Into the Night with the Short arm of the Law

Tuesday October 12th: into the night with the short arm of the law

Tuesday was a day of quiet rest and reflection… for the most part. I did a bit of doggy time with some dear friends dogs while they did some errands. I had forgotten what a young dog’s energy level is… They are (play+curiosity+π)= young dog. *Sorry for the bad visual… well, almost. I was on vacation, so whenever I could, I always added a little pi for desert. There are two dogs, an older white fluff ball of a toy poodle mix (guessing here) and then the fireball. The younger, a pug/boxer mix is named UD… for University of Dayton, I love that sort of name… the child naming the dog/cat/goldfish. As a parent, you are offering all sorts of topics, none of which is sticking. So as you start going through movie characters, school mascots, and you offer up… “Flyer”… Flyer? What’s that? Oh, Flyer is the mascot from UD, the University of Dayton. Well, as with anything, UD is when the dog perks up and decides to put on a show… “ Hello My baby, Hello my honey, Hello my Rag time Gal”. Now the dog is forever known as UD… and it is completely happy with that.

So after a light lunch, I decided to wonder over to a different friend’s house for a while. I caged each of the dogs, who went in their little barracks with clockwork precision… DAISY, ARE YOU READING THIS??? I locked up the house and headed over to Troy Ohio, home of the Strawberry festival. After a long day of this and that, storytelling, and a couple of cups of coffee, we headed out to a Ghost walking historical tour set up by the Springboro Historical society. We walked around (in groups) and heard vignettes on the founders of Springboro, and a few hints of tales that occur within the walls of some of the historic homes. Grant Wood’s Aunt lived in Springboro, as did a friend of Daniel Boone… Yes, that Daniel Boone. It was a nice little walk through the area. The leaves were in full swing of color; some had already fallen and offered up that autumnal aroma that flashes so many of us back to days of youth. When leaf piles were not to be groaned about with sore backs, or raked up as much as they were to be jumped in, or ridden through on bicycles with banana shaped seats.

After an entirely full day of smoothness, some excitement needed to be added in there somewhere… enter Officer Fife. After driving one friend home, I turn around and head back to the homestead about 20 miles south… all new construction, a lot still under construction. The pride and joy of the local government, and the loathing and despise of the local citizens is a new type of intersection… An intersection for TOMORROW!!! It appears that someone, whomever was supposed to turn in the plans for this project forgot to lock up their files, or their drawings. This is where a toddler, possibly a 4 year old decided the project needed a fresh set of design hands. The result: The intersection of Tomorrow, you could almost hear the toddler screaming… NO! I CAN DO IT as all logic falls off of the paper and the resulting schematics are rendered unthinkable. Having never noticed that the child “enhanced” the project with editorial license, the project was presented… probably turned in hoping that a chance to switch out these nonsensical ramblings with proper logical schematics would be easy to do. But it never happened. Nobody stopped to ask, “Is mine the only head that hurts when I look at this?” It strongly resembles something out of a Dr. Seuss parody.

So, I stop, make sure that nobody is coming from the right, CHECK TO SEE that there is no turn on red notification, then make my right hand turn… Out from behind some bushes and a trash bin drives Officer Fife. Officer Fife is maybe five foot, three inches tall, and around one hundred and 135 pounds. The hat brim is parallel to his shoulder tips and if I remember correctly, he had to tuck his ears in to keep the hat from falling down over his face. A masterpiece of confidence was displayed as he struts up to the window.

Fife: “Do you know why I stopped you?”

“I have absolutely no clue, Sir.”

Fife: “You made a turn on red when it was clearly marked not to do so. Are you familiar with the area?”

“No Sir, I am from out of state, and apparently I missed the sign entirely, because I checked for a sign prior to making the turn, hence the stop.”

Fife: “Well, it’s clearly posted.”

*editorial comment, never stated (It must be clearly posted, why else would you be lurking about waiting for people to miss the sign?)

Fife: “License and registration please.”

I handed him my license, my insurance card, and the rental agreement.

Fife: “Where did you get this vehicle?”

“I rented it from the airport.” Bad move on my part… (the airport) was the wrong answer, important safety tip for everyone out there.

Fife: (here is where he became forever dubbed Officer Fife) “The airport? Which airport? We have lots of airports. Heck you are parked beside one right now.”…. The airport he was referring to was the hanger that houses a replica of the Wright B Flyer. It may have a landing strip on it also as a replica where they may fly one experimental aircraft, or a couple of small Cessna 3 seaters once in a while… maybe.

“I am sorry, that was my fault. I should have been more specific… The Dayton International Airport, Sir.”

A long pause as he looks over the paperwork at my window side.

“So that’s an airport too?

Fife: “Yes it is.”

“I never knew, Then they rent cars here like at Dayton International?”

Fife: “I’ll be back in a minute.” Officer Fife gave me the “Oh, I’m gonna fix you” look and walked back to his car with my documentation.

After a 5 minute wait, a disgruntled Officer Fife returns to “give me a chance” with a warning.

I kindly thanked him and go on my way. I pulled up to the house, and got into my jammies. For not planning anything, the day turned out to end with adventure.