Storm Chasing

 For a kid who dropped out of college, I've done ok for myself.  I've had two good careers.  I loved working in the airline business (Ozark/TWA/SeaPort), I had a nice 15-year career as a journalist, met some famous people, even won a few awards for my writing and picture taking.  Even working in radio was fun.  In fact, I will go far as to say radio never really seemed like work.  It was just fun.

But despite having those careers, if I had it all to do over, I would be a meteorologist or storm chaser.  I don't know what it is, but storms and tornadoes and hurricanes just fascinate the daylights out of me.  

Let me quickly add I am fully aware of the destruction and loss of life storms can cause.  I am not minimizing that at all.  Unfortunately, when you have severe storms, those things will happen.

I am usually up by six or so every morning.  At that hour, M is usually still asleep, so I make the coffee, and sit in my recliner and watch the Weather Channel.  Not only do I get the forecast for my region, I am also educated by all the features they have on during the course of the morning.  I know the elements needed for tornadoes, I know a trough is not just something for pigs, and that high pressure generally means calm weather, while low pressure means makes sure there are fresh batteries in the weather radio.

It used to be 30-40 years ago, like many Americans, I would go to bed with Johnny Carson.  Nowadays, I wake up with Jim Cantore, Stephanie Abrams, Kelly Cass, Reynolds Wolf, Jordan Steele and others.  For an hour or so every morning, they are my constant companions.  I feel like I should be sending them Christmas cards are something.  I should also add one of the Weather Channel on-camera meteorologists, Molly McCollum, is the daughter of one of my buddies (Malcolm McCollum) from Harding.  Small world.

When I was younger, so much younger than today, the house I grew up in, in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, faced west.  There was an attached single-car garage to the house, and dad kept it neat enough he could get a car in there.  But one thing I remember about that garage was storms.  Anytime storms were eminent, by that I mean thunderstorms, I would open the garage door, get a lawn chair, and sit a foot or so inside the garage and watch the approaching storm.  Dad might join me at times, and occasionally my brother Barry watched as well, but generally speaking, he did not have the affinity for storms that I had.

So there I would sit, usually alone, scanning the clouds, watching for rotation, watching the clouds dance across the sky.  I remember being fascinated when multiple levels of clouds were visible.  You might have some scattered clouds at say, 800 feet moving rapidly to the northeast, then a layer of overcast at about 1,500 feet moving just as fast in an opposite direction.  To a 14-year-old kid, this was fascinating.  If the sirens I went off, I knew it was time to put away the lawn chair, close the garage door and head to the basement.  I may have been enthralled, but I wasn't stupid.

Fast forward 25 years or so.  I'm working for the Pocahontas Star Herald in Pocahontas, Arkansas, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 5,000.  I started with them on Valentine's Day, 2000 and left in the fall of 2014.  In addition to writing, I also took pictures.  As much as I loved writing (and I still do) I got a great deal of satisfaction out of a well taken picture, one where the lighting, the focus, the subject, everything was just right.

Of course I took some feature pics as well, in addition to the news and sports pictures.  I had decided early on, I had a two-item bucket list for my picture taking.  One, I wanted to get a picture of a lightning bolt striking the ground.  One afternoon I got not one but two.  I was parked near the Randolph;/Lawrence County line looking back toward Pocahontas.  I watched the sky for a bit and determined where the most lightning was and focused on that area.  My finger already to snap, as soon as lightning appeared, I snapped.  With the gazillionth of a second shutter speed, on two occasions I captured the bolt.  No, it was not luck as some said.  The great baseball general manager Branch Rickey had a sign on his desk.  It read, "luck is the residue of design."  I was prepared.

Secondly, I wanted to get a picture of a real funnel cloud.  A tornado that was touching terra firma.  One afternoon in early October, I forget the year, it was storming big time.  There were warnings and alerts all over northeast Arkansas.  I had a nice vantage point sitting in my car on top of a hill on Engelberg Road.  Scanning the skies, there it was, a rotation funnel, maybe a half mile in front of me, maybe 1,000 feet up.  I watched it for several minutes and started slowly following it.  As it headed towards the gas plant south of Biggers, I pulled down a dirt road, it might have been Gazaway Road.  My patience was rewarded a minute or two later.  The funnel, now a mile or so to my east, started to lower to the ground.  My Nikon camera was ready, I had a new roll of Fuji film in it.  I started taking pics, getting a number of good shots.

I remember as soon as the tornado dissipated, driving to Walmart and dropping my film off at the photo center.  I picked the pics up an hour or so later and feeling a sense of pride as the second picture item had been checked.

