A CHRISTMAS STORY

Each year at our church we assemble food baskets for those in need. We got our food from Parkway Supermarket untill Lee sold out. We then started using the IGA on Kanawha Terrace. The people who run this place are really great to help us. Keep reading it gets better.

This year we assembled 20 baskets. We picked up the can food and dry stuff on Friday night. Larry Smith and I went over on Saturday morning to pick up the Hams, eggs. milk & butter.

As the young boy was helping to load the truck I remembered that my older brother Bill had been working here as a stockboy for about a month. I asked the young man if Bill was working. He replied that he thought he was.

I told the young man to go inside and tell him that there was a guy out back that was going to kick his butt! Well he went inside and I could here them talking but could not make out what was being said.

I stepped inside the door and was still hidden by the large freezer. Larry was standing there where they could see him. He (not knowing what my brother looked like)was saying to the two other guys, you better get out there that guy outside is really mad! I said in a loud gruff voice GET ON OUT HERE I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT ME!

I then heard the voices again and didn't reconize my brothers voice. I steped from behind the freezer and there stood the young man that i had sent the message by, and another man about half my size and looked to be in his 70's.

I started to laugh and said, is your name Bill. He said yes but he wasn't going to come outside! By this time I was laughing so hard I could barley explain what was going on. he explained that he was the owner of the store! He didn't know who was out side but he wasn't going out to see! We all had a good laugh over all of this. I told him I was just glad he wasn't 6'8" tall and weighed about 350lb and came out back and beat me all over the lot!

Hope you have a great new year!

Things I don't have

A Blackberry, a Razzor, a Laptop, a Krazar,a cell phone of any type or description. A Giant screen TV, or surround sound. An X box, A Play station, a digital camera, a new car, an ATV, a boat, a camper, a jet ski. Heck I could go on with this stuff all year.

Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t say that I would not like to have some of these things, but I can (unlike the commercials want you to believe) live without them.

A lot of people today have been brainwashed into thinking that they can’t get through a day without some of these devices. Hogwash!

Why does someone have to get in touch with you on your way TO work! You can’t do anything about what’s happening till you get there anyhow.

WAKE UP PEOPLE there are better things to spend your time doing and to spend your hard earned money on.

Oh I know your life will be soooooo boring and your friends all have one so you must have one also.

Don’t let the advertisers take over our lives, AND THE LIVES OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.

Get out and smell the roses, or just take a walk, go visit friends like me who don’t have all these things and see how much fun we have just being ourselves.

There is a whole world out there to discover. To quote from an advertiser, so maybe you who are under their spell can understand me, JUST DO IT!

Thanks for letting me rant and rave. I know that” times they are a changing” but we don’t all have to sell our souls to Madison Avenue.

I HAVE LIVED!

I have lived to see another second, I have lived to see another minute, I have lived to see another hour, I have lived to see another day, I have lived to see another week, I have lived to see another month, I have lived to see another year and I have lived to see another century. Thank you Lord for all these times.


I have lived to see my children grow into adults. Although sometimes there actions make me wonder about the “adult” part.

I have lived to see four wonderful grandchildren so far. Although the “wonderful “sometimes gets stretched to the limit.

I have lived through some very good times and some very bad times. Marriage and divorce are both in there somewhere. Outliving some of my friends and acquaintances do also.

I have lived long enough to be able to cry in front of people without being embarrassed. Old people sometimes tear up over the silliest things.

I may not be remembered by thousands of people when I go on to a better life. But I will always be able to say I HAVE LIVED!

Live your life to the fullest possible extent, what ever that may be. Some day you to will be able to say that you have lived not just existed!

COMMENTS

I will get the hang of this blog stuff some day. I beleive that I have fixed it so anyone can leave comments. try to leave a comment so I will know if I finally got it right.

Visiting your kin folk

Finally went to see my brother the other day. Man it has been longer than I thought since we got together. He has done a lot of work around his house and his little building. He turned the building into a wood shop. Had I known this 3 months ago I could have given him some books on woodworking; I gave them to another person who also has a wood shop. My brother now has a real nice pool in his back yard.

We walked all around while he was showing me all his new stuff and projects. Then we went in and sat on his back porch / patio. We sat there and talked about, what else! Grand kids. We also got to reminiscing about some of our exploits as boys.

His wife Bobbie, and their son and his wife and their three girls, and her mother and my wife Norma, were also there. We all had a great time talking about what had been going on in our lives since we had last been together. Their oldest son is back in Iraq; please keep him and all the others over there (needlessly in my view) in your prayers.

