It was July 24, 1958 when the wedding took place in the 'big house' at Herman Junction. I had asked Barbara Jean Earls to marry me in April of that year and she said, "Yes" and so we had been planning it during that span of time. In those days a couple desiring to marry had to get a blood test and wait for three days before the license would be issued. I hate needles! I might have joined the Army had it not been for having to take all those shots that I heard about. But, I had the blood tests as required and the license was granted. Floyd Earls, Barbara's Dad was working so he just told Dad, "Herb, you just sign for both of them" and he did. The County Clerk was Ted Spurlock, the guy that I was named after so he had no problem just letting us have the license under those terms.
We went to Jonesboro to look for a ring shortly after I had come home from working in the fields in Dekalb, Illinois. My Lady went to Jonesboro by herself and shopped for her wedding dress as the wedding day approached. July 24 was getting close and we were excited. Barbara's Father Floyd, brother Pete, and sister Lin, my Mom, Dad, sister Laura and brother Jack, best man Jim Isbell, and maid of honor Myra Kendrick, and of course the bride and groom, were all there waiting for the wedding to take place. But, there was a hitch!
My older brother, Harvel had been invited to officiate at the wedding. The time was set at 6:00 in the evening. Harvel didn't show up at 6:00! Or, 7:00! There was no phone to call him nor email to send him a message. A few minutes before 8:00 I started to Bay to see if Melvin Elliott, the preacher could come down and perform our wedding ceremony. On the way to town we met Harvel so we turned around and followed him to the house where the wedding finally took place more than two hours late.
Do you have any idea where he had been? EATING SUPPER! Barbara Jean Knight will never, ever, forgive him. There were a few pictures made but they were destroyed because the anger on her face was so clearly seen. So, there is no pictorial evidence that we got married. I'll bet that if she ever gets married again she won't have Harvel to do it.
Barbara's older sister, Shirley and her husband Benny were living in the old Hyneman house in Bay right beside the pool hall and the yellow jacket cafe. They let us have their house for the night of our wedding. It rained and stormed like crazy all night but for some reason we didn't pay much attention and we sure didn't go to the storm house!
The next day was one that I will not forget either. I got up early as I always have and went to Carl Taylor's grocery store and bought a pound of sausage and a can of biscuits. I don't know why I bought those biscuits because My Lady is a fabulous biscuit maker and was even then. We had a wonderful breakfast and then went to her house to take her Dad's truck to him. A little later she needed something from town and her brother Pete and I took the truck and off to town we went. Of course, we had to stop by the station and see what was going on at school. We learned that the baseball team was playing a game at Childress, just outside of Monette and we decided to go over and watch the game. Some other guys jumped in the truck with us and off we went. We didn't get home until much later than My Lady expected us. When we walked in the house there sat Floyd as quiet as a mouse. Floyd wouldn't have gotten excited if someone had thrown dynamite under the house so I knew that everything was OK with him as far as I could tell. But, when I walked in that kitchen I saw the same look that I had seen the night before when Harvel was late for the wedding. She was as mad as a feist dog in high oats and made me feel like somebody's red-headed step child. I was as confused as a three legged chicken because I didn't think that I had done all that much wrong. Here I had been married less than 24 hours and was up to my ears in trouble with the new bride. Well, as I looked back on it I could see that I should have done better and we made up and all was well. I don't have a clue who won that ball game.
You might think that a wedding like that would not help a marriage to last very long. In fact, we got a letter from one of the older residents of Bay just a few years ago and she told us that she would not have given a nickel for that marriage. But, it has lasted now for more than Fifty years and if she will behave I think that I will keep her. In spite of the way that it started that night, that marriage helps me to know that all is well at Herman Junction.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
THANKSGIVING AT HERMAN JUNCTION: POST #30
I was born on Thanksgiving Day. Not at Herman Junction though. I was born at Bay, Arkansas and moved to Herman Junction later. Some of my most memorable Thanksgiving Days though were spent at Herman Junction. It was not just a holiday for us, it truly was a day of Thanksgiving. We always had a big dinner and I loved that. Dad raised turkeys and one of them old gobblers was as mean as could be. Barbara remembers him and she remembers what happened to him. He was turned into Thanksgiving dinner. He flogged Barbara one time and as I look back on it I don't remember if Barbara or the gobbler won the battle. I suppose she rejoiced and thought that she had won for sure when she saw his eventual end.
My Mama could really make cornbread dressing. That was her specialty as long as she cooked for holidays or family gatherings. She always made Pumpkin pie although I didn't like that kind of pie much. We had all the normal Thanksgiving Day food and it was a real treat, right in the middle of the week too!
One of my most memorable Thanksgiving Days though was one when we didn't have all the traditional Thanksgiving food. We had been to Uncle Louis's to pull bolls that morning and it was cold as a beaver's belly. Uncle Everett and some of his kids were working with us. I remember how cold it was and I knew that it was Thanksgiving Day and we had a special dinner coming up later. My mouth watered all morning as I anticipated sitting down in a nice, warm, kitchen and eating all I could hold of that meal. But, when we got home I was surprised and thrilled to death when I saw what we were going to eat. Mama had fixed CHEESEBURGERS! Man alive, with the exception of corn bread I suppose that cheeseburgers and chili dogs were my favorite food. I have often wondered how many she prepared because there was a bunch of us to eat, but I can just see those bread pans full of cheeseburgers right now and it makes me hungry as I think about it. We didn't have to go back to the cotton patch that afternoon either and that made me especially happy. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying the day.
I mentioned chili dogs. I always loved chili and I loved hot dogs and when I learned from the Dairy Queen that you could put chili on hot dogs, that just seemed to be about the finest thing that I could think of. Of course Corn Bread has always been my favorite food. I have often said that if the Lord were to decide that there would be only ONE kind of food for the entire world and that I could choose it, the rest of you had better like Corn Bread because that would be it. But, chili dogs came pretty close to corn bread. I think that it is just awful that when I was a kid I didn't have the money to buy chili dogs. Now, I have the money and my heart doctor tells me that if I eat them they will kill me!
Thanksgiving for many years was the day for the Herman Junction Knight's to have their annual reunion. We started them at the 'big house' at Herman Junction and boy was that house ever full! We moved it from one place to another for several years and then as Dad and Mom got older we began having the reunion at Bay every year. Now that our family has grown so much and there are Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren, we have our reunion at another time so that Thanksgiving Day can be shared with others. It sure would be nice though to go one more time to Herman Junction and have Thanksgiving again and I know that would make everything well at Herman Junction.
My Mama could really make cornbread dressing. That was her specialty as long as she cooked for holidays or family gatherings. She always made Pumpkin pie although I didn't like that kind of pie much. We had all the normal Thanksgiving Day food and it was a real treat, right in the middle of the week too!
One of my most memorable Thanksgiving Days though was one when we didn't have all the traditional Thanksgiving food. We had been to Uncle Louis's to pull bolls that morning and it was cold as a beaver's belly. Uncle Everett and some of his kids were working with us. I remember how cold it was and I knew that it was Thanksgiving Day and we had a special dinner coming up later. My mouth watered all morning as I anticipated sitting down in a nice, warm, kitchen and eating all I could hold of that meal. But, when we got home I was surprised and thrilled to death when I saw what we were going to eat. Mama had fixed CHEESEBURGERS! Man alive, with the exception of corn bread I suppose that cheeseburgers and chili dogs were my favorite food. I have often wondered how many she prepared because there was a bunch of us to eat, but I can just see those bread pans full of cheeseburgers right now and it makes me hungry as I think about it. We didn't have to go back to the cotton patch that afternoon either and that made me especially happy. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying the day.
