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!