Po' Folks

When I was very young (until about age 5) our family was poor. Money was always tight. But we had love in our home, humble as it was. Mom and Dad both worked to make ends meet. The thing was we always seemed to have something to eat. Might not be  much, but we had something. 

I remember the boxes of government surplus food we'd get. Peanut butter, powdered eggs and powdered milk.  There was butter, something called oleo, and other staples. I was too young to understand that my parents had to humble themselves and go pick up these boxes. I just thought everyone got them. I remember the powdered good the most. You don't forget the difference in taste of a gallon of Borden's homoginized milk and the powdered stuff! It's kinda like  the difference between Nabisco Saltines and Great Value crackers, you KNOW there is something wrong with the picture! Powdered eggs are a whole other story. They taste good to me. They were hot, and they were filling. That was all that mattered to me back then! 

My favorites from that big box were the peanut butter and that wonderful cheese! Never has a better sandwich been made than a grilled cheese sandwich made with govenment surplus cheese! I wish I had one now. (Hold the powdered milk, please.) 

Government surplus goods got my family through many a hard time. Like I said, money was tight. But the meals prepared with these items were more than just a meal. They were mama's way of  serving up love for her family. I realize now that Dad never wanted to have to take charity from the government, but he did the best he could. The program was created for people who needed help. WE needed help. After I turned about six or seven the powdered goods and things just went away and never returned. (Shout out to the late Calvin R. Starnes who gave my mother a better paying job and helped us out tremendously!) 

Did we have hard times? For sure. Did we have lean times? Yep. But did we somehow make it? Absolutely! My parent's willingness to do whatever it took to feed us and let us know we were loved was undeniable. THAT was my childhood. 

Now where's my grilled cheese and eggs?!

Retired of This!

 Had someone told me 7 years ago that retirement was going to be this cotton-picking boring, I might have stayed in the workforce! Has someone told me that folks where I was working would be getting a $20,000 a year raise I most definitely would have stayed! But that's a whole other Jerry Springer, and I will let it alone. 

I am sitting here staring at this screen and wondering what's for supper. It's only 3 O'clock! Bored doesn't come close to how I am feeling. I have been at home almost all day and I got up at 6 this morning! I did make a run to town to register my wife's car. That only took about an hour and I was back here in front of the computer again. Such a life I have! I need a job! Unfortunately, health issues limit the job market, for me, greatly! I guess it was a good thing, in one way, that I retired when I did. Who knows what would have happened if I'd had my heart attack while driving a van load of prisoners somewhere?! 

I have actually become accustomed to retirement. I may not like everything about it, but I cope. I often tell people who ask me, "How's retirement?" that, "The money sucks, but the hours are great!" Honestly I don't mind being retired and having lots of down time. I would really like a part time job somewhere. The money isn't important, but a reason to get outta bed would be nice! 

I guess if you can afford to do it, or get really close, you should do it. Let the younger generation handle the daily grind...but keep an eye on them! All in all, It's a good life!

On My Mind.

 The passing of my oldest son's classmate this week started me thinking. They graduated just shy of nine years ago. I stared remembering classmates of my own who have died since we tossed those flat hats into the air way back in 1978. 

Before we even made our senior year Gary died in a car wreck. He was the star athelete as far back as I could remember. It stunned us all. Erby died just weeks after graduation. Coming home from a late shift in the oil field. I figure he was very tired and the tree didn't care. I struggled with that one for a little while. Marcell lived to see more than a few years after graduation, but still died too young. Heart attack I believe. He was a twin to one of my best friends. Many more have passed without my knowledge of circumstances, but I know there have been many. There is little joy in outliving friends. I am glad to make it this far, don't get me wrong, but watching old friends die off at any age is hard. I feel for their families. 

It makes me sad to hear of the passing of  any of these friends and classmates, so I choose to remember them as they were back in the day when we were just happy-go-lucky kids.The world was ours! We laughed together. We triumphed together. We pulled for those "Mighty Bears" together. Yes, we endured hard times together. Mostly, we grew together.  Now we have our memories. Good and bad. I certainly hope the good ones outnumber the bad ones for everyone. 

Not much of a upbeat post, I know, but it was on my mind.  Thanks for visiting my blog.

The Joys Of Getting Older...

 So there I was...for the second time in two weeks. Sitting there on that table in a backless gown that would rival anything Versachi ever designed. Hospital issued, of course. I don't even think it was tied right. Two ties isn't gonna do much for a hospital gown on a guy six feet tall. 

It was rather lonely in that curtain enclosed space, waiting on someone to wheel me back so that they could do unspeakable things to me while I was enjoying the Propafol induced slumber I had missed out on the night before. I had not slept much due to constant running to the bathroom! Have you ever had a colonoscopy? Ever pretended that it wasn't so bad? Ever tried convincing yourself that the events caused by that nasty concoction you had to drink would end soon, knowing you were just lying to yourself? The taste of that creation of Satan was bad enough, but what it brought was many times worse! I saw things. BAD things! Things I swallowed in third grade on a dare! About half way through I heard a voice from somewhere deep inside me say, "I'm coming Lord!" 

