The Sons of Anak (Deuteronomy 9:2)

Now I been telling far and wide across the country that the grandkids of Elmer and Alma Riggs ain't no slouches when it comes to height.  Out of ten first cousins, seven of us are at least six feet tall.  On the Saturday after Christmas, Ralph, Lisa, Tami and I crashed the Hendrix Christmas get-together at Shaun and Cindy Hendrix house and got to look eyeball to eyeball with some of'em!  We really enjoyed the visit and if our calcumputions were correct, it has been at least fifteen years since some of us had been together.  It has been even longer since I got to sit down and visit with my Uncle Bill Hendrix.  I would have to say that this was one of the big highlights of my year. 

Picture left to right: Ralph Riggs, David Hendrix, Ray Riggs, Uncle Bill Hendrix, Danita (Hendrix) Frazier and Dennis Hendrix. (Danita says she is 5'11¾" tall so she's standing on tippy-toe for the picture!).  (BTW...Ralph and I have the fancy duds on because we sang at a funeral Saturday afternoon)

The height does carry on to the next generation!..selectively..!  Shaun Hendrix (Dennis' son) is on the far right.  However!...Dennis' daughter, Heather Lockett, is the "shorty" standing in front!!

And the next generation!!...Brianna Hendrix (Shaun's daughter) with Ralph

A final note...Even though I am above average height, I don't make fun of polygamys...they can't help it if they're not tall....

Happy 50th!

I had a great birthday day yesterday!  We went to El Charro and ate with all the Riggs (except Steph, Ryan & Shayla & Isabella).  Hosea and all our other Latino friends at the restaurant sang for me and then filled my nose with whipped cream!  Then we went home and celebrated with cake and ice cream (and of course...coffee)  Tami counted eighteen people in our little abode so it was really cozy!!  I received some nice cards and gifts, including a loaf of Banana Bread.  I also received books....so I will be out of Tami's hair for awhile!  Thanks everybody for making this a memorable day!

Honorable Mention!

Some friends just deserve "Honorable Mention".  Allie Routh just baked me my favorite kind of birthday cake....yellow cake with milk chocolate icing!  I just finished off a big piece with a glass of cold milk and it was delicious!  Thanks "Ally-oop"!  You da best!

Castle Air Museum - Atwater, CA

While we were in Atwater, California over the Thanksgiving Holiday, I was privileged to tour the Castle Air Museum.  It is adjacent to the Castle Air Force Base (closed) and is home to approximately eighty aircraft.  There is also an indoor museum that has a lot of interesting displays.  Anson, Austin Burris and myself spent most of two hours here and it was very entertaining and educational.  You can read about it here and here.  I have also linked to Wikipedia on the names of the planes.

 Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

The raunchy "Nose Art" had been removed or "clothed" on the planes but some of the titles still remained.

 B-24M Liberator

 

 Boeing WB-50 Superfortress

 Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter

 B-29A Superfortress

 Boeing B-52D Stratofortress

 Grumman HU-16B Albatross

Last but certainly not least, the SR-71A Blackbird.  This bird flew from Los Angeles to Washington DC in 64 minutes 20 seconds with an average speed of 2144.8 MPH (Mach 3.51)...Now THAT my friends is what you call "Carrying the Mail"!!!

Stay tuned...

...I will be making some posts of our Thanksgiving trip to California.....

Rambo the Reindeer!

Did you know that "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has a not-so-famous brother named "Rambo the Reindeer"?  While we were making a quick trip to Mississippi last Friday/Saturday, we discovered this "little" known relative of old Rudy.  We were driving downtown Canton, MS searching for a good eating place and found him grazing in the old courthouse lawn with the sleigh hooked up and ready to go!...and no, that is not Santa Claus in the sleigh!

A Geography Lesson - At 32,000 Feet

When I book flights, I really try to get a window seat for myself.  Tami is not really keen about looking out the window the entire trip so it is a win-win situation for us.  On our Delta flight to Sacramento, with my phone in "Airplane" mode, I was able to keep track of our progress cross country.  I don't know why, but the GPS signal worked from St. Louis to Minneapolis but somewhere going west over South Dakota, I lost it.

So...being the "old school surveyor" that I am, I started trying to match landmarks with the map on my phone.  All I could see on the Google Maps was major highways, rivers, lakes and national forests (all with no names).  The pilot would keep us up to date about every hour so I could check my accuracy.  I was purty proud of myself!  I only took two pictures because at least two of the sites the pilot pointed out were on the south (left) side of the plane (thankfully I was on the right side).  These two sites on the south side were Mount Rushmore and Lake Tahoe.  Below are the two pictures that I did get.

