Shorts… four short Jeff Taylor stories:
The
Streetlight
It was not
unusual, especially on cold mornings, to feel the need to use the bathroom prior
to leaving out on a hour and a half ride.
You didn’t want to stop on the road later, and then have to catch back
up, or ask everybody to stop with you. On
one of these cold mornings, before the sun was up, I quick stepped across Hwy
130 in front of Jason’s house, and went into the shadows behind the Airport
sign out in the field, to use the bathroom.
I realized when I got back there that Jeff had followed me, but he stopped
directly under the streetlight barely off the road. Hey Jeff, what you doing. Using the bathroom. Don’t you think you need to get out of the
road? Why?
I didn’t ask
any more questions. But still think that is really funny.
Lil Slap on
the butt
When Jeff
was riding bikes with us, he sometimes reverted to back to about 8th
grade. One of the things he did was to accelerate
quickly, and pass you on the right or left, and slap you on the butt as he went
by. Sometimes he didn’t say anything, sometimes he yelled something. Either way, he kept accelerating up the road like a
one man breakaway in the Tour De France.
We were all about forty or a little older, a Bank CFO, a school principal, and me, a Office manager. It had been a long time, for me
anyway, since anybody slapped me on the butt.
Maybe high school when I hit a shot in basketball, or baseball after a
pitching out of a jam? It was always interesting hanging
around with Jeff !
4th
Quarter !
Bike rides,
like any sporting event, have a start, middle and end. When Jeff joined our group, I then realized
that even a bike ride has a 4th Quarter. When Jeff was getting tired, or sometimes
when we were mostly done with our planned route, Jeff would silently, and slowly raise four fingers
in the air. He looked like a linebacker
on a bicycle, with his hand up, signaling that, yes he was tired, but he still
had some gas in the tank, and he was committed to finishing strong. It didn’t
take us long to know that when Jeff did this, we were supposed to raise up our
hand too, four fingers extended, we would all finish strong!
No
Tip-toeing
When we were
riding bikes, and Jeff wanted us to know it was time to go, or there was a big
climb ahead and he was ready to give some extra effort, he would say “no
tip-toeing!” I wish I had asked him
where this expression comes from. Maybe it’s a basketball
expression about how a player crosses the lane? Maybe it's just something he made up? Anyway, when Jeff said No tip-toeing, we knew
that there was no slacking off, and it was time to get on the front of the bike
seat and push the pedals a little harder.
When Jeff
was getting treatments, and not riding with us, I would often send this to
him in a text message, to let him know I was thinking about him and his battle.
“No Tip-toeing! “ He always appreciated
being thought of, and always thanked me for the message.