Home from Colorado

The trip could be called a disaster. Carol was not able to enjoy herself. She found the place to be unfriendly for handicapped people. Even getting in and out of the cabin was chore for her.
We did have a few good times, they were brief, but there were a few; In goodland, we had a good meal, and got to see everyone in town, because everyone, all 5000 ate at the Crazy 8's restaurant.
Larry suggestes that we take the back roads to Estes Park. We did, and when you need to find a potty, can you? Nope! And was it shorter, nope.

When we got to Estes Park, we were able to see a lot of wild animals,some moutanin goats, deer, and elk. The elk were rutting, and they put on a fairly good show. If you have ever heard an elk male during rutting season, you will never forget it. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NdK0k2_7DiA&feature=related You will see it on U tube.

Strange Times....

We have an old hand in the Senate running for President, who agrees 90% of the time with the President going out of office, and he would have you believe he was a reformer. I'm referring to John McCain. He is nuttier than a fruitcake. Once when asked how many homes he owned, he said he did not rightly know. The number turned out to be seven homes. Then at another time, someone asked,"What income bracket comprises the Middle class?" He said 3 to 5 million dollars would put someone in the Middle class bracket. Really?
McCain chose an untried governor from Alaska to be his running mate. Palin looks good, but will not withstand the arrows of tough questions. And, if McCain is elected, what if he dies from cancer, it could happen, would she be good enough to take the reins of power? I doubt it.
Then, there are fears by some, myself included, who worry that we might not have an election.
If war would break out, Bush could use this as an excuse to try to stay in office. Where would war break out? Georgia is one place. Russian troops already occupy a portion of this country, a former satellite country. Chaney is out trying to get Oil deals. We live in dire times.

I like Betty Boop.....

I remember my Grandpa had a calendar with women bearing their breasts. My mother was a bit upset, but grandpa just smiled. I know now that it was just a man who was in the shadow of death trying to remember the good times. it ws not vulgar, just a bit naughty.

I've had strange dreams of late. Last night, early morning. I do think I dream more towards morning than any other time. I was still delivering in my dream, and I was at 1100 Kansas Avenue waiting on Mom. She did not show, and the longer I waited the angrier I became, and then someone in the dream said,"Your Mother is dead." I then woke up.

Stupidity......

There are many things which I am ignorant of or things which I cannot fully grasp. Forinstance, Math is not one of my better subjects. I can add, and subtract, possibly do some fractions, but please, nothing more complicated than that. But out and out stupidity galls me.
Yes, this is a rant. I was listening to Coast to Coast with Ian Pluckette last night, and as his guest he had someone on who claimed that Obama was not qualified to be President because he was not a U.S. Citizen. The story is in the URL http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/08/22/msm-ignores-democrat-lawsuit-against-obama
It is totally false, there is no merit to the charge, and if it were true would Obama spend time trying for a chance at something which was prohibited by the Constitution? I don't believe so!
We have had to endure "Swift Boat " tactics from the Republicans, but now this lie comes from a Hilliary supporter. I knew she was unethical, but to stoop to this level is beyond belief. I remember during the Primaries I knew when she was going to tell a whopper her eyes got wider.
I swear, I will never listen to Coast to Coast again.

Creative Juices.......

Stephen King calls writing dream writing. No, let me get this right... He says that "Misery", the book started out as a dream. He says that he had found a relic, but had to flush out the story. he likens it to hunting for old bones, archeology. You have to dig for the bones, and then piece them together. King does not believe in plots. he bleieves plot comes from situations.
I just finished reading Dean Koontz's new book, well, new to me, "The Good guy." The plot and charactereriztions moved the story. Our hero is sitting at a bar nursing a beer, when he encounters a guy sitting at he bar. Our hero, forgot his name, likes to start conversations, and see where they lead. The stranger says;"You're early." He hands him an envelope which contains a picture of a woman, and $10,000. Half now, half when the job is done," says the stranger, and walks out of the bar.
Our hero tries to follow, but before he does, he takes a peek inside tehe envelope. He sees the money, and takes the picture for some reason. When walks in another stranger. He sits next to our hero, and says;"You're early." The Killer has mistakenly thought that our hero is the one who wants to place the hit.
Our hero says," I've changed my mind, but here is $10,000 to do nothing." The Killer takes the money, and walks out, our hero follows, only to see that this guy is connected to the police. No ue calling the cops.
Our hero then takes a look at the picture which had been in the envelope and trys to discover the woman's idenity. She must be warned.
Thus begins Koontz's best book I have read so far. It is action packed, and action drives plot, and dialogue and description keep things moving.

Moving.....

I'm moving my blog to over here. 360 is too slow. So, Fluffy, if you get this, you know, I am no longer writing in 360. I've not totally given up on that place, but it has become inconvenient to say the least.

These horses were drawn by a friend of mine in Alabama. She is an artist of some talent. She has done ceramic vase with bas relief horses on the side. I love her art. This is a plate. I do believe the painting is inside of the plate. Perhaps it is a bowl, if it is a bowl, it is shallow, if it is a plate, then it it is deep.

Nothing much going on. Tomorrow, I have to get my hearing aide fixed. I am deaf, and I can't stand that. Moe later......

I love her work.

Revelations......

The Greeks used to have plays ,all the actors wore masks. I suppose the people then thought that facades were difficult to put on. Well, in my 63 years, I have learned that masks are not needed to conceal who you are. Not that you can hide your idenity for long, but if you play at it, you can deceive for a while.

When I was ten or eleven, I wanted to be someone else. I had operations on my legs from age nine to age wll, they are still ongoing, but not as drastic as they were then. So, on this one occasion I decided to become a Mike. I liked the name. However, I could not recall that my new idenity was Mike, and finally, I had to break down and tell the truth. Of course, this created distrust, and I was never accepted as I would have been had I been who I was. So much for pretention and aliases, ever since then, I am who I am.

I had a cybespace friend. It is difficult these days to actually know people. On the Internet, you meet quite a few people, and I know more than most. This guy was O.K., he was bright, had a profession I would have given my eye teeth to be in, Broadcating. We had discussions about people we admired; Jack Benny, Jean Shepherd, Fred Allan,Long John Nebel, to recount a few.

We swapped stories, and had a few laughs. I knew this guy on line for over two years. In cyberspace, that is a lot of time.

But, the guy could not stay in a relationship. Since ours was a passing thing, I never thought about the reasons why he could not get along with his daughter, his ex-wife, and anyone else he should have been close to. There was always some turmoil going on in his life. But, as I say, I was insulated from his day to day existence. And, it was never his fault that things were as they were.

He got "a job" at a cyberspace radio station in Phoenix. He was on the air for one day, Sundays.

I asked him how much they were paying him, and he said zilch. Ouch! For a guy on SSI to be working for nothing is something. So, I asked if I could write someone to tell them that this was wrong, wrong, did I tell you, that this was wrong! They informed me, that it was because they liked him that they did not charge him to be on the air. As the e-mail letter came back, it read;"Customarily, we in the radio biz charge people who are not full timers a fee." Then they added that they waived that fee because they liked him.

I then got a e-mail from my cyberspace friend, that he had been threatened,they were going to kick him off the air, because of my one e-mail.

This got me curious, so I started asking questions, and each e-mail I sent was returned with a more vicious reply. Finally, they did remove him from his show.

He needed money to move, and asked me for money. I had no real way of meeting my obligtions, and helping him, so I had to decline.