I mentioned chili dogs. I always loved chili and I loved hot dogs and when I learned from the Dairy Queen that you could put chili on hot dogs, that just seemed to be about the finest thing that I could think of. Of course Corn Bread has always been my favorite food. I have often said that if the Lord were to decide that there would be only ONE kind of food for the entire world and that I could choose it, the rest of you had better like Corn Bread because that would be it. But, chili dogs came pretty close to corn bread. I think that it is just awful that when I was a kid I didn't have the money to buy chili dogs. Now, I have the money and my heart doctor tells me that if I eat them they will kill me!
Thanksgiving for many years was the day for the Herman Junction Knight's to have their annual reunion. We started them at the 'big house' at Herman Junction and boy was that house ever full! We moved it from one place to another for several years and then as Dad and Mom got older we began having the reunion at Bay every year. Now that our family has grown so much and there are Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren, we have our reunion at another time so that Thanksgiving Day can be shared with others. It sure would be nice though to go one more time to Herman Junction and have Thanksgiving again and I know that would make everything well at Herman Junction.
A STORM'S A COMIN'! : POST #29
I hate storms! We had some experiences at home at Herman Junction that I did not like at all. In the middle of the night you would hear a big clap of thunder and then you would hear Mama's feet hit the floor. "Get Up, a storms coming up", she would say, "and we've got to get to the storm house." Man, that bed was warm and it was cold outside and I had been sound asleep and now the whole world is upside down.
One night the storm came up and we all took off to the old storm house. It had been built with some poles and stuff and covered up in dirt. We went flying out there and whoever opened the door and shined the light in there put it right on a BIG SNAKE lying across the back wall of the storm house. Now, we are in a pickle! We can stay out in the dangerous storm or go on in with that more dangerous snake. We elected to take off to Booie's storm house and the rain was pouring down. Scattering across the yard like a bunch of geese suddenly there was a cry like a panther but it was Smiley. He has stepped on the cycle that was used to cut weeds and tall grass and had almost cut his big toe off. We had to forget the storm and get in the house so the folks could take care of that toe. I'll bet he wasn't smiling then!
When Dad bought the place where the 'big house' was there was a little thing that had evidently been used in the past to hold water or something. There were four walls about three feet high and with a door in the right hand corner as you entered. After that fiasco with the snake and the toe cutting, Dad built some forms and built a concrete storm house. It was about 10x12 feet and he put a little pipe in the top of it for ventilation. He put a bed in that thing and said that when we had a storm we just go out there and sleep. SLEEP! That place was filled with such a musty smell that there was no way that I could sleep in there. Besides that it was half full of canned food and there was so many of us we had to almost sit on top of each other. I have spent many a miserable time in there. The thing that I never understood though was, Dad would put us in there and then he would stay outside and watch the storm. How in the world could you watch a storm when it was slap dark out there? I guess he could but I couldn't and still can't.
One of the things that really stands out in my mind about that storm house was when the worst storm we ever had came through the country up until that time, Dad and Clarence Rodgers got caught standing on the back porch watching it and when it really hit they couldn't get to the storm house. Mama and Grandma was screaming and hollering and Dad and Clarence couldn't do a thing but just watch it. That was when the tornado came through Bald Knob and Judsonia and all over the country. I think that it was 1953. There was only that one time that a really serious storm came and the other times we just came out and went back to bed and all was well. It reminded me of a story that Mama told us about an old lady that ran to the storm house just like we did and every time she came out all was well. One time she came out of the storm house and her house was gone! She said, "Now, that's more like it!"
I don't want to get blown away but I don't like storm houses, musty smells, and especially snakes in one of them. But, if that is what it takes to make everything well at Herman Junction, I guess it's worth it.
One night the storm came up and we all took off to the old storm house. It had been built with some poles and stuff and covered up in dirt. We went flying out there and whoever opened the door and shined the light in there put it right on a BIG SNAKE lying across the back wall of the storm house. Now, we are in a pickle! We can stay out in the dangerous storm or go on in with that more dangerous snake. We elected to take off to Booie's storm house and the rain was pouring down. Scattering across the yard like a bunch of geese suddenly there was a cry like a panther but it was Smiley. He has stepped on the cycle that was used to cut weeds and tall grass and had almost cut his big toe off. We had to forget the storm and get in the house so the folks could take care of that toe. I'll bet he wasn't smiling then!
When Dad bought the place where the 'big house' was there was a little thing that had evidently been used in the past to hold water or something. There were four walls about three feet high and with a door in the right hand corner as you entered. After that fiasco with the snake and the toe cutting, Dad built some forms and built a concrete storm house. It was about 10x12 feet and he put a little pipe in the top of it for ventilation. He put a bed in that thing and said that when we had a storm we just go out there and sleep. SLEEP! That place was filled with such a musty smell that there was no way that I could sleep in there. Besides that it was half full of canned food and there was so many of us we had to almost sit on top of each other. I have spent many a miserable time in there. The thing that I never understood though was, Dad would put us in there and then he would stay outside and watch the storm. How in the world could you watch a storm when it was slap dark out there? I guess he could but I couldn't and still can't.
One of the things that really stands out in my mind about that storm house was when the worst storm we ever had came through the country up until that time, Dad and Clarence Rodgers got caught standing on the back porch watching it and when it really hit they couldn't get to the storm house. Mama and Grandma was screaming and hollering and Dad and Clarence couldn't do a thing but just watch it. That was when the tornado came through Bald Knob and Judsonia and all over the country. I think that it was 1953. There was only that one time that a really serious storm came and the other times we just came out and went back to bed and all was well. It reminded me of a story that Mama told us about an old lady that ran to the storm house just like we did and every time she came out all was well. One time she came out of the storm house and her house was gone! She said, "Now, that's more like it!"
I don't want to get blown away but I don't like storm houses, musty smells, and especially snakes in one of them. But, if that is what it takes to make everything well at Herman Junction, I guess it's worth it.
UNCLE CHARLIE: POST #28
One of the people that I loved and respected at Herman Junction was my Dad's older brother, Charlie Knight. He and Aunt Agnes were great people and I loved it when we visited them or they visited us. They had four children: Vera, Billie Jean, Leonard, and Helen. Helen passed away many years ago.
There was a time when Uncle Charlie and Aunt Agnes lived out close to the Gum Slough ditch near the old swimming hole that we called, "The Forks". I have spent many hours in that place and cannot imagine now how I brought myself to do it. I am so afraid of snakes that nowadays I don't want to walk through a puddle of water in the street for fear of a snake being in it. That swimming hole was full of kids a lot of the time in those days. It was also used as a bapistry quite a bit and maybe that's why the Lord kept the snakes away.
I went with Uncle Charlie one time to Jonesboro to trade trucks. I asked him what kind of truck he wanted. I will never forget his answer: "I will not have a Dodge and I don't want a red truck!" You know what happened before I tell you. We came home in a Dodge truck that was red with a black top and to my knowledge he never drove another truck except a Dodge. He was always full of fun, like calling me 'Teddy Martin, goin' down the road and kickin' and a.....laughing'. Yeah, laughing. He worked in the stock yards in St. Louis for many years and finally came back and settled in Bay. I have a billy club that he used to nudge the cattle around and I don't have a clue why he gave it to me. I carry it in van but have never had the ocassion to whop anyone on the head with it.
