THERE'S A SILENCE AT WILD PEACH

"TALKING OAK" AT WILD PEACH

THERE'S A SILENCE AT WILD PEACH

The Little Boogers are gone...

Ah, but the memories remain

    Their spirits are still here...

         At this Happy Place.

If you close your eyes

      and listen...

You can hear them petting

      and feeding the calves...

           Hear the moos?

You can hear. them

      as they run and frolic

           with that 

      matchless gift of youth---

Fitness and energy!

You can hear their laughter

     and girlish screams

          carried all over

Wild Peach, by the fresh

     sea breezes...

"Where's Grandad?

"Can I mow?"

"Bet I can outrun you

      to the Red Barn!"

"Let me drive."

"I got a fish, I got a fish!"

"A BIG ONE!"

"Mine's bigger than yours!"

Ah, the Old Place

     is never

         quite the

             same

after...they're gone...

But...it is always BETTER,

      for

         their memories are

              everywhere

                   you look

                      or listen...

Why, I think I heard a "splash, splash" just now....

         down at the pond.

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

MIL

7/19/15

IT'S MORNING ONCE AGAIN

IT'S MORNING ONCE AGAIN

It's morning...and the world

     awakes!

The faithful old sun is right

     on time

and as bright as ever---

     It never tires.

A cool gentle breeze wafts

    over all,

refreshing the trees, flowers,

    lawns, and gardens...

And tho' early yet, the big white

    fluffy clouds of summer

are already seen around 

    the blue morning sky...

rising up...

O, another day of life!

     A gift

from the Creator, to share

    His joy of being...

And how marvelous:

    Birds are singing all

around the neighborhood!

    Doves are cooing,

as is their wont--

Looking outside my window

    I sit and watch

the little orange-breasted

    finches, the wrens, and

the chickadees

    having a grain breakfast!

O, what to do with this day!?

I will bow my head and say

    my best prayer of 

thanks to God...for it all...

and then...

I will WRITE!

*********

BY MIL

7-11-15

BRANDING AT THE KD RANCH

Archie Dougherty

BRANDING AT THE KD RANCH

BY WYLIE DOUGHERTY

I was blessed by being born and raised on the KD Ranch, 22 miles north of Clovis with headquarters on the Frio Draw, and fields and pastures on both sides of the draw.  We farmed about 1000 acres of farmland and ranched about 5400 acres of pasture land.

Every fall, around September, we would have a branding of all un-branded critters on the ranch.  Why in the fall? The cows were bred to have calves after the winter snows had melted, when calving was less hazardous for the cows and the calves.  This meant that the calves would be from a few weeks to 9 months old, creating quite a variety of sizes.

On branding day neighbors, friends, classmates and family would saddle-up around sunup, to round up all the cows and calves, corral them and separate the calves from their mothers, for branding and other indignities. 

The branding would begin around mid-morning, after separating the calves.  We had a 55 gallon branding barrel, open at the top,  with a window cut into one side to stick the branding irons into the wood fire inside the barrel.

Crews were generally composed of two cowboys/girls who would work together most of the day.  The bigger calves would be roped by a wrangler, sometimes David or Noel, but sometimes by neighbor cowboys.  The calves would be heeled, roped by the back feet, then dragged to one of the teams, who would wrestle the calf down, one member on the front, the other on the back, careful not to get kicked.  It was important to have the left side of the critter up, as the KD brand went on the left hip.

At this point, several things happened as young bulls were turned into steers, by Daddy or another cowboy with a sharp knife.  If the calf had horns or the beginning of horns, they would be de-horned, cauterized if excess bleeding occurred, and vaccinated against several diseases.  

Before the critter was released, dope(smear 62) was applied to the head and between the legs, this was to prevent blow flies from laying eggs on the open wounds, which, when hatched became screw-worms, a scourge to be avoided.  Also the calf would then get branded and in some cases, ear-marked.

The smaller calves would be roped by cowboys on foot and dragged up to the branding barrel. A pair of crew members, sometimes younger kids, would bull-dog, wrestle or somehow get the calf down, with the left side up, and it began with all the steps mentioned above.

