Chalk Dust on the Monday Morning Sidewalk
I have yet to decide whether dry-erase boards are a blessing or a curse.
I remember quite clearly, in college, at what was then called North Texas State University, the chalk dust flying off the side of an old air conditioner structure (containing a waterfall) that sat on the northeastern end of the campus, bounded by the – Physics Building and the General Academics Building – the latter of which I lived in the basement for a few years. Anyway, the chalk dust, and the sound of the erasers being pounded against the brick, it did fly. I believe it was custodial staff pounding those erasers, and now I wonder if they suffered from inhaling that dust over all those years.
Eventually, and well after my University of North Texas career was finished, the pandemic of dry-erase boards entered every classroom that was not taught on overheads or by video link (also way after my time). As I donated my time to the flailing journalism department at UNT, I noticed how everyone loves writing on these sterile, almost clinical boards. We hated being made to write on a chalk board, didn’t we? The awkwardness of youth, the accidental screech of a misaligned piece of new chalk, all this and more nuances combined to make “writing it on the board” a student’s nightmare on every street.
I now have no less than three dry-erase boards that I use in-home for trying to keep up with the demands of a gig economy I find myself thoroughly entrenched in living, and yesterday? well it was an “erase day” for my fly fishing activity board.
June, July and August were wiped away for another year, and with the least accomplished on those monthly breakdowns – than at any time in my memory. The list of lakes, a few rivers and even monster ambitions … disappeared with a little spit and shine. Mother Nature, we know, is a fickle mistress. And those lists of places to go and things to do? She laughed at me as I made those plans in early spring. “Not this year boy,” she seems to be saying, as she washed away day after day, and eventually week after week of blue-sky-opportunity.
If 2020 was the year of going nowhere because of fear of the Texas Hot Zones (and the best conditions / gas prices / rental rates ever), 2021 is shaping up to be the year of going nowhere because of Mother Nature, high gas prices and inflated rental rates everywhere you would possibly want to go.
Now is the time to regroup for fall, and break out the colorful dry-erase markers. I won’t be telling you much about the lists and dates that appear in a rainbow of bright colors though – because Mother Nature is still watching and waiting for that list to appear. Here’s a hint though – we will be having a reprise of the spring destinations we made, and we will sprinkle in some that were erased.
Thanks for reading along on this chalk-dusty Monday Morning Sidewalk. Have a fantastic week, and remember: Not All Fishermen are Liars!
END NOTE – Let’s all welcome All Water Guide’s Alvin Dedeaux to the Monday Morning Mashup! Check out his Monday Mornings here – Alvin Dedeaux YouTube Channel.
Category: Body-Mind-Soul, Culture on the Skids, Life Observed, On The Road