I sure hope that we don’t wait as long to see each other again. I know that on my part I am going to try to get back up real soon.

Me and the wife also went up to my brother Keith’s house this past weekend. We ate and stuffed ourselves with hotdogs hamburgers, potato, macaroni and jello salads. Well at least I did. We do this each year. Not all the family members come and they don’t realize what a good time they are missing. We pitch horseshoes hike around the hillside and play football with the young ones. At least some of us do, some of them guys are getting OLD! Some before their time, and some just because they are lazy. Maybe a couple might have some health problems.

There were 29 or 30 some people there. We all had a good time and are looking forward to next year.
Take the time to visit your relatives. No matter what might have transpired between any of them and you so many years ago or just last month they are still your only kin folk.

POPPING CORN

One time my brother and I decided to pop some popcorn, we were curious as to what it would look like to see a popcorn kernel explode.
We tried lifting the lid of the popper but that didn’t work, with all the kernels popping at the same time!
Did this stop two young country boys with to much time on their hands? Heck no!
We got one of moms table spoons, placed some Crisco, I don’t think cooking oil had been invented yet, or maybe it was to expensive, and one kernel in the middle of the spoon. I then held it over the gas fire.
The Crisco melted and things were progressing just fine.
Then the kernel started to spin around kind of slow like.
We got a little closer to watch because we did not want to miss it when it popped!
All of a sudden the kernel started to spin real fast and then POW!!..ahahahahahh!
I don’t know if you ever had hot grease explode in your face or not but believe you me it burns like heck.
It doesn’t take a lot to entertain two country boys, but I sometimes wonder how we survived.
PLEASE don't try this at your house!

ME AND MY BROTHER

I don’t go to see my brother as often as I should. I say this,but does anyone know how long of a time makes an often. Life goes on. I still like to remember things we did together. I probably don’t remember them the same way that he does. If he wants to correct some of my stories let him get his own blog! Ha Ha.

We were talking in the office the other day about how things were when we were growing up. I was telling them about the time that my brother and I went down to the river behind our house in South Charleston, well it wasn’t right behind our house but we went down to the river ok! There used to be some locks across the river at this spot but that was before my time. All that was left were the poles and some metal on them. Inside of the poles there was a raft that some of the older guys in the neighborhood had built. You could stand on the raft and walk while holding onto the poles, some were upright and some were horizontal. These you had to duck under as you walked the raft back and forth. Well things were going real well till I learned that the raft wasn’t as long as I thought. The next thing I know I was waist deep in the river,hanging onto one of the horizontal poles,not knowing how to swim. My brother was still on the raft and brought it back to me so I could climb back on. While we were heading home we made up the story that we would tell our parents. When Dad seen me he knew from the smellthat we had been in the river, the river really smelled back then, he wanted to know what had happened. We told him a bunch of guys had thrown me in the river. I don’t think he believed either of us. All he said was that he better not catch us playing around the river or he would bust our asses. We never went down to that raft again.

Once we either heard about or read about someone making a big slingshot and shooting rocks at cars. Well being country boys at heart we decided to build our own. We made it out of a small tree about five feet high. We tied bicycle inner tubes on the Y part and we were in business. You might wonder what we shot at. Tow boats on the river! Since the river bank was where the thing was located. We didn’t shoot at the boat itself but at the coal barges. I don’t recall if we ever hit any but that slingshot would probably send a fist sized rock 300 yards or more. It was a lot of fun till one day we heard some police sirens. We didn’t know if they were coming for us or not but we took off and again we never went back to that place.

We used to build wagons. We built some that were quiet fast and some that didn’t last to long. Now that I think of it I can’t remember what ever happened to the wagons after we got tired of them or winter started. I do remember Dad telling us to quit wasting his nails that we used to hold the axels on to the two by fours. What with some of the places that we rode these contraptions it’s a wonder that either of us are still here.
Another time we were riding tricycles down the hill on the main road just past rock lake pool. The one I was on had a squeak in the front wheel. When I would start down the hill it would go squeak, squeak, squeak, by the time I got to the bottom the sound was squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. This sure was fun for a couple of teenagers!

I think this is enough for now. Don’t worry I have plenty more. No matter how ridiculous some of these or future stories sound, let me assure you they are as truthful as my feeble mind can remember them. Maybe next time I will tell you how it was to sleep in the same bed with him till we were 11 or 12 years old. Whooee!