But as I knew he would, he did get out of town, and got into another apartment, but new developments arose. He did an illegal act, petitioned for money under false pretense to a Federal Agency. So, who knows what hot water he is in? But the other day, I received this e-mail;"Happy Now, I don't have a radio show?"

Pan handling

I have been approrached by pan handlers, and frankly, I have not enjoyed the experience. You have various emotions sweeping over you all at the same time. First, you are saddened by the individual's plight. Then , you wonder, is he , she really this destitute? I mean, to demean yourself to beg for money is degrading. Would someone do it just to free load?

But.there are times when it is necessary to ask for help. I have been in a few scrapes. I once had my car blow a radiator, and I was stuck on Route 66. I was about two hundred or more miles from home, and I was stuck.
I remember walking across a dusty field to a farm house, where a little boy and girl were playing on a swing. I asked if I could use their phone. They called out to their father, who greeted me.
He allowed me into their home, which was nothing to write about, just basic shelter. i sat aty a table, and chairs, and I was offered a baloney sandwich, which I took, and a glass of milk. I made my call home, asked Mom to come pick me up, told her as best I could where I was.
The old man drove me back to my disabled Rambler, and promised that he would come and check on me during the night.
Having nothing better to do, I went to sleep. I was rousted by a bright light shining in my face.
Two cops saw my car, and came to investigate. They began to grill me as to why I was parked on the side of the highway. I explained that my radiator was burst, but I had help coming. They looked askance when I told them from where my help was coming, Northern Indiana, because I was close to Southern Illinios. They saw my books, and my things which I had collected to take back home, so they left, promising to keep watch over me as well. I nodded off again to sleep.
I don't know what woke me this time,but I saw a car pull off to the side of the road on the other side, and a man was walking towards the median strip. I got out and I yelled, "Who goes there?"
The figure did not answer, but kept coming. I began to feel sweat roll down my face, fear. I grabbed a desk lamp, put the cord around my arm and prepared myself to use the lamp for a weapon. The figure got within three feet, I tensed, and then the flash of a passing car light showed me who the man was, he was my benefactor. I must have startled him, when I hugged him. He had been true to his word, he had come back to check on me.
Later on, I heard a frantic knock at my window, it was my Mom. She was all franic, thinking I was dead. She had found help.
So, I have been there. My plight was not as desperate as some. But , I have been there.

Grandma

My Grandma Parsons was a good woman. She raised seven children, and she and Grandpa kept food on the table when it was difficult to do. Grandpa Parsons, or VC as Grandma would call him worked as a water well driller. But he was much more than that, he was also a machinist, a diplomat and just an all around good guy. He only had a third grade education, but what he could do was remarkable. I recal when he was older, and couldn't go up and down the basement steps, he built himself an elevator. It was just as good as anything you could have bought, but he made it himself. It was a little tram you could sit on, and go up the stairs, it was chain driven.

I don't know what kind of an education, if any Grandma had, probably didn't. But, she had a remarkable sense of humor. At nine, she handed me my own BB gun, and intructed me to shoot out the windows in my father's church. She meant it. I never did.

Grandma raised chickens, and cows, and pigs , had to she had a large family, seven children. My Mom was second to the oldest. Grandma protected chicken thieves, and moon shiners, so when other people had things missing, Grandma's possessions were safe. It was sort of like having accident insurance.

All the boys, except Kenneth, the youngest , learned the trade of well drilling. There was; Howard, Bobby, Henry, and Kenneth. I do believe Bobby was the eldest. When World War Two broke out, he joined the Air Corps. He wanted to become a pilot, but his eyes were not good enough. They made him a gunner. I don't believe he ever saw action, but if he had gone, I am sure he would have done a fine job.

During the Korean War, Howard joined the Navy. I got some of his wool pants with the button fly in front. How I hated those pants. He saw action. I don't know much more than to say that.

Henry did not join the Service. I suspect the wars were over by the time he was of age. I know, he came to Dad to find him work. Henry was a fine worker, as all of the men of the family were, but he just had a tough time holding on to them.

Kenneth, never called him Ken, was five years older than me. I got his discarded toys. I recall getting one of his bicycles. It was fire engine red. I couldn't keep the tires up. He was the baby of the family, Grandma loved him best, because as a baby , he had problems. He had always been sick. But, he also got what none of the other boys or girls got. He had plenty of stuff; toys, and later cars, and girls, and all sorts of neat stuff. He also did not have to work like the other boys did. By this time, Grandpa was older, and he was more established, and so he did not have to work as hard as he had. He being five years older than me, and being my uncle, I referred to him as Uncle Kenneth in public. It embarrased him to death.

The Fourth of July(The week-end of the 4th)

It seems that every Fourth of July, Larry and Jane's Anniversary, we meet at their house, and eat, play games,watch fireworks off the deck, and then go home. This year was no different.

We played Yatzi. We always do, and our hearts were not in on the game. Carol hurt so badly, she is still hurting. I wish King would perform some miracle. He was good at predicting how the pain would spread, if only he could tell us how it will end.

If our luck, and I use the term loosely holds, we will be going to Estes Park, Colorado in September. I hope the air is cooler. It hasn't been the few times we have been back, and there have been forest fires. All of which is not good. Again, we will be staying at the Machein's Cabins. We will have the entire cabin for ourselves, and we are going to do nothing but sit and look at mountain air. I hope Carol is well by then to enjoy the trip. I'll buy some portable cameras and take pictures, and ten have them transposed onto my pictures, and used here to make illustrations.

Got another call from Lincoln Christian College. They want money. I don't want to give them any, so i'm never home.

My Ire is Up.......

King Daevid Mckinsey has a program on Sunday morning called "Audio Scribblings". He left Racine , Wisconsin to work on Nova M radio. It is located in Phoenix, Arizonia. When he went to Phoenix, he was in danger of losing his SSI. I asked him to ask for more money, but was told that they , he and another guy had not been paid since they arrived.

I wrote to the station to state that this was wrong. I got an e-mail in reply telling me that I had nothing to do with the matter, and since neither man had complained, I should just butt out. I was further informed that it was customary not to pay week-end help. Also, it was customary for them to pay the station, but since they liked King Daevid's work, they forgo the charge.

King wrote me and said that whatever I wrote almost cost him his job. I would say big deal, shake the dust from my feet, and move on. I don't understand it.

This Jerry does not know that when he pisses me off, the whole world will know.

We're home......

Got in yesterday afternoon, well, about 4:30. Carol was done in. Today has been spent resting. Last night , I went to bed early. Woke up this morning about 8:30. I've played at emptying the car, but haven't put body and soul into it. I'll have to do that tomorrow.
More later.....

We're on the road......

We saw Ramonia , an old friend at Firestone who lives in a nursing home not far from Marion , Illinios, that is where we are now. This will make our second night here. It is a great Motel, Comfort Inn.
After visiting with Ramonia, Carol and I were just beat, we were to go back today, but Carol could not do it, she has spent most of the day in bed.
Yesterday, we went to the Mall. Naturally, we parked on the wrong side of where Carol wanted to be, she wanted a Lane Bryant, and a Fashion Bug, and getting there took forever. I had her in the wheel chair, and i had to push her.
When she was done, I thought about what i would have to do. And, I decided that it would be best to leave her at Target, and i would walk to the car. Big mistake. I should have done it inside the Mall. I was tuckered by the time I found the car. i thought i might not even find it.
So, today , we have rested. I even slept in. i needed the rest too.
The itinerary , we spend the night here, we move on to Metropolis, and mess around there, because there is a statue of Superman. I have learned that this is the only town with that name.

