The Curious Case of the Black Bovines

No job is as boring as being the "Backsight" on a survey traverse crew. Since GPS has come into vogue, I would reckon that a survey traverse is used less and hence, the WBL (World Boredom Level) has greatly reduced.

For all the non-surveyors (and young sprout surveyors) out there, let me explain what the "Backsight" does. He is the man at the tail end of a three or four man traverse crew. He has a target set on his tripod and when the instrument man calls on the radio "Move up!", he picks up his tripod and moves it to where the instrument man just vacated. Then he sits and waits for the next "Move up!" Borrrring! In the days when we used backsight poles and had no radios, I would set up the pole, lay down, and go to sleep. After about five minutes, through the fog of slumber, I would hear a holler, "MOVE UP!!!" I would jump up, grab the pole, cover the traverse nail with a rock and RUN up the where the instrument man was. I would impatiently wait for him to get off the point and then set up my backsight pole... and lay down and sleep. Day after day...hours on end.... I attribute this training to be responsible for my being able to sleep at stop lights (but that's another story!)

I worked up through the ranks from backsight, to brush cutter, to frontsight and finally...Instrument man. This job was never boring because usually, you were in charge of the crew and had to make sure the work was done swiftly, efficiently, and correctly.

On a particular bright, warm, spring morning, we were traversing on a U.S. Forest Service project near Sterling, Missouri. If you're not familiar with Sterling, it's on the old highway 63, northwest of Willow Springs, near the "weigh scales".

We had some long traverse shots, so, over the radio, I told the backsight guy (we'll just call him Rob) to  kick back and rest a bit. His tripod was set up in a huge field that was home to a couple hundred black Angus yearling steers. Now, in my estimation, there is only one creature that is more curious than a cow and that's a horse. These steers had come up to me while I was where Rob was at, but I just "buggered" at them and they took off for Douglas County!

It took quite a while for me to walk to the next traverse point so Rob had been at the backsight for at least twenty to thirty minutes. While I was getting set up, I hear my radio crackle but no voice was heard. In a few seconds, I hear it again...but no voice. So I un-clipped my transmitter/receiver mike and put it up to my ear. It crackled again and a tiny whisper of a voice says "ray?" I say back "Is this Rob?" and again the whispery voice "yes...i need help!" It was a whisper but you could hear the urgency in his voice! I asked "What's the problem?" Rob - "it's taken me ten minutes to get my radio up to my mouth...i've had to move so slow." By this time I'm getting worried, thinking he has fallen and broke something...or someone's holding him at gunpoint...or?? He finally "whispered" me the whole story.

It seems that when he got his tripod set up, he took my comments to heart and laid down and went to sleep. In the meantime...remember the curious, black Angus yearling steers? It seems that they recovered from their fright, returned from their foray into parts west and found "Gulliver" sleeping in their field! They had finally worked their way in close enough until they had formed a circle completely around him several steers deep!

Just think about it...you wake up from a blissful nap, on a warm sunny day, the smell of spring in the air...and from ground level, you're looking at a wall of black all around you and this wall has eyes...two hundred pairs of eyes! There are two hundred slimy, slobbering mouths! No wonder Rob didn't dare move!

I finally convinced him to just sit up. I said "When you sit up, they'll scatter like a herd of...steers!" I wasn't wrong. In about two or three seconds, we heard a loud thundering and bawling from the east (the steers were bawling, not Rob) and Rob had rescued himself from the black death!

I don't think Rob ever slept on the backsight again. He was too busy watching out for curious Black Bovines!

Brother DC

Most of the recollections from my childhood, center around three areas; Play, Work, and Church. I do have many memories about holidays, school, and the occasional vacation, but mostly...it is these areas.

The church I grew up in (and still attend) is the Junction Hill Pentecostal Church. Our church being what many would term "Old Time Pentecostal Holiness", makes for some interesting church services and the opportunity to meet many quaint and unconventional characters.

