Yesterday we made a trip back to my family’s home world, also known as Huntington West Virginia. As far as home worlds go it is probably on no one’s top ten lists, probably ranking about as high as Qo’noS, the Klingon home world in terms of places that you would go to on holiday. However it is my family’s ancestral home for the past 200 plus years since coming from Scotland, Ireland and France. Now I was not born in West Virginia, though my parents were born there as were three of my four grandparents. I was actually the first of my generation born outside of the state as my dad was still in the beginning stages of his Navy career and was stationed at Naval Air Station Alameda California and I was born at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in California. Even so Huntington was a place that served as a touchstone for our lives as my dad was transferred from one place to another on the west coast. We would return almost every summer, usually travelling by train in the days before Amtrack. Back then three of four grandparents as well as one set of great grandparents we still alive along with a butt-load of aunts, uncles and cousins. In 4th grade we lived there while my dad found us suitable housing in Long Beach California after being transferred from Washington State. That was the year of three schools and four teachers for me, but I digress.
It was during that year that my great grandfather died and my grandfather was diagnosed with a golf ball sized yet benign brain tumor. It was also the adjustment form the kinder and gentler west coast schools to a much stricter standard in Huntington. I was also as we had come in from Long Beach I was nicknamed “City Slicker” and had to fight for my life. A couple of school yard brawls later which I cannot say that I won but in which I gave good account of myself I was accepted so far as a “City Slicker” could be. The thing was though that I had lived in a town of only about 8,000 inhabitants for 4 years prior to moving to Long beach for just over a month. The kids in Huntington were far more “City Slicker” than little old me. I had poor penmanship because in Kindergarten my teacher took the pencil out of my left hand and stuck it in my right hand. This was of no comfort when my teacher whacked my hand with a steel ruler since my penmanship was so bad. What good this did I have no idea except to maybe set me back two more years. I don’t think I ever left the dining room table due to the amount of homework that she assigned. During my time in Huntington we lived across from the old Fairfield Stadium where the Marshall University football team played. I saw the team work out in the spring practices of 1970, the same team killed in the plane crash on 14 November of that year. We returned to Long Beach that summer where when I started 5th grade I was known as “Kentucky Fried.” Despite that I was happy to get back out west. After my Clinical Pastoral Care Education Residency in Dallas I got my first full time hospital chaplain job at Cabell-Huntington Hospital which I held as a full time contractor until I was mobilized for the Bosnia mission in 1996. During this time and while I was deployed Judy got to know my relatives better than me. I went into the Navy in West Virginia and due to this we remain West Virginia residents for Tax and Voting purposes. We came back to get our driver’s licenses renewed and see our dear friend Patty.
The visit this time has been pretty miserable for me as last night the tooth which was recently excavated for the second time as discovered to be cracked beyond repair decided to come back from the dead. I didn’t get to sleep until about 0230 and woke up again at 0415 before getting back to sleep at 0600. The alarm rank at 0700 and after getting Judy up, we talked and I went back to bed where I slept until 1230. It took 2 Ultram, 1 800 mg Motrin and a couple of beers with lunch to get the pain under control. Tonight I will probably do the same and go to bed early. In the morning I will have to call the Dental Department at the hospital to see what they want me to do. We don’t travel back until Wednesday and I don’t know if I can take much more of this. It seems to me that my tooth has taken a page from Dracula and joined the ranks of the undead. This really sucks like a Hoover.
The trip here was long, we had the usual snarl on I-64 from Newport News until past Williamsburg, and thankfully the HRBT was not congested. We picked up more slow traffic between Staunton and Lexington. Now I am bothered by people who drive slower than the posted speed limit in the fast lane. I trained on the Los Angeles Freeways and the German Autobahn. My view is that the speed limit is a suggestion for the less skilled drivers and those who have trained on high speed roads should be exempt from it. Now I am not a total scofflaw. I do not drive unsafely, weave in and out of traffic or fail to signal. Likewise I know about how fast I can go without drawing the attention of the State Police. Since radar detectors are illegal in Virginia one has to become very adept at this cat and mouse game and I am amazed at the number of people who get pulled over because they don’t understand the simple art of nuance. In most states you can safely drive about 10 percent over the speed limit on the Interstate without getting ticketed. This is a little different on the major travel holidays in Virginia where there is about a 5 mph tolerance. I do this routinely and refer to it as “tithing” on the speed limit. Of course there are times that I need to give more than my tithe and go a bit faster. Our GPS “Lilith” has a conscious about such things and would alarm when I did this forcing me to silence her.
There was also cause for rejoicing as the first half of the baseball season came to an end. The Norfolk Tides are tied for fist in the International League South, the San Francisco Giants have surprised everyone by playing great ball with solid pitching and now are in second place in the National League West and currently have the 3rd best record in the league behind the Evil Dodgers and one percentage point behind the East leading Phillies. To really make things great Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. It was almost a perfect game save for a booted ground ball and error by Giants Third Baseman Juan Uribe with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th and Center Fielder Aaron Rowland saved the no-hitter with a leaping catch at the wall for the second out in the top of the ninth. Both of these show that even when a pitcher pitches a no-hitter it is a team effort. I had seen the next to last Giant no-hitter in person with my dad and brother back on August 24th 1975 when Ed Halicki shut down the New York Mets at Candlestick. Not a bad way for the Giants to go into the All-Star break.
Anyway it is time to self medicate for the night and try to get some sleep. Pray for me a sinner.
Peace, Steve
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 