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If you have ever driven down Highway 501 on the way to Myrtle Beach, you have probably seen the signs advertising Sparky’s near Marion, SC. The signs appear every few hundred feet for ten miles or so as you approach from either direction. The thing that caught my eye the other day is the proclamation on some of these signs that “Sparky’s Got It All.”
Something about that bothered me. See, Sparky’s is the name of the place, so “Sparky’s Got It All” just didn’t sound right. I wasn’t sure whether that meant that Sparky’s (Has) Got It All or that Sparky’s Has Acquired It All. In all fairness I assume and am reasonably confident that the saying “Sparky’s Got It All” simply means that there is an entity called Sparky and he/she has a lot of stuff and that the writer of the ad is not too concerned with precise grammar. I decided that the next time I went by there I would stop and see if Sparky’s had or had acquired it all.
Here’s what I discovered:
- Sparky’s is a typical beach-type souvenir shop.
- Sparky’s has a lot of stuff.
- Sparky’s doesn’t have it all.
- Sparky’s doesn’t appear to have acquired it all.
Anyway, here’s some of the stuff that Sparky’s has:
- Not-very-good, over-priced food;
- Tee shirts (mostly with South Carolina, beach or Harley Davidson stuff on them);
- Sea shells;
- Moccasins and flip flops;
- Fireworks;
- Ashtrays, little glass globes with stuff that looks like snow inside, shot glasses and other fairly useless articles with South Carolina, beach or Harley Davidson stuff on them;
- Some cute summer girls working there.
Here’s some of the stuff Sparky’s doesn’t have:
- Ad writers with a fine sense of grammar or semantics;
- Fly fishing equipment;
- Classical guitar strings;
- Marionettes;
- Scuba gear;
- Work clothes;
- A set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica;
- A prayer or meditation chamber.
Well, there you have it. Next time you’re down that way stop in and check it out. You might even see Sparky.
What are you supposed to do after you get “R” done?
New Year’s Day, 2008 – already. Wow.
Today has been a day much like many of the days that have proceeded it and, more than likely, much like many of the days that will follow.
I went down to the chicken house to count some chickens that were about to hatch and while there I went ahead and put all the eggs I could find into a basket. I picked up the basket and headed toward the barn to look (again) into the mouth of a horse my neighbor had given me, eyeing some wild geese along the way that I intended to chase later. (I have been teaching this horse to push a cart and he is doing extremely well.) Finished with the horse, so I began making my way back to the house and stopped by the greenhouse to check the roses. Plenty of fine buds there ready for gathering, but I was kinda tired so I went on into the house to rest and wait for the sun to go down so I could get to work on the hay.
Forgot about the geese.
A post a day had been my creed
When first this project I conceived.
A post, at least, and maybe more,
But all my posts were such a bore
That I deigned to write at all
And then my blog began to fall
Into disuse and, lo, I fear
It became much more than I could bear.
So I began, with grit, to write
Whatever came into my mind’s sight.
It wasn’t much, I’ll grant you that,
That came into view beneath my hat.
And so I write this post to say
I’ll hope for more another day.
This just popped into my head one day and has been bouncing around in there ever since.
I go in search of the terebinth tree that I might lie beneath it and wait for the young men to come, that it might be written of me, “Behold, the young men came and found him lying beneath the terebinth tree.”
My first assignment in Philosophy 101 (years ago) was to write an essay answering the question, “What is Truth?” I can’t remember what I wrote then, but I am sure it was at least 99% BS.
If asked that question today I could answer quite confidently and with all BS aside.
Truth is birth, death, a bowel movement, and a broken heart.
Trout Fishing in America (and other good books)