Sometimes of a warm Sunday evening or Wednesday night, we would pull up into church parking lot (always early...none of this late business for the Riggs') and someone had beat us there! Not a regular member, now mind you, but a car that was unlike any other. It could have been a Nash Rambler car or station wagon, maybe an old Studebaker, I really can't remember the brand. But I do recall the general appearance... There was a huge sign, strapped to the top of the car with the words "REPENT!" or "JESUS IS COMING" lettered on it. The old car would be plastered with sticker signs of scripture verses and sundry other slogans of warning or assurance.

Inside the car, kicked back, with his head resting against the seat, asleep, was Brother D.C. Williamson. Now...we never called him Brother Williamson, in the time honored tradition...Certainly not Reverend Williamson (although he was a preacher.)

It was simply "Brother DC" (although we didn't know what the "DC" stood for).

Note the tract "Jesus (is) Coming Soon" in his pocket!

Brother DC was a street preacher. He went from town to town, community to community, state to state, passing out tracts and preaching the Gospel message on the sidewalks, in city parks, at street intersections, on the roadside...anywhere there were people to hear his message! I remember a conversation relayed to me by a former pastor, that he had had with Brother DC. They were talking about the "good" places to street preach and Brother DC gave this tidbit of information; "Now Brother Leon (Farley), you know that stop light at (streets in Tulsa or Oklahoma City)? That light stays red for almost a minute! You have a whole minute to preach to them while they're just sitting there waiting for the light to change!!" That, my friends, is dedication and a burning desire to reach for the sinner!

I always loved to see Brother DC stop by the church but it wasn't because of his preaching ability. What he lacked in eloquence he more than made up for by having a sweet and humble spirit. He would preach with tear-filled eyes and you couldn't help but respond to his gentle invitation.

I don't remember a lot about his physical appearance, except that he appeared to be part Indian and was always kind of bedraggled and wrinkled looking. The reason for this could have been that his *wife did not travel with him. Oh...the one thing I'll ALWAYS remember about his appearance...He had a big "growth" on his left ear!

Not only was he a "Soldier of the Cross" but he also served in the United States Army during World War II. He is buried in Hartville Cemetery, near the town of Hardesty, in the Oklahoma panhandle.

My heroes are not sports figures, actors, duck call makers and certainly not the present crop of political windbags... My heroes are men like David Clovis Williamson - "Brother DC"... Men that go about their business without fanfare or applause, knowing their payment is not on this earth... But realizing that they will be paid abundantly in Heaven's currency.

*I have visited with several people about Brother DC's martial status. Most believe that he was married but his wife left/divorced him when he started preaching. If someone has more information please comment.

Expressions...

My little Lucas Boy and his expressions....

Iced Coffee? There's Nothing New Under The Sun!

Grandma Bean (Tami's Mom) came over to the house the other night and as our nightly ritual goes, I made us a cup of coffee. Our daughter, Tabitha, was also there and we were just visiting about this and that. Grandma had been there for awhile and when she took a drink of her coffee, it had gone cold! While not a good thing for Grandma, it was a good thing for us because it prompted a story.

Grandma said that in the summertime, her Mother's sisters would come to visit. These were her Aunt Una Readdy, Aunt Katheryne Whitstone and Aunt Donese Moten. They were "from Oklahoma" and didn't visit very often. "It would be hot summertime and they would just sit around and drink iced coffee." Tabitha and I both stopped her and said "What? Did you say ICED COFFEE??"

"Why yes. They would pour their coffee and then put ice cubes in it." We were just flabbergasted! We quizzed her some more on why they did it and she seemed to think it was an "Oklahoma Thing." After talking further, I think we determined that one of the Aunts was living in California and that could account for this strange practice!

So... Iced Coffee was not invented by Starbucks, Tim Horton's or McDonald's! The first sip may have been from crock cup, on a hot Ozark front porch, by some ladies that couldn't even pronounce "frappuccino" or "frappe"!!

