A Tale Of Two Camps

 Today is election day/Mid terms. Here in Texas a senate race has captured the attention of millions. Ken Paxton, the guy with more baggage that a rich woman on vacation, is squaring off against James Talarico, a strange little man who listens to his lesbian preacher tell him he is the source of all knowledge about God. Neither would be my first choice, but Paxton's baggage is far less concerning that Talarico's. I voted for Paxton the first day of early voting. I actually voted straight RED ticket. America cannot and will not stand up under a democrat lead administration. We MUST hold our ground as Republicans. 

We in Texas also have a choice for Governor on the ballot. Gregg Abbott is the incumbant and he must win! His opponent is Gina Hinajosa. She has advocated and pushed for a state income tax as well as voting 40 times for higher property taxes! She must be defeated at all cost! 

I don't know if you have voted yet, in Texas or whatever state you live in, but VOTE and VOTE RED! We must hold the House and the Senate!

 I remember many moons ago, when I was a little boy, my dad would say mean things about import cars like Toyota and Datsun. "You just can't work on those foreign things!"

Today the tables have turned. I have had about 12 of those Nissan/Datsun and Toyota cars and fixing simple things, like tail lights and headlights and that sort of thing, was a snap. Today I own a Chevy Malibu. I was stopped by the police last week for a brake light that was out. The high mount light on the back deck. Should be an easy fix, right? Ooooooohhh contraire! The part alone cost $180! I looked at a Youtube video on changing it. To my horror, it was a monster of a job! I took it to a local mechanic shop and they said it was "at least" a one hour job at the rate of $120 per hour! 

C'MON CHEVY! DO BETTER!!!!!!

When The Angels Are Busy

 Has this ever happened to you? Have you been on either end of it? Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time to lend a hand. ANY kind of hand.  I have. I have been on both sides. Both are a tremendous blessing. 

When I was in college I worked at the student center snack bar and grill. One particular day I got to the student center early and was sitting in a booth waiting for time to clock in. As I looked around I noticed a girl who looked to be probably a freshman. She had a kind of look on her face and body language to match. I could tell she was hungry...and broke. I walked over to her and started a simple conversation. I didn't want to just blurt out "Hey are you hungry and broke?", so I casually worked into the conversation that I worked at the grill and was about to grab a burger and asked if she'd like one. She looked up at me and said she would like that but she had no money and her student meal plan didn't have a balance on it either. I told her that that wasn't my question. She grinned and said a burger would be great. I did not ask how long it had been since she last ate. I ordered three burgers with the works and two orders of fries and drinks. I told her I wasn't all that hungry so I'd just take one of the burgers and she could have the other ones. We sat and ate and talked until I had to clock in. I told her to come by at closing time and I was sure we'd have some extra food we were going to have to toss out. Amazing how that happens when you are the one cooking up until closing! I made a lifelong friend that day. That was 39 years ago. God put me there at that moment in time to be His "semi Angel".  God has used me many times through the years in these situations. Always a wonderful feeling that comes over me when He does. It's a blessing to be a blessing!

How about you? Ever been used in one of these "God-wink" situations? Ever stop to help a stranded motorist on the highway with their hood up and a "what do I do now" look on their face?  I have been on the other side in my life as well. I remember a Fall night when I was a teenager. I was driving on a back road and had a blowout. I drove on wondering what to do. Then I saw a mailbox with the name on it of a man from church. I stopped and asked to use his phone. (No, young people, there were no cell phones in those days! LOL) He asked what the problem was and I told him. He got dressed and came out to my car to survey the damage. The tire had wrapped itself up around the wheel and brakes. I didn't know what we would do, but by the grace of God, that gentleman knew. It took awhile, but he got me going again. That was nearly 45 years ago and to this day I am grateful for my friend Bob Moyers! That is just one of the times God has sent someone to my rescue. Have you remembered anything yet? Any time God used you or sent someone to your rescue out of the blue?

