When Kaylea plays violin in the band at church, she goes to practice a couple hours early on Sunday mornings. Since I’m now old and wake up involuntarily at the crack of dawn, I enjoy going with her. We stop for mochas on the way and I love listening to the musicians while I read or write before Harper finds me for a game of catch.
Dustin is one of the drummers at church; I am completely fascinated by drummers. I love watching them as they worship while keeping time and the variety of rhythms and techniques they employ. Last week, Dustin added a tambourine to his cymbal stand with one hand while playing snare and toms with the other and bass with one foot. He didn’t miss a beat. I thought it was incredible. Dustin’s toured the country as a drummer playing with and alongside of dozens of bands.
“My grandfather was a musician and had a studio. He got me started at 7 and I’ve been going strong ever since. I give lessons regularly.”
Dustin’s a dad of two boys and the birth story of his youngest son is remarkable. Theodore entered the world a month early and in a hurry. In the space of eleven minutes, Dustin drove his wife, Barbie, to the hospital, rushed inside to find a nurse and a wheelchair, and came back to Barbie holding Theodore.
“I was so tired, I thought I was dreaming. I couldn’t believe he was here.”
Dustin is also a motorcycle aficionado, thanks to the same grandfather. I watched a video of him racing in Oklahoma last summer that resulted in a wreck and broken collar bone.
“The throttle was stuck, it was surging. I squeezed the brakes as tight as I could and felt it fighting me. I was able to slow down to about 80 before the bike went down and I slid about 40 yards into the wall. Then the bike hit me. Broken collar bone, a couple torn tendons in my ankle, lots of bruising. The shoulder still hurts some, I probably rushed the healing process, but overall it wasn’t that bad.”
Now, Dustin is half of the Langston Keil Group, a real estate sales team.
I really like their motto, “Life is good. Let’s make it better.”
He introduced me to his partner, Joe, who was there to operate the drone.
“Even as a touring musician, I’ve never had a job I loved. Now, I can honestly say I love my job. It’s problem solving and networking and helping people find a place they can call home. Together, Joe and I have a lot of fun doing our job, and that dynamic of fun and helping others makes a big difference at the end of the day.”
The three of us stepped outside the Primrose office space and found relatively solid footing in the grass that had been thoroughly saturated from this week’s rains. Dustin and I tossed the ball and I tried to work on my knuckleball, but it was horrible.
“It’s been years since I’ve played catch. Probably the last time was back when I played softball. I was on a team called the West Battlefield Fighting Jackalopes. We won the championship that year.”
Joe took a few pictures and then turned on the drone. This was my first drone experience. If we had been in a bigger field without windows and cars nearby, I would have tried throwing pop-ups over the drone. I think that would have made for cool video. With my luck, though, I probably would have hit the drone, so it’s best I didn’t have the opportunity.
Dustin then took a turn piloting the drone and Joe grabbed a glove, until the batteries died and the machine landed itself.
Just before I left, right after we took a selfie, Joe turned to Dustin and said, “This really was a lot of fun. We should play catch more often.”
I did my job as catch playing ambassador. I helped two incredible businessmen make their business better by incorporating catch.
Tip of the hat to LK Group for a great day!