It made the front page of the paper that week.  I was so proud of the pic, i emailed it to everyone I knew.  It was really funny because about half wrote back and said, "what a cool pic."  While the other half wrote back saying, "Are you nuts?"  I quickly dismissed them, they obviously did not understand.

M and I watched Twisters and I loved it.  Even though it was a movie, I was a tad jealous, wishing I were chasing storms and EF-4's across the plains.

Oh well.  Maybe in my next life.

Thanks for stopping by.  Take care of yourself and be kind to each other.

 

Blue Highways

 I don't know what it is, but the older I get, the less in a hurry I am, and I have never been one to be in a hurry, but I'm taking time to stop and smell the roses.  Or was the case today, the azaleas, the wisteria, the dogwoods, the redbuds, well you get the picture.

M and I are on our way to Hilton Head Island (HHI), South Carolina.  If you know us, you know we go over there a couple of times a year, spend a week or two and then come home, and count the weeks until our next trip.

On almost all our trips, we leave Tuscumbia, head southeast on Ala 157, join I-65 south to Birmingham.  Once we meet I-20, we head east to Atlanta, head south on the I-285 loop, drive underneath a runway and taxiway at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, then take I-75 south to Macon.  We usually spend the night in Macon, and after a heart Waffle House breakfast, head southeast on I-16 to Savannah.  Just before we hit Savannah, we head north on I-95 for about 20 miles until we come to US 278.  Yes, the same US 278 that goes through Cullman.  We proceed east on 278 until we cross the Intercoastal Waterway until we are on HHI.

I told you all of that to set up today's story.

We left Tuscumbia about 8.30 this morning, doing about 275 miles or so to Macon.   About Muscadine, Alabama near the Georgia line, I said to Marilyn, "I really don't feel like driving through Atlanta today.  Let's get off at the Carrollton exit and work our way cross-country."  Well, she was all for that, so we played with the GPS and found an acceptable route.

Do you know who William Least Heat Moon is?  He wrote a book in 1982 called Blue Highways.  I was 25 at the time and bought the book after hearing him on a radio show.

According to a biography I found online, I believe it was from the New York Times, it read, "Blue Highways (1982) is a chronicle of a three-month-long road trip that Least Heat-Moon took throughout the United States in 1978 after he had lost his teaching job and been separated from his first wife. He tells how he traveled 13,000 miles, as much as possible on secondary roads, and tried to avoid cities. These roads were often drawn on maps in blue in the old-style Rand McNally road atlas, hence the book title. Living out of his van, he visited small towns such as Nameless, Tennessee; Hachita, New Mexico; and Bagley, Minnesota, to find places in America untouched by fast food chains and interstate highways. The book records his search for something greater than himself and includes memorable encounters in roadside cafés."

Ever since then, some 43 years ago, I have wanted to be like him, just wander the Blue Highways.  I mean seriously, doesn't that sound like a blast?

Anyway, today we took the "Blue Highways."  After exiting I-20 onto US 27, we headed south and went through Carrollton.  A nice city still considered part of the Atlanta Metropolitan area.  After another 30 miles or so we came to the charming town of Newnan, Georgia, population of about 44,000, which shocked me when M looked it up.  It looked and felt like a small town.  We drove on some of the side streets, everything was clean, and every flower imaginable was in bloom.  Some things like the forsythia and tulip trees had already turned green.  But the azaleas were resplendent in all their colors, the dogwoods, and redbuds made their trees standout.  Even though it will choke a tree, the wisteria was ever present, giving lavender flowers to the unsuspecting trees.

The yards were manicured, most of the trees had leaves.  I had driven through Newnan once before, but really didn't pay that much attention, but today, my goodness, did I mention the court square, spotless and beautiful, I was pleased to see the "Reese Opera House" on one of the corners.  If you don't know why that pleased me, ask me later.

I left Newnan speechless.  I think I did manage to tell M, "If you ever want to move to Newnan, it is ok with me."

One thing we learned, Newnan is one of the most popular cities in Georgia for Hollywood.  Literally dozens on movies and television shows have been shot in Newnan.  I certainly see why!  One last thing, Newnan is the hometown of author Erskine Caldwell, author of one of one of the great American novels, "Tobacco Road."  It is also home to one of the funniest writers ever to walk the streets of Georgia, Lewis Grizzard.  He died a number of years ago but is one of my all-time favorites.

About 45 minutes later across southern Georgia countryside, we came upon the city of Barnesville, another city that looked like it had on its Sunday best.  A town of just over 500, we learned Barnesville was at the turn of the last century, the buggy-making capital of the United States.  They made buggies for everyone from farmers to presidents.  One the automobile took hold, they still made chassis.