Keep your eyes and ears open. Keep your heart in tune with Him. He will make it happen when you least expect it. I believe God uses ordinary folks when His Angels are busy. God-winks happen everyday, all around us! Be ready. Be willing. It is an unbelievably wonderful feeling to allow Him to send you to the rescue. Be a blessing!

Check your Calendars!

 I can't believe it is less than two months from Christmas and we have sunshine and 75 degrees here in Texas! Some are predicting a bad winter but I'm not a believer. I love this weather, personally. I can see it now...Santa will come down the chimney in his Bermuda shorts and tee shirt wearing shades! Mrs. Claus will be back at the North Pole mad at old Santa because she wanted a vacation and this seemed like the perfect place to escape the cold. 

Thanksgiving is even closer! I can't wait. I love getting together with family over at my mother-in-law's house! Good food and good times. Always a pleasure. Always a treasure. I hope someone brings plenty of good rolls. I like the rolls even more than the turkey! Cornbread dressing is also most welcome in my opinion. I grew up with it. Mama could make great dressing! Never cared much for cranberry sauce, but if someone likes it I am sure there will be some. A recently discovered treat for me is butternut squash! DUDE!!! That's good stuff! I could talk food all day but I am rambling now. 

I suppose it is not too early to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I was just surprised when I realized it was so close to the holidays already. Enjoy your food, family, and fun!

Scary Ain't It?

 It's that time of year again. Fall. And with it comes the usual trappings of fall. Halloween, fastivals, leaves changing color. This year is only slightly different. The leaves are certainly changing color here in North East Texas. Problem is they are changing from green to brown! No reds, yellows or oranges at all! That means my beloved Texas is ugly this year. I hate to say that, but it's the facts. I hate it. We have never been a New England by any stretch, but c'mon man! At least give us a yellow leaf here and there!

Then there is Halloween. I personally don't care for celebrating demons, witches, and goblins, but I don't participate in that part anymore. I WILL eat candy! I have no qualms with a Butterfinger or Twix! When I was a kid, back in the day, my brother and I would go door to door, pillow case in hand, beseeching our neighbors for sweet handouts. The haul was usually very generous and the candy flowed like milk and honey! To this day I will state without hesitation or reservation that the best thing we got every year was Mrs. Arnold's homemade popcorn balls! I loved those things! She would place two or three of the treats in each of our bags and off we'd go to the next house. We never went out of our own neighborhood. Never had to. Our bags were full just from the small sampling of houses we were adjacent to. All those folks are gone now. The old neighborhood is far from the same as it was. Sad really. 

That leaves only the festivals. My wife and son are both teachers at the same school and tonight is the annual Fall Festival and Halloween Bash at the school. The kids look forward to it every year and the teachers dread it. After a long day teaching they have to spend three hours or so manning the various booths all off the clock. I don't blame them. 

There will be cake walks, dunking booths, bounce houses, and more. My favorite would be the cake walk, of course! But that's a whole other Jerry Springer. Prizes are the flavor of the day (or night). My son has provided 300 rubber ducks for prizes! I know because he forgot to take them with him this morning and I had to make a trip to the school (25 miles away) to save the day. (I'm such a good dad! LOL) I did not mind it.  Tonight the scene will be one of scary costumes and fairy princesses. I wish all a safe evening. If you are having a Halloween party this year, I hope you have great fun! From a personal stand point, I hope you place the emphasis on the "fun" and not on the "scary"!

Move Over Charlie Brown

 Spread the word! America is back on top in a catagory in the Guinness Book Of World Records! 

On October 10, 2026, American Ron Wallace turned up with an item that blew the minds of the judges. A 3156 pound PUMPKIN! It easily took the record that had been set just one week before by a Great Britain resident who had put up a 2800 pound entry. 

A three thousand pounder! Now THAT is a "Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown! Imagine if Cinderella had had that available! There would be no carriage in the story. She would have had an 8 door Cadillac stretch limo to get to the ball! 

Personally, I keep thinking, "Wow! How many pumpkin pies would that make for Thanksgiving?!" 