Dad had three brothers and one sister and I loved them all. One time Linda and Larry, my sister and brother-in-law took Dad and Mom to Hot Springs to visit Uncle Everett and Aunt Clara. When it got dinner time they decided to go to the world famous "McLard's Bar-B-Que" place and get food to take home. When Linda and Larry got in the place they looked around and Dad and Uncle Everett were not behind them. They waited a few minutes and out of the KITCHEN came those two brothers, dressed up in overalls, and acting they were one of the McClard's! They each had a $100 bill, probably the only one that either one of them ever had, and were fussing about who was going to buy the dinner. The whole restaurant full of people stopped eating and watched the show until they got what they wanted and left. Dad's sister Evelyn Church was one of the finest human beings to ever live and had TEN kids! Uncle Louis and Aunt Ruby live at Elm Grove and they had Kathryn, Wanda, Tom, Pat, Shelby, Zelna Rose, and Sharon. I don't remember all the names of Uncle Everett and Aunt Clara's kids and regret that I never got to know them very well. They all lived at Hot Springs I think, except Jim.
It was people like them that made Herman Junction such a swell place to live.
There was a time when Uncle Charlie and Aunt Agnes lived out close to the Gum Slough ditch near the old swimming hole that we called, "The Forks". I have spent many hours in that place and cannot imagine now how I brought myself to do it. I am so afraid of snakes that nowadays I don't want to walk through a puddle of water in the street for fear of a snake being in it. That swimming hole was full of kids a lot of the time in those days. It was also used as a bapistry quite a bit and maybe that's why the Lord kept the snakes away.
I went with Uncle Charlie one time to Jonesboro to trade trucks. I asked him what kind of truck he wanted. I will never forget his answer: "I will not have a Dodge and I don't want a red truck!" You know what happened before I tell you. We came home in a Dodge truck that was red with a black top and to my knowledge he never drove another truck except a Dodge. He was always full of fun, like calling me 'Teddy Martin, goin' down the road and kickin' and a.....laughing'. Yeah, laughing. He worked in the stock yards in St. Louis for many years and finally came back and settled in Bay. I have a billy club that he used to nudge the cattle around and I don't have a clue why he gave it to me. I carry it in van but have never had the ocassion to whop anyone on the head with it.
Dad had three brothers and one sister and I loved them all. One time Linda and Larry, my sister and brother-in-law took Dad and Mom to Hot Springs to visit Uncle Everett and Aunt Clara. When it got dinner time they decided to go to the world famous "McLard's Bar-B-Que" place and get food to take home. When Linda and Larry got in the place they looked around and Dad and Uncle Everett were not behind them. They waited a few minutes and out of the KITCHEN came those two brothers, dressed up in overalls, and acting they were one of the McClard's! They each had a $100 bill, probably the only one that either one of them ever had, and were fussing about who was going to buy the dinner. The whole restaurant full of people stopped eating and watched the show until they got what they wanted and left. Dad's sister Evelyn Church was one of the finest human beings to ever live and had TEN kids! Uncle Louis and Aunt Ruby live at Elm Grove and they had Kathryn, Wanda, Tom, Pat, Shelby, Zelna Rose, and Sharon. I don't remember all the names of Uncle Everett and Aunt Clara's kids and regret that I never got to know them very well. They all lived at Hot Springs I think, except Jim.
It was people like them that made Herman Junction such a swell place to live.
Monday, November 24, 2008
WATERMELON PATCHES: POST #27
When I lived at Herman Junction I had two experiences with watermelon patches that I will never forget. A lot of people grew watermelons and the farmer would take them out on a roadside stand or to a market somewhere and sell watermelons, canteloupes, and whatever else he might have. Of course a watermelon patch was a notorious temptation to a young feller who felt like a real, genuine outlaw and wanted to test his courage.
Booie planted a watermelon patch right beside our house and smack on the edge of the highway. I know now why he did it. Of course, he liked watermelons and his family and our family could eat a lot of them. But, it wasn't the eating that Booie liked the most. It was the fun that he and dad had chasing the watermelon thieves out of the patch. I have known that they laid out in that watermelon patch half the night just waiting for the gangsters to come to steal some and then they would rise up and start yelling and watch the mighty men flee for their lives. Booie was also known to cut a hole in a few of those watermelons and put some stuff in them to make a feller do the green apple two-step after he had eaten a bait of watermelon. I didn't have to steal mine because they were just outside the door in the field and I could eat all that I wanted.
Oh, but there was a time when the old devil got the best of me in the watermelon stealing business. Several of us were in a pickup truck and we went to Marvin Scrivners watermelon patch down on the county line road. It was after ball practice and we weren't ready to turn in for the night. We all spread out over that watermelon patch and suddenly I noticed that all of the guys but me were in that truck and they began hollerin' at me to come on too. They had spotted Ole Marvin and took off. I hadn't seen him and I was still huntin' for a good, big, ripe one. Then, I saw him and I took off running faster than Jesse Owens ever thought of running and just jumped over the side of that truck into the bed. As soon as I was in it, Marvin started shooting! I am confident that he shot straight up in the air but there was no convincing us that he wasn't shooting at us, and whoever was driving floor-boarded that truck and we flew out of there. When we got to my house they didn't even stop, they just slowed down and I jumped out. I ran in the house and dad said, "Where have you been?" I said, "Ball practice!"
Well, I had been to ball practice! With a little side trip afterwards but I saw no reason on earth to tell him about that side trip. Now, when I want a watermelon I just go buy one and usually it is too green or over ripe. So, I just eat watermelon candy or something. Yes, Sir, things are alright at Herman Junction!
Booie planted a watermelon patch right beside our house and smack on the edge of the highway. I know now why he did it. Of course, he liked watermelons and his family and our family could eat a lot of them. But, it wasn't the eating that Booie liked the most. It was the fun that he and dad had chasing the watermelon thieves out of the patch. I have known that they laid out in that watermelon patch half the night just waiting for the gangsters to come to steal some and then they would rise up and start yelling and watch the mighty men flee for their lives. Booie was also known to cut a hole in a few of those watermelons and put some stuff in them to make a feller do the green apple two-step after he had eaten a bait of watermelon. I didn't have to steal mine because they were just outside the door in the field and I could eat all that I wanted.
Oh, but there was a time when the old devil got the best of me in the watermelon stealing business. Several of us were in a pickup truck and we went to Marvin Scrivners watermelon patch down on the county line road. It was after ball practice and we weren't ready to turn in for the night. We all spread out over that watermelon patch and suddenly I noticed that all of the guys but me were in that truck and they began hollerin' at me to come on too. They had spotted Ole Marvin and took off. I hadn't seen him and I was still huntin' for a good, big, ripe one. Then, I saw him and I took off running faster than Jesse Owens ever thought of running and just jumped over the side of that truck into the bed. As soon as I was in it, Marvin started shooting! I am confident that he shot straight up in the air but there was no convincing us that he wasn't shooting at us, and whoever was driving floor-boarded that truck and we flew out of there. When we got to my house they didn't even stop, they just slowed down and I jumped out. I ran in the house and dad said, "Where have you been?" I said, "Ball practice!"