I do not know if we will o out to eat supper, frankly I am not hungry. i went to Cracker Barrel this morning, an got breakfast, and I could not eat it all. My sugars have been really good.
My plans are to get a throw away camera, and take pictures, and add them here, and perhaps onto my other group in Yuku.

The General Jackson riverboat

The General Jackson Riverboat sails on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennesee. She is a big boat. And once when traveling to Nashville, Carol and I boarded her for one of their lunch cruises.
Going up the gangway, I met a kid who had a shirt which said,"I know Bo," meaning Bo Jackson. At the time, Jackson was playing for the Royals in Kansas City. So, I had to tease the kid by saying, that I was the one who should be wearing that shirt, because I really knew Bo. We bantered back and forth until we reached the place where we were to be seated in the main dining room.
We were seated at a long table, and I noticed that the woman I was sitting next too, had a cigarette, and she was smoking. This is something I will not tolerate, smoking. You can kill yourself if you like, but please keep your smoke away from me.
Whenever I am faced with a smoker, I look for a way of escape. While I am frantically looking about, because asking someone who has to have a fix to refrain from smoking is like putting out a forest fire with a squirt gun. I see my little buddy sitting with his family. They were all alone.
They were set apart from the rest of us, but best of all,nne of them were smoking. I get up, and I ask if we may sit at their table.
We had no more seated ourselves when a waiter came over to tell me that this table was reserved. By this time, we were well under way, and I quipped,"How are they coming by speed boat?" It never dawned on me that we were sitting at a VIP table, as it turns out we were. This nice family was the family of the new General Manager of the Opry Hotel. The Manager told the waiter to go on, that it was all right, and we got to stay. I was glad that I had kidded that kid about knowing Bo, I am sure that is what helped me in being able to stay.

Water , water every where.......

The weather has been the topic; rain, floods, tornados, and draught. In the corn belt, so much rain that it does not look as if there will be a corn crop this year. In the south, draught, not enough wate for crops. In the East just plain old heat; heat with higher than normal temps. And in other parts of the world earthquakes. I once saw a cartoon where another planet was talking to Earth, we were referred to as the fleas of this world. It does seem as if the Earth is trying to rid itself of its inhabitance.
We got the car ready. It cost us, but it had to be done. It has a lot of miles on it and wear and tear is normal. We had the oil changed, we had to realign the tires, and get new tires.
We needed to change the transmision fluid, and filter, so it was costly. When we get back, we have to look at the brakes.

I may have found a better lawn man. At least, someone who will do the work cheaper. I still like the idea of having James plow out the driveway in the winter. But, if i can get someone to do the work for less, and perhaps do a better job...... We'll see. James did not take it well that we replaced him on the empty lot. We got an interesting call this afternoon. A Real Estate agent called about the empty lot. We told him wht we knew. he has promised to get back with us.

Spook Beckman

I got to thinking about radio personalities. Spook Beckman worked out of Columbus, Ohio. He could be seen on television, and heard in the afternoon on his radio show. Twenty years ago or more, who is counting, Carol and I went to a "Taste of Kansas City". It was a food fair where foods from differeent dives were offered to people to taste. If you were going to make all the rounds, you did not want to eat too much at any given place. The speaker, or entertainer was from Columbus, Ohio, and I casually asked;" Is Beckman still on the radio?" The guy's eyes sparkled. " Yeah,the old guy just can't quit working." This was in the late '70's, and I listened to Beckman in the '60's, he had been around longer than that. And, once on a trip through Ohio, and close to Columbus, I flipped through some radio stations until I heard his familiar voice. Beckman was always chewing gum. He kept his mouth wrapped around I don't know how many sticks of gum. On the radio, you could hear him pop his gum.
Well, Beckman is n longer with us. I don't know how he died, probably old age, but his voice is stilled.

The life of a writer....

If you can enlarge the strip, you will get the joke. I was listening to a man, don't recall who he was . He was a progressive. One of the points he made was that the media has been hi-jacked

by Capitalist. And, as he pointed out, Capitalism will eventually eat its young. He didn't put it exactly like that, but that is in essence what he meant. I think Carl Marx put it this way,"Capitalism will hang itself by the very rope it sold to the perpertrators." That too is not an exact quote, but it is close enough. Consummerism is going to be the downfall of Democracy. Every time you buy something at Wall-Mart, you help put a Mom and Pop store out of business.

And Wall-Mart cares little if they sell you merchandixe painted with lead paint, or if they sell you toothpaste made with anti-freeze.

I can tell you that Rush Limbaugh is not really all that entertaining. Nor are any of his clones. Right Wing rhetoric is about as boring as it can get.

How often have I yearned for the good old days when huksters were really on the air; Long John Nebel, Jean Shepherd, Arthur Godfrey. These men knew how to sell and how to be entertaining. Of course, you knew they were huksters. It was no secret. They did not wrap their ideas around an ideology and try to push their thinking off on you. How I long for those days.

Meet a portrait of Susan Stone.......

Kelli, I have been trying to upload this image for you to see. I hope you also got my e-mail, so you can view this blog. I'm going to act as if you are reading this, and this is just like a letter, or note.

This morning, the computer was acting up, but the computer told me what was wrong, and fixed itself. Wasn't that nice. I still have no idea why my discs were slipping, nor do I think they know why they slipped, only that on occassion the discs will go out of sync.

I have on several of my blogs in here used Susan's paintings to illustrate my stories. I do hope she gives you some help.

You were listed as one of the more interesting blogs in 360. I have not had that distinction. I have read those who have, and although I know my posts are humdrum, some of the others could be called odd. Now, I know you are creative, and that is what made your posts in 360 so good. Also, you are very open in your presentation. I hold back, just a little. I am not quite all that open. Hope you can comment, and stay in touch.

Wildlife in the City

Birds we are all familiar with. In my Groups in Yahoo, I found a story about a parrot who told the Vet who kept hm after the police had put him in his care; his name, and where he lived. The bird had gotten lost, and was found by some people who called the police, and the police took the bird to the Vet, and there the bird told the Vet his name and where he lived. Another story I found this morning had to do with a mountain lion in Colorado who wandered into town. He was having a good time, but the local wildlife people came and shot him with a dart and moved him on. He had a radio transmitter collar, so they knew where he was.

Walt Bodine, a local Kansas City Radio Show host has various subjects for his program, and one of them is "Wild Life in the City." Unfortunately, this did not make his program.

The Darwin award.....

There was a joke floating around the Internet about people who earned the Darwin Award. You know, survival of the fittest, with the weakest being killed off. Those who killed themselves automatically were awarded post mortum, the award. I can't recall all of the examples given. One guy was trying to turn his car into an airplane, and he hit a mountain, and I don't know, several other examples of people who offed themselves in stupid stunts. Locally, we had a prime example of such stupidity. A teenager, tried to climb the tower where Channel 5 and KCMO, radio station broadcasts. You never want to climb a tower when the station is operating. The RF will stop the heart immediately, especially if that station is operating at full power, or even half power. Have you ever wondered why when they do work on radio towers, they kill half the transmitting power, so they can safely work on the equipment. They say he fell, I would speculate that he was dead before he hit the ground.

This morning, I woke to a wonderful dream....

