Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while counting the minutes before my MRI:

These bags aren't recyclable.

** The photo you see at left is of a thoroughly beaten man.

Last night, my balking left knee locked once an hour during what should have been my sleeping hours, waking me up with searing pain each time. Needless to say, I did not sleep well, which is why the bags under my eyes in the aforementioned photo say "Stop & Shop" under them.

I finally gave up trying to sleep around 7 a.m. and puttered around the house as best I could, given that most turtles could beat me in a footrace right now. Then around 1, I went outside to sit in the sunshine. But as I sat there, I felt really out of sorts and weak, and figured I'd better get out of the sun lest I pass out and end up with a really bad sunburn. I went back into the house and collapsed on the bed, where I slept for two unbroken hours -- long enough for the gel packs on my knee to melt.

The MRI is scheduled for Wednesday. Hopefully it won't take long thereafter to start to resolve whatever problem I have. Meanwhile, I can't mow -- and while some of my yard has gone dormant, there are some areas that are going to seed, and the weeds are overtaking areas that I would have addressed by now.

Getting old sucks.

** Here in Mansfield, the graduating seniors from Mansfield High School were treated to a motorcade through town on Sunday to mark their passage into the real world. I wish I could have watched from downtown, but the knee just doesn't allow excursions of that sort right now. Be that as it may, I send along my heartiest congratulations to the seniors -- especially to the senior athletes whose exploits I chronicled over the past two years in my role as play-by-play announcer for Mansfield High basketball.

It's been a damned strange year, kids, but what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Go out and make the world a better place.

** Ditto, I wish I could have participated in the short march that took place Friday from the high school parking lot to the new police station in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. But I was there in spirit. It was peaceful and uplifting, and isn't that what we need in these troubled times?

But of course, the messages left on the local newspaper's Facebook page painted a different picture, insulting the marchers as disloyal to the country and offering support to criminal looters -- which, of course, was inaccurate. We do have our share of Trumpers down here in this corner of the commonwealth, but I just hope they'll shut up in November and go back to hiding under rocks when Joe Biden wins the presidency and throws the racist element out of the White House.

** This state is also starting to "open up" again, but I'm worried that this could signal a resurgence in coronavirus cases. Florida, which has been "open" for about two weeks, is now showing a surge of more than 1,000 new cases a day -- and one can only wonder what the numbers across the country will be two weeks from now in the wake of the large protests of the past week.

We're not out of the woods yet. But I'm retired, so I can keep hiding for a while longer.

** By the way, I want to make something clear. I don't support "defunding the police" because law enforcement is essential to any type of civilized society. But I do support the notion that police officers should adhere to the law while upholding it. Being a cop should not be a license to use excessive force against anyone just for the sake of it. That, however, should not prevent police for using force when it's necessary -- and indeed, it is often necessary.

It was my experience growing up in this small town that police could be corrupt. One of our police chiefs used to run the biggest whorehouse in town, in fact. But also, some of the worst "town toughs" -- the kids that hung out on the street corners and harassed younger and weaker kids just for laughs -- grew up to become cops because it was how they could use their bullying tactics legally and without recourse.

I'd like to think that times have changed. I know a lot of police officers in this town and others around here and they are outstanding individuals committed to protecting their communities. But I still get the feeling that every now and then a bad apple emerges that likes to use his authority to be overaggressive in even the least threatening circumstance, and that has to change. One way to change that is to create a national "bad cop" registry that would keep track of cops that break the rules, and thus prevent them from getting jobs elsewhere.

We need better men and women to do the job.

** All for today. Just wanted to let you all know I was still alive. Wish me luck on Wednesday.