Don't Go Teasin' Us!

 Mother Nature apparently has jokes! That little dab of rain last week was a joke. I am ready for a 2-3 day round of a soaking, gentle rain. I still have cracks in my driveway that would make a junkie drool! I literally saw one that was two inches across and every bit of five inches deep.  All kidding aside, we need more rain. I believe we got about four inches total last week. That isn't horrible, but it isn't enough. Three months without measurable rain is no joke. Ask a farmer or rancher. 

I used to hate the rain. Then it happened... I got old and can now appreciate the rain. For years I was into sign painting as a hobby. Rain messed that up. I hated a rain forcast. Now days I don't care one way or the other. I'm retired and disabled and can't do squat! So rain, no rain, hurricane, makes me no difference.

What was I talking about?? ...Oh yeah...We need rain. I'd rather not have my wife come in from walking the dog and be holding an empty leash. Dang cracks.

Diet? What Diet?

 OK...I am supposed to be on a diet. I meant to be on a diet but something happened along the way. I didn't see it coming or which way it went when it left the scene of the crime, but something came along! I was on a high protien diet. I liked the food, and it wasn't hard on me. Then it happened... Out of nowhere I was attacked by fast food and soft drinks! (I have since managed to restrain my love for soft drinks, but the fast food is a monkey on my back!) 

Why does forbidden food taste extra good when you are on a diet? I mean, I am unable to control myself when I am in the vicinity of a Whopper and fries! Men and brethren, it aught not to be so! (A little scriptural lingo for some of y'all who need it!) But it IS so! I get near an order of jalopeno and cheddar bites and I can't stand it. I gotta have some. A large order, not a puny 4 count. And they are sooooooo good! I am glad I am at home right now and not still in town. I might succumb to the desires of the flesh! (More lingo there...) 

Today I had to go to Wal Mart and pick up prescriptions. As I left the parking lot my car suddenly had a mind of it's own. I blame AI! It veered over into the Burger King drive through and stopped at the speaker. A voice that sounded like mine said, "I want a number one combo." What just happened?! Then my car pulled itself around to the first window and my debit card jumped out of my pocket and swiped itself! I was in some sort of shock. I did the only thing I knew to do...I ate the combo and drove home.

Like I said, I am "supposed to be on a diet." I'm calling today a "cheat day". Come to think of it... I'm calling every day this week a cheat day. There! I feel better now! 

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may diet! But today I shall "have it my way!"

I'm Hungry!

 I'm hungry. I have not had breakfast yet, and here it is almost 10 o'clock in the morning! Time gets away from me when I sit down at this stupid computer. Literally hours slip past while I scroll and comment! HOURS! I need to get rid of the darn thing, but I enjoy it too much. I can keep up with old friends and former co-workers. I can Google stuff and argue with folks over politics! You'd be surprised how many keyboard warriors I run into who want to disagree with my correct opinions!They get all testy and mad and I just comment back and laugh at their ignorance and intolerant opinions. LOL! 

But back to beng hungry... I ate a sandwich last night about nine. It's gone now. I need something quick and tastey! Maybe another sandwich?! But that would mean I had to get up from all the fun I am having playing on this computer. I'll make it a few more minutes, I'm sure. The little store up the road about three miles has good stuff! I may go there for a large order of fries! But then...That would mean getting up and leaving my precious keyboard. Curses! Whoever designed these things was an evil genius! Whatever shall I do?!

Uh oh... I am starting to feel the urge to head to the little writer's room down the hall! Now I GOTTA get up and leave my spot! I suppose this would be a good time to stop and post this goofy blog. Then it's off to the store for fries! Must be God's way of keeping me from getting into more "discussions" with those keyboard warriors I mentioned. 

I shall go silently into the night and purchase for myself fries with salt, pepper, and ketchup! Perhaps a bottle of water to wash them down! Then I shall return to "discuss" with yet another person with a wrong viewpoint! FAREWELL!

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!

"Who Is It?"

