What a weekend…
Two of my girls turned four years old, and my oldest turned eight. They (we) have the best friends in the world to have put up with all of the Happy Birthday’ness. Are there worse things? Yes. Of course. I’m just sayin’ this was a weekend full of Jones girls, and Jennifer and I are very appreciative to have such awesome participation.
That said…
I think America went damn nuts Monday on this whole eclipse thing. Guess what? We did too and didn’t even mean to.
Monday morning we did nothing. Didn’t know what to do, actually. We debated and debated and finally took our world to Hickory Tavern with a friend family of ours and shook our heads at the world around us. No real traffic, or big crowds anywhere, but people hanging out in random patches of grass in beach chairs and on towels. We didn’t ‘get it.’
Fast forward and we mozy back to our neighborhood, planning to go to a cul de sac party. It starts raining. It’s 2:30 PM. No big deal, until it is. Tracy Wright says, “Come on. Let’s go somewhere. Franklin, you comin’?”
A minivan of eight confused people who ten minutes before didn’t give a flip anything were ripping out of the neighborhood and pick a side to shoot up or down I-77 (North or South). We chose the Forest Drive route.
At this point, out of nowhere, we are star chasers.
Jen, Tracy, and I murmur to one another, “Weren’t we the one’s talking about people sitting in the Target parking lot and we’re going to end up at Wal-Mart’s?”
With only a few minutes to spare Jennifer pulls on the shoulder of the exit ramp. I thought to myself, “This is exactly what the people we’ve been rolling our eyes at for a month told us NOT to do.” I’m looking through the sunroof and can see the sun. Right side van door opens.
Tracy and I notice the GM that had followed us from our neighborhood was still behind us. She goes, “Who’s that.” The car is immediately in front of us and I see the decal, “Sea Hunt Boats.” I go, “Oh, that’s Carrie.” Next car, has the same sticker. “That’s Carrie. ‘That’ was Joel!”
Van door closes and we’re now in hot pursuit, Honda Odyssey style.
Not sayin, just sayin…if you had seen the two cars we were now chasing you’d a thought we were following a domestic dispute. As they turned the left onto Forest Drive I told the van, “Wth? Carrie is trying to pass his a**!”
As time was running out we almost turned into a three car vehicular accordion as we made the right turn into Cheri’s Barber Shop. No one shut their doors as we all jumped out and had our own adrenaline filled, fun, ‘we made it,’ eclipse party.
We got juuust in front of the rain cloud and all saw the entire thing. Full Corona, diamond ring, the whole thing. It was great fun, worth it, and now a story three families will remember for a long time.
If you’re thinking the pic above is a little awkward, here’s why; As everyone now knows the glasses black everything out. So, we don’t know what or who we’re looking at (pic was taken after ‘totality,’ btw). I can’t see anything and don’t even know where the kids are. Further, Jennifer is holding Ivey up, I’m holding Jennifer up, and her balance is holding me up (I’m not trying to touch her boobie). Truth out, we’re not even facing the right damn way. The sun is behind us haha.
All this said it was a great moment and a great weekend. Finley even got an early, extra rendition of “Happy Birthday!”
Thank You!
Franklin Jones
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