Key elements of branding day:

• Round-up of cows, calves, heifers and any other un-branded critters like bulls or yearlings that had missed being branded.  A dozen or more cowboys/ girls would leave the corrals about sunup, gather the cows and calves in both pastures and bring them to be penned at the corrals ;
• Separate the calves from their mommas for branding;
• Make sure the branding barrel is fired with plenty of firewood for fuel, and all the irons needed were in the barrel;
• Have enough vaccine for the number of calves to be worked;
• Have tools ready—vaccination needles, sharp knives, de-horners and de-horn spoons, have adequate “dope” and a bucket and brush;
• Get cowhands to form 2-person crews for holding calves for branding;
• Need a couple of wranglers to rope and drag big calves to the crews;
• Use “squeeze  chute” for cows, bulls and large yearlings;
• When day was done, calves and cows were reunited and miracles above, every cow and calf were rejoined, then turned back out to pasture.

Next day and every day for a few weeks, one or more of us would go out and check the calves for bleeding, screw worms, infections and any other physical problems that could exist.  Only then could we relax and feel that the branding was a success.

Margaret Dougherty

AFTER THE BRANDING.....

"...THE MEMORIES....WILL LIVE IN OUR MINDS FOREVER"

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

We generally had lots of volunteers, nieces, nephews and school buddies to help.  Each of the rookies could be sure that they would be kicked, stomped, bucked off and otherwise initiated into the branding crews.

The things that turned bulls into steers were dropped over the side of the branding barrel to be roasted by the wood fire, done when they split.  They were a true delicacy, Rocky Mountain oysters, which were quickly eaten by crew members.

One of Noel’s daughters, Dru, said that she thought that branding day was a national holiday. None of her cousins or siblings went to school on branding day.

At the end of the day, the crews enjoyed a good meal from Mom and our sisters, sometimes with a freezer or two of home-made ice cream, along with some fruit pies.  

We were always sad when our neighbors loaded their horses and went home, but we knew that we would soon be at their ranch to help with their branding.  And that’s the way it was; neighboring was part of life on the Frio Draw.

The official brand was KD for the ranch, branded on the left hip.  Archie Dougherty had two brands, “Rafter D Bar” on the left ribs, Margaret’s brand was “4 Open A” branded on the left shoulder. Daddy also had an unusual brand, “rafter over the hips”, it could be read from either side of the critter.  

SEE THE BRANDS BELOW

Every one of us, brothers and sisters alike, could tell many stories of brandings they were part of.  Watching the next generations become cowhands was good pay for the work we did.  As one of my sisters-in-law stated, “ the memories of the KD Ranch, and the brandings, will live in our minds forever”.

7/14/15

For Mil's

Wylie Dougherty

THE PAINTED SHED

The turquoise

       and white

Storage

        shed

With the goldie-

         lock

On the door,

          over

In the corner of

           the yard

Looked splendid

            after

Joe painted it one

             day

For twelve dollars an

             hour

O today, please help

              me

Find another twelve

              dollar

An hour painter on 

               this earth

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

BY MIL

(William Carlos Williams,

     STYLE)

7-12-15

DRAGGIN' MAIN, 2015---"BUMPER TO BUMPER"

Those "DRAGGERS" participating in the big Second

Annual Draggin' Main Event, report that it was twice

as big as last year's, was often bumper-to-bumper,

and was ----SPLENDID!

We are also told by younger folks, who "stayed up

late," that it was not over until two a.m. or after---

there was some "burning rubber, drag-racing, and

a few were "feeling no pain," as the saying goes.

I suppose that one could say that it is somewhat

different from the forties, when one knew practically

every make and year of dragging car. Many kids 

were in the family sedan and there were a few cute 

little coupes and a hot rod or two.

Then, after a big ball game on Friday night, the traffic

did get bumper-to-bumper at times, as well as on

Sunday afternoons.

A most interesting thing seems to have taken hold

with the two "modern draggings..." one might call

it a "happy car/miscellaneous vehicle show..."

And as Seinfeld says: "There's nothing wrong with 

that!"

Two first-time observers were heard to say: "They

(the people dragging) seem to really enjoy this!"

And..."They brought everything (all manner of

moving machines) to drag Main, see each other,

and reminisce!"

Thanks to Bob Snipes for his help, and I will tell

you: "He is a good photographer."

7/10/15 BY MIL
PHOTOS BY BOBBY JOE SNIPES

THE STATE THEATER (AND DRAGGING MAIN, 2015)

by Bobby Joe Snipes, with Mil

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

DID THE GHOSTS ALSO COME?