Well, I had been to ball practice! With a little side trip afterwards but I saw no reason on earth to tell him about that side trip. Now, when I want a watermelon I just go buy one and usually it is too green or over ripe. So, I just eat watermelon candy or something. Yes, Sir, things are alright at Herman Junction!
DRINKIN'. SMOKIN' & CUSSIN': POST #26
Boy, doesn't this sound exciting? Well, to some of you it may sound exciting and some of you may be thinking that I am full of baloney, but these are the things that this post is about.
I ran with a pretty good bunch of guys when I lived at Herman Junction. I mean to some it may seem that we were a pretty boring flock and maybe we were, but it didn't seem that way to me. I guess I had lived in a sheltered family in a sense. I have been told that anyway. My Dad once said that he loved the taste of whiskey more than anything that he had ever tasted, but I never heard of him taking a drink of any alcoholic drink in my life. I never heard him say a curse word in my life. So, I guess maybe I was pretty weird to some folks.
One time I was with some other guys and one of them was older than the rest of us and he was known to drink sometimes. He bought a six pack of beer and offered all of us one. I took one of those cans, popped it open, and never took a taste of it! I pretended to and then threw it out the window but so help me I didn't take a swallow of it. My first taste of an alcoholic beverage came at church in observance of the Lord's Supper in Pitesti, Romania in July 1995. They passed that tray around and I took the cup and thought, "Somebody sure left that grape juice out too long or something!" That was the worst tasting stuff that I had ever had in my mouth. I told someone about it and they all laughed at Barbara and me and told us that we had just tasted some very, very, good wine. If there is any wine on this earth that tastes worse than that, I sure wouldn't want it in my mouth. I mean, I have walked in stuff when I fed the hogs and milked the cow that probably would have tasted worse than that but I have never eaten or drunk anything that awful.
I never got the habit of smoking. I suppose that if all the cigarettes that I smoked were put together I might have two packages or so. I tried to chew once or twice but the experience was about as bad as my drinking spree in the communion service. I even tried to dip some of Aunt Mollies Rooster snuff and I tell you now I'd be ashamed to admit that I put that in my mouth.
But, I did try cussin'. It wasn't cursing that I had heard about, it was cussin'. I don't know if there is a difference but either one is not a smart thing to do. I remember going out in the field a good ways from the house and trying to learn how to say, 'Damn' or 'hell' and it was hard to do. I had never heard that language at home in Herman Junction and I was mighty careful to practice it a long ways from the house. I never did feel comfortable talking like that and my engaging in the practice didn't last too long.
There was a girl in my class whom I respected a great deal and we were very good friends. We went to school and church together and participated in a lot of youth activities at church. One day I was talking to somebody and in the conversation I used the word, 'damn'. I turned around, probably out of guilt, and standing right behind me with the most disappointed look on her face was Kathleen Chester. I knew that she was hurt and that hurt me a lot. Here I was leading singing at church and now I'm out here cussin'. What a mess! Well, it didn't take me long to unlearn all the cussin' that I had learned, which wasn't much and I never did that again.
The language that we hear on TV and at other times and places is far worse than the cussin' that I remember. It is shameful and there needs to be a lot of mouth washing done today. I'm glad that this Herman Junction boy never did cuss much and today if I could keep Barbara from cussin' so much, everything would be just fine in Herman Junction today!
I ran with a pretty good bunch of guys when I lived at Herman Junction. I mean to some it may seem that we were a pretty boring flock and maybe we were, but it didn't seem that way to me. I guess I had lived in a sheltered family in a sense. I have been told that anyway. My Dad once said that he loved the taste of whiskey more than anything that he had ever tasted, but I never heard of him taking a drink of any alcoholic drink in my life. I never heard him say a curse word in my life. So, I guess maybe I was pretty weird to some folks.
One time I was with some other guys and one of them was older than the rest of us and he was known to drink sometimes. He bought a six pack of beer and offered all of us one. I took one of those cans, popped it open, and never took a taste of it! I pretended to and then threw it out the window but so help me I didn't take a swallow of it. My first taste of an alcoholic beverage came at church in observance of the Lord's Supper in Pitesti, Romania in July 1995. They passed that tray around and I took the cup and thought, "Somebody sure left that grape juice out too long or something!" That was the worst tasting stuff that I had ever had in my mouth. I told someone about it and they all laughed at Barbara and me and told us that we had just tasted some very, very, good wine. If there is any wine on this earth that tastes worse than that, I sure wouldn't want it in my mouth. I mean, I have walked in stuff when I fed the hogs and milked the cow that probably would have tasted worse than that but I have never eaten or drunk anything that awful.
I never got the habit of smoking. I suppose that if all the cigarettes that I smoked were put together I might have two packages or so. I tried to chew once or twice but the experience was about as bad as my drinking spree in the communion service. I even tried to dip some of Aunt Mollies Rooster snuff and I tell you now I'd be ashamed to admit that I put that in my mouth.
But, I did try cussin'. It wasn't cursing that I had heard about, it was cussin'. I don't know if there is a difference but either one is not a smart thing to do. I remember going out in the field a good ways from the house and trying to learn how to say, 'Damn' or 'hell' and it was hard to do. I had never heard that language at home in Herman Junction and I was mighty careful to practice it a long ways from the house. I never did feel comfortable talking like that and my engaging in the practice didn't last too long.
There was a girl in my class whom I respected a great deal and we were very good friends. We went to school and church together and participated in a lot of youth activities at church. One day I was talking to somebody and in the conversation I used the word, 'damn'. I turned around, probably out of guilt, and standing right behind me with the most disappointed look on her face was Kathleen Chester. I knew that she was hurt and that hurt me a lot. Here I was leading singing at church and now I'm out here cussin'. What a mess! Well, it didn't take me long to unlearn all the cussin' that I had learned, which wasn't much and I never did that again.
The language that we hear on TV and at other times and places is far worse than the cussin' that I remember. It is shameful and there needs to be a lot of mouth washing done today. I'm glad that this Herman Junction boy never did cuss much and today if I could keep Barbara from cussin' so much, everything would be just fine in Herman Junction today!
NICKNAMES: POST #25
At Herman Junction nearly every person had a nickname, especially the guys. Really that is true about all of the South. We have more "Bubba's" than you can shake a stick at. That has always amazed me. Our parents give us names when we are born and then call us something else all of our life. I mentioned in an earlier post about Booie Woods calling his son Jerry, Joe Bob. By the way, wonder where the name "Booie" came from? His name was Henry but I never heard anyone call him anything but Booie.
My oldest brother C.W. was called 'Gravy'. When he was in Korea he heard someone yell out the name 'Gravy' and it was a friend from home who was stationed in Korea too. I was told that when he was a little fellow a group of men were at our house helping Dad kill hogs. Some of the men told C.W. that they were going to take the meat home with them. He told them, "You can take all the meat but you can't have the gravy." From then on that was his name. Harvel's nickname was "Star". He was the catcher on the baseball team and when he was batting they would yell at him, "Come on, Star Baby", but later it was just Star. Rayburn's nickname was "Smiley". I don't have a clue where that came from. But, through the years I have met a lot of people who attended Harding College at the same time that he did and I will often ask, "Did you know my brother, Rayburn?" They will tell me that they don't remember him. Then I tell them that everyone called him "Smiley" and nine times out of ten they will say, "Yeah, we know Smiley!" In Herman Junction there was Thomas "Buster" Norwood and I don't have a clue to this day what "Oop" Rogers real name was. I had a cousin named Leonard Knight but we all called him "Boke" and another cousin named Tom Knight but we called him "Tuck". And then there is Roosevelt Spencer that everyone still calls "Roosy".
