{"id":742,"date":"2012-03-19T17:31:31","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T21:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/?p=742"},"modified":"2012-06-14T19:33:37","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T23:33:37","slug":"as-i-was-saying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=742","title":{"rendered":"As I Was Saying"},"content":{"rendered":"

My kids suggested that a return<\/em> would be beneficial for me.\u00a0 So here I am, in the town of my childhood\u2026 Pequot Landing, Connecticut\u2026 in the section known as the Village, a mile as the crow flies from Long Island Sound and the \u2018beach community\u201d and another mile in the other direction to the Post Road, and yet another mile to I-95.\u00a0I am sitting on a bench in a triangle known as McClellan Park. Calling\u00a0this slice of land\u00a0a park is perhaps a stretch; but as a boy I would ride my bike here with my friends and weave in and out of the benches placed strategically around a statue of the Union General George McClellan.\u00a0 Invent games to our heart’s delight.\u00a0 We would go over to Nelson\u2019s Pharmacy buy our baseball cards, occupy a bench to trade our cards and chew bubble-gum.\u00a0 And to a little boy McClellan Park was as good as it gets.\u00a0 There will be more to tell of my memories of this place, and my time here\u2026 that will wait for another day.\u00a0 And as I sit in my favorite<\/em> bench with its perfect orientation to the noon day sun, I watch passing cars and listen to the sounds of today\u2026<\/p>\n

“I am telling you I was <\/em>there<\/em>\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“I thought you said that you were going over to the Flanagan’s to return their lawnmower which you’ve had in your garage for three years.”<\/p>\n

“Yes, that’s true\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Well, I think it was about time.\u00a0 I mean three years?\u00a0 And here it is\u2026 Michael may have to go to that re-hab place again.”<\/p>\n

“Re-hab? \u00a0You’re mixing Michael Flanagan with Michael Flynn over on Olmstead Lane.\u00a0 The Flanagans are selling their house and moving to Bozeman, Montana.\u00a0 I think Becky is getting a position at the University\u00a0and Michael is along for the ride.\u00a0 He probably won’t need the lawnmower there either.\u00a0 And why are you bringing the mower back?\u00a0 Surely Richard could have dropped it off on the way to the golf course?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, I know\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Stop right there! You\u2019re always making excuses for Richard.\u00a0 He could have just as easily taken the mower over to the Flanagans so that you didn’t have to, and besides, what was so important about going to the bank on a Saturday?\u00a0 I mean it’s such a nuisance driving to the Village on a Saturday in July when all the ‘summer people’ are out and about.”<\/p>\n

“A nuisance.\u00a0 I couldn’t agree more.”<\/p>\n

“Yes, but\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

“No buts!\u00a0 It’s a nuisance I say!\u00a0 You can’t find parking.\u00a0 Lines everywhere you go.\u00a0 Bratty snot nosed kids running into the street, or leaving their bikes on the sidewalks so you can’t even walk from Nelson’s Pharmacy to the bank!”<\/p>\n

“Yes, the bank\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“I was in Nelson’s the other day and who should walk in?\u00a0 Why, it was Fran Tishman from our Class.\u00a0 Although\u00a0I think her married name is Blaine.”<\/p>\n

“As I was saying\u2026 I was in the bank when this man walked in with a pelican under his arm\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“That\u2019s not right\u2026 it’s not Blaine, it’s Beckstoffer.\u00a0 Yes, Beckstoffer.\u00a0 He’s a mechanical engineer of some sort.\u00a0 Was<\/em> a mechanical engineer\u2026 he’s dead now.”<\/p>\n

“Maybe that\u2019s why Fran is back in town?\u00a0 She always took an interest in Timmy Sutherland, and now that Betty left him?\u00a0 Well\u2026 do I have to draw you a map?”<\/p>\n

“Nonsense, Fran couldn’t stand Timmy\u2026 she liked Tommie Pfinster!\u00a0 And besides, Tommie has been living in Oregon for years!”<\/p>\n

“So, let me finish\u2026 who expects to see a man walk into the Standard Savings and Loan with a pelican\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Tommie Pfinster.\u00a0 Tommie Pfinster\u2026 now there’s a story!\u00a0 His family had all that money.\u00a0 Do you remember?\u00a0 Always the best cars.\u00a0 Vacations here and there.\u00a0 And when Tommie got into trouble, the old man paid off the cops and the judge.”<\/p>\n

“The judge\u2026 big time!”<\/p>\n

“So\u2026 this guy is in the bank\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Tommie gets into Lake Forest College\u2026”<\/p>\n

“You mean his old man ‘buys’ him into Lake Forest College”<\/p>\n

“You’re probably right.\u00a0 And for Tommie it was party, party, party all the time.\u00a0 And probably a new girl every weekend!\u00a0 Study?\u00a0 Study what?\u00a0 How to inherit all that money?”<\/p>\n

