Pull Tight

  Paluxy River White Bluff Creek “SIR, SIR” came an urgent shout from some distance behind me. I was standing near the confluence of White Bluff Creek and the Paluxy River on what is sometimes referred to as Flat Rocks with my back to the road traversing the creek without a bridge. It was an early spring morning after a rainstorm the night before. I stopped my car a few minutes earlier to enjoy hearing nothing except the sound of water rushing over the limestone riverbed. About 6 miles upstream from Glen Rose, Texas, and less than a mile from the little patch of land made famous in the book Hard Scrabble by John Graves.  Flat Rocks is a nickname given to the fairly flat and usually dry rock formation of a few thousand square feet.  It may be that the locals called it flat rocks because the city park in Glen Rose is officially named “Big Rocks”. It was popular as an out of the way place for high schoolers to congregate on weekend nights around campfires many years ago, pe...

Cynthia McIntire Born to Ben and Montie Holmes Wann, the second of five children on April 9, 1927. Cynthia was born, raised, and lived in Paluxy where she spent the next more than ninety years. Only leaving Paluxy for a few months in Florida early in her marriage and then for her last couple of years in a nursing home as the result of a fall followed by a stroke. She is survived by Clinton (Junior to many), husband of 73 years, children Terry, Sheila, Sharon, sister Glenda, sister in law Jean, 7 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. While the last 3 years of her life were difficult because of declining health, very few of us will experience 91 good, happy years with family, friends, and home. And, this is what she had. She and Clinton were rarely apart. They worked together side by side on the farm. They traveled and socialized extensively after retirement mostly with the local Good Sams group of which they were members for over 25 years. She was a great mother, but cou...

Work out number 500 I was already a Medicare recipient for my first Camp Gladiator workout. Attended a presentation and thought why not give it a try.   My only exercise for the past few years was the occasional bike ride.   Got out of bed with joints popping and an aching back each morning. I was also considering surgery for a chronically swollen and enlarged joint in one of my feet. Although everyone at Camp Gladiator was always very supportive, I suspect many thought, “What is this old guy doing here, he will be gone soon.” Made it through the first workout without throwing up or passing out (a co-camper generously reminded me she was a nurse well versed in CPR).   Struggled to finish sets with 8 lb. dumbbells and mostly walked warm-up laps.   Didn’t think my joints would hold up to this kind of work out even if the rest of me did. Fast forward about 3 ½ years.   I now struggle with 20 lb. dumbbells and can do most of the running.   I have ...

Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you have a teenager, know teenagers or were ever a teenager yourself, this is a must read. That animal adolescents are so similar to human adolescents is amazing. And the book written by a female scientist gives a somewhat unique perspective. Highly recommend. View all my reviews

The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was recommended by a social worker friend. Wouldn't have thought I would have much in common with the author. However, I enjoyed the book very much and will be trying some of the behaviors for making my life more fulfilling. This book was part of trio I read and would recommend from this year. They sort of seem to go together for me. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein - reminds us not to get stuck in rut and that people who pursue many interests are the most successful and happiest. Happiness Project (this book) - suggests behavior changes to make us happier and more fulfilled. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear- How to much more easily incorporate helpful changes into our lives. ...

If you have a Texas-specific or maybe N Texas-specific bucket list, there is a good chance eating at Mary's cafe in Strawn, Texas is listed. As the sign says, world-famous chicken fried steak is the calling card. Dad and I were driving back from Abilene on Friday and gave it a try. Dad had tried to go once before with a camping group, but the long wait for a table steered them away. Large portions, busy place, friendly patrons and staff, and small-town abience probably make it worth a stop.  The food was disappointing but still worth the stop. The better reason to visit Strawn would be for Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. It is far enough from the big city lights to offer excellent star gazing and astronomical groups frequently go there.  My personal bucket list includes going to a stargazing party here.  Perhaps I will find some friends with telescopes and organize my own. And, I will probably give Mary's one more chance.