My nickname was and still is "Hook". That name is on my diploma and about everyone around home still calls me "Hook". There have been all kinds of stories told about how I came to get that name and I never correct anyone about it even when I know they are wrong. I know why I got that name but I ain't telling so you just think whatever you want to about it. I kind of like the name "Hook" and if you were named "Teddy Martin" you would like "Hook" too! My Uncle Charlie used to say, "Teddy Martin, going down the road a kickin' and a .......laughin!" I knew that he didn't mean 'laughing' though.
Barbara's family never called a soul by the name they were given at Birth. Oldest brother Floyd was called "Gabby" all his life. Shirley was next but the family called her "Hawey". Have you ever heard of such a name? The next sister was Melba Louise but everyone to this day calls her "Jane". My Lady Barbara has always been called "Bob" but she sure didn't look like a "Bob" to me, and little brother Johnny was called "Pete". Linda Faye came close to being called by her real name because everyone called her "Lin".
At school at Bay there was a ton of Nicknames and I am sure that I do not remember them all. I suppose that the one most well known guy out of Bay many years ago was Wally Moon. He was the rookie of the year with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team in 1954. But, everyone at Bay knew him as "Booger". Just a few years ago C.W. saw Wally and they addressed each other as "Gravy" and "Booger."
This post is going to go on forever if I don't stop. But, I will tell you some more nicknames that I remember and some of them I am not going to put the real name in because I don't want to have to whip someone that will jump on me about these names being revealed, especially the girls. I remember, Rip, Big Dog, Truck, Snuff, Duck, Cotton, Bird Dog, Hoss, Fat, Leech, Skinny, Ott, Gooley, and on and on the list goes. I suppose that I will miss someones nickname in this post but you get my point in all of this anyway. In spite of our identities being lost in all these nicknames, all is well at Herman Junction.
My oldest brother C.W. was called 'Gravy'. When he was in Korea he heard someone yell out the name 'Gravy' and it was a friend from home who was stationed in Korea too. I was told that when he was a little fellow a group of men were at our house helping Dad kill hogs. Some of the men told C.W. that they were going to take the meat home with them. He told them, "You can take all the meat but you can't have the gravy." From then on that was his name. Harvel's nickname was "Star". He was the catcher on the baseball team and when he was batting they would yell at him, "Come on, Star Baby", but later it was just Star. Rayburn's nickname was "Smiley". I don't have a clue where that came from. But, through the years I have met a lot of people who attended Harding College at the same time that he did and I will often ask, "Did you know my brother, Rayburn?" They will tell me that they don't remember him. Then I tell them that everyone called him "Smiley" and nine times out of ten they will say, "Yeah, we know Smiley!" In Herman Junction there was Thomas "Buster" Norwood and I don't have a clue to this day what "Oop" Rogers real name was. I had a cousin named Leonard Knight but we all called him "Boke" and another cousin named Tom Knight but we called him "Tuck". And then there is Roosevelt Spencer that everyone still calls "Roosy".
My nickname was and still is "Hook". That name is on my diploma and about everyone around home still calls me "Hook". There have been all kinds of stories told about how I came to get that name and I never correct anyone about it even when I know they are wrong. I know why I got that name but I ain't telling so you just think whatever you want to about it. I kind of like the name "Hook" and if you were named "Teddy Martin" you would like "Hook" too! My Uncle Charlie used to say, "Teddy Martin, going down the road a kickin' and a .......laughin!" I knew that he didn't mean 'laughing' though.
Barbara's family never called a soul by the name they were given at Birth. Oldest brother Floyd was called "Gabby" all his life. Shirley was next but the family called her "Hawey". Have you ever heard of such a name? The next sister was Melba Louise but everyone to this day calls her "Jane". My Lady Barbara has always been called "Bob" but she sure didn't look like a "Bob" to me, and little brother Johnny was called "Pete". Linda Faye came close to being called by her real name because everyone called her "Lin".
At school at Bay there was a ton of Nicknames and I am sure that I do not remember them all. I suppose that the one most well known guy out of Bay many years ago was Wally Moon. He was the rookie of the year with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team in 1954. But, everyone at Bay knew him as "Booger". Just a few years ago C.W. saw Wally and they addressed each other as "Gravy" and "Booger."
This post is going to go on forever if I don't stop. But, I will tell you some more nicknames that I remember and some of them I am not going to put the real name in because I don't want to have to whip someone that will jump on me about these names being revealed, especially the girls. I remember, Rip, Big Dog, Truck, Snuff, Duck, Cotton, Bird Dog, Hoss, Fat, Leech, Skinny, Ott, Gooley, and on and on the list goes. I suppose that I will miss someones nickname in this post but you get my point in all of this anyway. In spite of our identities being lost in all these nicknames, all is well at Herman Junction.
Friday, November 21, 2008
LINDA MARY KNIGHT JANUARY 8, 1942 POST #24
Suppose that you have given birth to FIVE boys (if you are a woman, of course) and they range in age from Eleven years to Twenty-Six months. Then you learn that you are pregnant again. There are no ultrasounds or other methods of technology so you won't know what the new one is until the Dr. tells you when it is delivered. Would you wish for another boy? Or, would you just nearly burst with anticipation of a little girl coming this time? I was the 26 months old fellow so Mom didn't talk to me about it too much so I don't know first hand what her heart was yearning for, but I was told later that she really wanted a girl.
Well, this time the girl came and she named her Linda Mary Knight. I can imagine the joy that she brought to Mom and Dad and those older brothers. When Kathleen Chester and I were born our mothers joked about trading me for Kathleen because Mom didn't have a girl. So, Linda filled Mom's desire for a little girl.
Have you ever been hit in the head with a SHOE? You see that is why Sisters are born! And, that is why my head is a bit whop-sided! Brothers that are just 26 months older evidently represent good targets for sisters acts of violence. You know that I would never think of doing anything that would deserve a blast with a shoe in the head! But, I got one. In fact, I may not have gotten more than one shoe in the head but there are other weapons that can be used you know. Besides that she was left-handed and left hands hurt more than right hands. You understand then some of the perilous times that I faced.
I suppose that I would have grown up and become a hermit if it had not been for Linda. I was so bashful that I would not think of talking to a girl about anything much less boy/girl things. So, when I was smitten with one Barbara Jean Earls and couldn't talk to her, Linda would relay bits and pieces of information between us and carry our notes back and forth until my tongue loosened up a bit. 'Bob' would come spend the night or come home with Linda on Sunday after church and eventually I could communicate with My Lady myself. Therefore, I have Linda to thank to a great extent for the 50+ years of happiness that I have enjoyed with My Lady.
