Doghouse

Stanley

Port Chicago Highway in Concord, CA.



It was August by then and damned hot. 110 in the shade hot and Stanley was supposed to leave in two days for Bible School.

Now you may wonder how it was that all these men who supposedly loved God could be so malicious. I simply point to the Crusades and then remind you that it only took Wettstein 2 hours to clean up his Capri and rearrange it. No lasting harm was done...it was rather the "unknowing" all the way back from Reno that was his due.

Same with Stanley.

I sat down with Pope Kodiac a month after I had gotten him back and I was relatively sure he would not cut my heart out with a spoon over breakfast. As I unfolded my plan and he realized that he was no longer a target his eyes lighted up and he threw in.

We would steal Stanley's spare tire off the back of his van and bury it like booty at a location that would make mockery of him.

We would do this "the Port Chicago way".

The night before Stanley was to leave for Westmont we heisted the tire and left a note telling him where it was buried.

Only it wasn't exactly there.

I mean it was and it wasn't. Many notes later (like 15) he would end up back where he had been at 10 a.m....only it was now 3 p.m as we had timed it so when he got back there (with a shovel) it would be the hottest part of the day and there would be traffic backed up for miles watching his every move.

He had to drive up to the Park, then to Walnut Creek...then back to the park. Pleasnt Hill...back to Concord...a side trip to Cowell... One of the notes was waiting for him at the Concord Police Station.

"Hi my name is Gary and I am looking for my tire"

"Yes. Mr. Stanley, this is for you" said the woman at the front desk as she handed him the envelope with his next clue.

Now I cannot take credit for that. It was sheer brilliance on Pope Kodiac's part. He had been a police cadet and had connections. Just imagine Stanley walking in to the police department at 9 a.m. and they are expecting him.

We did bury his tire off Port Chicago Highway in the middle of the night and we knew that, at best, he would get there (again) with a shovel in the middle of the afternoon when traffic backed up and everyone would be watching him dig.

You gotta give Stanley credit. He did it. And it was 110 and he went off to Bible College later that evening and never had anything to do with any of us after that day.

I think he now runs a Zen center in Boulder Colorado and only uses a bike.

Next...the one that got away...

posted by Obi-Mac BakDon @ 7:37 AM