If you rcall the movie,"North by North West," Carry Grant is hi-jacked mistakeningly by some evil conspirators. He escapes, and the chase is on. Along the way, he is accused of murdering a man, an ambassador I think, and this puts added pressure for him to keep running.
In my dream, I am met by a mad beautiful woman who has to devise schemes , she is easily bored. In this dream, she hi-jacks me. We drive a car, not hers, or so I think, and she explains to me that I would be the perfect fall guy for her, because I would not normally leave my work station to go running off and play games. I explain to her, that oh, she was wrong on that account. I have left my work station many times to go chasing after butterflys.
She steals a car. But it turns out, she did not steal a car, she only made it appear as if it were someone else's car. In reality, it was her car, remember, she likes to play games.
In my dream, I finally make it home, and the phone rings, and it is she on the other end. I woke up.

The Unknown....

I have no idea what this picture is of. I'll have to look at it later. But, it represents the state I am in, uncertainity. Yahoo, has made it so. I am not certain I like the changes. I am going to have to try to fix what is happening.

I'm tired.........

There is nothing more uplifting than the sight of a beautiful woman.
Today, I was to go to do Jury duty, but my hearing is so bad, and I feel so awful, I had to beg off. I wish it had been not so, but it was.
The weather has not been cooperating. It has been cold and damp. How goes the song,"Be kind to your web footed friends", Sung to the tune of Stars and Stripes Forever. It tlks about the weather being awful wet, and damp. I can't recall all the words. It was amusing when I was 12 or 13, not so much any more.

I'm just tired. Dad said that the kids put limberger cheeze into the beard of a sleeping bum, and when he awoke, he declared that the whole world stank. I think someone may have put limberger cheeze in my beard.

As we all age, compromise is the answer......

I have never trusted motorcycles. Lawerance of Arabia was killed on one, and many others have been maimed or nearly killed. However, the tricycle, it is more stable, and it gets good gas miliage, and It just appeals to me.
The trouble with any machine such as this is that it does not do well in wet weather. Oh, you can wear slickers, I don't know how you would keep your eyes from being blinded by the rain. No it is a fair weather machine. Thank God, it doesn't rain all of the time. But, it gets good gas miliage. Forget the fact that it pollutes worse than say a lawn mower, but nothing is perfect. I'm sure it could be modified to pollute less. It would be great for short hops about town. I could fill her up on Monday and not have to fill her up again til who knows when. She could sit nicely in the garage. I could let the other car sit , well for a while.

Women......

Women are wonderful. I can't say enough in their praise.

A pretty woman......

Helen of Troy started a war,Delliaha got Samson a haircut, and led to his eventual death,David saw Bathesheba, and it cost him his kingdom,

women, and lust have been the cause of most problems. even in myth, the story of Pandora. She was told not to open the box, she did and all of the ills of the world befell mankind.

Look at this beauty. Her eyes look at you pleadingly. Her arms cover her breasts. Her mouth is pouting. Her mouth is open.

Forest Faries......

This picture is supposedly taken of such a creature. Of course, you never really see such things.

I'm sending tis to "One Wild Cat."

Radio; My love affair.......

Before there was television, there was radio. Tom Lewis wrote the book on Radio. His title was;"Empire of the Air; The Men Who Made Radio" That is exactly what radio is. It transcends most boundaries. It is almost immutable. In the story of "Border Radio" there are countless stories of how Mexican stations sent their signals throughout the U.S. . Just recently, WLS was bombarded by a Mexican station which wiped it's signal off the map. Even though WLS was to have been a Clear Channel, that is, no station was to infere with its signal, that had no bearing from Mexico, who is allowed to have higher powered stations. Wolf Man Jack in the early '60's took over a Mexican station, and made a ton of money in running it. He described the first time he saw the statioon. It had belonged to a quack who was known as the "Goat gland Dr.. How many men did he kill, no one knows, but eventually, the long arm of the law caught up with this fake doctor. My memory of his name is not what it should be, but trust me on this. Wolfman said that it was dark, but the powerful transmission of the radio transmitter caused the lights of the cars parked in the parking lot to blink on and off. That is strong RF, Radio Frequency. It is no wonder that those in the station had headaches. I am a Ham operator, and we are told to try to restrict RF. It can kill. Well, hell, what do you think a radar range heats food ? Dr. Brinkley, that was the Goat gland Dr's name. He broadcast from Del Raye , Texas, a border town near Mexico.
So, radio has had its dark side, and those who work in it , are just this side of being honest, but it is fun.
I'll write more later.....

Hospitals

I have worked at two hospitals. Porter Memeorial Hospital in Indiana, and Providence St. Margaret's hospital in KCK.

If you work in a hospital, you soon forget the trauma which plays about you. There are people who are sick, and dying, and some who are in pain, but because your job is not medically involved, you may be unaware. I worked Maintenance. My job was to keep the roads clear during the winter, and the grounds looking nice during the summer. That is not an easy task when you live here. By here, I mean, the Mid-West. When we worked here, snows were not uncommon. We had two and a half miles of road to clear, and we had many parking lots. We could work all night just keeping the roads clear. In the summer, draught was common. Grass could blow away with the wind. It is not easy keeping such a place green. When we were at the inner City Site, Porter Funeral Home would dye their grass green in the summer. We used to joke that nothing died there except the customers. Often people would confuse my last hospital job with the funeral home, both were named, Porter Memorial.

But when you lie in the bed in ER, and you are in pain, you become all so aware of everything. It no longer is something academic.

Such was the case last week, when my stomach hurt, and I thought I had a herniated hernia. I was scared, and I was in pain.

I was relieved to discover that it was just kidney stones. I say just, they still hurt, but not like the other. The other was pain of unknown origion. I could take the pain of known origion.

We live in Perlious Times

I just learned of a new scheme by Rush and company about trying to recreate 1968 , but this time in Denver. Of course, no right thinking person would ever want to create a mess as what happened in Chicago in '68. Hell, there are those who blame the Chicago police department , they called it a "Police Riot." None of The Chicago Seven, as those who were charged with creating the riot where called, were ever convicted. How could they, they met to organize a march in protest to the War in Viet Nam, those who did all of the rioting , were wearing police uniforms.



Rush has called for a reinactiment. Hell, things now are in place to do real civil liberties damage. As Mike Malloy says, this stinks of a government job. Something to bring down the whole force of Homeland Security down on our back.



Dr. Death, Chartoff, looks like death warmed over. During Katrinia, he sat on his hands, hell, all of the Bushites did, but give a fake riot in Denver, and he will tear the heads off children.
But, this coming disaster is coming, and I don't know if we can wake up from this horrible dream.

Chicken Thieves, moonshiners, and the law

My Grandma was a friend to the outlaw. During the Depresion when most had to keep livestock, and gardens to live, Ma, as the locals called her, hid out the rift raft. The Revenuers would knock on her door, and yell, "We know you're hiding them Haddie," her other given name.
She would shout back through a bolted door,"No I am not!" But , of course, she was.
Because of her heroics, everyone's chickens in the area would end up being stollen , but not Grandma's.
In the picture, a varment got that chicken. It was not a clever chicken thief.

I was thinking this morning, I come from a long line of shady characters. I had one relative who salted coal mines with flecks of gold, and then sold the mines as gold mines. When the rubes caught on, they were ready to string him up, but by luck or just pure deftness, he escaped the noose. Some time later, he returned to the county to tell others that he was dying, which was the truth, and when he did pass, there was one Hell of send off. Those he had cheated cried, wailed at his wake. I would not have been surprised if someone did not slip him a donation into his casket.
My Uncle Kenneth was a liar. He would lie even when it did not benefit anyone. he could not tell the straight of anything.