There is no person that more personifies servant-hood to thier parents than Linda was to ours'. She lived near our parents as the years went by and was there to relieve thier every need. There is no way to count the number of trips that she made taking them to the doctor or the grocery store and everywhere else they needed to go. We lost Dad in 1994 and Linda checked on Mom every day until finally she just moved her clothes and things to Mom's house and lived with her while she continued to work. Upon Lin's retirement because of disability she moved into the house with Mom and provided her complete care day and night. Some of the others contributed to Mom's care, Ray and Rachel, Harvel and Bobbie and C.W., but Lin was there constantly. She continues to dwell at Herman Junction right next door to the 'big house' where we lived for all those years. Every year in the election she votes herself in as Mayor and she rules with an iron fisted left-hand. She is making sure that all is well at Herman Junction today.
Well, this time the girl came and she named her Linda Mary Knight. I can imagine the joy that she brought to Mom and Dad and those older brothers. When Kathleen Chester and I were born our mothers joked about trading me for Kathleen because Mom didn't have a girl. So, Linda filled Mom's desire for a little girl.
Have you ever been hit in the head with a SHOE? You see that is why Sisters are born! And, that is why my head is a bit whop-sided! Brothers that are just 26 months older evidently represent good targets for sisters acts of violence. You know that I would never think of doing anything that would deserve a blast with a shoe in the head! But, I got one. In fact, I may not have gotten more than one shoe in the head but there are other weapons that can be used you know. Besides that she was left-handed and left hands hurt more than right hands. You understand then some of the perilous times that I faced.
I suppose that I would have grown up and become a hermit if it had not been for Linda. I was so bashful that I would not think of talking to a girl about anything much less boy/girl things. So, when I was smitten with one Barbara Jean Earls and couldn't talk to her, Linda would relay bits and pieces of information between us and carry our notes back and forth until my tongue loosened up a bit. 'Bob' would come spend the night or come home with Linda on Sunday after church and eventually I could communicate with My Lady myself. Therefore, I have Linda to thank to a great extent for the 50+ years of happiness that I have enjoyed with My Lady.
There is no person that more personifies servant-hood to thier parents than Linda was to ours'. She lived near our parents as the years went by and was there to relieve thier every need. There is no way to count the number of trips that she made taking them to the doctor or the grocery store and everywhere else they needed to go. We lost Dad in 1994 and Linda checked on Mom every day until finally she just moved her clothes and things to Mom's house and lived with her while she continued to work. Upon Lin's retirement because of disability she moved into the house with Mom and provided her complete care day and night. Some of the others contributed to Mom's care, Ray and Rachel, Harvel and Bobbie and C.W., but Lin was there constantly. She continues to dwell at Herman Junction right next door to the 'big house' where we lived for all those years. Every year in the election she votes herself in as Mayor and she rules with an iron fisted left-hand. She is making sure that all is well at Herman Junction today.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
MR. MISCHIEVOUS! POST #23
I don't know why anyone would be into something all the time! I was never a mean guy even though when I was preaching in a meeting a few years ago and ate dinner with Sue (Barber) Nash who had been a school mate at Bay asked, "Teddy, why were you so mean?" I didn't think that I was mean but upon reflection to my Herman Junction days I guess that I did get into my share of goofy things. I may have even gotten into someone elses' shares too. I remember a few even though I try to forget.
Can you imagine anyone being so dumb as I was to do some of these things. One time several of us guys where standing at the door of a classroom and the door was shut. Up above the door was a small window and it was open. There was a larger window in the door too and one could see shadows on the other side. We decided that someone should take an eraser and just drop it through that top window on the head of Mrs. Melba Aston who was standing on the other side. I reached up there and dropped it and when she opened that door I was standing there ALONE! I don't know what happened to those other guys who vanished in a second. It was off to the principals office! I opened the windows when it was snowing so it would snow in on the girls sitting next to the windows. Why did I do such a thing? It was off to the principals office! I helped make an electric chair out of an old crank telephone and a metal chair. When someone would sit down in it we would crank the old phone and they got a shock. We all went to the principals office! Barbara was crying one day in study hall. I went over and leaned down to ask what I had done...I'm pretty sure that I was responsible somehow...and Mr. Cooper came over and sent us to his office. He came in behind us and scolded us pretty good for 'mugging' in the study hall. I didn't know what mugging was but we had to quit it! Another guy put a match under my leg one day while I was sitting at my desk and lit it without me knowing it, right in the middle of class. Of course, I yelled when it burned me, and it was off to visit Mr. Cooper. It got so that I thought that every time I did something I should have just gone to the office and waited on him because I knew what was coming.
But, that all stopped one day. I hadn't done a thing but I was sent to the principals office anyway. When I got there my Dad was standing in there! I wondered what he had done to get sent to the principals office? They talked a bit about my frequent visits with Mr. Cooper, with me standing there in front of them. Finally, my Dad said, "Why don't you whip him?" Mr. Cooper replied, "He is too big!" I'll never forget it...Dad said, "He may be too big for you but he's not to big for me." That was the last visit that I ever made to the principals office. By the way, I was not too big for Mr. Cooper to whip either because he was one tough guy and I respected him greatly.
I like to think of it as just having fun. After Barbara and I were married I did something one day that got her all stirred up and she was really after me. I ran into the bedroom and locked the door. She stood there banging on that door and yelling at me. I crawled out the window and came around and rang the door bell. We had been expecting company any minute and there she was yelling 'til you could hear her all over town and our company ringing the door bell. But, it was me at the door and I thought that she would think that was funny but that just made a bad thing worse! When the company came and I went to get dressed to go to Memphis, I had to crawl back through that window to get in the bedroom to change clothes. I wonder if they wondered about thier preacher and his wife?
I've about quit those things now. I'm too old to run and not smart enough to convince someone that I didn't do it, so I think that I'll just retire and pass on the Mr. Mischievous award to Derick Harless. In spite of all these things, all is well at Herman Junction.
Can you imagine anyone being so dumb as I was to do some of these things. One time several of us guys where standing at the door of a classroom and the door was shut. Up above the door was a small window and it was open. There was a larger window in the door too and one could see shadows on the other side. We decided that someone should take an eraser and just drop it through that top window on the head of Mrs. Melba Aston who was standing on the other side. I reached up there and dropped it and when she opened that door I was standing there ALONE! I don't know what happened to those other guys who vanished in a second. It was off to the principals office! I opened the windows when it was snowing so it would snow in on the girls sitting next to the windows. Why did I do such a thing? It was off to the principals office! I helped make an electric chair out of an old crank telephone and a metal chair. When someone would sit down in it we would crank the old phone and they got a shock. We all went to the principals office! Barbara was crying one day in study hall. I went over and leaned down to ask what I had done...I'm pretty sure that I was responsible somehow...and Mr. Cooper came over and sent us to his office. He came in behind us and scolded us pretty good for 'mugging' in the study hall. I didn't know what mugging was but we had to quit it! Another guy put a match under my leg one day while I was sitting at my desk and lit it without me knowing it, right in the middle of class. Of course, I yelled when it burned me, and it was off to visit Mr. Cooper. It got so that I thought that every time I did something I should have just gone to the office and waited on him because I knew what was coming.
But, that all stopped one day. I hadn't done a thing but I was sent to the principals office anyway. When I got there my Dad was standing in there! I wondered what he had done to get sent to the principals office? They talked a bit about my frequent visits with Mr. Cooper, with me standing there in front of them. Finally, my Dad said, "Why don't you whip him?" Mr. Cooper replied, "He is too big!" I'll never forget it...Dad said, "He may be too big for you but he's not to big for me." That was the last visit that I ever made to the principals office. By the way, I was not too big for Mr. Cooper to whip either because he was one tough guy and I respected him greatly.
