latest
Now that I am an 86-year-old person I am reminded anew almost every day about how forgetful old people are. But as I look back on my somewhat lackluster life I have to remind myself that my old age isn’t wholly responsible for my absentmindedness. I had a little bit of this even as a child. I remember overhearing my grandpa remark and sharing his concern with my mother about how forgetful I was, and this was when I was 6. Just last week I had to ask a young guy what his name is. A boy I knew quite well. I have often tried to cover this memory deficiency with saying things like, “oh he has a beard now.” But this guy didn’t. Sorry Dillon. So, I’ll just blame it on old age again, for now. And that works pretty well.
Read moreLast week I wrote about getting rid of the itch. This disease is sort of like getting rid of ISIS. You felt like you had gotten rid of it only to discover next week that it was back in full force. Such was my battle in the 1940s with the itch infections. Now, here we sit and listen with a worried feeling as our President tries to explain how we managed to turn our “victory” in Afghanistan into a sudden loss. Just like the itch. Afghanistan is back. A time of shame for our country. A week of regrets for the thousands of citizens who served our armed forces during that long 20 years of war. A time of concern as we try to figure out how to get our citizens and those friendly Afghans that were helpful to us out of that unhappy place.
Read moreIt was windy and lonely looking. And it was cold that day, like it was this last winter. Yep, the spot being perused by my brother Gerald and I was the place where we had lived once upon a time a long time ago. An old grocery store site with a small apartment in the back—all gone now. Most of Centrahoma was gone too. My thoughts went back to one night back in 1942.
Read moreAs the old Bible King, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes (which many of you will remember is in our recent Sunday school lessons) “what goes around, comes around.” Seems like this Covid stuff is sure trying to do just that. It’s back. Some of our “experts” are saying this strain could be worse than the earlier one. But I doubt it. Since at least half of our population has been vaccinated against this dangerous pest that means to me that at least the half of us who did get vaccinated are unlikely to catch it at all, or at least, if we do it should be an attenuated case because those already shot will have some antibodies to it. Unless you are just one of those who don’t believe the shots work. Well, that’s your problem.
Read moreOne of the results of this Covid was Pat and I have watched a lot more movies here at home than normal. One would think when you glance background that I would have seen all the movies that I should. My tenure at Stonewall Schools (1944-1952) and before that my fellowships at Centrahoma should have been enough. But I must reluctantly admit most of what I know today I learned in the Main Theatre at Stonewall. Covid and the coldest winter ever gave me some chance to work on my “Master’s Degree” in movie watching.
Read moreMany of us who still go to Sunday School are studying a part of the Old Testament called Ecclesiastes. Not only can we not spell it, we in the “Cemetery” Class have a hard time trying to comprehend the teachings of the old teacher (Solomon). But we try. This morning I got out of bed and walked toward my kitchen where my wife was fixing our breakfast. She had our TV tuned to channel 25 and it was saying something about the “heartbreak of erectile disfunction.” That was the same commercial that had played the morning before. Yep. Just like in Ecclesiastes, it too had already been. And my breakfast was on the stove.
Read more
Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, Alabama is a scenic 90-foot-tall point of scenic beauty. It’s also considered a very romantic spot. A place where a young man might take his best girl on a date. One reason it’s considered so romantic is that a long time ago, the beautiful Cherokee daughter of a great Cherokee Chief had fallen in love with a handsome Cherokee Prince. The son of the afore mentioned Chief. But as it happens, the Chief had already made a deal with a nearby Creek Chief in which he promised his beautiful daughter to this Creek Chief’s son instead. This did not go well. The heartbroken princess went over to the place she and her lover had spooned so much and she jumped.
Read moreHaving a working bicycle in 1945 was very important to me and lots of my 10-year-old friends in Stonewall. But our WWII enemies, the Japs and the Germans had seen to it that bicycles, cars and such were fairly unavailable in the USA. Especially Stonewall. We had plenty of old bikes, but it was hard to find one that worked. Bicycle chains were scarce so if you couldn’t fix yours, you were out of luck. My brother and me spent many an hour figuring out how to fix those things and eventually got good at it. Flat tires? We were masters.
Read more