Did I ever tell you about the time I went to a fortune teller? Not for advice or any of that stuff. I was delivering pizza in college! 

It was a fairly quiet night at Pizza Pro in Searcy, Arkansas, and I had been stuck in the store making and cooking pizzas all evening. I told the boss I needed a break and he said, "OK. Take the next run." I did. It just happened to be to "Sister Helen's Palm Reading And Tarrot". I knew where it was because I had passed it many times delivering. Out the door I went.

When I arrived at Sister Helen's location I knocked on the door as usual. A voice from inside said, "Who is it?" 

Now folks...If I ever had a "Here's your sign" moment in life it was then. But I resisted... Almost. I politely said, "I thought you'd know!"

Needless to say, when sister Helen came to the door she was not amused. Worse yet, she stiffed me on the tip! Heifer!

I didn't appreciate her lack of a sense of humor any more than she appreciated my ability to restrain myself from going full Bill Engvall on her. I never took her an order again. Just as well... I hope she saw me in a dream and felt bad!

The Art Of Life

 All my life people have referred to me as an "artist". I never really considered that to be the case. I'd have to be much better at the craft to call myself by that title.  I was just a guy who liked to draw and sometimes entertain using art. At 66 years of age I still like to draw and entertain. I'm still not an artist. I dabble in caricatures and learning new things, but that's about it. 

When I was in high school I had a teacher named B.A. Morgan who was what I would call a real artist. Then there was another teacher, Butch Wills. He was pretty good, too. Mr. Wills gave me my first paddling in high school! That's another story for another time. 

There were also several students I watched and was intrigued by as they drew and painted, but the best one I ever knew was a young red haired girl named Helen Lowrey.  Lawd have mercy, that girl was talented beyond measure! By our sophomore year she was so far above even the teacher that it was flat out amazing. I wonder what ever became of Helen? Our sophomore year we were fast approaching the East Texas Yamboree art contest and I had painted a bald eagle that I was pretty proud of. Helen, of course, had a painting ready to go as well. It was a seascape done in acrylics. I remember looking at it thinking, "Wow. We are all trying for second place." 

Then it happened. Overnight there was a fire in the art room. I don't remember if they ever determined where it started, but it burned up all the entries we had for the Yamboree contest.  

That was the same school year my dad passed away from cancer. Quickly. Unexpectedly. Gone, leaving a hole in my life. I tried filling the hole with school work, art work, even my part time job at the local grocery store. I loved that job. It helped the most. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. So it was with my job at Gray's Grocery. I went to work for the summer at a Christian youth camp I had attended years before. It was something I needed right then. That summer I fell in love with Camp Deer Run and I fell in love with God. I realized that He was the only thing that could truly fill the hole in my heart. Here I am, some 59 years later, still loving that magical place we simply call "CDR". I even met the girl I would later marry  there at camp! Tell me God ain't good!

That summer I learned a lot about life. Mostly I learned that God is in control, no matter what. I am convinced that that summer at camp is what gave me what I needed to move on with life without my dad. It wasn't easy, but it was possible. 

Just as Helen was the best artist I ever met, God is the greatest healer I have ever come across, bar none. She entertained me. He sustains me! I look around at His handiwork and see the greatest artist and craftsman imaginable. More than that, I see the God who pushed me to make it when I wanted to give up. I wanted to crawl into a hole and just stay there. That's just a part of life, not the whole of life. He is the whole of life. The creative genius behind the universe. The artist of life. 

Summer of '68.

 It was the summer of 1968. One year removed from the famed "summer of love". I was 8 years old and having a ball. Litterally. I had just started PeeWee League baseball in Gladewater, Texas. I would go on to play for several years and leagues. PeeWee, Little League, Pony League and Mustang League. I LOVED it! That being said, I feel like I should point out that I was only average at best, and that took a while to get to. I never even made the conversation when the powers that were were picking All Stars. But I played and had a blast! That summer (68) I could usually be found holding down the fort in right field. Right field, where they sent you if you were just a hair better than the worst player on the team. It didn't matter to me where I played as long as I got the chance. 