Rainbows

Scientifically, we know how to form a rainbow, water and refracted sun light. I still marvel though every time I see one. I've seen colored arches which look strong enough to carry me, or even horses over the horizon. Some though don't appear that strong, while others arch in an upward path which no man could hope to follow. Rainbows.
We live in a special area protected by an atomosthere, hence, we also get rainbows. I am amazed.
A few years ago, some foolish scienctist thought they could create a world within the world. This experiment failed miserably. I forget what they called this folly, but it failed badly.
Whether God created the Heavens and the Earth or Nature, whoever the archetect was. knew how to make things live. I sort of feel like the American Indian. Stay with the Mother. She knows best.

VAMPIRES AND OTHER BEASTS .....

I got out of the hospital on Wednesday. I swore after that one incompetent boob of a technician tried to get blood from my hand that I was leaving. I look at the top of my hand, and see her needle work.

I went in because I thought I had a strangulated Hernia, it was only kidney stones. I still did not like the kidney sand as it turned out to be. I did not have a stone, just lots of sand. Still hurt.

Reflecttions

Do you recall the movie,"Cool Hand Luke". The movie was made about 1970, perhaps earlier, but Paul Newman played Luke. Luke was rebellious, much as some of his other characters he'd played before; I recall the role he played in Hud. Hud was an arrogant son of a gun. He was a womanizer, and a drunk, but in this role Newman is just a drunk and a social misfit. He was a grown-up James Dean character who had become in truth,"A Rebel Without a Cause."

Now, what has this to do with Chaney's sun glasses? Well, in the movie, there was one guard who wore reflective sunglasses. The guards sunglasses were silver colored, so everything was reflected on the outside, but nothing showed behind the glasses. With Chaney, I wish there were at least that much transparency. I used a title in my Groups ;"Reflections in a golden eye."

I vaguely recall that being used as a title in something.

It is cold, wet and damp out. As Carol said yesterday,"I wish Spring would get here."

Paths

Another picture from Flikre. It is a path, but where it leads, no one knows. I like this picture. It reminds me of our travels. We don't know where we are going, possibly have no clue as to where we have been. But, as with the picture, we hope for a golden end to the road.

I have this nagging cold. I don't even think the flu shot would have helped prevent this. Carol got the shot, she got it, so perhaps it was the wrong strain. You know, they guess.

Someone stole our neighbor's A/C unit. This is quite common. They steal the units for the copper. Whoever stole this unit , took the entire thing, leaving only an empty slab where it had rested.

My groundskeeper, James , told me about it. I suggested that perhaps we ought to put a fence around my A/C unit, and he assured me that there was no need. Mr. Lake has his house for sale, and it is obvious that he is not living there, so the thief or thieves felt they had a right to take what they wanted. I had heard of such a thing happening, but usually when reported on the news, the thieves have left a part of the A/C behind. They, taking only the valuable parts. Not so here.

I don't know if there is a golden future or not ahead of us. I sure hope so.

Sentimental Journey

I got this image from Flikre. It is called, "Passing Train". I love trains. I love the idea of going back to the olden days when you could ride coast to coast on a train, eat at a dining car, smoke a cigar in the salon, and perchance partake of some spirits of some sort, mine would be a coke, but never mind. And, since I gave up smoking, the smoking car would be out of the question too, but I can dream.

Going by rail today is not so easy. Railroads want to haul freight, not passingers. But, perhaps when times get tough, and when airlines can no longer afford to fly, perhaps the train will return. Dining cars, sleepers, you name it. It never went away in Europe. You can still tour the world there on train.

I remember in the '60's there was a satirical movie about trains, and travel. I believe the title of the film was,"If it's Tuesday this must be Amsterdam" or some such title. I saw the movie, but now some forty years later, only the title seems to have stuck.

I once traveled by train. We were going to Grandma's. I loved watching cars wait while we passed. I had often been in the waiting line along the road as the turn style was down and the warning bells clanged, but it was nice being the reason they had to wait. It was like we had a free pass to go on our way, and the car had to wait and take its turn.

Back to the song,"Going to take a sentimental journey.....Why did I decide to roam, going to take a sentimental journey, stentimental journey home...Seven, that's the time we're leaving....going to take a sentimental journey home." And somewhere in those lyrics, there is a line about the clickitclack of railroad track, taking me back......

Stollen pictures

I got this picture from Flicker, and it is from Holland. They must have traveled to the Western part of he U.S., because I don't believe Holland has desert. LOL.

I will come back to this.

The future is not looking good......

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13 Terry Gross had an economist on her show today, and he explained what would cause the next economic crisis in this country, spceculators, and unregulated money. I would that anyone with an ear to hear would listen. I don't know what good it will do, but someone has to listen. Regulation has to be reinstated.
Also, I am concerned with the way this country is being quaranteed. You can't go outside the country now without papers. Driver's liscences will soon be Federalized. This is another step in gaining more power to the Axis, the Neocons. It is all tied together. And, there is going to be a fence across our Southern border. But, have you ever thought that a fence not only keeps someone out, but also someone in.
I've posted this and more on my Group in Yahoo. I don't know if anyone is paying attention. I still would like to flee. Run, leave, before disaster strikes. It seems to me only a matter of time.

Dreams

I had a doozie of a dream last night. I dreamt that Carol and I were on the road traveling. We came to this antique shop. Carol and I love to look at odd things. We meet an older couple, the man has an old fashioned horn, the type you hold up to your ear, except it was amplified, I remember the color, it was blue. I made comment that I had a hering aide, and it was smaller, right behind my ear. The old man didn' t answer, but allowed me to try his hearing aide, and in my dream, I was impressed. He carried it on a hook around his neck.
We asked where his wife was, and he couldn't recall, he muttered something like, "She is around..." Later, we learn that he is in the begining stages of Alzheimer's Disease. His wife says that even though he was often confused, he did fairly well.

When I parked our car, I somehow ended up in this antique shop. Cars were parked all over one another. It was a concern, but something we thought we could straighten out later....
At the end of my dream, we drove out a door, and went on our merry way.

Since Mom died, I have been slightly disoriented. I have had Mom with me for 63 years, and for the first time, I don't have her. Oh, the apron strings were long since cut, but there is still a tie.
I wrote Lynn Pulford that it was a horrible thing to be orphaned at age 63. When I called Mom here, it was really to look after her. Litle did I think she could or would succome to one of the most insidious diseases around.

April Fool's Day

The First of April, you can never be certain of the weather. I do believe that is why it is called Arpil Fool's Day. Beware of tricksters today.

The mask is from the movie Vee. Ther hero of this piece says that, "The people shuld not be afraid of its government, but the government should be wary of its people." I do believe that is what is said. I will have to look it up. You never see the face of Vee, he is always wearing the mask.

Genes will tell.......

I took Carol on a little trip a few years back. We returned to the places where ; Mom,Dad, Virginia, amd me had lived. I took her back to Williamson, W. Virginia. It was Wednesday night, and the faithful were meeting for Prayer Meeting. Someone said, "That's Hassel's boy," and the car was surrounded. I had not been there since I was five or six. Someone said that I looked just like my father.
Well , it seems that Skip's oldest daughter looks a lot like her Gandmother. Of course , I had seen the resemblance when they were younger, but now as young ladies, the resemblence is even more so. Uncle Henry had not seen her until the funeral. He was quite taken with how much she resembled his dead sister.

Illumenation

The Apostle Paul wrote;"Now I see through a glass darkly...... now I know in part:but then shall I know even as also I am known. Even the definition of faith is ambigous at best; Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence not found." Jesus said that His ways were made to confuse those who used logic, because there is no logic. Paul says we travel by faith. So the picture reminds me of revelation, a little at a time. Not that you could see far, but perhaps far enough. My father used to illustrate faith in an anology, car headlights. You can't see the journey's end by your headlights on your car. You can only see segments of the road ahead. Sunday School dismissed.

