Wednesday, August 4, 2010

God Bless America?

So this happened toward the end of winter, I think actually the first time was during the Super Bowl.  It was still cold at night and warm during the day, but cool enough over all that the air conditioner was not running in the tin can.  While Airstreams are pretty sound proof when compared with other RVs there are times when you do hear everything.  The perfect conditions are as follows; the air conditioner is off and the noisy party is walking right next to your trailer.

As I've mentioned before, I work at night and sleep during the day, this can be complicated by noisy neighbors but I have become able to sleep through just about anything.  Well almost anything.  I was sound asleep on Super Bowl Sunday with the dogs curled up around me like furry hot water bottles, it was one of those nice sleeps you have when the air is cold but you have a nice warm blanket to cuddle up under.  When suddenly it happened, something jolted me out of my sleep and the dogs began to bark tentatively.  

What was it you ask?  A loud, drunken rendition of the chorus of God Bless America.  Just the chorus nothing else.  And as loud as it was the singer in question was stumbling through the space between my fence and my neighbor's trailer.  He was just wondering around singing God Bless America at the top of his lungs at 9am.  

I thought I was losing my mind, seriously.  Was I really hearing this?  Was this a dream?  So I called Wynn at work to tell her about it, if only because I wanted to see if I was dreaming or if she would mention it when she got home.  You guessed it, I wasn't dreaming, she asked me about it when she got home.  Great, I kind of wished I'd been dreaming because the other alternative was that Airstream living had finally gotten to me and I was losing my mind.  

The next day Wynn was home and off work and at 9am guess what woke her up.  The drunken chorus of God Bless America being sung drunkenly at full volume.  Yes!  I'm not crazy, or either we're both now crazy. So being the type A person she is, Wynn called the office and they went on a hunt for the drunken song bird.  He was real and we weren't crazy.  They told him to keep it down and we didn't hear him again.  

So about a week later I'm out in the yard emptying the black tank before a cold snap and I see this man wondering around in the dark with a light on his hat and one on each bicep and a light strapped to his dog.  Okay cool, he likes to see where he's going, great.  Living in an RV park you get used to having a few people around that are just a few bricks shy.  It's part of every day life.  Fine, live and let live.  I finish what I'm doing and usher the dogs inside before they can bark at this guy.  

I don't think anything of it and I decide to go up to the shower house.  There's the light man, dressed like a frontiersman, you know, coon skin cap, scraggly beard, buckskin jacket with fringe and this fluffy little dog. Okay great, cute dog.  As I head to the shower I over hear him complaining to one of the guys that work at the park that someone made him stop singing in the mornings.  You guessed it, this was Mr. God Bless America himself.  

I found out later that he started to deteriorate after a few days and the police had to take him out of here.  I felt bad, he was just trying to live life the only way he knew how.  I think that's what we're all trying to do out here.  

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