NO FIREWORKS JUST LOVE

Sorry I haven’t been on here for a while. Computer problems. I set up our 15 foot round pool the other day. Never could afford to pour the pad out back so I set it on my driveway. This kind of sucks when trying to park everyone, but the pool is sure worth it.
This kind of pool requires a perfectly flat surface, which my driveway isn’t. So far so good but I think it is “crawling to one side of the driveway. If it gets over far enough, good bye water! The pool will just collapse. We will all enjoy it till that time if it ever comes. It is virtually impossible to get a pool like this to be level. I love to play with the kids and grandkids in the water. I also like to just be alone with my thoughts sometimes too.

It’s the Fourth of July weekend. We went up to my sister-in-law Nancy’s house on Saturday. She and Norma went to Kroger’s. This was the first time that Nancy has been to the store for herself in about a year. She said she enjoyed it a lot, although it really wore her out. I wish she would get the hip replacement(s) so she could walk without a walker again.

On Sunday I stayed after church to work on some scenery for our bible school which starts on the 16th. Then when I got home I found Chris, Cindy, Isaac and Sophie there. Chris and Cindy had just put a coat of polyurethane on their floors and they were going to spend the night with us. This was just fine with us, as they usually bring all the food with them and there is always enough for us too!

On Monday I took an annual day to make it a four day weekend. Chris and I decided to install a fan in Micki’s bedroom. We had to get in the attic and run the wiring and secure the box for the fan. Man was it hot; this took about 45 minutes or so. When we turned on the switch, nothing happened! After fooling with the wiring in the wall switch and the outlet that this switch controlled, for about another hour, we finally decided to go back in the attic and run the wiring different. By this time the heat it the attic was somewhere around hotter than heck! I was not perspiring, I was pouring the sweat, and getting light headed from the heat. I finally got the wire hooked into the junction box and climbed out of there. I was soaked from head to toe. I bet I haven’t sweated that much water in the last ten years combined. I then drank about a gallon of water and felt much better.

On the Fourth we went shopping with Chris and Cindy and the kids. Got home around four and rested up some. Then Johnny and Micki and Noah got home from the mountains. I asked where Maddie was and Micki said she had decided to stay the rest of the week with some of their kin. I hope she has a lot of fun with them; I am sure she will with two kids around her age to play with. Johnny and Micki walked through the bedroom several times before thy even noticed the fan. Oh about the floors that Chris and Cindy were doing, we went over there today and they were really beautiful. This is another improvement that may help them finally sell the house and get to move to the Parkersburg area.

This is the second Fourth of July that I haven’t seen any live fireworks. I thought about going to Charleston but glad I didn’t because they were rained out anyway. Believe you me I still had a wonderful weekend just spending time with my family. Hope you had a wonderful one too.

TIN MEN ?

We might not be hanging aluminum siding like the original tin men in the movie, but we sure have been hanging a lot of vinyl siding the last few days.
Maybe you could call us The Vinyl Men and Ladies. My son-in-law Johnny helped one evening. My other son-in-law has helped every day, but it is his house!
He has done a great job even though his instructor (me) doesn’t know much more about it than he does. His dad came by and helped some one day also.

I am so proud of my other two helpers, Cindy and Micki. They have done a good job on a couple of walls all by themselves! It is fun for me to watch them and Chris cut through the locks on the siding. None of them will get on the ladders that I set up, but I can hardly blame them.

None of us could have gotten hardly any work done without my wife! She watched the little ones all day every day. She was as important to this job as any of us.

The house is looking great. I hope this helps them sell the house. I don’t necessarily want to see them move to Parkersburg but that’s the way life comes down sometimes.

Chris would get to see his family a lot more in the evenings by not driving so far for work. I hope I survive the next few days of working 10 and 11 hour days. I just think who it’s for and that keeps me going.

BIRD FRIENDS

God must have told the birds that my yard was a safe place to raise their young.

I now have four birds nesting on my little piece of land. (50x 200 lot).

The first one made her nest between the folds in my grill cover.

The second was in a little tree that my daughter Cindy planted about 15 years ago.

Number three is on top of my back porch light. This seems to be a popular place for Robins. They scare the heck out of you when you go out the back door sometimes when they take off. They don’t go far, just to the fence, and they set there and screech at you for daring to come out the door.

The fourth one is on the bend of the gutter downspout on the back of my workshop.

I believe that three of the nest is Robins and one is a small sparrow.