The little town hosts three festivals a year, and even though the first one is still a month away, they looked ready for it to start this weekend.  One thing about Barnesville that made me smile, I started seeing palm trees.  This makes me very, very happy.

It was 4.30 or so when we got to Macon.  We tried out a new restaurant, at least new to us, and it was fabulous.  Give you a hint, I had a grilled pimento cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato on rye.  There were no words to describe it.

There were still a couple hours of daylight left, so found the directions to Rose Hill Cemetery.  Turns out it was only five minutes away.  This huge cemetery dates to 1840.  It has a large confederate section for those veterans, and thousands of other graves spread out over 1,400 acres.  Bur M and I came to find two specific graves.  Two brothers.  Duane and Gregg Allman.  After consulting the map, we found their graves fairly easily.  In a fenced off area alongside fellow Allman Brothers band members Berry Oakley and Butch Trucks we found Duane and Gregg.  A somber moment for the creators of hours of satisfaction listening to their music.  (I wrote about one of their songs, In Honor of Elizabeth Reed last week).

We made it back to our hotel just before the sun set.  It was a marvelous day filled with adventure, wonder, great food, and paying respects to great musicians.

It is amazing what the Blue Highways can teach us.  You just never know what you will find.  I can't wait for the next trip.

My Fearless 2025 Baseball Predictions

 As you know, or should know, the 2025 baseball season starts on Thursday.  There are 30 teams with perfect records ready to start the season.  Some teams, like the Dodgers, Phillies, and Rangers know they will be good all year, some are hoping and some like my beloved Cardinals, really have no prayer.

This is how this humble scribe sees the 2025 pennant races.

American League

East

1. Baltimore - Right away I'll make waves.  They have the best young talent in the division

2. New York - They are getting old and not really healthy

3. Boston - Horrible last year, but had a good winter, will be better

4. Toronto - It is possible they could finish fourth and still make the playoffs

5. Tampa Bay - Without question, the best fifth-place team in baseball

Central 

1. Detroit - The Tigers are back.  Skubal and Flaherty at the top of the rotation.  Nice

2. Cleveland - The Guardians could win, this is a really close division

3. Minnesota - I like the Twins a lot.  Should be a good summer in the Twin Cities

4. Kansas City - I think the Royals, who have been steadily improving, are still a year away

5. Chicago - This is the worst team in baseball

West

1. Texas - Semien and Seager are so tough up the middle

2. Houston - Kyle Tucker? Gone.  Alex Bregman?  Gone.  What is happening in Harris County?

3. Seattle - The Mariners surprised a lot of people last year.  That won't happen this year

4. Sacramento - A new year, a new city.  The Athletics have some nice young pieces

5. Los Angeles - Mike Trout is starting to age.  Enough said

National League

East

1. Philadelphia - The Mets think they are the best.  I disagree.  Phillies are just solid

2. New York - Juan Soto goes from the Bronx to Queens.  He can't do it all himself

3. Atlanta - The Braves are good, and Acuna Jr. is back, but is that enough

4. Washington - Not good, but better than the Marlins

5. Miami - I look at their starting eight.  I don't know any of them

Central

1. Chicago - The Cubbies return!  Getting Kyle Tucker was huge

2. Milwaukee - The Brew Crew reign is about to end.  They will miss Will Adames a lot

3. Cincinnati - The Reds really have some nice young players, just no pitching

4. St. Louis - This whole organization, from top to bottom is in a free fall.  That bothers me

5. Pittsburgh - I had them finishing fourth till Jared Jones hurt his arm.  Uh-oh

West

1. Los Angeles - This is by far the safest pick I will make.  They could win 105-110 games

2. Arizona - I kind of like the Snakes, and I'm not sure why.  Yeah I do, Zac Gallen

3. San Francisco - For whatever reason, the Giants always play better than they are supposed to

4. San Diego - Then on the other hand, the Padres the past few years have not lived up to the hype

5. Colorado - Looks like a 100-loss season in the Mile High City

ALCS - Detroit over Texas 4-2

NLCS - Los Angeles over Chicago 4-1

World Series - Los Angeles over Detroit 4-1

Check back in late October to see how smart or how silly I was.  Have a great week.  Happy reading!

Thoughts and Questions as I Mature in the Faith

Before I go any further let me say this.  I believe in God.  I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he was with God at the beginning of time, and came to Earth, He lived, He died, and He rose again.  I also believe He is coming back someday.

My faith is as solid as anyone you know.  It is unshakable.  My entire life has been one continuous blessing.  Bad moments?  Of course, everyone has them, but nothing that even remotely comes close to making me question my decision to be a child of God.  To be a Believer.

