Betty Lou was a very young girl when the family packed up everything they owned and lit out of Prior, Oklahoma bound for California. They weren't alone...it was the early thirties and most "Okies" were leaving the dust bowl for better climes. The Doren family looked a lot like the folks in the movie "Grapes of Wrath"...all their wordly possessions tied on to the Model A truck, kids stacked on the back. Their destination was the work camps of central California but because of good luck and a f...
When I was in high school and looking for a new series to read...I had just devoured all the 007s there were at the time...I picked up a Mike Hammer Mystery and started in. I knew there were a lot of books in the series so I figured if it was good...I was set. In the opening paragraphs, establishing the character and all, Mike mentions (all the great mysteries are in the first person) that he is just a shade under six one. Somehow in my adolescant mind, I read that to mean the was 61 years...
A little while ago I told you about the troubles a recently widowed friend of ours was going through with her bank and insurance company. Here is the latest, it ain't pretty. After lawyers had at each other, the result is that the insurance company had a signed contract that clearly states that the policy is not in force once the insured turns 70 years old. (They sold the policy to him on a five year contract when he was 68 years old...go figure). The claim that the insured didn't und...
Okay, now how do I get rid of all the extra white stuff?
I have loaded photos onto JU before...but now I can't. Don't know why. I have tried from Photobucket, Photobox, and Klikr seems to have vanished. No matter what URL I use, all I can get is the little box with the red X. Anybody help me out?
When I was in high school, the Chief was still driving a 1955 Chevy he bought new in Norfolk, Virginia in the fall of 1954. It was a 210, that was the two door with door posts, forest green, a 265 cubic inch V-8 with a three speed transmission. It was the only claim to "cool" I ever had, I got to drive it around alot. The Chief worked to keep it in prime condition. I learned a lot as his assistant...oil changes...brake jobs...wash and wax...and one time, rebuilding the generator. It wa...
The period leading up to Lent in Germany is called Fasching. It starts in November with a few parties, but doesn't really get cranking until the last week or so before Ash Wednesday. My first experience with Fasching was in 1965, I had heard of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, of course, but I didn't know anything about it. All I knew was that the town of Bad Kissingen was really hopping in February. Some of my buds and I were at the big dancehall across the river on Saturday night and, MAN...w...
Summer in Yokosuka is hot, humid, hazy and muggy. There isn't enough water to kill the thirst, every thing is clammy and sweaty, it's almost like Missouri in summer ! We lived in the Navy housing area called Admiralty Heights if you were American, Takiyama Heights if you were Japanese. It was about a twenty to thirty minute drive from the base. The Chief would stop and pick up two cases of beer...Burgie ! of course...they kept it cold at the Ship's Store. Now, so you get this image corre...
I am not sure which port it was...somewhere in Korea where the pier was a long way from the town. So they arranged two buses to run the sailors for the Etai into town...Liberty buses if you will. They must have heard about the cheap souvenirs in town....come ON...it was KOREA ! Anyway, the buses were laid on and the liberty granted and the sailors were allowed to head for town...if a senior CPO rode on each bus to maintain order. There was a rumor of rowdy behavior possible on the retur...
In my experience with horses in the past, I knew them to have personalities. Some were gentle and forgiving and some were just mean. They aren't dumb, they will show amazing displays of reasoning and understanding at times. I'll tell you about Red some time, he was mean and smart and loved nothing more than to pin your foot to the ground when you tried to saddle him. But until I met Ginger I never knew horses had a sense of humor. One of the things she loved to do to me was sneak up ...
It was on one of the aforementioned Saturday Morning rides down the grade to the Rubidoux, it was early fall. The trees were still full of leaves but just starting to turn. It was quiet and bright and clear and about as good a morning for a ride as ever there was. About half way down the grade Ginger stopped and started rotating her ears in that direction-finding mode she had...I had watched her do this thousands of times. She could pick up sounds and figure out where they came from with ...
One of my favorite things was to saddle up early on a Saturday morning and ride out alone in the chilly, clear, sweet smelling hills around the Mark Twain National Forest, which butts against Fort Leonard Wood. Leaving the stables, westward, the road started down a curving grade until it comes to the valley of the Rubidoux creek...the boundary which marks the beginning of the Forest. It is a beautiful ride, quiet, and peaceful. It took about an hour to get to the creek at a slow walk. The...
Ginger was a blood bay quarter mare-Missouri Foxtrotter, smallish in that part of Missouri where most foxtrotters were 15 1/2 to 17 hands, she was a measley 14-3. But she had a champion's heart. We bought her from a broker, Juanita, who had been searching for a good match for us for a few weeks. I had wanted a specific coloring and size and temperment and Juanita was proud to have found exactly what I wanted. A big sorrel quarter with an even temper and a soft mouth. We drove out of Leo...