LARRY A. AIN'T TOO SHABBY NEITHER

Larry A. has been a fount of knowledge this week. So far, he's explained that every American law has a loop hole (and used a machine gun as an example), told the story of his friend that robbed a bank and got away with it, the time another friend rode a horse 400 miles to attend a concert (he saw a diesel drive off the bridge he was sleeping under, and EXPLODE!), and Larry's own habit of spending all his money on fresh fruit ("I just love fruit so much").

Normally, conversation with Larry is meandering and free-form, but sometimes, he arrives with a conversational mission. This was the case two days ago. He stormed through the front door, and made a bee-line to my computer desk. He sat down next to me, and announced, "Americans don't know their own history." He handed me a piece of paper and demanded that I read it. It was a photocopy he had made from an old book, and discussed the New Madrid (Missouri) earthquake of 1811. For those of you not familiar with the earthquake, it caused rivers to reverse directions, giant cracks to open in the earth, and the tremors were felt over one million square miles. I had just seen a documentary on the subject, so we spent several minutes discussing it. With no warning, Larry stood up and said, "I've got to go. Give that copy to your daughter. I made it for her." Larry has never even met my daughter.