My middle name is a gray area. Literally.
My middle name is Gray.
I’ve written before about last names, or surnames as they are called in the United States and other parts of the world, but until recently, I hadn’t thought too much about why we have or need a middle name.
In regard to history, last names are a relatively recent thing. Only used for the past few hundred years for most of us who trace our roots back to Europe, the ...
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I grew up in a family who fixed things. We fixed things because we didn’t have the money to pay someone else to fix them. As a result, I was taught a little about a lot when it came to everyday items.
Things used to be made simply. Consequently, in most cases you could fix most items yourself. A fan, for example, was rudimentary. A housing, blade, electric motor, and a plug was pretty much all there was to one. The ...
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I was about five years old when I discovered that my name wasn’t actually Johnny. I didn’t say anything about it until I was eight. Then, my OCD kicked in.
In the third grade, I decided to insist that I be called John. John was my name, and I should be called that.
This didn’t go over too well with my parents, especially my dad, who informed me that he could call me whatever he wanted.
He had a point, but my name ...
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I have become enamored with survival shows on TV.
Honestly, this isn’t a recent thing, it started about 10 years ago with a program called Survivorman, starring a man named Les Stroud. The premise is to take Les and drop him off in the most inhospitable place possible, with no food or water, few supplies, and a give him a week to not die.
It’s quite like going to the mall with your wife.
Mr. Stroud was the first of his kind to ...
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“That one was given to a man when he retired from the Illinois Railroad in 1891,” said the man. He looked as if someone had opened a time continuum and he’d just left 1891. He wore jeans, suspenders, and a real cowboy hat.
Thin, with longest white beard I’d seen in awhile, I thought how easy it would be for him to take the stage with ZZ Top and no one would be the wiser.
“How much?” I asked.
“I’d have to have ...
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There was almost no breeze. Record temperatures were being shattered in England, and the Southern US was also pretty darn hot.
But three teenage kids in Arkansas decided that it would be a great idea to live in my backyard for most of the summer of 1976.
My cousin Randy was up from Alvin, Texas. I honestly can’t remember why he stayed with us for so many weeks, but I do remember that my mom quickly reached the end of her rope ...
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Before Wal Mart and its supercenters, there were corner stores. A typical corner store was locally owned, small, sparsely stocked with kitchen and other household essentials, sometimes selling gasoline, and was located near or in the middle of a neighborhood.
In my hometown, we had Puckett’s Store and Withem’s Store.
Both were located on Highway 32, with the former on the edge of town and the latter closer to the center.
My family traded primarily with Mr. Withem. Hindsight, that choice had a ...
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During a recent discussion with coworkers, someone asked me what was typically served every Sunday after church when I was a kid.
Of course, I said pot roast.
Pot roasts migrated from the oven to the Crock-Pot during my childhood. The Crock-Pot was and still is the perfect cooking appliance for a pot roast. It was also the original set-it-and-forget-it appliance.
Moms would get up in the morning and sear the roast in a cast iron skillet, then toss it ...
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My grandfather’s shop seemed cavernous. Every room was filled with tools that a man with a strong back could use to make a living and feed his family.
My grandfather was a blacksmith. His name was Parmer.
He was a product of the Great Depression. Born in 1918, he arrived at adulthood in the midst of the worst economic period in American history. But, like many men and women of that era, he was raised in a family that survived not on ...
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I first noticed her when she was standing about fourth in line.
I was working in the radio business at the time, and the Dallas Cowboys were headed to the Super Bowl. That should give you an idea of how long ago this story takes place.
The radio station was giving away a trip for two to the game, all expenses paid. We went to different advertiser’s locations and set up registration booths for the drawing. She was trying to win the ...
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