people—the Geritol bunch and the Woodstock survivors. Do you realize that some of those people in there, were probably once hippies, Dead Heads or even Woodstock survivors? That is too cool!”

“Tony laughed. “ Not me. I wasn’t a hippie. Hank Williams was my hero. And,they looked like the Geritol bunch today.”

When we arrived home, I had seven messages on the machine—two were from Kinky, one from Little Jewford and the rest were from people wanting information. I called Kinky first, then Little Jewford.

Little Jewford wanted to talk to me about this Saturday’s, sold out event, out here, and he wanted to know if Bandera County was still under a burn ban. “Jewford, I have no idea, but I can find out pretty fast. I’ll call you right back! Tony, do you know if we are under a burn ban or not?”

“I have no idea,” Tony said. “Call the Medina Ace Hardware in town—they will know.” Then he went back outside to help Aaron with some chores.

I grabbed the little telephone book, which is less than an inch thick, and has the listings for all of the surrounding twenty-two towns. I looked up the number and called the store. “Hi Patty, this is Nancy, over at the rescue ranch, and I am calling, to see if we are under a burn ban or not. Tony said that y’all would know.”

“Hi Nancy. I don’t know—but I can go outside and check to see if the flags are flying by the Big Apple. Hold on.”

“Thank you,” I said, as I heard the opening of a door, and the sound of cars driving by.

“Nancy, no flags are flying today, so I guess we aren’t.”

“Thank you, Patty. Good bye.” I said. Then I called Little Jewford back, to tell him that no flags were flying by the Big Apple. He was relieved to hear about the flags.

FYI: Medina, Texas is famous for their apple crops, and was officially named, ‘The Apple Capital of Texas!’ And, just about, in the middle of town, on Highway 16, stands an enormous apple statue! Next time I go to Medina, I will take a picture of it and share it with y’all. It’s really cool!

P.S. If you ever go to Medina, please check out Andy and Patty’s Ace Hardware. The store is the best one that I have been in and the owners are friendly.

P.S.II. This is what I will be wearing the next time I go into Luby’s Cafeteria! I will fit right in! But the real question is—will Tony go in with me, or will he just drop me off? Actually, it really doesn’t matter—I can hitch hike, like I used to do way back when! Fingers crossed, I am hoping that Tony will go into Luby’s with me! Wish me luck!


P.S.III. Don’t worry, I will be wearing my pink overalls—I forgot to add them to the picture.