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Sometimes this old Shakespearean quote applies to us. It sure did to people in Allen in 1938—a tough year for people here in Mustang land. I know it was for the Bullard’s. The business dad worked at in Allen was shuttered and gone. Whipped away by the dusty winds of the Great Depression. Finally, he found a job in Centrahoma. My brother Gerald said, “It had to be the poorest place I’ve ever seen.”
Read moreTexas has a lot going for it. One of the things -- there is a lot of wealth and pride residing south of the Red River and the growth of North Texas continues unchecked. I remember back in the 1950s when I lived in a Dallas suburb and worked for a company called Chance Vaught, building jet airplanes. Each morning the routine was to check in then stand at attention while someone played a scratchy version of our National Anthem on the loudspeakers followed by the song “The Eyes of Texas.” Me? I was pretty finished when the National Anthem was. Ready to get to work. But the Texans there just stood there. Their hands over their hearts with perhaps a little tear in their eye. Then and only then were they ready for work time.
Read moreYou know, after a man retires he has more time to think. To think and perchance to dream. So said the old Bard. I saw in the Daily Oklahoman this past week that experts who do the “Farmers Old Almanac” are, again, predicting a harsh winter for Oklahoma and Texas. Sort of like last year, I wondered. It reminded me of ten winters back as I sat safely in my den dreaming of warm weather, my boat and camping. And by now I had retired and could play, fish, swim and run around as I pleased. The most wonderful part of my life had arrived, and my daydreams were indeed full of ideas about boats, fishing, and vacations those cold days. Life was good.
Read moreCovid perils are still holding forth. But just not so bad now as perhaps a week or two ago. And will it reload and again assert itself as the big news story of our time and be the killer it has been. I hope not. This Covid has terrorized the world long enough. Well, long enough for me. One doctor amazed at the denial among the anti-vaxxers reports that many of these deniers who have already been smacked down by this dreaded virus insist to the death (theirs) that they don’t have Covid. Such is the strength of the organizers of resistance to this happening. It’s very sad. But the denial is as real as the virus itself.
Read moreLast Sunday was a great day here in Allen. Anyone who ventured downtown last Sunday morning would notice that starting at the intersection of HWY 48 and Broadway, the street was closed. Big fire trucks had closed it both ways and on both ends. For those who had forgotten, last Sunday was when we had our city-wide back to church blast. Most of the churches closed down early and headed for Allen’s basketball gymnasium to have a citywide church service. Its purpose was to give the community a chance to get together and engage in Sunday worship. It was to help us get over the Covid times of low attendance and encourage everyone to get back in church. The Pandemic seems to be winding down now and no one wants the town’s churches to wind down too.
Read moreIt’s sometimes hard to realize it in the moments they occur, but we are living tumultuous times. How do you reach back in America’s long history and try to harmonize our times with the rigorous and dangerous times in America’s past? Pearl Harbor perhaps? Only a few of us are still living who can remember that dreadful December day in 1941. It’s now long past. But I certainly remember Pearl Harbor.
Read moreNow that I am an 86-year-old person I am reminded anew almost every day about how forgetful old people are. But as I look back on my somewhat lackluster life I have to remind myself that my old age isn’t wholly responsible for my absentmindedness. I had a little bit of this even as a child. I remember overhearing my grandpa remark and sharing his concern with my mother about how forgetful I was, and this was when I was 6. Just last week I had to ask a young guy what his name is. A boy I knew quite well. I have often tried to cover this memory deficiency with saying things like, “oh he has a beard now.” But this guy didn’t. Sorry Dillon. So, I’ll just blame it on old age again, for now. And that works pretty well.
Read moreLast week I wrote about getting rid of the itch. This disease is sort of like getting rid of ISIS. You felt like you had gotten rid of it only to discover next week that it was back in full force. Such was my battle in the 1940s with the itch infections. Now, here we sit and listen with a worried feeling as our President tries to explain how we managed to turn our “victory” in Afghanistan into a sudden loss. Just like the itch. Afghanistan is back. A time of shame for our country. A week of regrets for the thousands of citizens who served our armed forces during that long 20 years of war. A time of concern as we try to figure out how to get our citizens and those friendly Afghans that were helpful to us out of that unhappy place.
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