Older Men

Men, I love them sincerely.
Especially the good ones brewed with a bit of wickedness and a lot of sexy.

And then there are the older ones of my travels; been thinking about EB today of Bonham, TX who is 76 this year. A true American hero and patriot. Raised in the swamps of Florida, when alligator was what the poor kids ate and is now a delicacy. He taught me how to skin a catfish, and does the best fish fry ever. He was pick up man of the year for many years. Not a hundred percent sure of what that entails I just know it has something to do with rodeos.

On every trip or move I find myself meeting the most fascinating old men and I wonder why they are moved in my path of life; for their stories to share I wonder, so now that I can write them down. My sister and I went to Ireland and sitting at stools in O'Reilly's Pub met Jerry Doyle. It was back in the day when you could still smoke inside the bars. Oddly enough they had Budweiser on tap,Smithwicks or Guiness. He became our companion every evening thereafter; for us a couple of pints, for him many more. Sometimes so much Guiness we had to catch him twice, once if he was napping or then falling off his stool. His County Kerry accent rolling off his tongue and telling my sister Kerry every story or two. "Kerry you are so fecking cuckoo, Kerry." God, we adored him and his kind blue eyes. He threw us a party on our last night at our cottage in Kilgarvan. We danced and drank with him for hours and promised to send him a card for his birthday. We did from Vegas, with ourselves in Showgirl forms. Shortly thereafter he died. When we returned two years later we found his grave and had a beer with him. My niece Tara joining us in the soft Irish rain.

On that same second trip we met a Welshman and his buddy in Cobh. He invited us to stay with him and his wife and gave us a business card to drop in any time. In Scotland there was another in a quiet bar outside Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth. A whiskey swilling, cigar smoking character of epic purportions.

Leading me to ponder, the two new older man in my life and what I'm learning from them. One I work for and one just happens to be the blast from the past.

BFTP, Although only a day older he is still older. But he meets the criteria for "good ones brewed with wicked and a lot of sexy." One night long ago we had a beers in a bar together that made me open up my eyes and pay attention in a different way. The comment he made, that did the sitting up, is sadly lost on me now, but years and years later I still remember that moment. Now we have different lives but also a different moment. His stories of the last great frontier and it's vastmess intrigue me as does he.