“You know\u2026 I think the money came from his mother’s side.\u00a0 I think she was a Mellon or a duPont.\u00a0 Tommie’s father just landed in the ‘ice cream’ and went along for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The ice cream!”<\/p>\n

“Look\u2026 would you expect a hold-up guy to have a pelican under his arm?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Sure! Fran Tishman liked Tommie!\u00a0 What girl wouldn’t want to fall into some ice cream<\/em>?”<\/p>\n

“Well\u2026 maybe Fran didn’t know that Tommie was in Oregon.”<\/p>\n

“Let me tell you about Oregon.\u00a0 Strange<\/em> people live there.\u00a0 They are not like us<\/em>.\u00a0 You wouldn’t want to live there.\u00a0\u00a0 Strange weather pattern.\u00a0There are some parts of North Carolina that wouldn’t be bad\u2026 Oregon?\u00a0 Never!”<\/p>\n

“He was probably hiding the gun under the pelican\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n

“My cousin lives in Chapel Hill and I went and visited her there last year.\u00a0 It was lovely.\u00a0 Maybe a tad too big what with all the college students and all.\u00a0 But lovely nevertheless.”<\/p>\n

“What was that about a peacock?”<\/p>\n

“Pelican.\u00a0 It was a pelican.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Do you remember the Peacock Ball in High School?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Peacock Ball!\u00a0 Do I remember?\u00a0 Hah!\u00a0 Do you remember that dreadful date that I had?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pelican\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPelican?\u00a0 No, his name was Peterson.\u00a0 Ricky Peterson!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember him!\u00a0 He used to sit in back of me in Modern European History and he would make this disgusting \u2018bathroom sounds!\u2019\u00a0 It was so gross.\u00a0 What did you ever see in him anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was wearing black\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the guys were dressed in black!\u00a0 It was the Peacock Ball!\u00a0 Girls in gowns and the boys in tuxedos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. The man with the pelican.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPelican?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSay what you will.\u00a0 Ricky Peterson looked great in a tux!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u00a0 The stick-up guy who came into the Standard with a pelican!\u00a0 I was there!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA stick-up at the Standard!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHeavens!\u00a0 What did he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was white.\u00a0 Although it might have been a she.\u00a0 I have trouble telling the difference between male and female.\u00a0 It was white with a big bill, small beady eyes, webbed feet and not smelling great.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t smell great?\u00a0 Sounds like a low type<\/em> to me.\u00a0 Someone connected with \u2018summer people.\u2019\u00a0 One of those foreign au p\u00e8re\u2019s<\/em> who probably didn\u2019t shave under her arm pits or use deodorant!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it was the pelican!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPelican?\u00a0 Pelican!\u00a0 Dear girl whatever are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I was saying\u2026 After I dropped off the mower I went over to the Standard to convert all my change.\u00a0 You know how the Standard has one of those machines that counts all your coins?\u00a0 Well\u2026 Richard puts all of our change into those cardboard tubes that Lagavullin Single Malt comes in.\u00a0 You know what I\u2019m talking about?\u00a0 So there I am with two tubes, and they weigh a ton!\u00a0 I am at the \u2018coin-o-matic\u2019 minding my own business when in comes this guy dressed in black with a pelican under his arm, and real polite he takes out a pistol and announces that this was a hold-up and no one will get hurt if we remain quiet and don\u2019t do anything brave or stupid.\u00a0 The only people in the bank at that time was me, Gladys Caulkins, Milton Goodkind the electrician, two summer people who I don\u2019t know, the three girls behind the counter and Mr. Teasdale the manager.\u00a0 Not like I was going to do anything brave\u2026 I just hoped that he wasn\u2019t going to take my loaded Lagavullin tubes!\u00a0 No, nothing of the sort!\u00a0 He firmly said that he wasn\u2019t there to trouble us and that he was only there to rob from the capitalist oppressors and usurpers.\u00a0 Well, luckily, I suppose, the bank keeps sacks of money, probably marked of course, just for such emergencies, and Mr. Teasdale dutifully hands over three sacks of marked cash.\u00a0 And the robber, who kept that pelican under his arm the entire time, THANKS US, and says that he means us no harm.\u00a0 Thanks us!\u00a0 Can you imagine! And before he gets to the door to make his getaway, Gladys Caulkins stops him and says that she has always loved pelicans, and she opens her pocketbook and gives him a twenty dollar bill!\u00a0 Can you imagine!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGladys Caulkins!\u00a0 That Communist!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know\u2026 I am just remembering\u2026 Fran\u2019s husband was named Blackstone, not Beckstoffer\u2026 and he wasn\u2019t a mechanical engineer, he was an accountant.\u00a0 But he\u2019s still dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDead!\u00a0 Can you imagine!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My kids suggested that a return would be beneficial for me.\u00a0 So here I am, in the town of my childhood\u2026 Pequot Landing, Connecticut\u2026 in the section known as the Village, a mile as the crow flies from Long Island … 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":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-brief-tales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","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=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":991,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}