{"id":1014,"date":"2012-02-02T18:22:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T22:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2012-06-19T18:23:02","modified_gmt":"2012-06-19T22:23:02","slug":"i-aint-superstitious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=1014","title":{"rendered":"I Ain’t Superstitious"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Father took it upon himself to remind everyone in our family when a birthday was imminent.\u00a0 It went something like this, \u201cYour Sister\u2019s birthday is on Wednesday, don\u2019t<\/em><\/strong> forget to call her!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0This would be repeated, as necessary, throughout the year.\u00a0 Thank goodness we have a small family.\u00a0 I am not sure at what age this little \u201cpoke to the ribs\u201d became an irritant. \u00a0But it did.\u00a0 And soon enough I was able to reply to his reminder, \u201cDad, I know whenLynn\u2019s Birthday is… you don\u2019t have to remind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did that stop him?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Maybe reminding us was a way to help Dad remind himself? Or maybe it was just a quirky superstition<\/em>?<\/p>\n

We lost our Family Reminder in 1983. \u00a0After he passed away, who was there to pick up the baton?<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I ain’t superstitious, black cat just cross my trail<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I ain’t superstitious, oh the black cat just cross my trail<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t sweep me with no broom, I might get put in jail<\/em><\/p>\n

My brother and I are pretty good about this birthday stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 I have the good fortune of being born on a momentous national holiday\u2026 February 2.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s birthday falls 9 days later on February 11 (this lead to a longstanding inside joke: \u201ccan you name two great Americans born in February other than Paul and Jim Winston?\u201d).<\/p>\n

The problem could arise withLynn.\u00a0 Although, she too, is born on a national holiday\u2026 October 31.<\/p>\n

When my right hand itches, I gets money for sure
\nWhen my right hand itches, I gets money for sure
\nBut, when my left eye jumps, somebody’s got to go<\/em><\/p>\n

I worked it out in 1984.\u00a0 \u201cHi Lynn\u2026 it\u2019s Jimmy.\u00a0 Dad<\/em> asked me to give you a call and remind you that it\u2019s my birthday next week\u2026 so don\u2019t forget to give me a call!\u201d\u00a0 See?\u00a0 Simple problem, simple solution.<\/p>\n

Well, I ain’t superstitious, black cat just cross my trail
\nWell, I ain’t superstitious, black cat just cross my trail
\nDon’t sweep me with no broom, I just might get put in jail<\/em><\/p>\n

Lynn understood the importance of this exercise\u2026 and she had no trouble falling in line, \u201cHi Jimmy\u2026 it\u2019sLynn\u2026 I\u2019m calling to remind you that it is my birthday next week, and I want you to give me a call.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the way it goes.\u00a0 Although sometimes Lynn travels to distant lands around our birthdays and it becomes necessary to make appropriate adjustments, such as\u2026 \u201cJimmy, Alan and I are going to the Vaticanto meet with the Rabbinical Ambassador to the Holy See and I might miss your reminder call about your birthday\u2026 so please remind me no later than January 15th<\/sup>.\u201d<\/p>\n

We call that a reminder to the reminder<\/em>. (Dad would be proud of this innovation)<\/p>\n

Well, the dogs are howlin, all over the neighborhood
\nWhoa, the dogs are howlin, all over the neighborhood
\nThat is true sign of death, baby, that ain’t no good<\/em><\/p>\n

But something is astir in the cosmos. \u00a0This year I began receiving calls far earlier than expected\u2026 Paul rang in 2 days early.\u00a0 Lynncalled before<\/em> I had the chance to remind her.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 I got an early gift fromSandy\u2026 a jar of gooseberry conserves (also an inside joke, I have been looking for gooseberry jam for years\u2026 I don\u2019t even know if I will like it\u2026 but I use gooseberry to describe the wonderful scent of Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre).\u00a0 And the icing on the cake came yesterday when I got an early happy birthday email from Ellen!<\/p>\n

Well, I’m not superstitious, blow that black cat across my trail
\nWell, I’m not superstitious, a black cat across my trail
\nDon’t sweep me with no broom, I just might get put in jail<\/em><\/p>\n

Why all this early stuff?\u00a0 Did folks know something that I didn\u2019t?\u00a0 Like\u2026 better call now, because Jim might not make it to February 2!\u00a0 So\u2026 last night, \u201cerev\u2019<\/em>\u2019 my birthday, after my 4th<\/sup> Wild Turkey on the rocks, failing to see a dark figure in a black shroud pointing in my direction\u2026 I paid my tab at Ash Creek Saloon and headed for home.<\/p>\n

Me?\u00a0 Superstitious?\u00a0 Not really\u2026 but belated greetings are looking better and better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Father took it upon himself to remind everyone in our family when a birthday was imminent.\u00a0 It went something like this, \u201cYour Sister\u2019s birthday is on Wednesday, don\u2019t forget to call her!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0This would be repeated, as necessary, throughout … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}