While I am on the subject of birds, while I was sitting on my front porch (one of my favorite things to do) just across the street landed the biggest woodpecker I have ever seen. It had a big red top knot on it’s head. It sat on the side of the telephone pole for about 30 seconds and then it was gone. I hope it likes our area and I get to see it again someday.

Driving to work this morning I saw a big bird with what looked like a 3 foot wing span. It was black with white wing tips. I couldn’t tell what kind it was, maybe a vulture.

About a year I got to see a bald eagle sitting on a limb and then take flight. This is quiet a thrill to see in WV. I probably won’t ever see another one in the wild so I consider this sighting a real pleasure. It was down at the Winfield locks.

Another pleasure is sitting on my front porch, (as I mentioned before) and just watching and listening to all the birds in my neighborhood.

All Gods creatures are amazing sometimes but birds have to be rated right up there at the top in my opinion.

Sometimes I wonder if calling someone a birdbrain is really bad. By the way, and the places, they build there nests it would almost be a complement

Have a good day and keep watch for our fine feathered friends.

A GOOD WEEKEND

Well, another weekend. This one is going to be a four day one for me. I have Tuesday off for the election. I took Monday off as an annual leave day. Spend some time with my girls and my grandchildren.

Have to work a hotdog sale at my church on Saturday. That will be a lot of fun, meeting people and cooking on the grill.

May wash my car and truck over the weekend.

I will go vote on Tuesday but I sometimes wonder if it does any good. Sometimes the ones you have placed your trust in, turn out to be as bad as the ones you have voted out of office! But I urge all of you that are able and registered to please go vote. People in some countries dodge bullets to get a chance to vote, so don’t let a little rain or some other weak excuse keep you from the polls. We will get good leaders only if we vote them into office.

Hope you have a good weekend; I am going to have one!

POLITICAL ROADS

A lot of roads in the 50’s in WV were just more or less wide dirt paths. In the winter the ruts would get up to a foot or more deep in some places. If you didn’t stay up on the ridges of the ruts you would enevitibley drag off your car muffler, at lesast if you were lucky that’s all you would drag off your car or truck.

Every now and then the state road would come by and grade the road. The only time you knew for sure they were coming was in an election year! Those running for office, it didn’t really matter which office, would try to be the one to take credit for getting the road graded and the ditches cleaned out. Just like they were going to do when they were elected they would clean out the statehouse, courthouse, ect.

This ploy worked for getting votes for quite a while. Then one savy plotico decided that he would not only grade the road but he would also put some gravel on it also! These days you may complain if you live where you have to drive on a gravel road . In those days it was a pure luxury. That guy got elected and reelected quite a few times.

Then one day someone got the bright idea to pave the roads with blacktop. Believe you me if you told the voters you would get their road paved if you were elected you were pratically a shoo-in.

These paved roads could also get you defeated. If the state was short on money, which in this state is not un common, and the roads fell into disrepair , you couldn’t buy your way into a political job. Allthough a few sure tried, and some succeded.

One of our ex governors started paving every little road he could get his hands on . He was elected and reelected and reelected. You could just mention his name and some old farmer would start praising him for paving all the roads in WV. The only reason he was able to pave them was because of all the federal money coming to WV from Wash. Of course he played the political game like no one else before him. He finally got his due when he robbed an old man of his inheratance, and when he ran out of ideas to get reelected , he started trying to buy elections, good ridance!

The next step on the paved roads to victory ploy was the introduction of “slury” . This concoction of trash and tar to cover roads and make them look like new was a disaster! Some Charleston politions seen there political careers come sliding to a halt with the use of “slurry” to pave roads around Charleston.

Then came the big interstate. Would you lose your farm to this road , or could I, as your elected leader get the feds to route it in another direction. This ploy got a lot of play in the late 60’s and 70’s.

A lot of the ones running for office are now into replacing bridges, I will be the first to admit that the bridges need to be replaced . but is promiseing to get me a new bridge, when I can’t afford the gas to drive my car . good enough to get my vote? I think not.

Now that most of the roads are paved and the interstates built, the politicians have reached new lows to try to get your vote.
Guns, patriotisim and abortion have taken the place of roads in trying to get elected. Promise to place government control over someones private life, or their ability to choose how they treat their bodies, or how they will throw all protesters in jail because someone burns a flag and you can get elected in WV.

I belive and sincerelly hope that the times they are a changing. We must stand up for the poor and elderly, and children who can’t speak for themselves. Give me an America that treats ALL it’s citizens the same.

Lets demand that the politicians speak on issues that will put more money in our paychecks, food on our tables , and give our children and grandchildren schools that will prepare them for the future.

