DNLR--DOES NOT LOOK RIGHT

Bugler Boy, Summerfield, NC

There’s an awesome world out there to be explored and experienced, but I’ve learned over the years while traveling across America, parts of Canada, Europe, Israel, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras that we also need to be “street smart”.  I’ve met and been privileged to know a multitude of wonderful human beings that have assisted me in growing into the older, somewhat wiser person I am today.  We’ve shared triumphs and some defeats along the way, but every challenge was a learning experience for all of us. 

Yet, we shouldn’t be naïve to the existence of bad people that walk among us.  That means we must be vigilant to our surroundings at all times—not paranoid so much that we’re afraid to leave the house, but alert to anyone that could do us harm.  One past incident I vividly recall involved a night close to the Mexico border where I was walking through a dark parking lot to my rental car.  Just as I entered the car and closed the door, I noticed a hand grab the outside handle and I automatically hit the lock.  The shady looking man shouted that he just needed a ride for one block, but I’m confident he was after something more sinister as I quickly started the car and hit reverse.

I attended a training session one morning a few years ago after the Trustees Committee I served on began reacting to the horrendous school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  The security consultant spoke all morning on the reality of our time and at the closing, he seared one lesson permanently into my brain; “Brand the letters DNLR on your forehead if you learn nothing else this morning.  If you see something or someone that Does Not Look Right, you need to investigate and/or call 911 immediately.”

I was out driving this Saturday morning into the countryside with a cup of coffee and simply enjoying the ride to nowhere in particular while looking for any photo/blog opportunities.  Suddenly I passed a historical marker that I could only read the title of Bugler Boy.  So, I turned around and drove into a short dead-end gravel road to investigate the area and photograph the sign for later review.  As I exited my vehicle, I noticed an older white pickup had quietly pulled over and was backing into the dead-end road.  I quickly snapped the marker and opened my door, reentered, locked the doors and started the engine.  As I hit reverse and glanced at the driver who had a grim look on his face, he placed the truck in drive and drove off.  The entire short episode Did Not Look Right!

When I returned home and zoomed in on the marker, it told the poignant story of a teenage bugler boy with Light Horse Harry Lee who was chased by Tarleton’s British Dragoons, caught and killed by the sword on this site during the Revolutionary War on February 12, 1781.  He is buried nearby and died too young to gain much street smarts.  I couldn’t help but wonder on this day of February 8, 2020, almost exactly 239 years later, if the wiser spirit of young James Gillies hadn’t alerted me to such a fate.