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

This is the State Theater, resting up, for Saturday night,
June 27. 2015.

To the south was once the beginning of Campbell's 

Dairy. 

The wall between 500 and 502 Main is solid concrete

and possibly the only one in Clovis. G.A. Campbell's

son, Dale, told me that he helped pour that wall.

G.A. Campbell lived in an apartment above 500 Main

when Dale and his sister were born. His living quarters 

were later my office when I owned the building and

"BOB'S MR. SHOP."

In the 40's, 500 Main was the Blue Ribbon Bar....

and the ghosts of the Blue Ribbon Bar still live

in the wine cellar below 500 Main, (which has been

closed up for years.)

I have been down there and it is a dirty, trashy, 

musty old place...well suited for ghosts...and maybe

a good ghost story...now and then, around a 

fireside.

Who knows: they may have slipped upstairs to

watch The GREAT MAIN STREET DRAGGING

of 2015! Maybe they get a little bored....

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

FOR MIL'S PLACE

Story and photos by

BOBBY JOE SNIPES, CHS '53,
with Mil

The Bricks of Main Street are "alive" and well

Bob and Betty

OLD FOX DRUG---FOURTH and MAIN, CLOVIS

OLD FOX DRUG (NOW POTTER'S HOUSE)

The 2015 Clovis Main Dragging event is history. It 

was held this past Saturday, June 27, 2015. 

(Who ever thought, back when the Forties "lasted 

forever," that we'd ever see a date this late?!)

Reports have come to me that it was a great success

and maybe twice-as-well- attended as last year's first 

one!

Donna and I didn't get to attend, but my lifetime friend

and neighbor from 1940, Bobby Joe Snipes, is an

excellent photographer and has sent me a couple of

dozen great photos.

We will put together a story or two on MIL"S PLACE

in the next two weeks.

Sitting here in my Lazy Boy this hot afternoon, and

going through the photos of car-filled-bumper-to-

bumper-Main-Street, I saw this photo of the building

that was once the FOX DRUG. 

That was in the summer of 1938.

At that time, there were  several little signs, front 

and side, saying "Fox Drug," with a stretched-out-running

red fox on the signs.

At that time, that center-of-the-world intersection had

Barry Hardware right across the street, east. Woolworth's

was just across Fourth on the SE corner...with May

Brother's Jewelry right across from Woolie's.

Whole stories could be written about that area--- after 

all the Lyceum was just across Main from Fox Drug,

three doors to the north---where marvelous "shows" 

were enjoyed by entertainment-starved 1940's kids.

You've read my account of coming out from the 

Lyceum into the bright Mid-August -1945 afternoon

light...a KICA loudspeaker ban was blocking the

intersection and announcing "THE JAPS HAVE

SURRENDERED!" I stood at Barry's corner...

On an earlier April 1945 day, I rode my bicycle from

La Casita straight down to Barry's, walked in to

buy a bolt and nut, and people were clustered around

the radio...some were weeping....a lady saw me and

slipped over and said: "President Roosevelt has died."

I was to come to love history and my library of history

volumes...so maybe the reader can sense how I feel

about our U.S. history, and the time and place where

these events were reported.

Back to the Fox---the Jeris Hair Oil that boys liked

was right there on the south wall. They had a nice 

sandwich shop on the north side, full on Sunday's

after church. In front of that was a newsstand opening

into Fox...they had all the best Roy Rogers, Gene

Autry, Batman, Captain Marvel, and Tarzan comic

books---@ 15 cents--on the north and west walls.

Every week day at Fox at noon, a piano was rolled

out near the slanted front door and a male quartet at

12:45 p.m. sang Pickering Family-type songs.

They were broadcast on KICA.

My uncle, from west Texas, was working in Clovis

at that time, and sang first tenor.

There was a little barber shop behind Fox and next to

the alley...in 1939. It was run by a man named Jenks.

In later years Fox Drug became Cretney's and then 

Roden-Smith.

Folks are all different in many ways. Some care little

about past times and others, often with photographic

memories, are tied to old times, with great interest.

The Main Dragging Event always seems to stir up

communication among the older Clovisites (wherever

they are in the world). 

In noting my "lack" of world travel, my old friend Levi,

of many Main Street draggings wrote:

"Well Pard, having worked abroad a number of 

years, and having been a bit of a world traveler,

I'll tell you that you haven't missed much by not

having strayed far away from those old red bricks

of Main Street."