Lets not keep going down the same old road over and over again, no matter how they pave it.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

I hope that all who read this have a complete circle of friends as follows.

C… This is for your cherished friends, those that you want to be your friends no matter what happens. Those who have seen you through some rough times and still remain close.


I… These are your indispensable friends. The ones you think that if they weren’t your friend you don’t know what you would do with yourself. These are the friends that if you call them in the middle of the night for help they will be there, no questions asked. These friends are few and far between. Count yourself very lucky if you have even one of these type friends.


R… This is for your religious friends, you know, those friends you only see at church. Your only contact with them is usually on Sunday. They might visit you if you are in the hospital or pray for you when you are sick. Don’t get me wrong these are important friends to have.

C… These friends serve a dual roll in your life. They are not only friends but confidants. These friends you tell your deepest dark secrets to, knowing full well that they will go to their deathbed with out telling the information.

L…These are your lasting friends. The ones that you have grown up with or have known for many, many years. You sometimes have someone that may also be a friend,but they just don't fit into lasting friends.

E…This last letter could stand for everyone. If we could live our lives to consider all we meet to be a potential friend. Think how our circles might grow.

I am hoping as you read this you thought of some of your cherished, indispensable, religious, confidant, lasting friends or maybe you just thought of everyone!

Alas my circle of friends is not complete, but I am still working on the list. If yours isn’t keep trying!

Remember that friendships are like flowers, they need a little work and nurturing once in a while. Call today what you might consider a long lost friend. They may be the one that will help you complete your circle of friends!

HOW IN THE WORLD ?

Did you ever ask youself this question.

I was walking across my yard the other day. I came upon a little pile of rocks. I wondered, how in the world did those get there. Now these rocks weren’t any that matched any rock within a mile of my house.

I picked them up and threw them out in the road so that the lawnmower would not get them and sling them who knows where.

Now this is not the first time for rocks and a lot of other strange little things that I have picked up in my yard.

This stuff went on for awhile back about 25 years ago. Suddenly it all just stopped.

Now it has started again in the last 5 years.

I never knew what I might have found 25 years ago, and I am still surprised by some of the items I find today.

Some might think that I have gremlins visiting my yard at night.

I believe I have a better explanation, CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!

When my 3 girls were younger I was always saying out loud HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT GET THERE! I now say the same thing because of my grandchildren, but now I just mumble to myself.

Just try sometime to explain to a little one with a play set of golf clubs, why they don't have any little white balls (that hide in the grass) to hit.

As best as I can estimate, I still have about 10 years of finding unusual things, and chopping up something, (no matter how hard I look) when I walk across or mow my yard.

How in the world will always be used around my house inside and out

I can hardly wait for my Great Grandchildren!

VISITING A DENTIST, UGH!

I HATE DENTISTS! Well I don’t really hate the people who practice dentistry, just what happens every time I visit one.

I got my first toothbrush when I was about 5 years old. It was given to me by a Fuller Brush salesman. Some of you probably never heard of those guys, except maybe in a joke. This little brush was yellow and had black bristles. If I still had it today I could sell it on e-bay. I used baking soda to brush my teeth, we never had any toothpaste. You have to remember this was in the country in 1951, things were different then.

I tried to take care of my teeth most of my life but I never had much luck. Don’t wait till you are grown and try to get them all fixed then because it doesn’t work that way. I have had just about every procedure but caps done to me at one time or the other. Some of my worst experiences were a root canal, a dry socket, and a partial that was done by an old man that called himself a dentist.

I thought all these were as bad as it got till yesterday! I went in to have one little front tooth pulled at 10:00 am. I got home at 3:00 pm. The dentist said it would take no more than 15 min. to pull the tooth. That was the first dentist! After almost 2 hours he gave up and sent me to an oral surgeon. His assistant said it would take about a minute, thirty min later it was finally out. My whole jaw is so sore that I can barley stand it. It feels like the surgeon sowed my lip to my front gum line!

If I ever get another toothache I am going to go to a bar, get drunk and call the biggest guy in there a sob. .Then I will just stick my face out real far and let him do his work. It sure as heck won’t hurt any more, and probably be a lot cheaper too. The one good experience I had was when I was about 7 or 8. I was one of the first peopl in West Virginia to be put to sleep for a dental procedure. I still have a little card proclaming me as a pioneer something or other.