Looking north toward the Little Bighorn Mountains in north central Wyoming.  The Little Bighorn Battlefield is just north of this range in Montana.

Looking north toward the Grand Teton Range.  On the horizon, partially blocked by the wing, is Yellowstone National Park.

We Found Your Luggage.....

It's at the Sacramento Airport baggage claim!  Luckily ours arrived just fine....

Heroes...

In 1980 Willie Nelson recorded a hit single that went to number one on the country charts.  This song, "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" struck a chord (no pun intended) with the listening audience and stayed at number one for two weeks and on the country charts for fourteen weeks.  I remember the song (probably could sing a little of it) and at the time, agreed with the jest of the lyrics.  It is truly amazing how becoming a believer in Christ changes your entire perspective on life.  It is truly a "Born Again" experience!  It also changes your choice of heroes....

When I was a little boy, we would visit the Midway Church in Thayer, Missouri for youth rallys and revivals.  It was the old  church on the corner of Gilbert Avenue and 7th Street in "Green Town", which was "midway" between Thayer, Missouri and Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. There were a lot of interesting characters in that old church but the Pastor always had my attention.

He was a big, tall, black-headed man with a deep, gruff, booming voice, whose words had a peculiar "twang".  His wife was a lady with an truly meek spirit and a quiet demeanor.  Brother Wendell Pitman and Sister Jewel Pitman are true heroes of the Holiness Pentecostal Fellowship.

I have an image etched on my mind of Brother Pitman preaching and when he made a particular point in his sermon, he would cup his hand behind ear and stare out into the congregation as if to ask "Did you hear what I just said"?  It took me years to figure out some of his phrases...such as "een-much" - in as much (Kinda like Brother Clifton Galiher saying "she poured out the oral" - (oil)!  I just LOVE these older ministers!!!

However...at this young age, I was terrified of Brother Pitman.  To a little sprout like myself, he was broad-shouldered, had huge hands and was Tall with a capital T!  His voice was deep, kinda gruff and when he got to preaching it seemed like the windows would rattle.  You can just bet I wouldn't be cuttin' no shines while Brother Wendell was apreachin'!!

I related all this to Brother Pitman a few years ago and he really got a laugh out of it.  But then I added the kicker and said "Now Brother Pitman, I used to be so scared of you...but I AIN'T SCARED OF YOU NO MORE!"  It kinda took him by surprise and then he had another good laugh!  Now when I see him the first thing he says is "I just HATE people that are taller than me" and then it's "You still scared of me???"

God Bless the Pitmans and reward them richly for their faithfulness...These my friends, are true HEROES!

A recent picture of Brother Wendell Pitman

A recent picture of Brother Wendell and Sister Jewell Pitman

An Epic Deer Tail

 The Riggs Family had a great opening day of deer season.  No, we didn't kill any deer but we had LOTS of good food and family time.  All in all there were eight of us; Ralph, Regan, Claire, Kimberly, Jaden and Ray (all Riggs), my Son-in-law Anson Miller and his twin brother from Illinois, Bryce Miller.  Half of us were scattered out over eighty acres and the other half (Ralph, Claire, Kimberly and Jaden) were in the luxury suite with a heater, individual recliners, computer with wifi, drinks and snacks.  I was on my regular stand at the northwest corner of the eighty and took the picture below just a few minutes after I got in my stand.

Let me explain about my stand...it is not in a tree.  Technically it is a "blind" but I'm the one telling this yarn.  I do not do "stands" (as in fifty feet up in a tree with a two by two platform to stand on) anymore.  I have mild acrophobia and being on anything higher than me gives me the heebe-jeebes.  Also, I'm not as sure on my feet as I was as a young man so...I leave the trees to squirrels!

A few minutes after daylight...just west of my stand....KA-BOOM!!.....and in a few seconds a deer comes running flat out, right across in front of me.  When it is about forty yards from me it does a nose-dive, flips end over end and just lays there.  I keep watching and in a little bit I see a hunter orange hat bobbing around north of where the deer is laying.  I whistle...no response...whistle again...no response.  I finally get up and walk down to where the deer is and get the guys attention..."Hey!  It's right over here".  I introduce myself and find out his name is Kevin and he is really apologetic that he messed up my morning hunt.  I tell him to forget it because it couldn't be helped and I'm glad he got one.  The deer is nice buck except it has one horn broken off (which doesn't make Kevin happy!)  He drags the deer back across the fence and I go back to my stand and back to SLEEP!

In the picture below, the deer fell about fifty feet past the quad-black oak tree in center picture.