As many of you know, I grew up in the Churches of Christ (C of C), which is a moderately conservative group with strongholds in the South and Southwest.  I have been attending the C of C my whole life.  Went to church when I was little, baptized at a young age, even went to a C of C university.  All of those things have made me who I am today.  They have made me stronger.  I am so grateful for my parents in raising me in such an environment and giving me the foundation I have.

Ok, now that you know my background, we can get into some areas where I have questions, things I'm not sure I agree with.  

For most Christians, there comes a time when our Christianity becomes not the Christianity of our parents, but it becomes our own.  What I mean is, I don't think we can go around saying "I believe this because my parents believed it."  Of course, it is ok if you both believe the same thing, but why, what are your reasons for believing the scriptures?  How did you reach this point in your life?

Over the years I have heard some within our tribe, the C of C, say that we are the only ones going to heaven.  I don't believe that, I have never believed that, and I am not sure where that thinking comes from.

Saying your group, your tribe, your denomination (and yes, I believe we are more like a denomination than we like to think) are the only ones going to heaven just seems blasphemous.  Are we saying we know the mind of God, that who is going to be saved and who isn't?  Yes, we are called to be obedient, to love God and our neighbor, and we will all be held accountable on the last day.   But can we as a group say we are the only ones going to heaven?  The argument is we as the C of C teach the truth, we teach what is right.  I don't buy that.  We teach the truth as we understand it.  I constantly question whether or not we are doing the "right" things in our worship and in the way we serve others.  Haven't you ever thought, "What if we're wrong?"  I have.  Frequently.  Again, please understand, I'm not at all questioning God, His Son, His Spirit.

What about the Baptists, or the Episcopalians, or the Methodists, or the Catholics, these Fellowship or Bible churches?  They all believe in the same God we do.  They all want to praise God, they all want to serve the needy, lift up the fallen.  They believe Christ died for ALL of us. Isn't that what we believe?  I acknowledge they may worship in a way we are uncomfortable with or don't completely understand.  So be it.  Jim Hackney, a minister of the Gospel in Fort Worth who passed away a couple of years ago wasn't concerned about it either.  In his words, "I believe God's grace trumps doctrinal error."  That is, of course, if there is error.  My belief is these are all my brothers as well, and I fully expect to see all of them in heaven when I arrive.  After all, we were all created and are loved by the same God.

I mentioned earlier I believe in some ways we are more of a denomination that what we believe.  How many times have you heard someone say in class, "Now what is it we believe on this?"  The Bible is what we live by, no arguments from me there, but there is also an unpublished "creed" within the brotherhood.  Things like not raising hands during the song service, no clapping, no drinking, you must have a Sunday night service, etc.  You know exactly what I am talking about.  These are not doctrine; these are traditions we have adopted as doctrine.  All of us need to learn what is tradition and what is doctrinal.  

One thing I do not understand and I question is why are we not fellowshipping with "certain" churches?  I have actually heard elders say, "We don't want others to think we associate with them."  What?  Seriously?   Who do you think Jesus associated with?  Did he care what people thought about who he was associating with?  We need to be inclusive in our fellowship, welcoming not just those from within our tribe, but all faiths, supporting each other.  After all, isn't it a good thing when God's name is being praised?" What does it say to an unbelieving world when believers can stand together praising their Creator and condemning the sin in the world.  Our salvation does not depend on what other people think of us.  We have one person to answer to, and that is God. 

That brings me to a couple of other thoughts.   Does it matter where I worship?  Well, I suggest unless they are advocating murder or worshipping Satan, or ignoring the deity of Christ, then no it doesn't.

I know and have many friends, children of friends, former C of C ministers and Shepherds, who now attend community churches.  You know what?  More power to them.  If, as I stated earlier, they are teaching that God is the Supreme Being and Creator of all things, and Christ is his Son, and they are baptizing for the remission of sins, then I am standing shoulder to shoulder with them.  They are my brothers and sisters, and I look forward to spending eternity with them.

But what about the music, or letting women pray or read scripture or even preach in the assembly.  Ok, what is your point?  Why do we in the C of C not, as a general rule, condone these things?  The stock answer is because that is not what the Bible teaches.  Is it, or is it because that is what we have been taught?  We all know congregations in this area and elsewhere, congregations where we have relatives attending that have welcomed instrumental music in their worship, that have expanded the use of women.  Are all of them wrong in their beliefs?  If there is one group who opposes these beliefs and another group from the same C of C tribe in the same area that embraces them, does that mean someone is, dare I say it, wrong?

Let me ask this.  Does God really care, or is he more concerned with his name being praised, with the worship I bring every Sunday, the worship that is in my heart.   

