The horse lot, located on the east side of Hamlin, bordered the highway that led to Anson, then to Abilene. Then the T&P railway would carry you to Fort Worth. I rode my bicycle when I went to cut Johnson grass to feed Mom’s horses. Couple of Tennessee Walkers that Dad took as payment when the drilling contractor announced he was going to take bankruptcy, protect his ranch as a Texas ‘homestead.’ Remember when this
Going on 95
Remember the lyrics from “I’ll Take Care of You,” sung by an older teenager to a younger teenager. Scene happened in the garden of Sound of Music movie. Now a bunch of adults–including my four children–take care of this ‘old’ man. The facility here bills itself as Senior Assisted Living. My translation is “old folks boarding house.” More than 60 seniors try to keep from falling. The wheelchairs are battery powered, but walkers and canes
DeWitt Reddick
A professor to remember. Walter Cronkite was journalism major, Daily Texan staffer at the University of Texas before me. We met in his CBS office during his first year of evening newscasts. Before he asked how his newscast was doing at my CBS affiliate, KPAR-TV Abilene & Sweetwater, he asked, “What do you hear from Dr. DeWitt Reddick at Austin?” Professor Reddick was then Dean of Communications. His previous training kept three filing cabinets filled
No Breaka Your Face
The Beamer Brothers in Honolulu entertained with guitar, duet, and humor. The native Hawaiians ended one song with “…amazing place with all these race.” Hawaiians were among the peoples who first populated the Islands. Other Polynesians, fruit workers—Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese—were imported to the Islands. Whalers were followed by other Americans. Missionaries followed mercenaries. Whites earned the slang title ‘Dumb Haoles.’ A black teacher who came to Hawaii from the United States confided he received more strident
Hearing Aids
When in 2013 I moved back to Texas from Port Townsend Washington, my four Texas children insisted I buy new hearing aids. Last night when my long arm swept the charging hearing aids under my bed, I went looking. Found them. Now demand hearing by others as good as my own. Want readers to know no self-respecting University of Texas graduate would want anyone not to hear that my Longhorn football team beat #3 Alabama
BAWL Vol 3
Author’s note: when you publish two birth announcements, you must not miss the third. The next year. Didn’t. The Publisher and the Mechanical Superintendent agreed. She would name the girls. He would name a boy. Michaela was the feminine form of Michael, a boy’s name in the running since the first born. Lara was chosen for the neighbor who baby sat Sheryl and also named our rescued dog ‘The Brown Bomber.’ ‘Mickey’ didn’t lead cheers,
Mascots
Daughter Editor noticed KETK, East Texas TV station, conjured The Best High Mascots in Texas and that we had blogged about Mascots over a year ago. If I had a patent on that subject, would have sued. But Chris Barbee in El Campo had already noted his ‘Fighting Rice Birds’ bore that unique name. When you view the KETK list of Unique Mascots in Texas, my Hamlin ‘Pied Pipers’ comes in seventh. I played trumpet
Mascots
Daughter Editor noticed KETK, East Texas TV station, conjured The Best High Mascots in Texas and that we had blogged about Mascots over a year ago. If I had a patent on that subject, would have sued. But Chris Barbee in El Campo had already noted his ‘Fighting Rice Birds’ bore that unique name. When you view the KETK list of Unique Mascots in Texas, my Hamlin ‘Pied Pipers’ comes in seventh. I played trumpet
Mascots
Daughter Editor noticed KETK, East Texas TV station, conjured The Best High Mascots in Texas and that we had blogged about Mascots over a year ago. If I had a patent on that subject, would have sued. But Chris Barbee in El Campo had already noted his ‘Fighting Rice Birds’ bore that unique name. When you view the KETK list of Unique Mascots in Texas, my Hamlin ‘Pied Pipers’ comes in seventh. I played trumpet
Maui, Then
“Going to Maui, tomorrow. Going to marry, Mary Oroqork.” First I had heard of the island. Introduced by the Honolulu hotel’s entertainer at the sing-along piano bar. I was a visiting professor just arrived for a year in the seventies. Didn’t go to Maui until Dad and my stepmother came to visit. We spent the night in a hotel there. ‘Red’ Elam rented a car. Drove down the east side of the island on Hana Highway,