IT'S THE "NUT PEOPLE"

Who in today's world of mail ordering

      gets the nod for the best, toughest,

        and most-secure  packaging?

***********************

There is good strong

      cardboard

          and then

there is mediocre cardboard

There are boxes

      and then...

there are BOXES!

There are companies 

      that make 

strong boxes, and

      those that don't.

Fed Ex and UPS deliver

      pristine containers

and also some barely 

     hanging together...

Time was when we never

     ordered stuff much--

maybe now and then from

     Sears and Roebuck or

dear old Montgomery Ward...

But now, with age and 

    shopping reluctance

(and I suspect---fun of opening 

        packages)

We have stuff coming in all 

     the time, even once

from China....and 

      they scrimp on their

 cardboard---it looks cheap...

Amazon, the world's BIG SHIPPER

      does good strong well-taped

packages as does Fillson, with 

      their top-of-the-line products...

Book companies have to ship

   securely as books must 

arrive in good shape...corners

   must not be bent and ruined

All things being considered,

      the people I have found---

with the toughest no-nonsense

      containers...which you 

may need pliers to open

 Are--- THE NUT PROPLE!

Yes, Sunnyland Farms...

     and best of all---

their pecans, peanuts, walnuts

      and a dozen other choices

are always fresh and good!

*****************

BY MIL

26 JANUARY 2018

THOSE "OLD SINFUL" STICKY BUNS

...some people...are so flawless...as to seem....
...almost perfect...
********************

Now I know a fine lady...

    could even  be my wife

I suppose...

    Who has gumption, perception,

         and good judgment

in just about all things in life,

     and (as Rush says:)

"Ninety-eight point seven percent 

             of the time..."

But...

Isn't it true that...nobody is "perfect?"

Now she once had this position

      that involved a vicissitude---

            a bad and dreaded

requirement of her job description...

       was---

She had to "keep open" her office

     one Saturday morning 

         a month, to help people

who dropped by

Badly needing early coffee, sustenance,        

           and

     maybe a morale boost on Saturdays

she remembered The Daily Grind

     and went by there

and found not only good Java

But 

"the greatest STICKY BUNS to be

                      found

 In All Creation..."

   

Soon she found herself 

            anticipating

  those wonderful once-dreaded

Saturday mornings...with

        their marvelous sticky buns...

Then she retired.

However, today

       some years later, she has found

a Grand New Source

          for these dietary-sinful

                  stickies"

and she has back-slid...

They now cost three-fifty each

      and I mustn't tell 

the source...where to get

      them

 But, just to let you know:

      Now, I too am "hooked..."

My gumption is gone,

        and my will power.

***************

Mil

26 JANUARY 18

"THE SCENT OF A LIBRARY"

There is a town somewhere in China
    that likely has the fanciest, most-artistic,
          and sanitary library
in the whole world.

All kudos to the designers and builders
     for their creativity and ingenuity...

But to readers with poetic souls
     questions arise---

Are there quaint ivy-covered walls
     out front?

Is there an aged and poetic piece
     of wood, with its "patina," warmness,
and inviting ambience visible
            anywhere
in this whole  "work of art?

Are there old-timer librarians
     wearing ancient tweed jackets
or hand-knitted shawls...and
     lingering back in the "stacks"
to help book-searchers search and
    chat about favorite "best-sellers"
of half a century ago?

Are books of the whole world,
     (translated of course)
to be found in this artistic place---

such as...those of---Dostoevsky, Joyce,
    Nietzsche, Faulkner, Twain,
O'Brian, Austen, Tolstoy, Hardy, Bronte,
    McCullough, Caro, and Bellow...
and a few thousand more...

O but do you realize that more than
     just the verse in books...
libraries have a poetry of their own
    and it lingers in the air...

It is in the atmosphere in just about
     every library that ever existed;
over time, it is the bookish aroma
    of bindings and glue---
thousand year vellum slowly-but surely
    being consumed by
a million miniscule paper mites, so tiny
    as to almost not be there... but they
too...must  have their place
     in the shade.

Ah yes, every library needs that
    musty scent of books...

Can it be "blown in" to this one,
    somehow?
------------

MIL
18 JANUARY 18

"GUMPTION"

We have known
        some
pretty smart people
      in plain old
"book learning..."

Some even "exceptional"
      we might say
because
     if you apply yourself
you can absorb 
     knowledge...big time

But wait...

My economics professor
    (friend of many years, 
          as it turned out...)
used to say:
     "It doesn't matter 
    how much you know 
         if you don't 
      have GUMPTION."

and then he continued
   "And the sad thing is---
     it can't be taught."