Charity Tabernacle - Valentine Banquet

For well over twenty years, Tami and I have been in charge of the Valentine Banquet that the Ozark Holiness Fellowship (our fellowship of churches) has every February. A couple of years ago, we decided to start having it every two years to hopefully generate more attendance and anticipation and... participation. So...since we did not have it this year, we just went completely haywire and planned a trip to the Valentine Banquet hosted by the Charity Tabernacle Church in Cold Springs, Kentucky. We traveled to Florence, Kentucky (on the south side of Cincinnati, OH) on Thursday, spent the day sight-seeing on Friday and went to the banquet on Friday night. 

We had an absolute blast! I'll hafta be honest... it was great just sitting, enjoying the proceedings and not having to worry about running out of food, making goof-ups as an MC, making sure everything came off without any major "hitches"...you get the picture. Pastor David Brock and his wife, Sister Sharon did a wonderful job as Hosts. Dale and Pam Hiles - friends of ours for decades, had a major part in the planning and organizing of the banquet and it was great! Rev. Johnny Shepherd of Richmond, Indiana gave us some sage advise about expressing our love to our mates. We met old friends, made new acquaintances, ate until we were comfortably full, laughed 'til we hurt and stayed up way past our bedtime!

I was having such a good time, I didn't get very many pictures....

Justaselfie!

A side of the Right Honorable - Rev. David Brock that I had never seen!...Performing his duties as "Dr. Dave", answering questions from the audience about love and marriage.
One newly-wed asked Dr. Dave "How can I make sure I remember our anniversary?" His reply..."Just forget it one time!" 

Knights of the Round Table and their Ladies!
L-R Ricky and Donna Pryor, Dale and Pam Hiles, Ray and Tami Riggs, Barry and Karen Hatfield, Rodney and Kim Eldridge.
From what I understand, Tami and I were filling the spot of another couple who could not be at the banquet this year, Jim and Bonnie Gilles

Tami and Pam - old friends!

Valentine Road Trip

Last Saturday, my first wife and I took a road trip. I decided to just take off down through the countryside of Arkansas, kinda slonchways, southeast from Hardy. I knew right from the start that it would be Wirth it.

We took the Wirth road from Highway 63 to AR 175, drove up to Wirth and then back south...

We turned off onto AR58 and headed for points southeast in the Land of Opportunity!

The bridge over Spring River at Williford

Jean LaFarge and Princess Helena Gagarin were nowhere in sight...

We went through the  “reed-covered lodge by the little water place.”

Emery is Cherokee for "Place of Big Wide Spot In Road"

It's a wonder the sign wasn't PINK!

My Jake brake didn't work....I did NOT hit the sign...although Tami thought I was way too close!

According to local legend, the town was originally named Rope. But the population declined and they renamed it Cord.

Oil Trough? Really?

The Black River between Cord and Tuckerman

Guthrie Lake South

Guthrie Lake North

Burning off the fields...

There are just no words....

Bayou De View. I think I saw my brother's boot tracks in this mud...

Massey-Harris Pony tractor. Cute? Yes...if you can call a tractor "cute" this one would be "Cute".

HOT DOG! WE MADE IT TO WEINER!

Ron's was our dining destination. This was the line when we pulled up at about 4 PM.

I Doggies Lum! Catfish, Crawfish, Froglegs and baked beans...all you can eat!

Tami's plate...

My Plate(s)!

This was the line when we walked out just a little after 5. They were having a special Valentine Crab Leg Night that started at 5pm!

After the meal, we took Highway 63 back to ole WP town....

Tami and I are very much kindred spirits. We love to get out and just putter around the country and see sights that you don't see from the express lane. Love my Sweetheart!

Our First Date

In February of 1985, I was in a serious quandary. Our annual "Sweetheart Banquet" was in a few days... and I didn't have a date. Remember, this was before the days of eharmony, christianmingle and match.com. There was no texting, twitter, facebook or facetime.... You actually had to talk to the girl and ask her out (gasp!)