You have to be very careful while you are in the woods.  This is why they have hunter-safety courses, to tell about these hazards.  In these courses they tell you about paparazzi squirrels.  They sneak through the woods, jumping from tree to tree, scampering here and there, trying to take pictures of hunters in awkward situations (such as when nature calls).  I had 3,793 of these little buggers around my stand and it seems that one of them stole my phone and took the picture below.... 

Veterans Day Salute

SSgt Leamon Harold Riggs

U.S. Air Force

Korea 1951-1953

1932-1985

Uh huh...Guess you'll do that again!!

My Mom(L) with her best friend, Shirley Von Allmen.

My Mom loved to have fun and tease people....but one time...it got her in a real pickle!  She was a chip off the old block" because my Grandma Fox (her mother) would rather scare somebody than eat.  Maybe I'll tell a story about her in a future post.

My Dad was a Real Estate Broker and he had a lot of business calls that came to our house after hours.  Mom got to know most of the regulars that would call just by their voice (remember, this was the party line days...before caller ID).  When this particular call came in it was a real twangy, drawling, whiny female voice that Mom SHOULD have recognized as the wife of one of the business men Dad had a lot of dealings with.  She didn't!!  Mom thought it was her sister, Freda Cook and that my Aunt Freda was just talking that way to fool her.  So...Mom started talking back to her in the same twangy, drawling, whiny voice!!  It took several seconds but it was soon evident that she wasn't conversing with Aunt Freda!!  Well, rather than just start talking in her regular voice, she decides that to save face, she will just keep talking in the same twangy, drawling, whiny voice.  The conversation goes on for a couple of minutes while they exchange pleasantries (I bet it wasn't pleasant for Mom!!) and then Mom hands the phone to Dad.  Dad takes the phone, finishes the business with this lady and hangs up.  He has figured out the sequence of events and being the man of few words that he was, he just said "Uuuh Huh...Guess you'll do THAT again!"

The Little Cantaloupe That Could

Toward the end of the growing season, I just basically let my garden "Go to pot."  "Go to pot" was another of my Dad's expressions and I'm really not sure the origin but it means I just let my garden grow up and didn't maintain it  (and No, I was not growing marijuana!).  There was some kind of vine that started in my tomatoes and started growing and climbing on my baskets.  After awhile, little gourds appeared and by the time the killing frost came they were about the size of baseballs.  I didn't know what they were but one day I picked one and (like any normal Riggs does) I smelled of it.  Low and behold, they were CANTALOUPES!!  Who knew!  I sliced one up to eat and it was very tasty!  Today we had Pastor Galiher and his family over for dinner and Sister Brenda inspired me to post some pictures of my miniature cantaloupes - The Little Cataloupes that Could!!

 

The Fisherman's Revenge

When we lived at the "Farley Place", we had the best neighbors in the world.  Darrel and Bonnie Wages were (and are) the "salt of the earth" type of folks.  Their sons, David and Eric, were close to mine and Ralph's ages so it was perfect situation (or storm, depending on how you look at it).  One Friday night, Dave and Ralph were getting to go gallivanting around somewhere and refused to let the little brothers tag along.  Eric and I got mad, pouted and whined but to no avail.  We weren't going.

Mr. Wages (I still have trouble calling him Darrell when I see him) saw the great injustice we were suffering and decided to do something about it.  He offered to take Eric and I fishing.  That boosted our spirits and it didn't take long to load our fishing gear in Mr. Wages, "West Plains Cheese Factory", work truck and head out.  We drove down the Old Lanton Road and parked at the Evergreen Cemetery.  Mr. Bill Bratton owned a big pond just south of the cemetery fence.  So...since Mr. Bratton owned the West Plains Cheese Factory on Howell Avenue by the railroad tracks...and since Mr. Wages worked for him....we had permission to fish in "Bratton's Pond".

We fished until it was getting dark and I don't remember catching anything...until...I went to the southeast side of the pond.  There was an old wooden fence that went out in to the pond a little ways and I threw my lure right beside that fence.  The lure?  It was called a "Hellbender" and when it hit the water it certainly lived up to it's name!!  It was like someone had threw a big ole rock into the pond!...A big bass jumped on the Hellbender the moment it hit the water!  I was playing the fish for all I was worth, trying to keep it from getting hung up in the fence and hollering for Eric all at the same time!  I finally got it to the shallow water and Eric waded in and helped me get it to the bank.  It was a Whopper!  It was the biggest fish I had ever caught!  Mr. Wages had some scales and it weighed five and one/half pounds.  As you can imagine, the fishing was over for the night and I was in a hurry to get home!  We high-tailed it home and I strutted around like I was Bill Dance.  And don't think I didn't try to rub it in on Ralph and Dave!  I was hard to live with for a few days!