My upper teeth are now like the stars. They come out at night! Even if you take care of your teeth now, do it better! They are the only ones you will ever have. I know that I have brought most of this on myself because of my like of attention to my teeth. But I still don’t like going to the dentist even if it’s just to get my teeth, (what’s left of them) cleaned. Later.

Childhood memories

These are some of my childhood, through my twenties, memories.
One of my daughters can tell you the color of the doctors shirt and pants when she was delivered. Alas my memory is not that good. But I want to record here some of the best and some of the not so great memories, for me to look back on if nothing else.
My earliest memory is around 4 or 5 years old, I was playing on the little stoop off our front porch. The sun was real warm as I waited for my brother to come home from school. I lay down on the wood and it felt nice and cozy and I promptly went to sleep. My brother came in from school, stepped over me and let me sleep for the next two hours. This was around 1951 or so.
Around 1956 I was in school at George C. Wymer Elem. I don’t remember what I did, but the teacher would not let me go to lunch with the other kids when we were supposed to go. When she finally did let me go, the cooks had already cleaned up all the food and I didn’t get any lunch that day. When I got home I told mom what had happened. She went to school with me the next day and was going to whip the teachers butt, but cooler heads prevailed and the teacher apologized to me, but we never did get along the rest of the school year.
I went to six different grade schools and three junior high schools while growing up. Needless to say long lasting friendships were never to be had by me.
At one elementary when we had recess there was one little girl that no one wanted to play with, just because she was real small even though she was the same age as the rest of us. Being the new kid in school (as often was my plight) I went over to her and asked if she would like to go down the slide, I remember how her eyes lit up and her big smile. She was so small that she could barley get up the steps, but I stayed right behind her so she wouldn’t fall. I also had to lift her up so she could swing. We became buddies on the playground. I’m sorry now that I can’t remember her name, but I will never forget that big smile she had.
I was around 7 and my brother Bill and I were going to the chicken coop to gather eggs. We had to go up a steep path and I was behind him. Both of us slipped on the mud at the same time. I put my hand down to catch myself and he stepped back to catch himself. The heel of his shoe came down right on my little finger. I stood up and my finger was pointing straight up from my hand (only dislocated we thought). When they had it x-rayed all the bones were crushed flat. The doctor told mom that I would never be able to bend it again. At that time in my life Liberace was one of my heroes. I wanted to play the piano just like him. I just knew that with a stiff little finger I would never be able to play anything. I remember how popular I was at Spring Hill Elem, while I had the cast on my arm, clear up to my elbow!
To shorten this memory, with determination and a lot of pain I can bend my finger just like anyone else can today. Thank you Liberace. Never did learn to play the piano though, bummer.
I went to a school on Smith Creek that had two rooms. In one room they taught 1st through 6th grade. In the other it was 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Sometimes I would get to carry the coal in from the coal house, and at the same time dust all the erasers on the tree outside, that was a lot of fun.
I wore my shoes then till they were completely worn out. The soles would be flapping up and down with every step. A lot of the kids in that school wore shoes just like mine. One day mom and Dad came to school and I had to go outside to see what they wanted. Lo and behold they had a new pair of boots that they had ordered from Sears. When I went back into class you should have seen all the attention my new boots got, everyone said I was just soooo lucky to have new boots!
Around this same time period my Dad brought home two old beat up bicycles that a man had given him at work. They may have been old but to my brother and me they were wonderful! We had to put patches on the inner tubes. We didn’t have a pump so we had to push them real slow, stopping every so often to pull the valve stem back through the rim. We got to Clarence Adkins house which was over a mile from our house and he wasn’t home! In those days you carried your pump in your car with you. Not being ones to waste a good day we started to play with the Yellow Jackets that were all over the apples that had fallen and started to rot. A Yellow Jacket with a full belly is a lot of fun to play with when you live in the country. Well in about an hour Clarence showed up and after about 15 min we were both in heaven riding our bikes everywhere. These were what were called 10” bikes. I’ll never forget the first time I rode a 14” bike. It belonged to Clifford Hartwell. I felt like a king on that bike. This memory is just as fresh as if it was yesterday.
Speaking of Clifford, He was a neighbor. His dad drank real bad and his Mother had leukemia or lung cancer. We were out playing one day when Clifford’s Dad came to the door and yelled for Clifford like I had never heard anyone yell before. Clifford ran into the house and we didn’t see him for a couple of days. Turns out that his mother had died that day. This is the first time I can remember knowing someone that died. Oh I new people died, but I never knew them.
As I stated before about the number of schools I attended this means we moved a lot! I remember the washing machine falling off the truck during one move. Another time on April 12, don’t know what year, it snowed so hard that you could barley see the road. If that wasn’t bad enough my brother and I were riding in the back of the truck!
During my early teens Mom & Dad started to drink more, especially on Thursday and Friday nights. My brother and I started going to the movies. We didn’t care what kind of movie was playing we just wanted to get out of the house while they were drinking. Dad would take us to the theater and come back to pick us up. Most of the time he showed up on time.
Once we went up to the West Theater on Charleston’s west side. Now this part of town has never been a place to hang around on the streets at night. Anyway Dad didn’t show up till almost two hours after the movie was over. Believe me my brother and I were scared half to death! Then there was the time in late November that he left me waiting four an hour and a half. It was cold enough that I was spitting on the sidewalk and I wrote my name with spit and it froze! He said he had dozed off. Unlike today’s kids who would be screaming at there parent for being late, I just said I figured it was that or the car wouldn’t start.
Speaking of being cold. My friend Neal and I were out in our yard one day when his Dad came by and asked if we would like to go fishing. The next day was the opening day of trout season, and they were going to a lake in the northern part of the state. Neal and I were wearing jeans and t-shirts because it was about 70 or so around here. We left at 3:30 AM the next morning and got to the lake at 5:30 AM. We had to drive up a hill to the lake and there was about 4” of snow on the road. Neal and I decided then that this might not have been such a good idea. It snowed over 6” before it stopped. Neal and I didn’t even bring jackets to wear. We were cold but it wasn’t that bad. Then the wind started to blow. I don’t think I got warm for the next two weeks. Last time I ever went trout fishing also.
The first fish I ever caught was a sucker 11” long. The creek that went by our house was usually about three inches deep. But the river got high and backed up the creek to about 10 feet of water was flowing in it. My uncle Douglas said this was a good time to fish with the water standing still that way. I got my pole and some worms and in about 15 minutes I had caught my first fish. I cleaned it and put it in the freezer, but I never did eat it, I guess Mom got tired of it being in her freezer and threw it away.
One time my brother David and I were up at Little Creek Park. We were probably in our early twenties. We were over at the soap box derby track and found an old Hot Wheels trike. We started taking turns riding that thing down the track and we had a ball. Oh, I forgot to say that the front wheel had a big flat spot on it and the faster you went it about shook your head off! What fun!
It is a wonder that I am still around after some of the things that I did as a country boy growing up in rural West Virginia. I may get into some of the details later in another blog or two.
I just wonder what memories today’s kids will have. Like how many levels I got on my Nintendo. Or how long I survived on my x-box game.
I grew up in a time that was a lot simpler. But the one thing that we didn’t do back then was, we didn’t forget how to use our imaginations and our limited resources to have the most fun ever!
If you have children please make sure to stimulate their imaginations now and then. Every now and then play a game of imagine with them, believe me they will remember someday.