I can honestly say I was more than a little distracted standing out there in "outer Monrovia", since there were very few left handed kids to worry about hittng the ball to me. I had to pretty much entertain myself until we went in to bat. And I did so very well I might add.  One particular night will live on in infamy.  Some kid hit the ball off the end of his bat and it came slipping and slopping out to my area. I was oblivious.  It happened to coincide with the passing of the 8:30 Union Pacific Train. I was wrapped up watching the big locomotive pass and never saw the ball or heard the other players yelling at me! The center fielder had to run to right field and throw the ball in. Needless to say, that story has followed me for nearly sixty years. I laugh now, but I was horrified back then when I had to face the Coach and my teammates! Neither of those was as bad as listening to my older brother replay it for me and laugh...and point, too, as I recall! On another occasion,I attempted to throw a runner out from left field. Unfortunately I tried throwing the ball side armed. It had been raining earlier and the ball was wet. You know what happens to a leather ball when it gets wet? It gets slicker than snot on a door knob. The ball flew out of my hand and went straight sideways and out of the ball park into traffic passing on Pacific Street. Talk about embarrassed?! But, as time went on I got better and those mishaps were fewer and fewer.  

By the time I was 17 I had discovered that if I didn't have baseball practice in the afternoon I could pick up a few extra hours at work. That meant more money. That meant more fun. I said "Goodbye" to baseball and thus began the next forty-five years of working full time. It wasn't always fun like baseball, but it allowed me to do things a mediocre baseball player could never do. 

These days my shoulder is shot. Rotator cuff is worn to bone on bone. I can't throw a ball more than 5 feet, and even then it is severely painful. But I will always have the memory of those summer nights in the old ball park. Right field, trains, side arm throws and all. It was a great childhood.

It Sure Is Hard!

I made a deal with someone the other day. My half of the deal is I gotta give up Coca Cola. I love my Coca Cola. The fully leaded kind. None of that sissy Diet Coke for me! I have a long standing love affair with the fizzy drink and it's artificial coloring and sweeteners. For the past 50 years I have enjoyed anywhere from 4 to 20 of them per day. Every day. (The 20 a day was long ago when I was about 18.)  I am surprised my kidneys have not rebelled against me to tell you the truth!

So here I am, now two weeks into this cold turkey cut off. It is haaaaaard folks! I am drinking water from a place in Greenville called The Drop, or Drip, or something like that. It is billed as "alkaline water". Supposed to have a high Ph and other minerals in it and be good for you. So far I can't tell much difference.  It costs about the same as regular bottled water, so I am not complaining. I AM complaining about not having my cold, bubbly fix every day! But it's for a good cause. More than one good cause actually.

I have been needing to lose weight for years. Nothing worked. Fad diets were just that. They didn't work. Fasting didn't do a lot. Some, but not a lot. I even ordered some of the powder drink mix that I once used several years ago to lose. Couple pounds is all I shed. That and forty bucks. So I finally listened to my wife and decided to try giving up the Cokes. They are full of sugar ya know? Yesterday morning I stepped on the scales and I am at 277.1 lbs. Down from 284.4 when I began. That's 7.3 lbs!  I'm happy as a pig in mud with a traugh full of fresh slop!

At the current pace I should hit my desired goal weight of 200 lbs. in about a year. Bummer. A year! LOL. I can do it. I hope to be able to walk more in the coming few months as I lose the extra weight on my knees and hips. I will be joining a new gym that has an indoor walking track. It has many more features as well. I was sold when they told me they had a sauna!! I get two weeks free when I sign up, so I will be signing up this week. Probably tomorrow when I am in Greenville. I am excited to sweat! LOL. I just hope the high heat in the sauna doesn't cause problems with my heart. Wish me luck! 

Meanwhile...I sure could use some icy refreshment in a 12 oz. can. GIT THEE BEHIND ME SATAN, AND QUIT APUSHIN'!