“ Our work preferences and our life preferences do not stay the same, because we do not stay the same. ” ―  David Epstein,  Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World A must-read for everyone, but even more important for younger readers. A very readable enjoyable book illustrated with a series of stories, showing increased success and increased satisfaction with life by trying and doing many things versus specializing at an early point and never changing. I think of the impact this book could have on lives. It is the book for our times the same way Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence was in the 1970s. If you read, enjoyed and spent time thinking about the Undoing Project, this should be your next book but read anyway, you will be glad you did. “ In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.”  range https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41795733-range

With the regular exercise I have done the past 3+ years, the number of aches and pains has diminished greatly.   Camp Gladiator (boot camp) and Zesa Yoga have improved my strength, flexibility and general health to a great extent.   Recommend to all. This morning was the exception, got a catch in my back and struggled to get up from my workout mat at boot camp.   Probably digging a new garden with a shovel over the weekend caught up with me.   Some ibuprofen and CBD oil improved the pain and stiffness. Will probably make it to yoga this afternoon. Whenever I have back pain, I always remember this story told to me by my great uncle Bill Hadley https://pulltight.blogspot.com/2012/07/play-ball-revisited.html .   Uncle Bill was a one man trucking company and was always very busy.   One day sometime in the 1950s he somehow strained his back so bad he was almost immobile.    My grandfather Ben Wann, https://pulltight.blogspot.com/2006/04/some-...

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/03/12/horse-transported-in-pickup-bed/ This article caused me to remember my grandfather Ben Wann.  Apparently, he would haul Smokey, his palomino mare around the ranch in a pick up without any kind of frames/sideboards in the 1950s. Can't remember seeing him haul the horse in this manner, but this has been confirmed by other sources. I rode with him on this horse as a child.  And, also recall many times riding around with him in his old Chevy pick up truck looking through his cows and/or goats. Grandpa was gifted in mathematical ability and would impress me by counting his goats by 6s and 7s as a herd of a couple of hundred came running to meet us.

“When you read between the lines, you must have bloody good eyesight because I can't see a bloody thing!”  ―  Anthony T.Hincks Had my annual routine eye exam this week.  My eyes are very good for someone in my age bracket.  No trace of glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration and very minimal cataract development. My optometrist says my distance vision has actually improved slightly in the past 12 months.  Any positive change for someone my age is notable. There have been some changes in my life.  Have attended boot camp exercise sessions religiously 3 times per week for the past couple of years with a stretching session at the end of each.  For the past several months, intermittent fasting for about 5 days each week has also become part of my routine.  Also for the past several months, I have gone to a yoga class 1 day per week. Doing a little research on the Internet (thanks Google) indicates all these activ...

Driving out of Glen Rose after spending some time with Mom at the Rehab Center. Pictured here are 3 buzzards sitting on top of the sign for Chicken Express. Maybe they were watching for the dead chicken on the sign to fall to the ground.  Or maybe they were offering a subtle review of the restaurant. Whatever the reason, it brought an unexpected smile to my face.

From around 1925 to 1960 all John Deere tractors were 2 cylinder. They ran at a relatively low RPM causing the engine sound to be sort of pop pop pop pop sound. The nickname for any of these John Deere tractors became Popping Johnny. In 1955 my dad bought a model 50 as pictured here. Being 5 years old, I was quite excited about this purchase and what 5 year old would not be excited about a new green shiny tractor making a pop pop pop sound. In 1955 most everyone in and around Paluxy received their mail at the Post Office http://pulltight.blogspot.com/2012/07/play-ball-revisited.html One morning soon after the acquisition, I was with mom at the post office one morning to pick up the mail.   The operator manual for the new tractor happened to be in the car and was my prize possession on this occasion. Although I don’t remember the actual event, two of the local men, Floyd and Ramon saw me with my book and asked about it.   With the imagination and expertis...

“A day will come when the story inside you will want to breathe on its own. That’s when you will start writing.” Sarah Noffke Started Pulltight blog in 2005 and have kept the entries online with blogger over the years. Many times I wrote straight into the site with no other documentation. That there was no backup or hard copy of Pulltight started to be somewhat concerning as the years passed; there are a few stories I might not recall or record again if lost. Admittedly much of the blog has been just day to day thoughts on random topics.   But a few of the stories, particularly about old friends, Paluxy or family could be worth remembering and easily it could all be lost. My son started bugging me about making a backup a few months ago. Then he asks for a hard copy for his birthday.   This was the tipping point for converting to a hard copy. Decided to have it bound and make an actual hard copy (Book? Blook?) In chronological order from the date of the first post. ...

