Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Saturday, June 9
Today was my last full day as commander of the Legion post and when McGowan cornered me at the diner in our small town Thursday holding the national ensign in one hand and the Legion flag in the other and asked if I could lay a comrade to rest today I said sure…It was worth it, too, of course…It was a the cemetery in town, where the family plot is, and I held the American flag at the head of the grave…Roy held the US Army flag…We sent him off with a rifle volley and a couple of nice readings and it was a beautiful and his final resting place has a nice view of the river…Also the storage units, but you can’t have everything.
I got home about 1100 or so and crawled into bed a bit later and this goddamn song was stuck in my head, the same two or three lines looping continuously…Now, I like the song but I’m a tired commander trying to get some sleep here…Eventually, I started counting backwards from 517 by three, an old technique I read about somewhere that has never worked…Eventually, I able to block out the song and I’d drift in and out a bit and then I’m waking up, a full half-hour before I’d set the alarm which means I’d slept.
A bit before 0700 I’m sitting at the desk at Hotel A and Janis walks in…She’s cordial but plainly is not happy and a couple of minutes later Amy the GM walks in…I give Amy the lowdown on the rest of the incident that brought the police by and then I tell her I can’t work on Friday and Saturday in a couple of weeks because I will be going to the Legion State Convention…Sparrow being Sparrow I apologized profusely for not giving her my usual one month’s notice…She waved a hand and said it wouldn’t be a problem.
Throughout all this Janis is standing off to the side, seething…Women have that way of people know they are not pleased with another woman – anyone, really – and I don’t know what the deal was but Janis was not happy with Amy, although Amy was not displaying any ice princess traits…As I left they were heading outside to talk.
I am sickies…I am not making that up!!!…I started feeling it coming on as I was driving home from the funeral this morning…I really felt it when I woke up…I don’t understand this…I drink my water and do deep breathing and while I probably eat more chorizo than is recommended, Lord knows I try and get my rest…Usual crap I get…Head cold, muscle aches, you know.
Tomorrow is my last day as commander of our Legion post…The installation is a potluck and begins at 1100…Natalie is taking over a commander and I will be the installing officer, in my role as commander of District 14.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: 1330 Saturday until 1600 Saturday…Two-and-a-half hours and I am not any happier about this than you are…41 hours for the week is only one hour more than last week’s (low) total.
The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
The Diary of a Nobody was inspired by the 19th century British novel of the same name.
Read Gaylon’s latest: We The People: Making America America Again at www.GaylonKent.com
