Mood: happy
Topic: "Kool Sailboat" (4)
Frodo and Sam enjoyed the time in the City of Orleans. There has always been an ambience to living on the edge, with little regard for what may come tomorrow. Frodo came to know people who opened a "Christmas Club" at the local bank which they used for the purpose of purchasing beads and other "throws" during Mardi Gras. Never giving a thought to putting something away for the proverbial "rainy day," all of their creative energy was ushered into celebrations, be they of life, or of death. Frodo and Sam were captivated by the good times, and the bacchanalian aspect of a Hobbit's time and place.
Frodo had little experience of a maritime nature, so when he discovered an advertisement for a 10 foot styrofoam sailboat, distributed by the manufacturers of "Kool" cigarettes, he imagined himself learning to sail on one of the many bodies of water surrounding his residence in the City of Orleans. Oftentimes he subsequently saw himself as a young Kennedyesque figure, with wind-blown hair and a smile into the sunlight. In all, the boat turned out to be a pretty good investment, because Frodo did learn to sail, and he devoted many hours and reaped worlds of pleasure, which was what life was supposed to be in the "Big Easy."
Eventually, the purveyors of Mount Doom called Frodo to another assignment in a far-off place. While there, he was held as a prisoner-of-war (and John McCain thought he had it rough, have you, dear reader, ever been to Philadelphia?). Sam remained behind for a period of time, taking care of certain business interests, and Frodo's sailboat sat, tethered to the back door, with no one to guide her bow to the wind. That is, until an alien object captured the proper barometric pressure and developed a meterological happening.
Hurricanes are something that wise people take seriously. One out of ten may actually threaten life and limb, so many people, particularly those who give little thought to the morrow, do not pay them proper homage. Sam is not such an individual. Sam was very concerned about what to do in the event that the coming storm should strike with no Frodo at home. Sam used the telecommunications channel to correspond with the enslaved insurgent in Philadelphia, seeking guidance in the event of high water, and the need to seek safer clime. Frodo, unwisely as he now recalls, pointed out to Sam that there was a sailboat in the backyard, and it would be a good idea for Sam to tie the boat by rope through the second-story window.
"The second story," screamed Sam. "You want me, and two canines, to clamber out a window into a styrofoam boat, and to just fly magically to some mountaintop in Tennessee?"
Frodo, as noted previously, quickly realized the folly of his suggestion. Sam's position was that Frodo should get his butt back by nightfall, in his motorcar, and transport all that was precious in his life, with or without time off for good behavior, even if he had to scale a prison wall.
Frodo noted the wisdom of Sam's position.
Fortunately, the hurricane shifted far to the West, and struck the coast of Texas, thereby presenting no danger to any civilized life form.
Shortly thereafter Frodo returned to the City of Orleans to combine Sam, Prissy and Gumbo (canine associates of that era), and requisite provisions into a single family unit again. The "Kool" sailboat was still tethered to the back door, and the chapter in Frodo's life that neglected responsibility came to an end as the motorcar crossed the I-10 Bridge.