TRUE SHADOWS AND THE FUTURE

I want you to take a second and look at the picture of me and my grandson Isaac. We both have true shadows. What the heck is a true shadow you ask? I like to think of it as one that if you could somehow freeze the shadow and then lay down upon it, it would be the exact same size as your body. The sun has to be just right to give you a true shadow, believe it or not.

The length of the shadows of each of us represents how long a past each of us has had. The older you are the longer your true shadow. As there is no shadow in front of us this would be our futures, nothing there to tell us if we will have a long future or a short one. This is true from the day we are born.

I would expect Isaacs’s future to be a lot longer and much more exciting than my past has been. Although I wouldn’t change very much even if I could (once written etc.).

I can just imagine what he can look forward to when he becomes my age in 2056. Hopefully no more wars, no internal combustion engines in automobiles, solar power used in ways we can hardly think of today. Maybe the expanded use of nuclear energy in safe ways.

His future could also hold the use of a nuclear device in this country. Or some type of health pandemic that could cause numerous deaths. These are things that we try to put out of mind but they are always there.

He also could become some one famous for some new discovery that would benefit all mankind. Some would add that he could become President, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I have used Isaac as my model but the same is true for all my grandchildren. I just want a world where they all have an equal chance to become whatever theit future holds.

As for my self I am making a list of things I would like to do or accomplish before my shadow disappears. I am not going to list them here except for one. I want to be famous for something someday, and this is in the bag. If I do ten things a year on my list I will be famous because I will have to live to be 155 years old!

Lets all hope for a bright future for all and try to do our little bit to ensure the same. Here is hoping that you all end up with a long true shadow and a future filled with joy and laughter.