I thank God for people like Mr. Wages, that took time out of his busy schedule to help a couple of little boys make some fantastic memories.

1972-1973 I was around nine years old

Widder Lights

My Dad had peculiar names for some things.  Every now and then I will try to describe an object to someone and use one of his terms.  I can usually tell by the blank stare that they have no idea what I am talking about.  For example....

There are lights on poles that illuminate yards or barn lots.  Most folks call these "Mercury Vapor Lights", "Yard Lights" even "Pole Lights".  My Dad always referred to these as "Widder Lights".  Now he never just sat down and explained the reason for this but it is kinda self-explanatory.  A widow (widder) living all by herself out in the country, needed an outside light to feel more secure.  Hence the name, "Widder Lights".  I was a man-grown before I was enlightened that the proper name was a "Mercury Vapor Light".

I am a chronic reader and I have been(as the old saying goes) since "Heck was a pup".  When we lived in the Conklin house at Junction Hill, I would read in my room at night until Mom would make me turn the light out.  However, being the bright lad that I was, I kept a flashlight handy and continued to read with it under the covers.  That worked for awhile until Mom (being brighter and wiser than I) caught me reading....  On to plan C!  There just happened to be a widder light at the back of the house, right outside my bedroom window...so...all I had to do was open the window shade, get the book at the right angle to the light and read away!  Eventually, Mom and Dad caught me and put a stop to it but they never discouraged me from reading...they just encouraged me to sleep!  I usually have a couple of books going and have certain books that I read on a regular basis.  And, (I am very proud to say) I have passed my love of reading to my daughter Tabitha.

Today In History...

Fifty-six years ago today, on October 19, 1957, Leamon Harold Riggs married Helen Marie Fox.  I, of course, do not remember this momentous event, but I do know a few of the details.  They were married at Victoria Mission Church at Countyline by Rev. Ray Ball and Rev. Jesse Earls.  Rev. Earls was Dad's Grandpa and was known to the family as "Poppa" and to the church community as Brother Jess(e) or Uncle Jess(e).  "Poppa" wasn't licensed to marry folks so Brother Ball tied the knot officially.  They spent their honeymoon in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas and returned to live in a little house just north of "Rountree Corner".

Ralph and I couldn't have had a better Mom and Dad.  Dad provided the means for Mom to keep us clothed and fed.  They brought us up to have good manners and to respect and honor when it is due.  They took us to church...Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night, Revivals, Youth Rallys, Fellowship Meetings, Brush Arbor Meetings...and guess what?  I still love going to church!  It didn't turn me sour on church goin'!  I will not...I will not...I will not get on my soapbox.................whew!

I loved my Mom and Dad and am so thankful for their influence in my life.

Thanks to my cousin, Dennis Hendrix, I have a picture of Mom and Dad's wedding.  From left-right, Poppa, Uncle Bill Hendrix, Dad, Mom, Aunt Lorene Hendrix and Brother Ball.  This is in the old Victora Mission Church and not the present building.  Note the marriage licence in Brother Ball's hand.

This picture was taken at our Annual Sweetheart Banquet in February 1985 before Dad passed in December 1985.

The Good "Old" GPS Days!

Remember the "Good Old Days"? BGPS (Before Global Positioning Systems)?  I remember in the early 80's (the 1980's not 1880's) saying that there would be a time when we would "carry a little box out in the woods and set it up on a corner and in a few minutes have it's position in Latitude/Longitude in centimeter accuracy".  Those days are here now in the form of GPS with VRS and WIFI connection.  However, our first foray into the GPS world in 1995 was epic!

We rented the equipment from Seiler in St. Louis for only a couple of days.  It was Trimble 4000 receivers, single frequency with static data that had to be post-processed.  We planned a day of sessions for a job in Mountain View, Missouri, got all our "ducks in a row" and on the night before the BIG DAY...it snowed and sleeted!  Since we already had the equipment and were paying for it, we just went with the plan!!

We finally made it to Mountain View but our points were under the snow, sleet and ice pack.  We used metal locators to find them, shovels and picks to expose them and then made a space big enough for the tripods.   We had to thaw the ice off the receivers after every session and try to get to the next point without getting in the ditch!  It was a thoroughly miserable day but all our sessions processed and within a few months we had our own GPS system!  I found these pictures of that day and thought I would give my thousands of blog followers a chill with them!  Enjoy!