The burial went well. Virginia said that all went well. Carol will call later this afternon to get all of the particulars.

On Dad's tombstone I had written; Philippians 3:13....This one thing I do, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Indeed, his entire life was for that sole purpose. He preached out of conviction. That's why he could tell members of the Kouts Christian Church, I wil teach, so you can put my salary into a building fund. Not only did he teach school , he had to go to school, and he also helped work on the building, he led by example.

And, when we lived at home, we were recruited into His service. We taught Sunday School, we graded papers, we followed after him.

When dating Carol, I had to explain that our date nights would have to be Friday nights. Saturday night was for studying my Sunday School lesson. I hd been teaching Sunday School since high school.

Friday night, visitation, and Euology

Bill Thomas did a good job. He hit the right notes in his sermon. Mom was going home. She like Paul could say that she had fought the good fight and there was a reward for her on the other side. Death was not the end, it was the start of a new life. The services were well attended. I would say close to 80 people showed up, of course, this included family. Both sides of the family. Tom, and Virginia, her two boys, Mica, Dan's oldest son, was there. Charles' two girls and his son attended, and Debby had her daughters, and there and Evan, Karen's son one of them the youngest attended. Mom brought Charles' side of the family together, they were astranged before the marriage, but Mom brought them together.

At 84, unless you are a politician,you don't get this much of a crowd. Services today at graveside in Lexington will be presided over by Dan. I'm sure , he will do a good job.

Yesterday, we picked up flowers, and took them back to the nursing home. We left off anything which might resemble a funeral, and left just cheery flowers. Thus we closed the last chapter in Mom's life at Garden Terrace.

Mom died Tuesday......

Mom died on Tuesday. Towards the end, she could not speak, but while awake, she recognized people. She would smile, laugh, but words evaded her. Only at the end did she sink into an unconscience state.
Tonight: visitation, funeral,; Saturday, she is being flown to Lexington, and buried next to Dad in Lexington.
Virginia, Carol, Tom, and others will list some of our fondest memories of Mom. My memory was how she made wherever we were home. I told her this before she lost her conscience mind. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease. It robs you of your personality.
I hope all goes well at the visitation. I wonder if Andy Hagney will show up. I wonder if he will be able to show up.
Tom is here, as are the boys. We will not be able to make the graveside ceremony. Jim Williams of Firestone fame called to convey his condolences. I am glad to her from him.

Picrures

I've shown this picture before, but it is one of my favorite pictures I have of Marilyn. I saw this picture hanging on the wall at Chubbies Diner. I asked the woman at the cash register where she had found this picture, and she said that her boss has found it, and had it framed. I guess, the picture was advertizing some product. What, we don't know, nor do we care. She could have been advertizing hats.
There has been a study out that depressed women have more sex than happy women. They say that the act of being close to someone helps them feel more secure. I posted this in Authors. I thought it was a hoot. So, I never met any truely depressed women while I was dating.
Women do not have to be down out gorgeous to be attractive. Well, there are few of us who meet that criteria anyway, but a well cultivated mind is much more interesting than say a woman without one. I have not met many who were totally brainless. They generally have had some notion of what they like, or dislike, but a woman who has really a mind of her own, might be more sexy than one who has nothing much on her mind.

The Liars' Bench

This is not the actual bench, it is a picture of another bench in another Commonwealth. My Grandfather would congregate down by the square in Harlan, Kentucky, and hold court on the passing parade of life. My Grandma named the bench,but I doubt if you could have found the title, "Liar's Bench" anywhere on it.

I was thirteen when Grandpa decided that I was perhaps old enough to join the old men on the bench. I was unaware then of the privledge this represented.

Grandpa formed a tooth pick from a match, and worked it around in his mouth as he eyed the traffic. I watched,not quite sure of what he was thinking. Then, he looked up, and he said," You know, we are looked upon as poor, but look at the cars whizzing about. They are practically brand new, and in good shape too."

True, the cars we saw were practically new, but I knew, but did not voice the opinion, that they may be new, but they were parked in front of hovels.

Grandpa's name was Vernon as well. We called him V.C., I became Big Vernon, no one thought of calling me V.W., and my cousin became little Vernon.

Abndoned places

This picture was taken of a place which used to house workers. You can see where they used to work in the reflection of one of the glass panes. They no longer work there, nor are the buildings used for what they were intended. They stand in mute testimony as to what was and is no more. I don't know this for a fact, but since Rt. 66 has been replaced by Rt 55, I will bet that this is standing by an abandoned roadway. This is doubly sad.

I detest abandoned houses, or stores , or anything which has been left to fend for itself. In my time, I have witnessed many such structures lie in ruin due to neglect. Here in Wyandotte County, we had Indian Springs. A shopping Center which was as good as in any in the Metro , but because of perceived crime, it was allowed to go down hill. People abandoned it. They stopped going to the stores, to the movie theaters, they said,"It's not safe." Of course, there are many unsafe areas in the area, and true, this was not the most dangerous place on earth, and with a little surveylance, it could have been saved.

People i know.....

This is Kathy, she works for Dr. Van, my foot doctor, just stopping by to say hello. She went silver on me, now she is back to being a blond. Oh well, women can change. She is a delightful woman.
I need to take more pictures. I like this. I have more to come, but they will have to be in other blogs. It seems I can only send these pics one at a time.
We got a surprise this morning, snow, and more than the weather man said we would get. From the accounts I hear on the radio neither were a lot of people driving to work this morning, lots of accidents.
Yesterday, someone demolished my mail box. I mean, I looked out and there it was in a thousand little pieces on the ground. How they did it is beyond me. I will have to take a picture of it, and post it here.

My Art

When i was 5, that's as far back as I can go in my memory. I drew a picture, natural of my father in the shower. I left nothing to the immagination. i do believe that would have been all right had I not decided to show my masterpiece to my mother who was conducting a Ladies Aide meeting. That sort of put a damper on my art. Although extinguished for a time, my love of art never totally died out. In my old age, I have taken it up again.

The picture you see was copied from the TV . It was from the movie,"I robot". Obviously a shower scene, but this time, the back is discretly to the on looker. LOL.

She came back.......

I had been pleading with her since she left to come back, and I suppose I wore her down. All is well now. Unless , I do something to piss her off again. But , for the moment, it is good.

This morning was a repeat breakfast. It was biscuits, gravy sausage, and scrambled eggs, and coffee, and applebutter . It was really good.

Last night we had chinese. I haven't had that in a while, and we will probably have it again tonight. Our fortune cookies gave us some numbers to play in the Lottery. I believe we will play those numbers. There were a lot of twos in them, and we seem to do well with twos, I don't know why?

I've been going to chat in Yahoo, and for the third day, we got booted out by interlopers. Rude crude sons of bitches. I have asked Wine if we could move that chat room over to Yuku, or perhaps just form a group in Yuku, and call it kitchen chat. There will be no voice, but hell, there isn't much voice in Yahoo. I'll ak Don about that.

More later.....

