As strange as it sounds, hearing of Jimmy Dean’s death reminded me of my dad. In the 50′s, outside a Washington, DC, bar, which my dad and mom had just walked out of, Dean, who had had a little too much to drink, made an obnoxious advance toward my mom. A scuffle almost ensued between him and my dad, but a few of Dean’s entourage (maybe his Texas Wildcats?) pulled him back, apologized for his behavior and shuttled him away. Around that time Dean was hosting a popular DC radio show, Town and Country Time, on station WARL. Wow…to think that my dad almost decked the Sausage King.

This is my dad’s pickup truck, surrounded by dandelions and buttercups. He drove it to and from work for years, 60 miles a day, Monday through Friday, a good part of the way over country hills full of hairpin turns and deer lurking around every curve. Thankfully he never had any serious run-ins with the area wildlife. His faithful truck now resides with my sister.

If you’re new to the blog, you can read a little about my dad here.