We Are Superhuman

While busying herself in her kitchen, 57-year-old Angela Cavollo, a suburban housewife, heard a commotion in her garage. She ran outside to find her son pinned beneath a 3000-pound car. She lifted that car with her bare hands, and held it up until three neighborhood youths, responding to her cries, ran into the garage and pulled her son to safety. They call that "hysterical strength."

In 1973, while mowing the grass at High Rollaway Park for the Newaygo County Road Commission, the 786-pound tractor I rode tipped over, and proceeded to land on top of me. Before it could drive me into the ground, I had already planted my feet into the floorboards. At the instant of contact with the Earth - with a singular motion - I extended my limbs, hoisted the machine, and tossed it over my head.  

I do not compare myself to Mrs. Cavollo, who held that 3000-pound car aloft for a full five minutes while she waited for help to come. No. Like it was a red-hot stove, I let that Wheel-horse tractor go the moment I wrenched it away from me. 

These things happen, folks; usually they don't. Most often, people simply die. Wish for such an extraordinary moment - yearn for a supernatural experience - and you will probably, most certainly, die. 

I fancy, it is the electricity of the moment that saves us from tragedy. In a microsecond, shock releases the "Kraken" - that superhuman spirit that exists in us all. It is like a secret we either have never been told about, or if told, we would no sooner believe in than we would believe in Peter Pan. 

Kiss Me, Kate

Forget about Joe Biden and Donald Trump for a moment. They are two old men vying to see which one can piss pass his toes. What about Dr. Jill?

Jill Biden reminds me of Doc Holiday's "Kate". Jill told Joe Biden, in from of a post-debate audience, "You did great, Joe! You answered every question, and he certainly did not do great." In today's parlance, we would call Jill, an "enabler." 

Some say what Dr. Jill is doing to Joe is elderly abuse, or if you will, "animal abuse" - like exhorting a tired horse to run faster when he no longer can. 

Jill reminds me of "Kate", the infamous moll of the legendary "Doc Holiday" in the western "Tombstone.," At one point, a bed-ridden Holiday, suffering from a severe case of tuberculosis, is advised by his doctor to and his drinking, smoking, and gambling ways, or he will soon be dead. When the doctor leaves, Kate, who depends upon Holiday for her extravagant lifestyle, turns to him and says, "You're fine, Doc." Then, she sticks a lit cigarette into his mouth. 

Jill Biden is intoxicated by the power "First Lady" bestows upon her. No way will she let one decrepit old man piss that power away. She will ride that poor horse into the ground, first.  

The WNBA and Illusions

Women and basketball have a problem. The game was not built for them. If it had been, the basket would be closer to nine feet above the court, rather than ten. 

They could lower the rim. That, in itself, would foster an illusion of athletic preeminence. And, it would not be nearly as ridiculous as the way we've lowered the bar in our politics just so the two most ridiculous men in presidential history can appear to be capable of, not only leading America, but of leading America, but of leading the free world.

 *******

This is no illusion. People ask: Why are men and women so lonely today when it is easier than ever for the sexes to "hook up"? 

Mostly, it is because of political reasons. We have made such a conscious effort to blur the lines between the sexes that neither side is as attractive to the other as it used to be. Men, more confused than ever, have lost sight of what makes women special. Women, themselves, may have lost sight of what makes women special.