Hang up and drive

Do I really need to say this?? It is 2016.

"Hang up and drive."

Twice this week I have been driving and people talking on phones have been oblivious to their surroundings, causing me to take evasive action (which they did not notice).

Topeka's older neighborhoods have some intersections with no stop or yield signs. I approached one of these the other day and a guy talking on a phone flew through the intersection. Of course I stopped and gave him the right of way. What should have happened is that we both stopped and treated the situation as a four-way.

Today, I was going around one of the circle parks (think roundabout) in our neighborhood and a woman in a mini van, talking away, did not yield (although I clearly had the right of way, having entered the circle first). I stopped so she wouldn't plow into me and she just kept talking, oblivious to the fact that I even existed.

Please. Kids, loose dogs, stray cats, bicycles, motorcycles are all out there.

Put down the phone and just pay attention. Always scan your environment while driving. Look ahead and look in your mirrors constantly. Driving is a huge responsibility. Take it seriously.

Ready for Action

I witnessed this afternoon a Dillon's supermarket employee who was alert and ready to spring into action. These are the kind of people that make Kansas a wonderful place to live.

As I loaded my groceries onto the counter at the Dillon's on Gage, I noticed that the cashier was new. She seemed young, in her 20s, and, by her accent, I guessed she was a recent transplant from Kentucky or Tennessee, although I didn't get a chance to ask. She was very efficient and polite, which impressed me.

Just as she handed me my receipt, a customer rushed over and said "someone has fallen in aisle 5." This clerk looked over, saw the woman on the floor, and yelled to the service desk: "call 911. We have a woman down in aisle 5." Then she ran over to see how she could help.

I had asked her to sell me another reusable bag to finish out my grocery loading, but obviously that didn't happen. So, I asked the bagger to load my remaining items into plastic bags. As he worked, I said "that girl is ready for action."

He looked at me squarely and said, "she is amazing. She is such a good employee."

I told him, "caring people like her are wonderful to work with."

Then I left as the ambulance and firetruck pulled up in front of the building.

We All Got Up to Dance

Judy Collins and Don McLean, two older performers who can still rouse some love and enthusiasm from a house of (mostly white) baby boomers, performed this evening at the Topeka Performing Arts Center (TPAC). At 74, Collins still has a robust soprano voice and seems to thoroughly enjoy performing a wide variety of songs by artists such as Pete Seeger, John Denver, Joni Mitchell, and Sandy Denny. She also performed some of her own songs. Throughout, she strummed her Martin Judy Collins Signature 12 string. At the end, she performed a piano ballad, but her awesome playing overshadowed the intriguing but odd lyrics about a Colorado blizzard.

Don McLean, a man of many musical talents who will always be known as the guy who wrote "American Pie," started his set with some rockabilly from the 50s, weaved in some of his own slow tunes, got plain old country with songs by the likes of Johnny Cash, and then moved the audience with a beautiful rendition of "Starry, Starry Night." He was backed by a rockin' bunch of Nashville musicians who brought some great playing to Topeka.

But, I have titled this new blog "Ad Astra Per Absurdum,"  and I hope to bring to you the truly wonderful blend of wonderful and crazy that, I feel, makes Kansas the most absurb and most awesome place on earth. We strive for the stars but we rely on absurdity and love for our transport.

They serve adult beverages at the TPAC and audience members partook. Several ladies were very enthusiastic about Don's performance after a couple drinks. Who could blame them? Had I a bottle of wine, I would have probably been standing on my seat listening to this awesome rocking rolling country music.

These ladies started waving their hands in the air and a security guard, a petite blond with a long pony tail, rushed over to tell them to stop.

When Don launched into American Pie, the ladies got up to dance -- in the aisles so not to block anyone's view.

The guard flew to the scene to break up this display of enthusiasm.

This, as if on cue, happened just as Don was singing "We all got up to dance / but we never got the chance."

The ladies sat down. And then one person in the audience stood up. Another. Then another.

Don said, "dance if you want to. Do what you want."

More people stood. Then everyone stood. It was a house rocking American Pie lovefest, a remembrance of that painful time in the 1960s that most people in the audience lived through.

The audience had been given a stern warning that no photos or videos could be taken during the concert. As the audience stood, clapped, and danced, Don said, "take photos if you want. Come up to the stage if you want." Everyone did.

Kansas love broke through the senseless restrictions of the TPAC and everyone had a great time. Way to go Topekans!