Potshots, Hip Shots, and Whatnot II

Loading “rock salt and nails†into my trusty keyboard while wondering whatever happened to the other brother Darryl…

…I cannot speak for the entire breed – if indeed a hybrid is a “breed†– but the St. Berdoodle I know is a wonderful alarm system and a terrible guard dog. His bark is bold and deep and obviously generated from an animal of menacing size. (He weighs in at a smooth 100 pounds.) When he is startled by a stranger at the door, the bark is also forceful and potentially alarming to the poor soul behind the knock. But when a new person enters the place, the big dog bounces around like Bugs Bunny in love and his ferocious bark, translated into the common vernacular, is clearly, “Come on in! Come on in! Be my friend! Be my friend!â€

…You can have your cake and eat it, too. What you cannot do is eat your cake and have it, too. This is a small but important correction to an erroneous assessment that has become common knowledge.

…Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone is a top-five character in cinema history according to GDGCC, Gene’s Directory of Great Cinema Characters. That is official enough for me. His character is forever linked to the declaration, “I’m your Huckleberry.†This week, I read for the first time the assertion that the phrase is based on the following: The handles on a casket were called “huckles†back in the 1800s. The term “Huckle-bearer†was what we would today call a pallbearer. So, Doc is basically saying, “Go ahead and draw. I will be glad to carry your casket to the grave.†I like that interpretation. It makes sense. I also like the thought that it was a reference to the then newly-minted Mark Twain character, Huckleberry Finn, and was used when someone was “up for anything.â€

…No one thing has created more instant doctors in my lifetime than this cursed COVID. Nor has anything been more divisive among those who may legitimately call themselves doctors. A friend told me he discussed whether to get the vaccine with two of his doctors. The first said, “No! You have had COVID. You have the antibodies.†The second said, “Yes! It will boost your immunity.†This morning, my doctor said, “A boost can’t hurt.†I said, “Can’t it?†I do not know because I am still awaiting my instant doctoral degree. I keep looking for it in the mail.

…Spend a day with Blaze Foley, Cody Jinks, The Turnpike Troubadours, Whiskey Myers, or, my favorite, Tyler Childers to cleanse your Bro-Country palate and introduce actual music to your diet. It will not cure COVID, but it cannot hurt. Childers uses lyrics that include “rock salt and nails.†Let me know when you hear them.

…Never take Corian for granite. You are welcome.