Times over 80 years have changed, the buildings

have mostly all new fronts, but the warm memories of

happy times, tough times, beloved parents,

teachers and friends, ever remain....

 BARRY HARDWARE BUILDING

LYCEUM THEATER

OLD WOOLWORTH BUILDING 

----------

MIL

July 1, 2015

Photos by Bobby Joe Snipes

"OUR GRAND DOG, BARELY OUT...."

Our Texas grand dog 

    a Golden Retriever

Barely out

    of the dog house

after the famous

     vicissitude

wherein he devoured

      our special $35.00

BERRY CHANTILLY CAKE

    while alone

in the kitchen

    on Christmas Eve, 2014

arrived, tail wagging

     big time to see us

for the Fourth of July

Praise be!

Ah, now out of the 

     dog house

after six months

     but still under

house arrest, and

     probation

a' wearin' a collar---

Sad to tell, he is

     a repeat Perp

and has done sinned

     again, losing

all privileges and back

     "in the dog house"

For you see, hungry

     Uncle Brian

made himself a nice

     late lunch

of a chicken salad san,

      radishes, cukes,

and watermelon chunks

BUT he made THE MISTAKE

     and went off and

left it for a few moments on

    the low table---

a proven bad plan

Our grand dog retriever

     happened to pass by

and the aroma was right

    in his face

He was seen furiously 

    licking the sandwich

dribbling watermelon juice

    all over it...and 

some  say, "taking bites."

Ah, now he is back in the

     dog house until

Christmas (so to speak)

(You have to love 'em, 

     after all, they're

just trying' to....

"GET ALONG.")

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

MIL

7/02/15

THE TESTAMENT OF FREEDOM

"LADY LIBERTY"....Photo by Kindell Brinay Moore

                                     "THE TESTAMENT OF FREEDOM"
                                               by Randall Thompson

----"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty, at the same time..."
----A patriotic musical, based on the writings of Thomas Jefferson
----Composed for a male glee club at the University of Virginia,
----To celebrate the bicentennial  of Jefferson's birthday
----First performed at the University of Virginia on April 13, 1943
----On April 14, 1945 it was performed by Serge Koussevitsky and
         the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a part of a concert in
         memory of FDR...
----This musical piece was also played on radio and TV during the
          funeral weekend of JFK, as well as for other national events.
                                  --------------------------------
"I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance...
And even should the cloud of barbarism again obscure the science and
liberties of Europe, this country remains to restore light and liberty to them...
The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of
the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the
contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force
may destroy but cannot disjoin them."

Thomas Jefferson,
Monticello
"Letter to JOHN ADAMS"
September 12' 1821

June 2015,
Approaching the 239th year anniversary
       of American Independence

".Long may our land be bright
     with freedom's holy light..."
-----------
MIL'S PLACE
BY MIL
June 1, 2015

THOMAS JEFFERSON….HIS MONUMENT ALSO A TREE

JEFFERSON MEMORIAL
                                            (Photo by Kindell Brinay Moore)

"When in the course of human events, it becomes
     necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another...
     and to assume among the powers of the earth
their separate and equal station..."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
     are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that
     among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit
of Happiness..."

"The greatest service which can be rendered to my
      country is to add a useful plant
to its culture."
----------------
The excellent photographer of the Washington D.C.
Jefferson Memorial, there across the Potomac, may
or may not have realized that, with the TREE framing
the scene, she was creating a marvelous metaphor.

JFK once quipped at a White House dinner, attended
by a multitude of brilliant, creative people: "This may
be one of the greatest assemblies of talented people
ever at a White House dinner, except  when Thomas
Jefferson dined alone."

Jefferson is quite well-known for his extensive
library and his reading, for his innumerable
inventions (many still seen at Monticello today),
for being a connoisseur of fine wines (an
aptitude learned in France), but many do not
realize his attention and devotion to, his skills, and
voluminous time and efforts given to his
gardening, on his mountain at Monticello.

Mind-boggling today are aerial scenes of his
estate showing the recreated, carefully laid
out garden plots, and orchards.

He is said to have had as many as three
hundred different varieties of ninety different
plants, including exotics like sesame, chick
peas, sea kale, and salsify. A good many of
these plants and varieties he imported from
France.