Now remember, this was my second colonoscopy in two weeks! The fun had been drained by the first one. I found no joy in this one! We will not discuss what they require you to do before they let you leave! 

Why are the nurses all staring and trying to cover their laughter?? 

That was in 2010. Now time has passed. I have had, I believe, 7 colonoscopies to date (16 years). Got another one coming in about a year.  But I guess there are worse things in life. Root canals, maybe? Kidney stones are no fun either. 

What a joy it is to get older. However, given the alternative...

I Can't Take It Anymore!

 Last night my beloved Dallas Cowboys played in prime time. I never saw a down. Not because I was mad at them or any other person or team, I was just unable to get NBC on my television. I hate my television. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it! I can't get regular TV on the dang thing! I can do without seeing sitcoms and other drivel, but I NEED my Cowboys! 

I understand that my Cowboys lost to an inferior New York Giants team. I'd STILL like to be able to see it! It's my God given right as an American to see the Cowboys play! I have one of those stupid "smart" TVs that has the fancy channels like Hulu and Peacock and the rest. I enjoy watching YouTube on it. I do NOT enjoy having to pay to get a channel that carries the NFL games! 

OK...OK...OK...I have to stop this now, before my blood pressure gets too high. I'm just going to have to fix the problem before next week's game. Y'all wish me luck... and GO COWBOYS!! Dang it! Anyone have an old school TV laying around??

Postpartum. Post Office. Post Toasties. BULL!

 I gotta weigh in on this madness that is the Lindsay Clancy crap. 

I don't know postpartum psychosis from Post Toasties cerial, but I know 3 dead babies! This woman claims her hormones were in some type of criminal cocktail state so she murdered her three children. It's bad enough that one person (her) could concoct a wild story like that and somehow believe it, but the dang jury almost unanimously believed it! Thank God for that one lone man with functioning brain cells! 

Eleven grown humans voting to acquit this monster because she said she was hormonal. I knew we were headed for trouble several years ago when Andrea Yates was sent to a mental hospital rather than prison for drowning her 5 children. I truly believe that the eleven jurors who voted to set Clancy free were just wanting to get home in time for supper. They had no desire to stay and deliberate. CLOWNS! LOSERS! They should all be charged with obstruction of justice since those three babies did not get justice! Do you understand what they were trying to pass off as a verdict? They wanted to let that monster walk! Where is the justice in that?! She ADMITTED to killing the children! She tried to jump out a window and kill herself. That alone should tell a sane juror that she knew what she had done was wrong. She knew right from wrong! BAM! GUILTY! Life without parole, let's go! But "NO!" Let's set her sorry butt free! Thank God there was one person who stood tall and in the way of the travesty they were trying to push! 

Some say I am opinionated. I reckon I am. But one thing I am NOT is stupid! A three year old could see she was guilty...provided she had not strangled that three year old to death. Makes my butt want a dip of snuff, as grandma Meeks used to say.

Lady By The Log

 Years ago, probably around 1977, I worked at a Youth Camp in the Piney Woods of East Texas. That summer I met a young man about my age named Tim. For reasons of privacy we will just use his nickname, The Goo. (Based somewhat on his last name.) He was an adventurous guy to say the least. I learned that he liked to hunt, trap, and fish, and that is where this story really begins. He told a group of us about an event he had lived throiugh back in his hometown of Marshall Texas, that made me afraid to venture out in those woods that surrounded the camp for miles. 

He was trapping coons in an area of the town that was known for being a rough area. It was located down a notorious road called "Telephone Road." He said the badest of the bad hung out down Telephone Road. Bad things happened there. That wiwill be evident in his story. One night Goo and another young fella were running their traps down Telephone Road. They left the truck parked and started walking. It was about dusk when they started out, so it would be dark soon. Goo said he was in an area of dense brush and trees when he stepped over a fallen log. He felt something unusual under his foot but it was dark so he brought his other leg over the log and bent down to see what he had stepped on. What he found was a frightening site! He had stepped over the log and directly onto a headless body! 

Goo said he ran back toward the truck and passed his buddy who asked where he was going. He didn't say, but he ran past his truck and all the way to the local Sheriff's house. After informing the Sheriff of what had happened, the two of them jumped into the police car and hurried down to Telephone Road. They were met by other law enforcement personell and started to the area of the log and the body. They found the body and determined it to be that of a female, but without the head they had no clue as to who she was. Darkness was full on by then, so they decided to get a fresh start in the mornng. The next day a squad of law enforcement went back to Telephone Road. Goo went with them. It was Tim who found the head, as fate would have it. It was down a fox hole on the trail. It was determined that the body was that of a young woman who had been missing for a couple of weeks. 

We used to tell the kids ghost stories and tall tales on cookout nights, but this one was true. The older councilors would not let us tell this story for obvious reasons. I don't know what ever happened to Goo. I lost track of him at the end of that summer. I hope he has gotten over the traumatic events on Telephone Road. Here we are, some 50 years later and I still don't like being in the woods or even on a trail after dark!