i wrote this last year. it holds true. i am so happy Mrs. Brooks has such a great husband and we all are friends. i just wish we could get together more often, a difficult thing to accomplish when one couple lives in Hotlanta and the other lives in the Southwest corner.

i first saw her in autumn during her freshman year at Vanderbilt. She was walking back to the women’s quadrangle with several other freshman women. She wore a knee-length skirt, knee high socks and a blouse on a beautiful Nashville sunny day.

i was standing with Charlie Hon, a freshman from Chattanooga (who became a legend in our fraternity) on the porch of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house across the street from the quadrangle. i asked Charlie if he knew her. He replied she was Susan Butterfield, also from Chattanooga. i was infatuated. i thought she was attractive and had beautiful legs.

Then, we had a party. Charlie had a date with his future wife, Ann Hon. Ann was Susan’s roommate in the quad. Butter, by which she was known, was double dating with Jeff Redmile.

i had a date with Jack Daniels. A group of us without dates had been watching the Porter Waggoner show on WSM while waiting for the Flatt and Scruggs show, which followed. It had become a weekly mainstay for about four or five of my brothers and me. Unfortunately, this night, i had stuck a fifth of Mr. Daniels’ fine fare into the refrigerator and began sipping with no governor. My date was having a not-good effect on me about the time the party started.

i took a header on the couch and went to sleep (my version), or passed out (everyone else’s version). When she saw me in my sad condition, she asked Jeff to take her back to the dorm and return to take care of me. He did.

From then on, we have had a relationship. Most of the time, including now, it has been as friends. There were some times when it was much more than that. There was one time when i lost track of her. The Navy has a habit of doing that to folks. But by chance, i found her again. She finally married Mike Brooks, also from Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. They live in Atlanta and are a great fit.

Susan (Butter) Butterfield Brooks is one of my dearest friends. She and Maureen are also close friends, or as close as you can be with one in Atlanta and one in the Southwest corner. i shall save future birthdays to relate other special moments with Susan here.

Butter remains beautiful in so many ways.

Happy 80th Birthday, Butter.

It is eery here.

i walked to the top of our hill this morning to see what i could see. In 2007, i watched flames and judged we were going to be all right. Today’s climb did not reveal any flames and by noon, all of the ugly dark gray and black smoke had given to light gray and white smoke, almost like clouds, but they weren’t.

For those unfamiliar with our terrain, we have had three wildfires this time around, relatively close. The “Otay Mountain” fire is better known as the “Border 2” fire. The “Otay Mesa” fire is apparently out. Those fires at their closest were about a dozen miles east of us with winds carrying them north, not likely to affect us.

But the skies are surreal. i cannot discern fire smoke from haze, and we do have some weather relief moving in. There is even hope for some rain by the end of Saturday. Our humidity, which has hovered around 5% for the past several days, you know, spark causes wild fire weather, up to a whopping 13% as i write (my nose is dry).

So we are lucky. Many are not.

oh, take me to the fields of Armageddon
where i can fight destruction of the world;
take me to Culloden
where i can learn to sacrifice my life
to a doomed cause of false hope;
take me to Gettysburg
where i and my comrades
scream the rebel yell
in a cause for blighted rationale;
take me to the sea battles
between majestic ships of war,
where men were men, often foolishly
giving their lives to Davy Jones
for a preordained lost cause;
let me live by dying valiantly
to lost causes, ill-fated hopes
because i find my aged self impotent
to take up my saber
against causes that subtly plan
to destroy caring.

Last year, i prepped; i partied; i cleaned up in the rain. We had a total of 70 folks in our house and under our patio and tents in the back, not counting the next door neighbor’s taqueria catering folks in the garage and under tents in the front –still don’t like garages in the front. Even though i had expressed the party was to thank all of the great folks in my life, i was given gifts and lauded for looking younger than 80.

It was gloriously perfect for a man of four score years.

This year, i have some home projects to complete, some posts to write, some books to read, some exercising to do, a walk, some piano to play (simply), and at least two naps on my docket. i may watch a sports event or a movie or documentary, and i will have a fire.

The weather is completely different from a year ago. The day after the party, we had record rain and floods, of all things, in the Southwest corner. Today, the threats of wildfires that have ravaged the big city north of us have abated. It is cool, cold for this neck of the woods with a low in the low 40s. We are experiencing humidity that is not akin to the deserts to the east.

i don’t think Maureen has planned anything special and that is just fine. Tonight, i will sit in my chair in the family room, have a fire in the hearth, and a glass of wine. Today, i’m thinking about things i would like to impart to my grandson, my thoughts, which i do not expect him to completely understand. These thoughts are not things for him to follow, only to give him my perspective from eighty years, which has mostly been a good life.

To begin, Sam, it has become apparent to me that folks are all alike, no matter what country they live, what culture in which they were raised, what color of skin they have, or what religion they follow. In each group larger than a dozen or so, there are folks with good intentions, folks who just want to be left alone to be with their families, folks who just want to have fun and for things to be easy, folks who like to work, folks who want to be famous, folks who are kind, folks who want to make things better, folks who are bullies, folks who cheat, folks who lie, and folks who try to manipulate others for their own fortunes, and folks who kill.

i finally have recognized the futility of trying to change folks’ minds. They are going to believe what they want to believe regardless of truth, logic. So i am now trying to live the rest of my life living well and doing what’s right.

In short, Sam, i have had a great life and never had the intention to hurt or get the best of anyone. i have screwed up, sometimes royally, but not without good intention. It is a great place to be. Oh, there are things i wish were different, better for folks i know and i will help if asked. But at 81, it is good to sit by the fire in the evening and reflect on memories. i hope you will find this peace when you reach my age. Better yet, i will have this wonderful woman sitting across the room from me.

Oh yes, i had a great birthday present a day early yesterday. Vanderbilt’s basketball team beat Tennessee. And my quests for better golf and learning Spanish continue.

For those who might be wondering and are not exactly sure where we live, we have yet to endangered by the wildfires.

They are currently in Los Angeles County from the middle of the city to the north along the Angeles National Forest. We have a close friend who has evacuated her home from the Palisades Fire near Santa Monica, and we have relatives who are likely affected by the Eaton Fires near Pasadena. We have not heard from the relatives yet.

This is over 100 miles from us but the entire Southwest corner is very dry and high Santa Ana winds are with us for the next week or so. If fires do erupt, we are relatively safe. Our home’s location should help a great deal.

i just wanted folks to know we are safe.