‘Grumpy Gramps’ comes from having been around the walks of life now for a good long time and those who know me, know that I have my thoughts and opinions which seem to spew out once in a while much to the chagrin of my wife and a few of my grandkids.  When it does happen the grandkids sometimes say oh Gramps is getting grumpy – so the name ‘Grumpy Gramps’.

Almost two weeks ago we took a short (and I mean short like just a couple of days) vacation trip to revisit, for the first time in five years and since my massive heart attack and COPD diagnosis, the family cottage in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a few moments of just being totally out of touch, out of mind, out of sound and out of sight.

NeedlesEye  Here we have another reflection on some of our trip, here we shake our head at those who are bums in a big hurry and do not take the time to slow down and enjoy the beauty not only of the day but of the surroundings.

My 85-year old father was kind enough to take us on a drive through the beauty of Custer State Park and the Black Hills National Forest on our visit and he knows the proper and safe way to make the drive, especially when you get on the Iron Mountain Road with the pigtail bridges and u-turns going up and then back down from the hills.

What was frustrating, were those who thought they should be able to run the roads at a much higher rate of speed than the posted and intelligent speeds would and should be.

Many of these roads have a specific reason for slowing down, safety because of the sharp turns.  But there is also the beauty aspect, because if you go to fast you miss the true beauty of nature and the Black Hills.

At one point we came through the one tunnel that was chiseled through a spot in the hills at the exact spot where the tunnel would perfectly frame the beauty of Mt. Rushmore as you come through the tunnel.

Just beyond this tunnel is a very short, sharp ninety-degree turn to the left and we had a couple of ‘hot shot’ folks in their pretty little convertible corvettes riding the tail of my father’s car as we approached the tunnel, and as my father pulled to the side so we could enjoy the beauty of Mt. Rushmore off to the distance coming out of the tunnel, the cute little yellow corvette went flying around us only to hit his brakes just before turning into the sharp turn.  Know what they did when they hit the brakes, besides almost cause a wreck from the corvette behind them, they realized what they almost missed as I watched the passenger point up toward Mt. Rushmore as they tried to keep proper traction going into the turn.

They almost missed a priceless point of beauty, both man and natural made.

We had many who seemed to be just trying to fly through the Black Hills that day, maybe looking to get to Pactola Reservoir or Sheridan Lake for some boating and skiing, maybe looking to get to the possible sighting of some American Bison, maybe looking for the begging burros or just in a hurry to get to the casino’s in Deadwood – but all the while missing the true overall beauty of the Black Hills.

Did it take away from my drive through the hills with my Dad and wife, absolutely not.  It did make me feel sad for the bums who were so concerned about themselves and their goings on that they were not taking the time or effort to truly enjoy the true overall beauty of the Black Hills, a beauty that covers nearly every inch of every foot of every mile that you cover driving through.

There you have it, another ‘Grumpy Gramps’ and while many may be spewing about things they don’t like or see has being wrong – many times it will be just ‘getting it off my chest’ type of sharing.  So enjoy, think about it and if you feel the need or want – send me a comment or two and ‘Grumpy Gramps’ promises to get back to you.

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