Tic Toc

July 20, 2009

Do y’all wake to an alarm clock in the morning? I don’t need an alarm clock, because I have alarm cats. They always decide they need to be fed while I am still sleeping, and will go to great lengths to waken their “mommy.” For the longest time, every morning when I opened my eyes [...]

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Juan Sebastián Elcano

May 19, 2009

It’s natural that in school my favorite subject was History — after all, you can’t have “history” without “story.” While I didn’t enjoy learning dates (for that smacked of my most detested subject: math), I enjoyed reading about the early explorers who “discovered” this continent. Recently I learned the name of one Spanish explorer who [...]

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She Was A Community Organizer

October 10, 2008

A group of curious citizenry crowded around the speaker’s platform on a warm spring day in the early 1900′s. Miners and their families, factory workers, farm laborers, university students, and others were waiting to hear the words of the grandmotherly looking woman on the stage. She was only five feet tall, and slightly plump, wearing [...]

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The Angel of Marye’s Heights

June 13, 2008

I’ve been working on my story repertoire the last few days. In that process, I came upon a tale from the time of the Civil War. Times of conflict can bring out the very best in some people. Richard Rowland Kirkland was one of those people. I wanted to share with you his story (facts [...]

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Yes, We Can Can

March 10, 2008

The first time I saw the Pointer Sisters on television, I thought, “What an unfortunate choice of clothing!” Those gals were dressed in 1940s garb, which wasn’t very stylish back in the 1970s. Heck, it probably wasn’t “stylish” in the 1940s! It looked like something out of my Aunt LaVerta’s closet that she donated to [...]

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A Man of Letters

March 2, 2008

As I stood in line to get that pierced parcel post package the other day, I couldn’t help noticing some promotion the post office was doing. There was a huge poster right next to me with this picture. I’m talking about a gigantic and overpowering image! I found that quite distracting! Whoot! Until I realized [...]

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The Great Republic of Rough And Ready

April 15, 2007

There are folks who claim that we Texans are prone to bragging a bit. That, my friends, is an understatement. Any Texan worth her salt can expound until the cow’s come home about the virtues of The Lone Star State. You ain’t even gonna believe this, but I, myself, am quite capable of this. I [...]

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Thursday Thirteen–Talkin’ ’bout Texas

April 5, 2007

THIRTEEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT TEXAS The first native born Governor of Texas was James Stephen Hogg. He had a daughter whom he christened with the unfortunate name “Ima” after a heroine in a poem. Yes, Ima Hogg. What was that man thinking? Perhaps he thought he would marry her off one day, [...]

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That Woman Was Janis Joplin

March 31, 2007

My hairdresser this morning had a first guess of Anna Nicole Smith. But, my mystery tough woman was Janis Lyn Joplin, who was raised in Port Arthur, Texas. She died in 1970 of a heroin overdose. That the young woman took to drugs so readily would be no surprise considering the decades in which she [...]

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A Woman Who Was Tough

March 31, 2007

“Lyn”s early years gave no clue to the turbulent life she would live. She grew up in a typical small Texas town, in a family that was not out of the ordinary. Her Daddy labored at an oil refinery and her Momma was a domestic goddess. Life was rosy and sweet for the young girl. [...]

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Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?

March 27, 2007

Somehow I missed this story when it was breaking news: In 1994, Susan Montgomery Williams set a world record. Now, don’t you know her Mama’s proud of her? Susan won the bubble-gum-blowing championship with a bubble that was 23 inches in diameter. I have no idea how many sticks of gum she popped into her [...]

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All Shook Up

February 10, 2007

I’m a worry wart, and I won’t apologize for it. It’s not my fault, I was born that way. It’s the San Andreas Fault. With an adult child living in San Francisco, I can find plenty to worry me. The City is a marvelous place, but any city has a dark side, too. I worry [...]

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Crush, Texas–A Town for One Day

January 31, 2007

There is no evidence to suggest that a famous publicity stunt took place in the bucolic field south of the town of West, Texas, except a lonely historical marker. There are no other signs of the town of Crush, Texas. But, in 1896, the town of Crush was headline news. That year, an employee of [...]

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“Mirror, Mirror On The Wall”

January 26, 2007

Out flew the web and floated wide- The mirror crack’d from side to side; “The curse is come upon me,” cried The Lady of Shalott. “The Lady of Shalott” Alfred, Lord Tennyson Whew! I tripped on the enormous oval mirror that stands in our bedroom. Fortunately, I caught it just before it crashed. As big [...]

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Old Jigsaw Puzzlers Never Die…They Just Go To Pieces

January 9, 2007

There is that “blonde joke” about the gal who said, “I bought a puzzle that said ’2-4 years.’ I don’t know why they think it’s that hard…I finished it in 6 months.” That was funny until my husband and I sat down to work a jigsaw puzzle, produced by The Puzzle House, called “Starry Night.” [...]

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