Tossing Salt Presents:
A Day of Dougie:
Giving Back, Lucky & Singing in the Shower
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

It’s Tuesday morning and you know what that means, right? It means that I’m up too early, my nerves are shot, and I miss my family/friends. And I’m not talking about my blood family. I love them, but to be honest, I need a break from them, and they kind of rag on my nerves rather badly. I’m talking about the family that fate/life/the blessings of God, has given me. Big shout out to the Infamous One, She of Her Better Lifestyle, and the two most incredible little ones in existence. Love y’all way much.

Okay, now let’s move on to the reason I’m sitting here in front of this computer. It’s time for a Day of Dougie. Yes, it seems that I’m finding my groove again, and, apart from being your Guiding Light and Party Host in terms of pro wrestling Q&As, I’m also back with the randomness that brought me to the dance. So yeah, blah blah blah! Let’s get the Magic Bag and find some topics of discussion to discuss.

I have the bag in hand and I am reaching in. The three topics of discussion for today will be Giving Back, Lucky, and Singing in the Shower. Not too bad a selection so long as I don’t get too many interruptions. And here comes the damn dog needing to go out. What was I saying? It’s as if he knows that I’m getting relaxed and almost content for a few moments and has to break the magic. I love these animals, and my family, but I still think it’s an organized plot to keep me on edge, miserable, and frustrated all of the time. If that’s the plan, it’s working. Oy vey! So let’s see how much I can get done before the next interruption. Let’s roll.

Giving Back

How to talk about this one? Giving back is exactly what it says. Everyone needs help at some point in their lives. It took me a long time to accept that and I was always the one who was reluctant to ask for help, but I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by good people and if I was lacking something, usually without having to ask, someone would be there to step up and make sure I’m okay. And then, later in life when I’ve had the opportunities or good fortune to help out others and help make things a little easier so someone else doesn’t have to struggle as much, I’ve always tried to do that. Be it financially, providing food and drink, maybe putting gas in their car, or just being there to listen and understand, I think I’m a good dude and known for having a big heart and helping others when I can.

The only problem with that is that some people like to take advantage and instead of being appreciative, they take it for granted. I get that not everyone is like me. I hate asking for help and when it’s offered, I’m very appreciative and humbled. When the only time you hear from someone is when they have a sob story and say, “Bring me a cigarette”, or “We don’t have any drinks!”, it gets old fast. It’s sad, but true. Did I say that gets old fast? The bottom line here is that I’ve always tried to do right by people and so long as I’m able, I’ll keep on trying. I took a lot as a wild-ass young man and now, as I’m older and able to, it’s time to give back. Just don’t take it for granted. I do it because I want to and if I’m feeling used, I won’t want to anymore. ‘Nuff said!

Lucky

When I think of the name, Lucky, I think back to 1977-78, when I lived in the lovely town of Maxton, NC, over a mile down a dirt road, with our only neighbors being cows. Yeah, we lived in the country. I would love it now, but back then, as a 12-13-year-old boy moving to a new place, after being raised in the big city of Raleigh, NC, the capital city of NC, and the center of everything, it wasn’t ideal. It sucked! But back to Lucky.

Lucky was a dog that wandered up one day to the house. A brown and white mutt that just showed up and adopted us. Most likely, he had been abandoned at the side of the road and sensed that we had a dog, Snoopy, and just decided to join the family. Very smart and beautiful, Lucky was a good dog. He was very cautious in allowing us to get close or touch him at first, but he and Snoopy got along well from the start, and it didn’t take long for him to let his guard down and get comfortable.

This went on for about a year and then one day, he just vanished and disappeared. He didn’t show up to eat or when we called him. Snoopy was still with us, but Lucky? It’s as if his job was through and it was time to go. We moved from that trailer not long after Lucky vanished to come over to Laurinburg, but Mom and my stepdad, Ray, continued to keep riding out there to the trailer in Maxton to leave food and look for Lucky, just in case. We never saw him again. So there you go.

Singing in the Shower

Yes, I do sing in the shower. Well, I used to, but these days, I’m too occupied with trying to keep myself from falling over to perform many vocal miracles. But back in the day, I used to and I did it very well. There’s something about the acoustics in the shower that makes almost anyone sound good. The only place I know of that’s comparable is the ABC store before opening when I was alone and getting ready for a busy day. It had a nice echo effect to it, the sounds of my voice bouncing off the bottles, and damn, I sounded good. So for singing in the shower or singing in the liquor store, both are a big thumbs up from me. And what do I sing? I sing Sinatra, Dr. Hook, and Waylon songs, of course. What else would I sing? That’s some good music.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. I also need some new topics to add to the Magic Bag so any suggestions in that area would be appreciated as well. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe. And I guess that wraps things up for now. I need to go get a shower, breakfast, and just go ride for a while. I’ll see you at the Lake at St. Andrews. I think I’m going to go feed the ducks. Until the next time, be good.

Ubuntu!