Growing up I thought Horace had some of the coolest cars. The first one I remember was the one he was driving when his brother was the preacher in Paluxy. He was dating my aunt Glenda. It was a 1955 Chevy, dark green 2 door with dual exhaust, a real classic. I think it was after he and Glenda married that they had a 55 or 56 Ford Crown Victoria. This was the one with an actual crown.   There was a strip of chrome extending from door post to door post over the top of the car. Black, white and chrome; bet is a real collector’s item today, but back in the day it was definitely a cool car. Then a few years later, a blue and white Nash Metropolitan.   Bet you can find these in car museums around the world (and the same color). A fun unique car. Some used to say the Nash looked like an inverted bath tub.   Had to use your imagination a little, but yea, maybe. And then there was the 1967 Pontiac GTO.   White with black vinyl roof; I was old enough to drive by t...

Since mom has been in the hospital, rehab and nursing home the past few months following an accident and a stroke, Dad has had much more time to read. He has always enjoyed reading, but usually just read a few books per year. Recently he is reading 1-2 books per week. He has a Kindle which makes it easy to send books to him. After finishing a fictional series of 18 books, our conversation went sort of like this. Me: What would you like to read next? Dad: Maybe I will write a book? This was a bit of a surprise. Me: Dad, what would you write about? Dad: My life. At 92 years of age, he has many stories and memories we have never heard.   He would sometimes have stories for us, but rarely did anyone sit down just with him.   And, mom always had a lot to say. The family joke was she used all of her words and most of his words each day. This could be interesting. Since Dad will not actually put pen to paper, this seemed an excellent time for me to spend some time ju...

About 2.5 million years ago the claws of our primate ancestors evolved into fingernails as we began using tools. Probably have been mostly dirty ever since. Was in the hospital with mom a few months ago when she suffered serious injuries followed by a stroke.   Noticed her fingernails were a bit dirty even after a few days in ICU.   Suspect, even at age 91, she may have been doing something on the farm or her yard the day of the accident that involved getting her hands and fingernails dirty. Think I might have been in my teens before I realized dirt wasn’t the natural color of fingernails. Dirt was one of my favorite toys and certainly the most ubiquitous as a child. Dirt, mud, toy tractors and trucks took up most of my days until I was old enough to help out on the farm.   Working with old farm equipment just added a new stubborn ingredient - grease (a whole new level of dirty). It was years before my nails would be clean for more than a day or two. What...

Almost 2 years ago, I decided to try a different type of physical workout.  Signed up with Camp Gladiator (CG) for "boot camp".  Committed to showing up with a yoga mat and dumbbells for a whole body work out 3 times per week. Realized at my first workout that I was one of a very few participants who was old enough to qualify for Medicare. I was probably in slightly better shape than average for my age, but maybe that doesn't say much for me or the average senior citizen.  I had to walk most of the warm up lap.  Any exercise that involved getting on the ground or up from the ground took me a bit longer, I probably consistently missed the first couple of reps.  At one my first work outs, I was breathing very hard and struggling.  The woman next to me (Amanda) turned to me and reassuring said "It's OK Terry, I am a nurse trained in CPR". I have yet to need it, but a few times might have been pretty close. The work outs can be pretty high impact....

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

“You asked the impossible of a machine and the machine complied.”  ―  Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ,  The Sirens of Titan Most of the recent books and many news stories I am reading (or listening) are at least somewhat related to Artificial Intelligence. Truly amazing subject matter for where we have arrived and where we may be headed. It seems to be advancing at an ever-increasing rate. Here are some of the AI-related observations I have made in just the past week. Two chatbots at Facebook created a new language to communicate with each other A humanoid robot was granted citizenship in Saudia Arabia Heard artificial intelligence mentioned in a lecture not directly related to AI An interactive toy  from Mattel was pulled from production because of the privacy concerns  Noticed an ad for an Account Representative for IBM Watson in the Dallas area You often hear concerns about AI and robotics taking away jobs.  And, most of us think...

About once a month I buy coffee from a world-class coffee roaster who happens to be not far from where I work. Coffee is always roasted the same day as ordered and always very good.  Discovered Rodaks a couple years ago https://pulltight.blogspot.com/2014/10/unexpected-treasure.html Marvin Rodak an I have become friends, exchanging stories, cooking tips, etc. He is quite the fan of drag racing. A couple of months ago, Marvin suggested I come to his annual meet and greet for the drag racing teams coming to town.  There would be barbeque, beer, racing crews, and fans  Not a particular fan of racing myself, but suspected the food would be good and the attendees might be interesting. Last Thursday was the night.  A couple of factory grill reps for were cooking (competing?) as well as Marvin.  All in attendance were quite interesting and shared a love for good food.  And the food was excellent, beginning with grilled oysters and ending with ...