One of the Most interesting women I have known

She is an Artist, a Naturalist,hair stylist, and she can get any plant to bloom. She can have the birds and the bees pollenate her flowers, she is at harmony with nature. You culd almost call her one with nature. Just a reminder. That is all this picture is. Just a reminding memory.
We are getting rain, and the rain is to turn to sleet, and that I do not care for, but, Spring is coming, or so they tell me. I revel in the Spring. I love the cool days, the gradual warming, the trees budding, new life appearing as if by magic. No wonder the Greeks looked upon this time of year as a renewal, and celebrated Asthar, what we call Easter now. It is funny, the Pagans had this all to themselves until the Christians took it over. This was not the only Pagan holiday ruined by Christians. Holloween, and All Saints day, was Pagan first. The idea that there was a thin veil separating those who were alive from the dead, was a Pagan idea, the Chritians took it as well.
I've known a few Pagans, and they only accept Mother Earth. They do not believe in sacrafices, or unholy communion with Satin, no, they cherish the earth and her boundifulness.
We are coming into Easter , and there will nary be a Pagan to speak forth of the wonderful things that are to come. The flowers, and the trees, and the animals. Even the Groundhog, he or she whichever sex, is sure to not only see its shadow, but to eat your shrubs. Every year, we have at lleast two wild bunnies. I suppose they eat clover, although there is little of that around. But each year, I look forward to seeing a bunny or two. Squirrels, we have tons of those things, but when they are young, even they are cute.

The Path Not Taken, by Robert Frost

I was looking for a picture of a path, and found this picture. This is not the path I followed. This path is more interesting, it has little brook, and trees, and is in England. My path was dry, no creek bed ran past my path, and weeds rather than lush greenery met me as I traveled down that lane. I wish my childhood had memories of something closer to this picture. in my minds eye, I was always looking for something a bit more exotic than what was in reality.
I've said that Saint Peter would have found it difficult to live on Peter Street. I believe everyone found it difficult. Williamson was a coal mining town. They were so proud of the fact that coal was their main product that the town made their city hall building out of coal. I never thought of it, but I know this would never pass fire inspection today. Those who worked and lived on Peter Street worked in the mines, or the Rail Road. In those days, the rail roads even ran on coal.

It was towards evening, and we could not stay.

I wanted to knock on the door where the Judge lived , but Carol was adament about us moving on. She has since commented that she would never care to return. It's not that I am in love with the place myself, but I am curious as to how things are now on the street.
When we lived there, apartments lined the hill behind us. These were railroad homes. They dug a foundations at the base of the hill, built a house, and then dug another foundation, and built another house ontop until they reached the top of the hill. They did this on both sides of a tsidewalk. A gutter was on one side, so that rain water, and water from washing could go down the hill to a small spillway. We kids used the tile lined gutter for a slide.
On that evening we were there, I noticed that those houses were abandoned, and that some of the windows had been broken out, and the wind whipped curtains from the windows to the outside. It made for an eerie sight..
There is a lot of things I would have liked to explore. I would have loved to go to my old school, and see if the spring was still on the hill near the ball field. I recall as a child, that it ran cold cool water year round. Many a thirsty day, I had drunk from that small spring. Then there was a path, a path I often took, and found a tree had been felled. It blocked the path, and as a child, I had difficulty climbing over it, I am sure by now, it was not as it was then, perhaps it had even shrunk through decay.
As I went up the hill, not going to the right which would have taken me to my old school.,I looked over at a building to my right, which had once been a grocery store. It now was vacant. I saw saw horses in the front window, perhaps someone was fixing it up to be something different now.
I recall when I was a child falling into fresh cement at that very store. I ruined a perfectly good pair of corderoy pants. They never were my favorite, and my Mom never bought me corderoy anything after that.

Peter Street

My father owned two homes in his entire life. The only home I lived in as a child was the house my father, his father, and his brother helped build on Peter Street. We lived in Williamson, West Virginia.
Peter Street was not named after Saint Peter. He would have difficulty keeping his Sainthood living there. I believe the name was more of a description of the narrow ribbon of road which rode between two hills. The street went just so far, and then "petered out." There was a path. I saw many a Boy Scout covered in soot, after fighting forest fires, go down the path towards what I assumed were their homes. I once tried to follow the path, but I went so far into uncharted territory, I returned to what I knew.
Just before you reached the end of the road, if you turned sharply to the right, you would go up a hill and on the top of the hill was the grade school. Grades 1-6. It is no longer there. I was told this when I returned many years later. I wanted to show my wife of some thirty years where I had come from. The house Dad built, now owned by a judge, I was told still stands. It is a grand two story building with a garage, and two apartments over the garage. Dad had enough cement blocks, and wood to go one more story. The rent on the two apartments helped on his meager salary too. But, at five what did I know of expenses, and money?
On my first attempt to find it, I missed it completely. It was getting dark, but I surely should have recognized it, but didn't. I had to ask a man sitting on a porch where "The Justice's " used to live. He is the one who told me that a judge now owned the house.

The Prophet

On the lawn of the Court House were benches were old men dozed in the sun. This was almost a tradition, few ever gave it much thought. But one day, something happened. No one saw how it began, but once it had started no one could ignore it. From where did this man with a bull horn come, no one knew. But in the middle of the square, this round rotund jolly elf began to speak.
"You old men, arise, there is danger in the air!" A few nodding heads opened their eyes.

"Danger, what danger, "some muttered?

"I am going to tell you of the seasons. They have been regular in how they proceed. We know that the seasons are fickle. In the later part of September, the cold winds will arive, knocking every leaf from all the tree, then in the begining of October comes a rain, a cold rain, and then the rain turns to snow. Snow stays on the ground til May. In fact, you may not realize that Spring has come until you see a flower poking its head from the soil. One day, you say,"It is warm, and life is good", and so it is. From May to September, you forget about the cold, and the snow, and the harsh weather. You sit here under the shade of nice tall trees, and bask in the warmth of the sun's rays.

The old men began to stir. It is not clear to them what is happening, but something definitely is afoot. They begin to straighten up, listening to the man with the bull horn.

"But, I am here to tell you that something is changing, and that something is the weather. What if the cold does not retreat? What if things freeze up, and the sun refuses to warm the earth? It could happen. People talk about global warming, but what if we first go through another ice age?
It's possible.

The old men became agitated, they stirred among themselves, and others began to join in as if they too could form some other theory, which could explain the words of the prophet.

Two motor cycle cops were entering the Court House, their testimony was needed for Court, and they viewed from afar the agitation of the people on the lawn. One of the men asked;" Should we do somethng?" The other just shook his head saying," No, not yet. We have a Court date."

In the confusion of the moment, the gnome like elf slipped away. As he had come, no one saw Les leave. Waiting for him , in the sign truck was Bill. Bill had a disorder which made him shake. If one were not aware of his condition, one could think he was an arrogant son of a gun, because in order to walk, he had to carry his head back, which was almost like "sticking his nose in the air" , when in fact, it was just his disease.

"How did it go?", asked Bill?

Les's eye's gleamed,"Like a charm," he said chuckling.

Continuing with The Wishing Well

" Did I ever tell you about Irene?"

"No, " I said.

Les did not take his eyes off his work. By now, he was adding ivy to the sides of the well. This work was much too good for what they were getting for free.

"I was in Maine painting sea scapes. Have you ever been to Maine?" I had not, but I waited for the rest of the story.

"This one day, I decided that I had seen enough water to last me a life time. I wanted to paint something in a pasture, something with a cow in the picture and lots of grass and perhaps some trees scattered about in a meadow. I had seen such a place, and decided to go there and work on this new project. Les straighted up. I suppose you can only work in a crouch for so long.

"So, I take my paints, and my eisel and canvas to this meadow, find everything I want, and I begin to paint. All of a sudden, something falls on my head. It is not a nut, it is not that kind of fruit tree, I ignore it, and continue painting when again, something hits me on the head. That is when I look up."