He never really defined it 
    to us, to my satisfaction
but now after many years of
    life experiences,
here's what I think it means:

      "Common sense."
----------
Definitions:

"Perception...shrewd or spirited 
    initiative; resourcefulness

"Ability to decide what is best 
to do in certain situations"
***************
BY MIL
19 January 2018

"ME....AND ARTICHOKES"

I am almost embarassed to write this piece.

Well...not just almost...I really am. But maybe 

I will feel better...and go on to success in life...

Fact is, "I don't really know nuthin' about no

artichokes." It's true. My wife knows...but I

get bored and my wind wanders off into

cheeseburgers...and other healthful foods,

when she tries  to explain about "chokes."

Now, my beloved granddad, "Pop" was a hard-

working successful cotton farmer down in

W. TEXAS, a century ago---just before I was

born...he walked behind a mule holding up a

plow...all day long...and then ate corn bread

and buttermilk...for supper...with onion mixed

in...

He had great gardens just across the little

rock fence from his domicile---you know, with

black-eye peas, corn-on-the-cob, 

watermelons, cantaloupes , okra (just aching

to be fried), and sweet purple grapes nearby

in an arbor with shade fit for reading a book...

but he never grew no artichokes.

I was a gospel singer for twenty years and

sang in a least sixty-three revivals...and 

ate several  hundred (good) meals in 

homes of church folks and we had fried

chicken one week (you won't believe) maybe

twelve or fifteen times---even for breakfast

once) ...but I never once't ate no artichokes.

I supplemented  my income by doing

weddings, parties, receptions, and events

with my "small press" Koni-Omega. This

"friend" who had money and lived in a gated

community was having a big party of some 

kind and she "hired"me to do the pics.

She said: "I'm having the Artichoke Cafe

cater it at $28.00 a person!" The she paused\

to watch me collapse in amazement. I went

and shot the party...but remember no arti-

chokes served.

Capping this whole tale is an event which

shows you my lack of social skills. We went

over to an especially nice dinner with some

people who belong to  a "Gormay" (sic) 

eating group. The menu as I recall was steaks.

There were these little cups filled with dip

with (I was told) artichoke leaves protruding,

making an attractive little green snacky 

thingie. I dipped those leaves in the stuff and

began to eat them.

But they wouldn't chew-up...they were tough.

I couldn't swallow 'em. Almost choking, I 

said to BE under my napkin: "These things 

are tough...I can't swallow 'em."

She whispered: "Dummy, you're just 

sposed to kinda rake your teeth acrost

them and scrape stuff off." "Oh," I said,

"just great." And I gave up on those

 things and haven't touched one since.

What brought on this whole tale you have

been reading was a piece received today,

and  included in it was a statement...

"California people know how to eat

  artichokes." Hmmm...

I reckon us old Texas boys are just not

suave enough to know everything there

is to know, but if you want to go quail

hunting...I can take you.

------------------

BY MIL

15 JANUARY 2018

THERE WERE TWO OF US.....JUST KIDS....

                       Levi

....standing out there in that nice
       but not fancy backyard
on a little sidewalk that ran
    out to the alley...and
if you looked acrost it
    about forty yards
there was an Allis-Chalmers
     or some such
farm store with tractors galore
    a'settin' around all over
their fenced yard
    with lots of pre-owned old
ones....that some teen-age kids
    had sat on for endless
hours, during endless summers
     and swatted gnats... plowing
all day long in ninety-five degree heat---

Those orange tractors, combines,
     and One-Way plows out
there...didn't bother these kids none
     for they had practically been
raised ...driving these things
     and wheat trucks to boot...

The boys were standing there in that
     quaint little Clovis backyard
that day, sort of "philosophizing,"
    for one of them had just passed
another milestone on this Earth...

There was a little sidewalk, as
    I said, and alongside it
was an old rock "cook-out"
    barbecue thing, with a rusted
grill right on the top---it had maybe
   cooked dozens of hamburgers
during the twenties and thirties
    before cooking-out was
 cool...now in its bottom were
    old ashes,  leaves from a dozen
autumns, and Curry County dirt,
    blown in...

These were pretty good boys,
     I suppose...as boys went in the
late forties in that grand hometown...
    They didn't cuss or drink, and
who had ever heard of "pot...?"

They sang bass in the church choir
     every Sunday morning and night
and had a nice little mixed quartet
    that sang sometimes...
with Fawnette and June in it...

