Today marks what would have been my grandfather Ed Hendricksons 94th birthday and Ive chosen this song to honor his memory. Like Jerry Jeff Walker in this tale, I have fond memories of riding around in Pops pick-up truck. He had a couple trucks along the way but its the sky-blue Dodge...probably about a 64 model, Im guessing...that I remember most. And like the grandpa in the song, Pops always had small tools, screws, car parts, pieces of wood, and what-not rolling around on the floor of the truck or tossed up on the dash or stuck in the ash tray (after he quit smoking). At my mothers insistence, he had after-market seat belts (and a little air conditioner) installed for the safety of us grandkids. We took many trips together in that old truck--the old mom and pop hardware stores and the local Fosters Freeze jump to mind--but my favorite without a doubt was to the county dump. Pops refused to pay for trash service so he would toss his trash in a little trailer he built that sat on the side yard. When the trailer got full, wed tie a cover over it, hook it up to the truck, and drive out to Santee to dump it (in whats now the Sycamore Landfill). Cuyamaca Road didnt go all the way through to Santee way back when so wed have to work our way around. Anyway, the dump was kid friendly in those day so we could get out and help launch trash into the existing piles of crapola. The sights, sounds, and smells of the dump were a wonder for a young boy to behold! And the trip usually culminated in a frosty on the way home (without washing our hands along the way!). My grandsons now like to ride with me in Grandpas truck and, although I dont make trips to the dump with them, I hope theyll have some fond memories one day of our trips to Albertsons and the water store and Home Depot and the post office and the bank and wherever else our errands take us. And Ill try to heed this songs suggestion and never take same road twice on the way back home to keep it fresh :) Thanks for all the memories and for being such a good grandfather, Pops! We miss you still. (Jerry Jeff Walker, best-known for writing the song Mr. Bojangles, had a minor hit with this back in 1989.) https://youtube/watch?v=RWK8GgWD4uA
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:42:41 +0000
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