I like to think of it as just having fun. After Barbara and I were married I did something one day that got her all stirred up and she was really after me. I ran into the bedroom and locked the door. She stood there banging on that door and yelling at me. I crawled out the window and came around and rang the door bell. We had been expecting company any minute and there she was yelling 'til you could hear her all over town and our company ringing the door bell. But, it was me at the door and I thought that she would think that was funny but that just made a bad thing worse! When the company came and I went to get dressed to go to Memphis, I had to crawl back through that window to get in the bedroom to change clothes. I wonder if they wondered about thier preacher and his wife?
I've about quit those things now. I'm too old to run and not smart enough to convince someone that I didn't do it, so I think that I'll just retire and pass on the Mr. Mischievous award to Derick Harless. In spite of all these things, all is well at Herman Junction.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
HERB GOT ME! POST #22
Sometimes I did things that were just plain dumb for a boy from Herman Junction. You know a fellow from there should have been smart enough to know better than to cross Herb Knight but I guess it takes a lot of learning for me.
The boys were playing baseball and I knew it. I wanted to be there so bad that I could have spit straight up. It was a beautiful day and I could just see them playing baseball and here I was having to plant corn. It would take me long enough that the baseball playing would be over by the time I finished. So, being the brilliant guy that I was I devised a plan. I simply dug a hole and put all the corn in it! A man cannot plant corn if he has no corn, right? When you run out of corn you can run into town and play baseball because all the corn is gone, anybody can see that. So, that is what I did.
Why are Daddies that are so dumb, so smart sometimes? He came home and I was gone and he knew that I could have been super-corn-planter himself and could not have been done by that time. It didn't take him long to see where I had planted that corn and he scratched around and sure enough found it in that hole. What was a Dad to do under those circumstances? I'll tell you what mine did.
He came to the school yard and there I was with all my buddies playing baseball and having a great time. When I saw him drive up I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me like it did that corn. I didn't wait for him to come get me though right there in front of my friends. I took off to the truck and hopped in with guilt bearing down heavy upon me. The lecture wasn't too bad, in fact if this is all I get this is going to be OK. It was not to be that easy. We got out of the truck and he headed for a mulberry tree and I didn't make it to the house. I had already learned that when Herb was going to do the whaling, I needed to start yelling before he even started, hoping that the yelling might make it shorter. It didn't! He used that mulberry limb to it's fullest and then I had to go dig up the corn and plant it in rows like it was supposed to be planted. I wore those whelps a day or two and if the ACLU or someone like that had been in business I might could have gotten him in a heap of trouble. But, I have often wondered how some of the meddlers of today in some of these kinds of things might have done if they had tried to meddle in Herb Knight's discipline of his boys?
"Be sure your sins will find you out!" That is what the Bible says but I would know that even if it wasn't in the Bible because mine found me out too many times!
The boys were playing baseball and I knew it. I wanted to be there so bad that I could have spit straight up. It was a beautiful day and I could just see them playing baseball and here I was having to plant corn. It would take me long enough that the baseball playing would be over by the time I finished. So, being the brilliant guy that I was I devised a plan. I simply dug a hole and put all the corn in it! A man cannot plant corn if he has no corn, right? When you run out of corn you can run into town and play baseball because all the corn is gone, anybody can see that. So, that is what I did.
Why are Daddies that are so dumb, so smart sometimes? He came home and I was gone and he knew that I could have been super-corn-planter himself and could not have been done by that time. It didn't take him long to see where I had planted that corn and he scratched around and sure enough found it in that hole. What was a Dad to do under those circumstances? I'll tell you what mine did.
He came to the school yard and there I was with all my buddies playing baseball and having a great time. When I saw him drive up I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me like it did that corn. I didn't wait for him to come get me though right there in front of my friends. I took off to the truck and hopped in with guilt bearing down heavy upon me. The lecture wasn't too bad, in fact if this is all I get this is going to be OK. It was not to be that easy. We got out of the truck and he headed for a mulberry tree and I didn't make it to the house. I had already learned that when Herb was going to do the whaling, I needed to start yelling before he even started, hoping that the yelling might make it shorter. It didn't! He used that mulberry limb to it's fullest and then I had to go dig up the corn and plant it in rows like it was supposed to be planted. I wore those whelps a day or two and if the ACLU or someone like that had been in business I might could have gotten him in a heap of trouble. But, I have often wondered how some of the meddlers of today in some of these kinds of things might have done if they had tried to meddle in Herb Knight's discipline of his boys?
"Be sure your sins will find you out!" That is what the Bible says but I would know that even if it wasn't in the Bible because mine found me out too many times!
Monday, November 17, 2008
THE COTTON BUSINESS: POST #21
My Dad worked on the railroad in my early years and then we went into the cotton business. Chopping and Picking that is. At Herman Junction we share cropped with Booie Woods and at other times we worked for a lot of other people. Linda and I picked cotton for Barbara's daddy up on the Easton place north of Bay. That is where I first began to pick at Barbara (Bob as we all called her and some folks at home still do). I threw 2000 cotton bolls at her through the years. Isn't it funny that a guy would try to get a girls attention by trying to hit her in the head with a green cotton boll? I made contact a few times and it wasn't funny what she said.
We worked some with Mr. Montgomery too. I remember so well the boys pulling bolls all day while dad was working on the railroad and just before he got off to come by the cotton patch they would get up in the wagon and take a hoe and chop it all up real good and it just looked like they were picking it rough. Dad would come in and say, "You boys are picking this cotton to rough!" They weren't picking it at all, they were pulling it and that did make a difference. When you pulled bolls you didn't have as much chance of nicking your fingers on that boll and causing yourself some misery. It sure did have an effect when you took the cotton to the gin if you had picked it rough. I didn't mind it as bad when the cotton was a little wet because it weighed heavier, but sometimes they knocked off some in weight for the water so it didn't help too much to pick wet cotton. I remember putting rocks, clods, old coke bottles and everything that I could find in my sack to make it weigh heavier but I got caught nearly every time. Crime doesn't even pay in the cotton patch.
One time Harvel threw a chunk of chewing tobacco away while the boys were chopping cotton. Later in the fall he found that chewing tobacco and made Jamie and Ray chew it. It had laid there thruogh all the rain and everything from the summer to the fall. They threw up their socks and were sick as they could be.
Some people could pick a lot of cotton and some worked just as hard as they could and couldn't pick nearly as much. Many years ago they had the National Cotton Picking Contest at Blytheville, Arkansas and if I remember correctly one guy picked 900 pounds in one day and won the championship. It would have taken me five days to do that!
Two of my favorite stories do not involve the Knight family. At Swifton the Bill Wheeler family raised cotton. Every day at a certain time Vesta would have lunch ready for the pickers. One day Gary wanted to go to the house early because he was so hungry and Bill Sr. kept telling him there was no use because dinner would be ready at the right time. Gary asked several times and was denied. Finally he asked his dad, "Could we just bow down here and offer thanks and then when we get home we can just start eating?" At that Bill went on to the house for dinner. Sam Wheeler was Bill Sr's brother. One time a bunch of people were at the dinner table and the jug of tea was sitting on the floor by Sam. One old boy kept saying, "Pass me the tea please."That bothered Sam a bit. After while Sam looked down at the tea jug and hollered, "Scat out of there!" He wasn't bothered by any more requests to pass the tea.