Now from somewhere on this
    important and auspicious occasion
which they were sort of celebrating,
    they had acquired a couple
of cigars  (for shame, I know)) and
these were not six-cent John Ruskins
    or King Edwards...

These were the Real Deal...
     They were ROI TANS---nothing
but the best...

As the talking...and some laughing...
   and the reminiscing wound down...
the older boy, Levi said to Mil, his
    friend:

   "Well today, I am seventeen...and
       I don't know where the years
         have gone, but Pard, we are
          getting older...and it looks
           like one day we'll be old
             guys, if we live long
                enough, and who
                  knows what the
                    years will bring..."

With that, the boys grounded-out their
    ROI TANS in that little fireplace's
dirt----and tackled life once  again.

I have wondered, if an archaeologist
      excavated that little rock cooker,
today---(if it is still there)---if there
    would still be ROI TAN evidence.
---------------
.....long time passing...but Happy
Birthday Levi, from us all...with many
    grand and fond memories.
***************
BY. MIL
13 January 2018
0809 hours      

OF LIFE....AND THE RIVER

Life and a river
     are a lot alike

Both have their
   crooks and bends
and unseen almost-
     hidden places
with snaggy limbs
    hanging out over
the water to grab...
    or loaded with a
dozing cottonmouth

Either can have
     unseen logs and
debris of all kinds
      ready to roll
over things in their paths

Life has its surprises---
     unexpected shoals,
dangerous whirlpools,
     and mysterious
eddies...as do rivers

Waterfalls may be just
     around the bend---
and when you think
     you're "cruising..."
a fall may be waiting
    for you

Both can be dark
     and foreboding
especially in the
     night

River pests of all kinds
     with wings can
buzz and bite...
     and life has
its own bugs

Either can fool you...
     with placid waters
and calm times...but
the experienced one
    knows: "Be ready
for anything, anytime."

Life... or a river can be
    fun, with cool breeze--
jumping fish-- and musical
     sounds of running water

and  both are filled with
     quiet happy places...
and cool shade.

Now and then one
     can catch and eat a fish.
*****************
BY MIL
11 January 2017

DIGGING OUT... FROM THE HOLIDAYS

 Today is January 3, 2018

The church's Christmas cantata (for 

     which BE played the piano) is done,

the New Year's service is past;

The kids and grandkids have all 

      headed home...

The ham and posole and all the dips

      are gone, as well as the Fritos...

We are down to the last

      of the turkey sandwiches...

and

Peace and quietness and hopefully

      goodwill...rest upon the Land.

Even the weather has been rather

     mild....and moderate here 

on The Mesa, in the shadow 

     of The Watermelons...

My new Christmas gift---a weather 

     station/wind gauge finally

hit a blustery "7 MPH" yesterday and we

      two gathered around to watch it -

in very rare---STILL  times---a little wind...

     Ah, a magnificent "seven!"

The lady across the street, with 

      her treasured little boy

still has his Santa in their front yard;

The neighbor down the street about

     six houses, for the tenth year

has a fake--- dead hombre hanging 

      from the eave of his house, 

ostensibly electrocuted while hanging

     the Christmas lights, his ladder

being knocked over and all....

More than one car has parked in front

     of that house, debating some 

possible mouth to mouth for the 

    departed handyman...one supposes

At home we have cooked up all our

    cookie dough and made Trail

Mix, baked with real butter and garlic.

There are always late cards to be sent 

     or delivered, as well a a gift or two,

and

Some Christmas dishes have been 

     already stored...but BE says

we will keep out her favored Christmas

     coffee cups until later...

and

I said: "Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's?"

There seems to be a never-ending list

     of stuff to be done 

early on the coming year...the pine tree

     needs trimming, the lawn needs its

winter watering, it's time to change

    the furnace filter...and then there

are the doctors we've got to support,

    you know...

Check this, we went home from our

      honeymoon one day early

to our little rented apartment, back 

     in the hometown...

because 

We just couldn't wait to try out our

     new pots and pans, and those

marvelous "Tickled Pink" dishes...

After sixty-one years of "housekeeping"

     one might say, we have had plenty

of it...and you know: it has been grand!

So in this cold (but not windy) New Year

    of 2018, I reckon we'll keep on 

watching our new "streaming" thing

    on TV....build a good fire, sit under

our favorite quilts...

and BE wants to try out that new 

     Potato Soup recipe I copied

off Facebook....and have some cocoa

     in our beloved Christmas cups.

------------

MIL

3 JANUARY 2018