Medicine anyone?

Let me say right off that I don't like taking medicine. As you grow older it seem to become a fact of life. With todays mass marketing's of everything coming and going, it's hard to keep up with what will work and what won't. A couple of recent "news" reports have me wondering if it's worth taking anything or not.

Case #1: Glucosamine. I spent almost $40.00 dollars on a bottle of this stuff because an orthopedic doctor told me it was what he used. The day after I purchased it they are telling me on the Today show and Good Morning America that this stuff doesn't work any better than a placebo. I went ahead and took the rest of the bottle and I believe they were right - I don't see a significant improvement.

Case #2: Advair Disc. I know that this medicine works, at least for me. This little disc got me off 3 or 4 other asthma medicines. But again I was watching the two morning "news" shows and lo and behold Advair Disc medicine could kill me! I am not going to stop using the disc. It may end up doing me in but at least my last breath will be a good deep one! I think that how you believe a certain medication will work has a lot of effect on how it will work. Maybe I just need to change my viewing habits as far as "news" shows go.

Case #3: Aspartame. The latest study by independent scientist has determined that it won't cause cancer. This study is better than the ones paid for by the artificial sweetener industry, and the one sponsored by the sugar industry. That's what we need is more independent studies by people who are not predisposed to their findings.

Enough for now, have a nice day and don't forget to take your medicine, even if it kills you!

HERE GOES SOMETHING!

PLEASE DON'T WRITE ME AND TELL ME TO NOT USE ALL CAPS. I CAN SEE WHAT I AM TYPING EASIER THIS WAY. MY DAUGHTER C. FIXED ME UP WITH THIS BLOG OUTLET. I PROBABLY WON'T USE THE RIGHT SPELLING OR PUNCTUATION, BUT I WILL TRY TO BE AS CLEAR AS I CAN. RIGHT NOW I HAVE A FEW IDEAS AS TO WHAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT BUT I WILL PLAY IT BY EAR MOST OF THE TIME. SOME OF MY LOVES ARE AS FOLLOWS. I LOVE MY WIFE AND CHILDREN, 3 GIRLS. I ALWAYS WONDERED IF A MAN COULD LOVE MORE THAN ONE WOMAN. BELIEVE ME, SINCE MY GIRLS ARE NOW GROWN WOMEN I LOVE THEM EVEN MORE THAN WHEN THEY WERE LITTLE. SOMETIMES MY WIFE OF 35 YEARS REALLY GETS TO ME, BUT MY LOVE FOR HER CONTINUES TO GROW EVEN DURING SOME DRY SPELLS. I LOVE MY 4 GRANDCHILDREN SOMETIMES SO MUCH IT HURTS. I DON'T ALWAYS AGREE ABOUT HOW THEY ARE BEING TREATED OR RAISED BUT I AM SLOWLY LEARNING TO KEEP SOME OF MY INSTRUCTIONS TO MYSELF. SOME TIMES I STILL THINK OF MY DAUGHTERS AS MY GIRLS AND TRY TO TELL THEM HOW TO DO THINGS, I FORGET THAT THEY ARE MOTHERS NOW AND THEY ARE REALLY IN CONTROL MOST OF THE TIME. TWO OF MY DAUGHTERS HAVE MARRIED, AND THE THIRD ONE IS STILL LOOKING. AT LEAST I THINK SHE IS STILL LOOKING,IT'S OK IF SHE ISN'T, THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD THINGS ABOUT SINGLE LIFE TO! I LOVE MY TWO SON-IN-LAWS ALSO. I DON'T SEE HOW MY GIRL COULD HAVE DONE ANY BETTER. THEY ARE BOTH GOOD WORKING MEN AND I AM PROUD TO CALL THEM MY SONS IN LAWS. I KNOW MY DAUGHTERS WILL READ THIS TO THEM SO I WILL ADD THAT ONE OF THEM IS A LOT BETTER LOOKING THAN THE OTHER. I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD FALL INTO THE GRANDPA TRAP. BUT IF YOU EVER MEET ANY OF MY GRANDCHILDREN YOU WOULD JUST HAVE TO LOVE THEM ALSO, THEY ARE ALL 4 SO SWEET, EXCEPT DURING TANTRUM TIME. THEN YOU COULD HAVE ALL OF THEM! WELL I GOING TO STOP NOW, HOPE I HAVEN'T BORED YOU. THIS IS MORE FUN THAN I EXPECTED! MORE LATER.