Pull Tight

  "So remember every picture tells a story, don't it"  from Every Picture Tells a Story sung by Rod Stewart Spent part of Monday at Mom and Dad's going through old photos, scanning them to share and hearing stories about the people in the photos.  This photo is of my great uncle and aunt, Will and Alice Holmes taken sometime in the early 1920s.  Some of you might remember Alice, she lived in the big white house on the road to the cemetery in Tolar until sometime in the 1970s.  It was Will and Alice's son Thomas who was killed in an armed robbery of his store in Hill City.  Two of Will's five brothers suffered from hemophilia (factor 8 deficiency) and bled to death as adults. I would encourage all to go through those old boxes of pictures in parents, grandparents, and your own house.  Record names and make copies to share.

Many of you probably don’t know this and maybe I shouldn’t admit it. In about 1980 I got really burned out working in the Medical Laboratory and began to pursue a job in Laboratory sales. Perhaps due to the tight job market at the time or my lack of appropriate experience, I was unable to find a job in that industry. An acquaintance from one of the labs where I once worked had gone into insurance sales and encouraged me to do the same. I should have known better. For the most part, I lost all respect for the insurance industry and most of the people in it. I did however acquire a few good friends and had some pretty good times. The insurance office I worked out of in Austin, Texas had a couple of big live oaks out back that had managed to escape the construction bulldozer. If you walked out the back door of the office past the oaks you ended up in the parking lot of a convenience store and an adjoining liquor store. About once a week (more for some), in the late aftern...

Spotted this greeting from long ago walking on the old family farm through what was an inland sea at some point in the Cretaceous age.

Attended a discussion about solar and wind energy alternatives today. This attendee is a good reminder of the damage we are doing to our air quality with our current energy production. Not sure if the image will come out well, it is a dummy wearing a respirator and with the name tag, Ben Zene.

It would appear that the only things growing well during the recent dry spell were cacti.  Took this picture near Paluxy last week.  I will be back to photograph the same location again when all are in bloom. 

My good friend Kim recommended this book. I was immediately drawn in by the title.  It sparked a memory of the the time my 90 something year old great grandfather disappeared from his hospital bed.  When I read the introduction and discovered the book was at least partially inspired by the embellished stories told by the author's grandfather, I was hooked.  This is a great read or listen (I listened on Audible).  Laugh out loud adventures of an old man with some interesting twists on historical events.  If you only read a few books a year, put this one on your list. Oh, and great grandfather, he climbed over the side rail to his bed and was found sitting and talking with his 90 something year old brother who happened to also be in the same hospital. Reading the book brought to mind many of the stories heard from older relatives and friends over the years.  These stories were sometimes plausible and sometimes not, but ...