Speaking of worship, I do want to brag on the C of C where M and I attend, because like many congregations across the brotherhood, is our commitment and embracing of small groups.  I think that is wonderful.  After all, how did the early church of the first century meet?  Hint, it wasn't in the synagogue.  Studying the Bible together, reading and discussing what God says in the scriptures is the purest way of worshipping him.  I am so grateful Sherrod Avenue is committed to small groups.  

I believe I am going to heaven, because as 1 John 1 tells me, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, His blood continuously cleanses us."

Thank you for reading.  Sincere blessings in your journey.

Jack in the Box Tacos

Have you missed me?  It has been aa week since I last posted anything, so you know I have been slacking a bit.

My blog is entitled, "Baseball, God and Tacos."  Strange as it may seem, I have three blogs ready, or nearly ready to share, one on each of the three subjects.  The one that falls under the "God" umbrella is finished.  I actually wrote it a couple of days ago.  But when I showed it to M, her response after reading it was, "you sure you want to share that?"  Well, I thought I was.  I'm still mostly certain, but I am going to clarify a little language.  As a teaser I write about things within my tribe (C of C) that I don't necessarily agree with or at the least, don't understand.  I would imagine M and I are like many of you.  Even though we are married, we don't necessarily agree on everything.  And I have no problem with that.

But I have decided to shelve that blog for a few days.  Today seemed to be a great day to write about tacos, one of my favorite foods on the planet.

Ok, quick question.  What do I have in common with certain Wall Street Journal writers, Megan Markle and literally millions of people across America?  The answer is Jack-in-the-Box tacos.  Jack in the Box is a fast-food chain based in California.  It is in no way to be confused with Jack's which you can find all across the South.

When I was growing up in St. Louis, there were a number of Jack in the Box restaurants.  They served hamburgers, fries, soda and milkshakes, but their biggest seller, and remains so to this day, was their tacos.  I literally cannot tell you how many times when I was in high school, I would stop at Jack in the Box on the way home and get either two or four tacos.  That carried over into my adult life when I worked at TWA.  I passed two Jack in the Box restaurants on my way home after eight hours of keeping airplanes from running into each other.  My stress reliever?  Jack in the Box tacos.  My standard order was four tacos, medium fries and a Coke.  Cheaper and no alcohol content.

One of the great things about Jack in the Box is from about 1985 until maybe 2010 or so, they did not raise prices on their tacos.  Not once!  They were two for 99 cents.  I could buy for $1.98.  You don't have to have an accounting degree to know a good value like that.  There is no telling how many two for 99 cent tacos I've eaten.  Probably thousands.

Back in January 2017, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article entitled, "Americans eat 554 million Jack in the Box tacos a year, and nobody knows why."  Well, I know, they are good.  The article was kind to my favorite taco, despite phrases like, "more than 1,000 times a minute, someone bites into what has been described as a 'wet envelope of cat food - and keeps eating."  Another person added, "they are disgusting, but irresistible."  Yes, they are that addictive!  But I will admit, some folks simply cannot stand them, but they are not my friends.

To describe the Jack in the Box taco will test my literary abilities.  I will tell you right off, they are frozen and then deep fried.  When they are pulled out of the freezer, the finely ground "meat" is the only thing on the inside.  After two or three minutes in the fryer, they are pulled out and a half slice of American cheese, cut diagonally, is placed inside the hot tortilla.  Some shredded lettuce is added and then a squirt or two of hot sauce.  It is then placed inside and "sleeve" and bagged.  Let me add the correct way to eat it is to leave the taco in the sleeve and just pull it out far enough to get a bite.  Remember, they just came out of the boiling oil.

Here is another incredible point.  The 554 million sold annually, and remember, that was in 2017, is roughly the same number of Big Macs sold by McDonald's.  What makes it more incredible is Mickey D's has seven times the locations Jack in the Box does!

Did you read the story last week about Megan Markle?  You know, Prince Harry's wife.  On her Netflix show, she talked about eating fast food as a kid.  She mentioned her mom was constantly bringing home Taco Bell or Jack in the Box tacos, saying they loved Jack in the Box tacos.  Sounds like a royal endorsement to me.

As I mentioned earlier, Jack in the Box is primarily in the Midwest, west and southwest.  There are a handful in North and South Carolina, but the nearest Jack in the Box is in the Nashville area.  There are three in the Nashville area and one in Clarksville.  You're only a couple hours away from those tasty morsels of goodness.

One last story.  I think it was about 2005, maybe 2006, one Sunday afternoon I called my son Barclay over in Atlanta.  He answered and as we talked, I could tell he was in the car.  So, I just casually asked where he was going, and without hesitation, he responded, "Nashville."  Keep in mind it is about 200 miles from Cartersville, GA to Nashville.  It is a three-hour plus trip.  Each way.