I was with some married friends and they were trying to help me out of my predicament. They were suggesting certain young ladies for me to ask to the banquet. And... for some reason or other, I was rejecting all of their candidates. After awhile, probably through sheer desperation or the feeling that I was a hopeless case, one of them said "Why don't you ask Tami Bean?" This suggestion was met with laughter, then we talked on and finished the evening with no solution to my impasse.

There was some reason for our laughter. Tami was "slightly" older than I and was referred to as an "Old Maid." The other reason?... Her Dad had the reputation of being a pretty tough character when it came to someone dating his daughter. This reputation was very effective in scaring off the riff-raff, undesirables and scalawags. Our families were somewhat connected through our church fellowship. Tami's Mother had "fixed" my Mom's hair for awhile and I was young enough to go along and play with Tami's younger brothers, since I Was the same age as her youngest brother...

After I got home, I begin to think of how funny it would be to "call their bluff" and ask Tami to the banquet. After all, she was a fine Christian young lady with high standards and she had always taken time to "swap howdys" when we would meet. So...I took the plunge and telephoned her.

She was not the one that answered the phone... It was a deep, precise, immediately recognizable voice, which said "Bean Residence." Gulp! I introduced myself, asked if Tami was available and Joe Bean said she was and called her to the telephone. We exchanged a few pleasantries, I stated my purpose for calling and asked her if she would consider going with me to the banquet. She accepted and the rest is history... except you don't know that history...yet.

In my typical fashion, I didn't tell anyone who I was taking to the banquet, until a couple of days before. And then I only told my brother and his wife and my Mom and Dad. On the banquet attendee list at Tami's church, I was a big "?" beside her name. I know Tami told her Mom and Dad, her sister and brother and a couple of close friends at church. Otherwise, no one else knew.

I showed up at Tami's house in my 1982 dark blue, short-bed, stepside, 4speed OD (important later), Ford truck. I knew I should bring flowers so I had bought her a nice bouquet of flowers (What I didn't know was... I should have bought a corsage!) We walked from the house, up the yard to my truck and she started to walk around to the passenger side. I said "You'll hafta get in on my side, that side's locked." Ok...a feller has his pride. I didn't want to show up at the banquet with my date polishing the chrome on the passenger side door!

A lot of folks can't believe this, but back then, I was painfully shy and backward and didn't talk a lot. Tami knew this and was very worried that the trip to and from Thayer (where the banquet was held) would be very long and awkward. We were miles down the road (by the old sale barn as a matter of fact), when we realized that it wasn't awkward, we had been talking the whole way and it was going to be an enjoyable evening.

When we walked into the banquet room of the old Warm Fork Restaurant, I think there was a collective "gasp" from the whole crowd! No one had ever considered Ray Riggs and Tami Bean as a potential "couple". If there hadda been Facebook, Twitter and Instagram back then, I'm sure the internet would have crashed!!

The ride home... Tami's sister and her date had ridden to the banquet with Mom and Dad Bean. And for some reason, she wasn't highly anticipating the ride back home. So... she leaned on Tami to ask if they could ride back with us. It was awkward for Tami to ask but she did and I was fine with it. So we all climbed into my BFT (Blue Ford Truck) to head home.

When you pile four grownups into a BFT it gets very crowded. (Although...this closeness was mainly for the benefit of the passengers we had picked up for the trip home.) However, it did present another problem. Remember the 4speed OD? In case you don't know, this is what is commonly referred to as a "stick shift." And now, with all the bodies in the BFT, it was situated right in front of Tami's knees!

There really was no way to drive and shift without occasionally touching Tami's knees. She even remembers that I rested my arm on her knee between gears...but I'm not so sure about that! However...it IS uphill from Thayer to West Plains so I did have to shift more than usual...!

It was a wonderful first date that we still talk and laugh about today. As a matter of fact, while I was typing this out, I just had to stop, walk into the living room and give Tami a kiss for taking a chance on me thirty-one years ago! She is the love of my life and the Good Lord willing, we will be celebrating thirty years of marriage come this May!