{"id":2556,"date":"2012-02-23T23:54:02","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T23:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/?p=2556"},"modified":"2012-02-24T00:02:46","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T00:02:46","slug":"2556","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/2556\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixty-Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Old Jim displays one of Kate Jansen\u2019s signature cakes at Willow commemorating his sixty-ninth birthday and the start of his 70th year on the planet. Photo Socotra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is good to be back from the road, or maybe better said, I am just getting over the feeling that I should have just kept going. Re-integrating into life in Arlington took a day or so- and I was plodding through some desk-work when I got an e-note from Short Hair Mike, who reminded me that it was Old Jim\u2019s sixty-ninth birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to chip in for a gift?\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

I responded that of course I did. \u00a0“I was class of sixty-nine myself,” I wrote back. “I will slip you some cash at Willow later on if that is OK”<\/p>\n

He said that was fine, and I asked: \u201cWhat are we going to get him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know he uses that bulldog cane, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure. He is a dead ringer for the fierce head <\/span>of the dog carved into the handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I found something better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA cane made out of a bull\u2019s reproductive organ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cNo shit,\u201d I wrote in wonder. \u201cHow <\/span>on earth do they do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy. Take a bull\u2019s dick, hang it over a pipe with the big end up and let it dry<\/span> like a stick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWorks for me.\u201d<\/span> I hung up and went back to trying to craft a weekly report on a week where I had been mostly elsewhere.<\/p>\n

I was surprised to get a call later from Old Jim himself a little before five, wondering if I would be stopping by the bar after work. He was thinking perhaps he might eschew his usual spot at The Amen Corner if I wasn\u2019t going to be there.<\/p>\n

I thought he might be a little sensitive about the birthday, and I responded that \u201cI am back, Jim, and have missed the place. Of course I will be there.\u201d I did not mention that Short Hair Mike would be there with pretty Jamie, and the Lovely Bea was excited, and Jon-no-H and John-with would be there along with Jim\u2019s long-suffering but beautiful spouse Mary. Behind the bar, Katia and Jasper and Tinkerbelle were fortified for action.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cake and duck tacos. Note Jasper's new ink. Photo Socotra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/strong>
\nTracy O\u2019Grady and Kate Jansen outdid themselves. There were platters of duck-tacos, a delicacy that Jim had been clamoring for since they appeared briefly a month or two ago, and the layer cake was a fantasy of whipped cream and luscious sensual icing.<\/p>\n

We sang happy birthday, of course, at least once, and the crew from the Fish and Wildlife Service joined in.<\/p>\n

Jim scowled in happiness. \u201cHappy birthday, Dude,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Jim tapped the bar with the bulbous stainless steel handle to the cane. \u201cThis is just what I needed,\u201d he said<\/span> with delight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep,\u201d said Short Hair Mike. \u201cWe saw that and thought about you immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou dicks,\u201d said Jim.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Short Hair Mike and Jim look at his card. Photo Socotra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/strong>
\nCopyright 2012 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is good to be back from the road, or maybe better said, I am just getting over the feeling that I should have just kept going. Re-integrating into life in Arlington took a day or so- and I was plodding through some desk-work when I got an e-note from Short Hair Mike, who reminded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2556"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2558,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556\/revisions\/2558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}