It’s been quite a few days since I’ve been graced with enough time to visit the Rush Rush Café. Wanting to catch up on the local scene on this quiet Friday evening I found myself heading to the Café for a bit of the blonde and sweet. It is odd how when you choose to make a minor change in your priorities such as opting for health first your whole rhythm of life can change. Nevertheless with will and intent I was able to arrive here at the Café and check in on Daddy Boo, formerly Joe Cool, and his shift buddy, Roger Rocket. Over the ripple of conversations I was able to enjoy a moment of interchange with Daddy Boo and hear that he and Ms. Daddy Boo have been getting their sleep despite the arrival of the new lady of the family. I have noticed a slightly more mature bearing these days with him being a father and all, you know. Still I expect that the under eye bags will be arriving soon. Meanwhile Rodger Rocket is flying from task to task easily picking up any slack now that Joe Cool is the Big Daddy.

While away, though, I did experience a step back into time and had a moment to visit Reb’s Café in Benson, Arizona. Immediately a fondness for this diner was formed upon noticing that I was among the younger crowd in the joint. Cowboy hats and boots where everywhere and these weren’t the Sunday Go To Meeting hats but the true blue working hats. Amongst this South West crowd a scattering of the Snow Birds resting during their usual migration from up North was to be found. The storm skies minimized the sunset but the warmth emanating with the café lights made my traveling companion, Missy2U, and myself glad that we passed on the Lenny’s up the road a piece and pushed on to Reb’s. Once we settled in the volume of the place became apparent; it wasn’t edgy or cacophonous but rather human. There wasn’t an electronic device in sight not even a cell phone. Well, that count doesn’t include my cell phone! The whole place reeked of humanity. Funny isn’t it how we get so immune to the everyday rudeness of the nearby cell phone conversation drowning out our thoughts or the constant texting in the middle of a conversation and not to mention the Fbooking with the person across the room while the chap next to us is ignored. So when a place such as Reb’s Café is uncovered a whole new world unfolds. Conversations abound while smiles and hellos are shared and the food is good.

Speaking of a new world the drive to Safford, the hometown of Missy2U, was a sight to behold. I just don’t think of snow when I think of Arizona but there it was. And it was all over the place. Heading to Globe on Hwy 69 was akin to being in a painting with all of its rich imagery and snow covered rock formations. The trip took me from Superior to Miami to Globe through the San Carlos Apache Reservation past Keen and Ft. Thomas and on into Safford. Now what always amazes this California boy is that the trip was on the level. What I mean is from Globe at 3500 ft elevation to Safford at 2900 foot elevation there were no hills. I mean big hills not hillocks with slight rises. This business of climbing a mountain and then driving for an hour or so on level terrain still baffles me. I’m always disorientated coming from a land near the Sierra Nevada range of California. But make it we did and more surprises lay ahead in Safford.

There we were at our destination in Safford and hungry. Now my traveling companion, Missy2U, is a Latina, a Chicana and a native of Safford for several generations. Yet when we departed at the El Charro restaurant and were placing our order it came to light that she didn’t know what Chile Verde is! Picking my self up from the floor I then discovered that the poor soul hadn’t ever tried a Chile Relleno either. Now Missy2U can text and e-mail with the best of them and don’t even ask about her Fbook skills but rest assured she is very well skilled. So I was truly stunned by this lapse in cultural enlightenment. Needless to say everyone in the restaurant from the hostess to the kitchen staff soon learned about her plight and I did extract a promise from several of the waitresses that they would see what could be done about this hole in her cultural soul. Hopefully and with work she will soon recover and her Latin soul will soon be blooming. It’s just one small step in the preservation of the culture and hopefully strengthens the Social Contract, as well. So send a prayer to those waitresses at the El Charro and encourage them in their work. Missy2U and all of Safford are certainly worth this effort of blending the old with the new.

Until the next time, keep ‘em smiling if for no other reason than just for the hell of it!

Gump’s Brother

Before I speak, I have something important to say.

Groucho Marx

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 1:47 pm and is filed under 2010, Information, Januarry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.