"Yours Truly" set up over a Section Corner in a County Road

Bob Jones (L) and Chris Webster set up on a control point on the east side of Highway 17 just south of Mountain View.

"My Friend"

"My Friend", Melvin Tripp, made his crossing to the Celestial City today.  I became acquainted with Brother Melvin a few years ago when he moved to Norwood and started going to the Highway of Holiness Church.  We always greeted each other with "How's my friend?"... "Doin' good! How's MY friend?".  We had many good visits and in our last visit a couple of weeks ago, he was still able to greet me in our usual manner.  I love this man and his family and pray that the God of All Comfort will be close to them in their time of loss.

How Bout' Them Sweet Taters!

In all my born put-togethers, I've never seen a sight like I saw yesterday.  I was working near the West Plains Community Garden in Don Warden Park and saw this lady loading something in her van.  She made several trips back and forth before my curiosity got the best of me.  When I walked up to the van I could see that she was loading Sweet Taters!!  You can see from the picture that some of them were as big as footballs!  The lady said she didn't really fertilize them, just put some kind of "fish emulsion" solution on them (once), vegetable peelings and coffee grounds.  She also said "I use a lot of straw".  Thanks Mr. Joe Henderson and your daughter (Sorry, didn't get your name!) for visiting with me and posing for this picture!

Doodlebug! Doodlebug!....

When I was a little boy, I can remember in our barn at Junction Hill, there were these funnel shaped holes everywhere.  Being the curious lad that I was and not having internet access yet, I went to a better source...Dad-net and Mom-net!  Of course they knew what they were...they were Doodlebug holes!  Now if you look this up on the internet some smartypants will call them "Antlions" but I trust Parent-net.  Just the name was not the end to the vast amount of information available on Parent-net.  Mom-net told us how to get the Doodlebug out of his hole!  Her instructions:
1) Be vewwy vewwy quiet...(oops...slipped into Elmer Fudd mode there!!) Be very quiet and slip up to a Doodlebug hole
2) Get your mouth a few inches above the Doodlebug hole
3) Repeat this phrase: 
Doodlebug! Doodlebug! come outta yer hole!
Yer house is on far (fire) and yer children are gone!

In a few seconds you would see the sand in the bottom of the hole start moving.  Occasionally sand would flip up in the bottom...but I never saw the Doodlebug come out to put out the fire at his house.....There were a lot of burning Doodlebug houses when I was a young-un!

It's memories like this that make me wonder why kids now days get so bored.  To my recollection, I never uttered the words "I'm bored" or "There's NOTHING to do".  God's world was(is) such a fascinating place and we made the most of discovering it!

Here's a couple of rhymes from the internet that might work to get the Doodlebug out of his hole.

"Doodlebug, doodlebug, come out of your hole.
I'll give you ten dollars and a bag of gold" 

(A slightly different or the correct version of my Doodlebug calling)
"Doodle Bug, Doodle Bug, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your kids are all gone".

"Doodle bug, doodle bug, I've been told
It's mighty impossible to get you out of your hole."

Do you have a "Doodlebug Rhyme"?  Don't know one?  Make one up!....  I'd appreciate seeing them in the comments!

Read more about Doodlebugs here

A New Deck

We decided this spring that we were going to build a deck.  The "we were going to build" does not necessarily mean that we (Tami and I) were going to build said deck.  Think of this statement as being somewhat like a recent news article when someone said "If they use gas on them that's a red line for me"....Because we found out that what he REALLY meant is it was a red line for the world......
But I digress... 
We were going to begin on Memorial Day weekend, building it ourselves (with help from Bubba, Son-in-law and sundry other relatives) but I made the wise decision to hire it built.  Brother Frank Rogers was contacted and agreed to build it but he began having some physical problems and had to back out. I contacted a couple of builders but it didn't work out for them to do the building.

I really wanted Brother Frank to build it since it would, in his words, "help him get a little money" to go to his mission work at the "Border Church" in McAllen, TX.  Let me say this about Brother Frank Rogers...the man eats, sleeps, breathes and bleeds Mission Work!  He is a prince of a man and I am privileged to call him a friend.

Would you believe that on the very day that I received an estimate from another builder, I also received a phone call from Brother Frank!  He was feeling better and thought he could start as soon as he finished up a fencing job!

He started last Wednesday and by Tuesday he said he should be completed.  Keep in mind as you look at the following pictures, Brother Frank is working almost exclusively by himself.  Grandpa Bean helped on Friday and I really appreciate it!

I put this picture on Facebook as me "Relaxing on my new deck"

Completed!!