"What did you see?"

" A girl. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, but hey, I was merely 20 or so. I gazed up into the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. Her face was angelic. Although she had an impish smile on her face. "

"What are you doing up there," I asked?
"Thowing rocks at you," she answered.
"And , why would you be doing this?"
"She gigled in response to my question."

"Her name was Irene Dunn, like the actress, but no relation to the actress. I helped her down from the tree, she probably didn't need any help, she got up the tree by herself. I can still feel her in my arms as I helped her to the ground. She was light, and airy. She had substance, boy did she." A twinkle was in Les's eye as he said this.

Going back to work on the well, he again assumed the posture of an artist at work.

"So, what was the rest of the afternoon like?"

"I painted, she and I talked, we got to know one another. Eventually, we became lovers."

"Eventually?"

"Yes, I had to teach her to stay out of trees and not throw rocks on people's heads." Les roared.

The Wishing Well

Les was busy putting some finishing touches to his painting , when I sneaked in to watch him work. I had a broom in one hand, just in case someone would catch me not working. I took a seat on an over turned can of unopened State paint.

State highway paint never dries. That is a fact. You could paint a post, come back a year later, and the paint would still be wet. Since they only painted once every four years, I wondered why they would need to ever repaint? Well, I discovered that although their paint never completely dries, it does chalk up, and blow away. So, be it known, State Paint never dries. Oh, and when painting out in the open, paint so that the wind does not paint you as well as what you are trying to paint. Two facts to know while working on the road.

I had always wanted to be an artist. I never did because of an early event in my life. When I was five, I drew a picture of my father in the shower. It was flesh colored and I thought I had done a good job on drawing but the reaction from the Ladies Aid Society that afternoon was not positive, and I embarrassed my mother. That put a crimp in my style for some time, and after that I shied away from drawing. I could have tried other sujects, but I just stayed away.

I had a new ambition, born in the Fourth Grade. My friend Andy wrote a story about two sqirrels who were detectives. I was mezmerized by his ability to weave fiction onto the written page. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do. After that, I was always trying to think up new stories, but I was never as good as Andy. In the Eighth Grade, Andy discovered baseball. He was an excellent Catcher. Did you know that only the Catcher has to play the entire field during a game? He has not only to catch the ball when the pitcher throws the ball at home plate,, but he has to guard against a steal, catch pop ups. It is a very demanding position to play. And although I was never going to be as good as he at writing or at playing baseball, that did not mean that I wasn't going to continue to try.

The Wishing Well

Les worked on the canvas. He painted the scene. An old wishing well. It was a piece he was doing for the local Democrats who were having a fund raising affair. To be a Democrat in Porter County was to know how Custer felt at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Out numbered, out spent, it was almost an impossibility for any Democrat to hold office locally. Of course, in '64, LBJ swept a whole lot of surprised Democrats into office, including the Governor of the State of Indiana. By '69, LBJ had turned what looked like a route for the Republicans into disaster. His policies in Viet Nam were not helping the Democrats.

My job was gained through patronage. Pure and simple, if it had not been through political pull, I would not have had a summer job. In those days, it was the practice of the State to hire college kids. And, I was fortunate enough to get a job through patronage. Les painting the picture was also a tribute to patronage.

When Les hired on, they asked him if he knew how to use a paint brush. He said that he did, but they were thinking one type of brush, and he another. It did not take them long to see the error in their thinking.

It was raining this day, the sky was dark, and rain fell from the sky. When it rains, there is not much you can do. You can't mow grass, too wet, can't patch pot holes, too wet, you can't paint guard rails, you got it, it is too wet. Oggie, our Foremena always told us to hide whenever we were not working. It isn't good for the public to see you loafing, nor is it good for us. And, besides, he said,"None of my men are going to work in the rain." So , generally speaking, none of us worked in the rain.

There was one exception, and that is becoming the janitor for the shop. There was always sweeping, and cleaning to do around where the trucks were. In the winter, the bays would become snow clogged, and filthy when the men came in to refuel, or to get warm. You can only plow snow so long before you need a break. I had spent several weeks on Christmas break shoveling and sweeping out stalls. In the Summer, it was not so bad, but then there was always the restrooms.

And, so it was raining, and I was inside doing janitorial work. Scottie, the mechanic Foreman ,sat at his desk smoking his cigarettes. I could hear him wheeze whenever he bent over to do something. His desk was in front of Parts. I had done my time in there. The mechanics would call for a part, and I would dutifully have to find it, and then have it signed out as being placed in such a such vehical. Of course, numbers and signitures were needed, and times. But this day, I was on janitorial duty.

Les was in the back, in the paint room. He had set up his eisel, and was working on a canvas, working away on this political project. The Well was much better than the one here pictured, and it was prominently placed in front of a pail which people were supposed to deposit their donations to the Party. Since, I did not attend these affairs, and could barely afford much of anything, I am only guessing if I would say how successful they were.

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KCU Home :: KCU News :: News Stories :: President Keeran Announces Retirement
President Keeran Retirement Announced
President Keith P. Keeran, who shepherded Kentucky Christian University from a small unaccredited college to a fast-growing university, is stepping down. Keith Keeran announced he will be leaving the presidency of KCU after more than 20 years.A seven-member committee will search for a replacement and the university’s board of trustees hopes to interview candidates by September 2008.“I’ve been doing this for 20 years. That’s a generation,” Keeran said in a telephone interview. “My energy level is not what it was 20 years ago and, while I still dearly love this institution, I think someone with fresh insights needs to be at the helm.”“Dr. Keeran has been a tremendous asset,” said KCU board of trustees chairman Robert L. Waters. “He brought leadership, knowledge, guidance and vision. I could go on and on.”A 1966 graduate of what was then Kentucky Christian College, Keeran recalls a rudimentary campus where he received a high-quality, albeit unaccredited, education.“When I was a student, we had quite a few log cabins here on campus,” he said. The cabins, along with some former GI units and a mobile home park, served as married student housing.The campus did have some traditional dormitories, to be sure, but since Keeran’s student days has developed a modern campus, building classrooms, a student life center, residence halls and three large apartment complexes.KCU acquired an existing structure for an administration building and currently is collaborating with King’s Daughters Medical Center on a campus-based medical specialties building, the second floor of which will house the university’s Yancey School of Nursing.Keeran’s work to accredit KCC brought the college academic legitimacy and stature. “I graduated in 1966 and went from here to graduate school and I found quickly that the education here was more than sufficient, but there was no recognition from outside, so it was difficult to transfer credits,” he said.“Now our students are quite attractive to other institutions.”The process of achieving accreditation brought more faculty with doctoral degrees; currently nearly 75 percent of the faculty hold doctorates or other terminal degrees.KCU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and its nursing, social work and teacher education programs are professionally accredited.KCU also established an independent college in the Crimean city of Simferopol, in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. The college has an enrollment of about 200 students. “It provides us an opportunity to engage other cultures,” Keeran said. “It was a real pioneering work to establish a private institution in a part of the world not familiar with private education.”Many of the college’s graduates serve as translators and interpreters. “The mission of the college is to educate students and to place Christian literature in the hands of the people.”The search committee of five board members, one faculty and one alumni representative is collecting applications and will narrow down the field before presenting a final list to the full board next year, Waters said.The board will be looking for a candidate ready to take on more academic and campus growth, among other things, he said.Keeran will continue as chancellor of the university.— Article by MIKE JAMES of the Daily Independent