After a few moments of silence I said, "why are you going to Nashville?"  Again, without hesitation he said, "I'm going to Jack in the Box to get some tacos."  Now my first thought was, that's my kid, and my second though was about his safety.  So, I asked, "does your mother know?"  He assured me she did and even had her blessing as he was taking some home to her.  When I asked how many tacos he planned on buying, he said, "50."

Fast forward a couple hours.  Barc calls me back on his way home with his Jack in the Box haul.  When he arrived at said restaurant, he used good judgment thinking he should go in and not go through the drive thru.  I applaud his being a good citizen, but as he walked up to the counter and was asked what he wanted, he said, "50 tacos and a Coke."  The kid said, and I swear I am not making this up, the kid said, "is that for here or to go?"  Barclay looked around himself, didn't see anyone else and said it was "to go."  Yep, that's my boy.

Anytime I go to St. Louis to see mom, I always, always make at least one stop at Jack in the Box, sometimes two.  Like the old days, I still order four tacos, except now, they are two for $1.99.  Just a small price to pay for the greatest taco in the world.

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

 The first thing you are probably asking yourself is, "who in the heck is Elizabeth Reed, and why is he doing a blog on her?"

Good question, both of them.

Before I answer those questions, how about you answering a question or two for me.   Do you have a quiet place?  By that I mean do you have a place that you like to escape to and be alone, away from the world, a place where you can be alone with your thoughts or alone with your thoughts or with God?

I'm guessing you do.  It might be a special room in your house, perhaps in your car sitting by the river, a corner booth at your favorite restaurant, or at the library surrounded by total silence.   I have one of those places and it is in the preceding sentence.  I'll let you guess which one it is.

I am a classic rock fan.  I am also a Southern rock fan.  One of the playlists on my i-pod is "Southern Rock."  Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Charlie Daniels, Allman Brothers, Tom Petty, Little Feat, Ozark Mountain Daredevils.  I could go on and on.  

For about a dozen years, from say 2002 till late 2014, I was the early morning man on KPOC-FM in Pocahontas, Arkansas.  My alarm would go off at 4,40a, I'd get up, clean up, get dressed and head to McDonald's for a sausage/egg biscuit and a coffee.  I would be at the station by about 5.20 and immediately go on the air.  Our station computer held a little over 2,000 songs, and I would pick out what I wanted to play.  By boss, Tim Scott, never really told me what to play, and I figured our listeners needed their music to have an extra boost in the morning.  So a lot of guitar-lade rock for the fine folks of Randolph and Lawrence Counties.   I would play music, give weather forecasts, so some news and sports until shortly after 8, when I would head home, change clothes, and head to my real job at the newspaper.

I told you all of that to tell you this.

How any of you have heard of Dickey Betts?  I imagine a good number of you have.  Betts was an original member of the Allman Brothers band.  Betts grew up in Florida and once he became a member of the Allman Brothers, he moved to Macon, Georgia, the home of Duane and Greg Allman, the two for who the band is named.

It was too long after he moved to Macon, Betts discovered his place to escape, and what an escape it was.  When he wanted to get away, think about his music, maybe play a little guitar, Betts would head to the Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.  There he would wander among the trees and the tombstones to find that perfect quiet place.

Sometime in early 1970, legend has it Betts was involved with a woman named Elizabeth Reed, who just happened to already have a boyfriend.  There is probably some truth in that story.  What is also true is that while going through the cemetery one day he came upon a tombstone that said, "Elizabeth Jones Reed, Nov. 9, 1845, May 3, 1935.

Inspired by the girlfriend of another and stumbling upon the grave of a woman of the same name born 125 years prior, Betts went to work, composing what would become, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." ma seven-minute instrumental masterpiece that brings to life Betts jazz influences John Coltrane and Miles Davis.  It is a nearly perfect, flawless composition.

This past Saturday afternoon, M saw an ad online that an Allman Brothers tribute band, "End of the Line," will be performing at the Ritz Theater in Sheffield.  One of the things they plan to do is play what is arguably the Allman Brothers best studio album, "Idlewild South," in its entirety.  One of the centerpieces of that album is a seven-minute instrumental entitled "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."

I would really like to go and hear in person the song written about my eighth cousin.

Rock on my friends.  Rock on.

Thank You for Writing

 Never, ever underestimate the power of a response, whether written or spoken.  As the scriptures say, it is powerful and effective.