Tomatoes are mentioned, almost as rarities
and one wonders if they were common at the
time.

T.J. documented his planting dates; kept track
in his logs of daily temperatures, locations
and spacing of various vegetables, when they
bloomed,  and when the food would be available
for the table each year.

It is said that, in the days when company often
dropped in on rural folks, and many times stayed
longer than overnight, he liked to set a good table,
with fine wines, and plenty of delightful vegetables.

"Behind Jefferson's zeal to categorize his world
and his gardens, was a patriotic mission," one
historian has said.

Almost more fascinating and miraculous than
his gardening of foodstuffs for the table was
the fact that he was a student of fruit trees,
always importing more.

In his South Orchard, he had 130 varieties of
fruit trees---among them--- peach, apple, fig,
and cherry.

Thomas had plenty of help for this quite
extensive amount of work, which he had to
have, due to the fact that he was active in
politics, (in fact--in demand), and served two
terms as president of the United States.

He had slaves to see after his ambitious
gardening ambitions, and likely needed the
produce to help feed them. When in residence,
he was right out there with them.

Little mention is made of his "farm" during his
years in France as ambassador.

One, in studying T.J., gets the feeling that his
political life, in later years became tedious and
he longed for his books and reading, and his
beloved Monticello, where he could work in the
soil.

Peter Hatch, the current  M. estate head gardener
has said: "Monticello's south-facing exposure
was a living laboratory for a life-long tinkerer
and almost obsessive record keeper. After T.J.
retired from public life to his beloved Virginia
hilltop plantation, his gardens served as a part
of this experimental testing lab, where he'd try
out new vegetables which he sought from
around the globe."

So it is fitting, when we come to remember
and memorialize the American president who
believed in small-to-no government, who
implemented the Louisiana Purchase, sent
out Lewis and Clark, founded a university....

and produced one of the most revered and
remembered documents in our history...
as well as countless unnamed other great
deeds...

Be remembered, with his memorial, framed
by a tree.
--------------
BY MIL
5-28-15
---------------
Photo By Kindell Brinay Moore
(Professional Photographer,, and
    my granddaughter)
----------------
(Recommended reading:
"A RICH SPOT OF EARTH"
    by Monticello Head Gardener,
Peter Hatch.)

THEY LEFT "MR. STICKY" IN BASTROP

Photo by Kindell Brinay

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

THERE IN THE COOL GRASS

     BY THE TEXAS GRILL

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

"MR. STICKY"

Al had driven from Brenham 

     to Austin, and 

collected Kay his daughter---

      for a fun vacation!

When he arrived at the airport

     from the ninety-mile trip

Al was unaware that he 

     had---

A stowaway passenger dozing

    in the windshield-wiper 

well---albeit one that was

    wind-blown from the

long seventy-five MPH trip.

The pair, dad and daughter,

     were perhaps ten miles

out on the Texas highway,...

     eagerly heading home

WHEN!

Suddenly the hitchhiker  woke

    up and came up onto

the slick windswept windshield!

Ah, would you LOOKIE there!

It was a FROG....

    trying to hold on with his

frog's feet..."for dear life!"

Imagine their SURPRISE!

At first the little rascal seemed

       almost like  a big monster 

 from outer space...right there

       in their faces....

Or one of those hot air balloons,

     hovering and following them!

But no! A closer look revealed a

     game little frog, about the 

size of a half dollar....and he was

     slipping, sliding, and 

blowing all around---

Kay said, as she took a  picture of 

    him: "He must have 'sticky feet!' "

They slowed down to help him

     hang on, and then---thirty 

miles into the return...pulled into 

     a cafe in Bastrop, Texas

for breakfast burritos.

First things first---they picked up

     the tiny, adventurous little

critter, speaking gently to him---

     and carefully placed him

half-hidden into a cool, soothing

     patch of lawn, there by

the parking lot.

Beat they could do for the wind-

     addled creature...who would 

"never see his mama and daddy,

     brothers, sisters, or family

ever again," as Kay said 

     almost tearfully.

After watching the little frog for

    a few minutes, she added:

"He, at least deserves a name,

    doncha think?"

Turning her head slightly, she

     called out softly, and maybe

a bit sadly,  on the cool,

     fresh morning breeze---

"GOODBYE....AND GOOD LUCK...

         MISTER  STICKY."

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

BY MIL

July 1, 2015

(for "The Little Boogers")