My car is in the shop, so the Keelhauler gave me a ride to work this morning. As we turned on to Harbor Boulevard, he said, "I made up a song just now. Would you like to hear it?" and sang:

"There's a bunch of cord in the road
There's a bunch of cord in the road
I hope it wasn't holding a heavy load
There's a bunch of cord in the road."

He was very happy about his ability to capture the immediacy of life on the streets through the medium of song, and sang it several times, demonstrating the variety of tunes that could be applied to the same lyrics.

The song managed to be both tuneless and memorable, and later, on the highway, I found myself singing it. I was halfway through when the Keelhauler started laughing and asked, "What are you singing?" I stopped. "There's a WHAT in the road?" he asked.

"A bunch of cord!" I answered--the song is not terribly complex, after all, and the cord is the star of the show.

He laughed again. "There's a BUNGEE CORD in the road!" he said. "Didn't you see it?"

I hadn't seen it, and reasoned that either set of lyrics communicates the idea that somewhere up ahead there may be an unsecured refrigerator, or something, in the back of a pick-up.

So, you know, watch out.

Star of the day. . .There's a bunch of cord in the road