My wife Marilyn, or M as I call her, taught school in Arkansas for 38 years.  That's two-score minus two.  For 38 years she taught English at the Maynard School District, as well as Oral Communication and French.  In her English classes, she taught everything from grammar, to literature, to writing an effective resume, to how to respond to written communication.

It is that last aspect I want to dwell on this afternoon.

One day last week, Thursday I think, whatever day President Trump and President Zelensky had their 'Battle Royale," on television, I was so disgusted by the actions of our president I immediately fired off letters to our two senators, Sen. Turbeville and Sen. Britt, and my Congressman, Rep. Aderholt.

I was polite in my correspondence to the three elected officials, but there was no mistaken the tone of the letter, that President Trump was a disgrace to the country, and he was leading the United States down a path that most of us did not want to go.  I added I thought it was time for the three of them, all Republicans, needed to show some backbone and stand up and say, "no more," to our 47th President.

Normally after firing off a letter like this, I would sleep on it and throw it away the next day.  Not this time I was furious at the actions of our Chief Executive and wanted my elected officials to know I was one very unhappy constituent.

Let me add, I know there are a lot of people who disagree with my opinion.  That's fine, I really don't care.  That's not the point of this bog.  The point is what came next.

After firing off y emails with guns blazing, I honestly did not expect to hear from any of the three.  I have had friends who were elected officials, I have worked in the media, I know how these things work.  Some junior staffers with a clipboard will read my letter, check "hates Trump," and go on to the next letter and that is it.  The elected official usually never sees the correspondence.

But lo and behold Friday morning, I received an email from Sen. Britt's office.  To be fair, the response was "canned," meaning it was a standard response specifically written for a specific problem, i.e. the President.  Very little of the response had anything to do with what I wrote.  But still it was a response.

This afternoon, fully one week later, I received a phone call from the 202-area code.  Yes, I am a numbers geek, and I knew 202 was Washington DC.  So, I answered it.  It was a young man from Rep. Aderholt's office thanking me for taking the time to write the Congressman, that the Congressman had actually read my letter (seriously?) and had asked this staffer to respond.

He was very cordial, thanked me several times, and get this, asked me more than once if there was anything I wished to add to what I had written.  Well yes, yes I do.  I talked about y concerns with the excessive number of Executive Orders and how it was my perception the president was tiptoeing through the Constitution, which is dangerous on any level.  I also expressed my concern on this administration's "cavalier" attitude toward NATO and our allies, which I freely admit, scares the living daylights out of me.

But the point is, the Congressman's office responded.  Not only did they respond, but they also called and engaged me in conversation.  No matter if I agree with their stated position or not, that impressed me, and as a constituent, I appreciated it.

So thank you Sen. Britt and Rep. Aderholt, I appreciate the efforts in responding back.  Oh, Sen Turbeville?  Haven't heard a word from him or his office.  He must be out raising money for his run for governor.  Who knows.

Thanks for spending some time in this little corner of cyber space.  I sincerely appreciate it.  Even if you do disagree with me.

Girl Scout Cookies

 Ok, yesterday I did a blog on my reaction to a political matter that occurred on Friday.  To be honest, I did not write it to get approval or disapproval from you my friends, I wrote it to get my emotions off my chest.  That's it.  I did, and feel much better for having done so.

Now, more importantly, let's move on to something that vast majority of us can agree on.  Girl Scout cookies.

I saw a cute blurb on the St. Louis Cardinals Instagram site earlier.  They were interviewing a number of ballplayers, mostly minor leaguers, and they asked them one question.  What is your favorite type of Girl Scout cookie?  They asked about a dozen ball players and received a variety of responses.  It was interesting.

I remember "back in the day," you know, I don't like that phrase but anyway, a long time ago, I can remember about this time a year, when we would arrive at church, being bombarded as soon as we walked in, by dozens of young girls with their cookie scorecard, asking us, well my mom or dad, if we wanted to buy some girl scout cookies.  I think they were about 50 cents a box back then, maybe more, I really don't remember.

What I do remember is we always bought "Savannahs," the peanut-butter oatmeal cookie.  We might buy three or four boxes and my mother would ration the number of cookies my brother and I would get, and for that matter, the number my dad got.  Still, I have very fond memories of girl scout cookies.

I recently spent eight days in St. Louis when my mother was in the hospital after falling and breaking her hip.  By the way, thank you for all the notes and well wishes, she is doing much better.  But last Sunday, M needed a few things from Walgreens, so we stopped at one in Chesterfield.  Lo and behold by the entrance, there were a handful of girl scouts and moms selling girl scout cookies!

I was quite pleased when M came out of Walgreens and stopped to engage the girl scouts.  I couldn't see from my vantage point but was happy to see she made some sort of purchase.  When she got in the car, before I could utter a word, she said, one box for you, one box for me.  She handed me a box of Samoas, while she had a box of Thin Mints for herself.

