The Deuce
I know I’ve said it before in other blogs, but my regular morning walk with our dog has lead to many interesting, may I say fascinating, occurrences. And many times those occurrences lead to a new blog entry. Like this one.
One that just occurred yesterday might illuminate what I’m blathering about.
Just five doors north of my house is an intersection where the street that I live on crosses another, slightly busier street. It is a four-way stop intersection and that’s important to this story. For those of you deficient in knowledge about what traffic is supposed to do at four-way stops, just realize that EVERY vehicle that comes to one of them HAS to stop their car, look ALL ways then proceed when it is safe to do so – usually first to the intersection is first to proceed. Also be aware that pedestrians in the crosswalks of one of those intersections ALWAYS have the right of way.
Always.
As I approached this corner I noticed that there were three cars approaching from three different directions. All of them were Honda CR-V’s. Two more cars were approaching the corner and they both were also Honda CR-V’s. I noticed that because I’m more than likely going to buy one of these vehicles next spring. And it was a neat occurrence. Anyhow, the last one, light in color and approaching from my front, stopped, then made its left-hand turn directly in front of me. The dog and I had already confidently stepped into the crosswalk and I had to quickly restrain her and step back to keep from getting squashed by the car, which was passing in front of us. Good Lord, I could have touched it! The middle-aged lady driving gave NO notice that there was a man and dog DIRECTLY in front of her and, even after I yelled that I was in the crosswalk, continued on her way and never turned her head to acknowledge we existed.
Totally oblivious.
I’d like to say that this sort of thing has only happened to us just once. But unfortunately I have to report that it happened again quite recently at the same corner, and the operator of that vehicle also NEVER glanced at us even after I yelled at her. To be honest, it is aggravating and quite dangerous. Poor Trixi has no idea why I keep her leash shortened when we cross the street. I’ve tried to explain to her about the idjits out there on the road, but she doesn’t seem to understand.
Anyhow, that was just one of the occurrences that happened on our recent walks. Today, however, was another one, a good occurrence this time, and not dangerous in the slightest.
We had just started our walk and had only gone about four houses north from where we live when Trixi nosed something in the middle of the sidewalk. I noticed the movement and glanced at what she had seen. Sometimes she does this for something she considers edible on the ground. I have to then make the determination whether to jerk her away from something nasty or just ignore it. Unfortunately I’m usually too late to stop a quick gulp if it’s something particularly appealing. She can be VERY quick when there’s food there.
This time, however, it wasn’t a foodstuff.
I first noticed that the object in question was a particular green color – a familiar green color. The color of currency.
My heart started pounding quicker.
I bent over, picked it up and noticed it was a bit different than what was stuffed into my wallet. This bill had the number 2 printed all over it and the portrait of Thomas Jefferson. It was a two-dollar bill! I turned it over in my hand then and saw it was a legitimate U. S. bank note with the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back of it. Sometimes churches make “fake” currency, which looks legit on the front and has a Bible verse and the name of the church on the rear. I always hated being duped that way. I’d never attend a church that did that, but this was 100% gen-u-wine! So I folded it neatly, slid it into my pocket and verbally gave Trixi a “Good Girl” for being such an excellent money hound!
As I walked further I began to ponder where this doggoned two-dollar bill might have come from.
Think about it, dear reader, for a moment. A TWO-DOLLAR BILL! Almost any other denomination might be understandable, especially a one or five. They are very common and I could visualize one of them falling out of a pocket or purse pretty easily. You reach for something in a pocket – keys or something – and bingo, a bill falls out unintentionally. Easy-peasy. Even a tenner or twenty is not out of the range of the possible. Over my lifetime I’ve probably picked up a number of those here and there.
But a deuce? In the middle of the sidewalk? In broad daylight?
In my opinion, rather an odd duck.
Then another thought struck me.
You’ve heard the song “Pennies from Heaven” I’m sure. It alludes to the idea that when you find a penny on the ground, someone in Heaven is saying hello to you. It’s an interesting concept. Not one I’m a hundred percent in accord with, but kind of fun to think about. And pennies are very often found when walking about. I’ve toyed with the idea of them being a hello from someone who is no long here, and tried to see if anything in my life at that moment might have warranted a greeting from above.
But a two-dollar bill?
I’ve often thought if my father had wanted to “say hello” to me from whatever undiscovered country he might inhabit right now, I’d probably get the aroma of a Camel cigarette. He was a smoker of that particular brand for many, many years and I’d recognize it instantly. Or if it had been mom, the smell of White Shoulders perfume would immediately give her away.
But that deuce?
When I told my wife what had occurred today and a little of my thoughts about who might have been trying to say hello, she reminded me about my stepmother. While she was alive she worked as a branch manager of a local bank in our town and, being around currency every day, liked to give two-dollar bills to her grandchildren on their birthdays. It was something the kids all looked forward to – something a bit out of the ordinary. And she could get the pristine crisp new ones! Fun!
So, was this a ghostly hello from my step-mom? A greeting from whatever celestial bank she might still be presiding over?
Or was it just one of those prosaic things that, even though they are one-in-a-million rare, actually do happen.
Dunno. But I would like to think it was my good ol’ step-mom giving her inherited son a heavenly “howdy” and reminding him that all is not what you might think it is and that there are other realms and other possibilities out there that might someday be within reach.
I guess I’ll just believe what I will and then cross my fingers that there’s maybe a little more out there for us.
