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

Dream Catcher.....

This is a dream catcher. The American Indians used to make these things so they could recall their dreams. What a work of art.

I knew a woman on the CB who dubbed herself Dream Catcher, don't know her real name, but I was always fascinated with the idea.

I did a little looking back. Kentucky Christian College has changed its name now to Kentucky Christian Univiersity. They have a school for nursing now, and they have coures for Pre-Law. My father would have been in heaven had he been able to follow that path. He wanted to be a lawyer, but the Ministry got him first.

Things change, and I suppose that is as it should be, but when I attended KCC, it resembled more the school my father attended than it does now. None of the professors I knew then are still alive. I remember a Dr. Gehmeinhart. He was a small man, but he could put the fear of God into you. I think he stood no more than five foot, and weighed no more than 100 pounds, if that, but if he needed more to carry his brain around, I never knew.

Back then, the buildings were old. They were used even when my father attended the school in the 40's. Twenty some odd years later, they were still being used. Now, all of the old is gone, and there is nothing but new there now. Where they got the money is beyond me.

There used to be a married section, it was made up of trailers, where married students lived on campus, but away from the general population. I wonder if this is still as it was then. I doubt it.

Of course, the computer did not show all of the campus, but some of the buildings, but most of the new professors. None were left over from my time.

Cher sings,"If I could go back in time....." Would I do it again? Defintely not!

These are my Nephew's children. The two girls at the back belong to Doug an the otherFour belong to Dan. Haddie is the baby, she is in the bassenette...

Carol and I never had any chirldren, and Sis just produced two sons, but Dan, the youngest is making up for lost time. He and Jen are trying to set a record for most born.

Doug was lucky just to have the two girls. Jennifer is not supposed to bear children. I like both girls, but Jennifer, I sort of favor. Doug is one lucky kind of guy.

So, if our generation did not produce but two heirs, Dan is going to see that at least part of our heritage will live on. Of course, they will not bear the Justice name, but we are in there somewhere seeing that my Sis is their mother.

Carol and I were in San Antonio, on the River Walk, and we met some people from near Otterman, where Dan, and Virginnia and Doug lived at the time. We were on one of the boats going around the canal, and we met this older couple. We explained who we were, and we talked about our nephews. When they got back from Texas, Doug was on the golf course, and he has a Tee shirt with a big L on the back, and the name Luce. The guy was there from San Antionio and he comes up to Doug and says,"I met your Uncle in Texas."

The last place I left was Kouts,Indiana. I cannot tell you how much I love that small town. When I lived there, there were only 500 people living there. Main Stree was Route 49, which was which ran in a South bound direction. Kouts had five Churches, five gas stations, five taverns, a barbershop, and several good restaurants.

I was walking down the sidewalk one summer, and I hear this peck on a window, and I look over and it is Pete Hilliard, the owner of Hilliard's Restaurant. It is no longer there. He motioned for me to come in. He had a little fountain area, stools around a soda bar, and he offered me a soda. The soda bar over looked main street, so we sat on stools looking out his window, and Pete told me his sad tale.

"You know, I could have been a rich man." Pete stirred his coffee , looking down into the dark brew.

I reply, " Yes, how?"

"Colonel Sanders offered me a franchaise for all Northern Indiana, but I thought he was asking too much. Turns out, I could have been a rich man."

This is before KFC WAS BOUGHT UP. I'll bet Pete could have been even richer than he thought.

The reason I tell you this is because Dan now lives in Kouts. he bought the old Kruger house. A really fine house. And best of all, he is living in my town.

Happy New Year.

I have not been around in some time. I don't know if anyone has noticed. I doubt it.

http://www.ratemydrawings.com/drawings/animals/24841.ht

Here is a site where you can share drawings. I will try to post some of my drawings in here.

Marilyn was my first crush. When she died in '62, I was in mourning, even though I had but seen a handful of her pictures. Looking back, she was not a skilled actress. I pity her now, she was so insecure. No one really took the time to understand her, but then she was such a deep well of need, no one could.