I was pleased.

I mentioned the little Cardinals video earlier, and the two flavors the Cardinal rookies mentioned most often were Thin Mints and Samoas, though several said, you know, the ones with the coconut.

According to the Girl Scout website, there are 12 varieties of cookies.  Some of them I have never seen or heard of before.  I'm going to chat about a few of them.

Samoas - My absolute favorite.  A crisp cookie with caramel and coconut and a hint of chocolate.  I'll be honest, I will be shoe leather if it has coconut on it.  There are very few foods in this world I love more than coconut.  Bacon, pork steaks, shrimp, blackened grouper.  That's about it.   Coconut is just.....it's just grand.

Do-Si-Do's - These are the ones we used to call Savannahs.  A delicious oatmeal cookie with a peanut butter filling.   It was, and still is, delightful.  I was only slightly disappointed M did not buy a box of these.

Thin Mints - Ok, another confession.   I am not that big of a chocolate lover.  I mean it's ok, but i don't crave it.  I especially don't care for dark chocolate, way too bitter for me, give me milk chocolate please.  Anyway, this is a chocolate cookie dipped in a chocolaty, minty coating.  It is actually quite good.  But you know what I love best about these thin mints?  Eating them frozen.  That's right, pop them in the freezer, then have them while they are still ice cold.  Yummy.

Trefoils - These are nothing more that shortbread cookies.  A longtime classic.  These are good dipped in Nutella

Lemonades and Lemon-Ups - Lemon is another flavor I like.  I like in my iced tea, my hot tea, even my water.  The other day I ate a wonderful, delectable lemon, blueberry muffin.  Oh my goodness.  So yes, it carries over to cookies, I like cookies with a hint, or more than a hint of lemon in them.  Now, if ZI can only find some lemon-coconut, peanut butter cookies.  Hmmm.

Thanks for reading, hope you find some girl scout cookies somewhere today.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Black Friday

 Let me get right to the point.  I have never, ever in my nearly 68 years on this Earth been more embarrassed, more ashamed to be an American than I was yesterday following the ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by President Trump and Vice-President Vance.

There attitudes and remarks were uncalled for and humiliating to their guest.  Trump and Vance evidently had an agenda and went on an unprecedented agenda attacking President Zelenskyy for to him being "ungrateful" for everything the United States has done for Ukraine.  Which in fact is not the case at all.

Trump and Vance showed no respect for the Ukranian President at all as they took turns lambasting him, again saying everything from Zelenskyy "being ungrateful," for U. S. support, to being the sole cause should World War III should break out.  It was embarrassing to watch as an American seeing our President and Vice-President acting in such a childish way, it was for humiliating for President Zelensky to sit there and listen to Trump and Vance humiliate him in front of the world.  It was a disgusting outburst from the two men who hold the highest offices in the country.  It made them look small and untrustworthy not only in the eyes of many Americans, but also in the eyes of our allies around the world.  We might add right now, they are allies in name only.

Across Canada and Europe, our allies have systematically disavowed the words of President Trump and Vice-President Vance and thrown their full support and allegiance to President Zelenskyy and the Ukranian people.

Natasa Musaar,, the President of Slovenia wrote, "what we witnessed in the Oval Office undermines the foundations of diplomacy and decency.  We stand firmly with Ukraine."

NPR reported, France's prime minister, François Bayrou, praised Zelenskyy as the honor of Europe for "refusing to bend," despite the televised criticism he faced from both Vance and Trump. 

Starmer "retains unwavering support for Ukraine and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine."

But one of his ministers, Douglas Alexander, called the fracas in the White House "deeply troubling and sobering," and Starmer's chief political opponent, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch, posted on social media "respectable diplomacy" was essential for peace, and that a "divided West only benefits Russia."

Within just an hour or two of the Oval Office meeting, similar expressions of support and solidarity online came from the Spanish premier, Pedro Sánchez, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel, and many others, including Australia's premier, Anthony Albanese.

We hold our leaders to a certain degree of accountability.  This includes the way they act, the way they speak, and the way they deal with others.

Unfortunately, our current President, does care one iota about what the rest of the world thinks, he doesn't value the allies who look up to us, and have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us over the last 80 years.  He is a bully, he is a child, he is narcissist, he has no regard for those who have made America great, or those who have worked with America to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

Like yesterday afternoon's outburst in the Oval Office, it was shameful, it was disgusting, it was a reminder of what happens when we put greed over service.

I was ashamed.  I was embarrassed.  I so want to be proud of this country, but i sure wasn't yesterday.