Barbara loved to pick cotton. After we moved to Swifton and Marty was a little boy, she would go to Bill Wheelers or Ira Ferrells and pick cotton. I had back trouble so I stayed home and took care of Marty, don't you know! Some years ago I wrote the following words as I recalled my cotton picking days:
We worked some with Mr. Montgomery too. I remember so well the boys pulling bolls all day while dad was working on the railroad and just before he got off to come by the cotton patch they would get up in the wagon and take a hoe and chop it all up real good and it just looked like they were picking it rough. Dad would come in and say, "You boys are picking this cotton to rough!" They weren't picking it at all, they were pulling it and that did make a difference. When you pulled bolls you didn't have as much chance of nicking your fingers on that boll and causing yourself some misery. It sure did have an effect when you took the cotton to the gin if you had picked it rough. I didn't mind it as bad when the cotton was a little wet because it weighed heavier, but sometimes they knocked off some in weight for the water so it didn't help too much to pick wet cotton. I remember putting rocks, clods, old coke bottles and everything that I could find in my sack to make it weigh heavier but I got caught nearly every time. Crime doesn't even pay in the cotton patch.
One time Harvel threw a chunk of chewing tobacco away while the boys were chopping cotton. Later in the fall he found that chewing tobacco and made Jamie and Ray chew it. It had laid there thruogh all the rain and everything from the summer to the fall. They threw up their socks and were sick as they could be.
Some people could pick a lot of cotton and some worked just as hard as they could and couldn't pick nearly as much. Many years ago they had the National Cotton Picking Contest at Blytheville, Arkansas and if I remember correctly one guy picked 900 pounds in one day and won the championship. It would have taken me five days to do that!
Two of my favorite stories do not involve the Knight family. At Swifton the Bill Wheeler family raised cotton. Every day at a certain time Vesta would have lunch ready for the pickers. One day Gary wanted to go to the house early because he was so hungry and Bill Sr. kept telling him there was no use because dinner would be ready at the right time. Gary asked several times and was denied. Finally he asked his dad, "Could we just bow down here and offer thanks and then when we get home we can just start eating?" At that Bill went on to the house for dinner. Sam Wheeler was Bill Sr's brother. One time a bunch of people were at the dinner table and the jug of tea was sitting on the floor by Sam. One old boy kept saying, "Pass me the tea please."That bothered Sam a bit. After while Sam looked down at the tea jug and hollered, "Scat out of there!" He wasn't bothered by any more requests to pass the tea.
Barbara loved to pick cotton. After we moved to Swifton and Marty was a little boy, she would go to Bill Wheelers or Ira Ferrells and pick cotton. I had back trouble so I stayed home and took care of Marty, don't you know! Some years ago I wrote the following words as I recalled my cotton picking days:
IT'S LATE IN THE EVENIN' AND THE SUN'S GOING DOWN;
I'VE BEEN WORKIN' HARD ON THIS HOT, HARD GROUND.
THEN I HEAR MY DADDY SAY WAY UP THE LINE,
"COME ON BOYS, IT'S QUITTIN' TIME."
WHEN I RAISED UP IT NEARLY BROKE MY BACK,
IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY PULLIN' THIS SACK.
BUT IT WON'T BE LONG 'TIL EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE
CAUSE DADDY'S DONE SAID, "IT'S QUITTIN' TIME."
I GO UP TO THE WAGON, CLIMB UP ON THAT BED,
LAY BACK ON THE COTTON TRYIN' TO REST MY HEAD.
LEAVIN' ALL THEM COTTON ROWS WAY BEHIND,
GOIN' TO THE HOUSE 'CAUSE IT'S QUITTIN' TIME.
I SEE MOMMA OUT BACK WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE,
SUPPERS WAITIN' SOON AS WE SAY GRACE.
THEM BEANS AND CORN BREAD, THEY'LL TASTE JUST FINE,
THEY'RE ALWAYS THERE COME QUITTIN' TIME.
BUT, IT WON'T BE LONG 'TIL THE SUNS GONNA RISE
AND DADDYS GONNA HOLLER, "COME ON, YOU GUYS;
WE GOT A LONG DAY AHEAD, A GOOD NIGHT BEHIND,
AND A LOT OF COTTON TO PICK 'FORE QUITTIN' TIME."
Yes, Sir, everything is alright at Herman Junction tonight.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
WALKING TO SCHOOL: POST #20
Our house was exactly three miles from Bay and the bus to take us to school always made our stop last and so we got to school later than I wanted to. So, most days I walked to school even in the cold weather. There were some interesting things that happened on my journey to school.
One time we were having a gospel meeting at Bay and I was about 14 years old. I had already decided that I wanted to be a preacher and so I would practice as I walked down the road. Doyle Gilliam, brother of our regular preacher was preaching in the meeting. The next morning as I walked to school I was preaching his sermon because I remembered it almost word for word. I was laying back the hide and pouring in the salt as I approached the Big Bay Ditch bridge and suddenly a man came walking out from under that bridge and asked, "Are we have a baptizing?" Embarrassed me to death! I walked on until I got out range for him to hear and picked up where I had left off and finished that sermon. I either preached or sung nearly all the way to school.
I seldom had to walk all the way. There was a man in Bay who was a carpenter and he liked to drink. Almost every day he would go to the county line very early in the morning before he would go to work and he would get him a bottle. As he came back he would pick me up and just before we got in to town he would stop and drink a big slug of that drink and he would always offer me one and I never took it. He would take me on the school and then he would go on to work. If he didn't go for his bottle one day then likely someone else would be going to town and I would nearly always get a ride into town.
Many times in the afternoon I would stay later at school and play ball or something and then have to walk home. I have walked many miles on the railroad track walking on the rails. A classmate recently reminded me of that by telling some of my friends that I could walk on a rail as well as I could walk on a highway. Today I can hardly raise my feet high enough to step over a rail! I did walk many miles on the rails as I made my way home.
One night after church I walked Barbara to her sisters house a few blocks from the building and then ran back to the church building to go home with the folks. When I got there they were already gone. I went to Aunt Mollie's and they had stopped and picked her up and took her to our house because a bad storm was coming I couldn't stay with her. I had to run home that night because of the storm and Dad told me that I needed to manage better. Can you imagine that? He left me and I was the one that needed to manage better. I never heard!
I've always loved to walk and still do. For almost 30 years now I have walked almost every day between three and five miles. I love it! People used to stop and try to give me a ride and other people are always wanting to walk me. No, I just want to walk. It's just me and the Lord and I sing, pray, meditate and watch out for the dogs and crazy drivers talking on the cell phone, putting on makeup, or garage salers trying to get to the next one as quickly as possible. One lady calls me the 'singing man' when she sees me walking. But, those walks to school are memorable ones and they make Herman Junction such a pleasant place and all is well there tonight.
One time we were having a gospel meeting at Bay and I was about 14 years old. I had already decided that I wanted to be a preacher and so I would practice as I walked down the road. Doyle Gilliam, brother of our regular preacher was preaching in the meeting. The next morning as I walked to school I was preaching his sermon because I remembered it almost word for word. I was laying back the hide and pouring in the salt as I approached the Big Bay Ditch bridge and suddenly a man came walking out from under that bridge and asked, "Are we have a baptizing?" Embarrassed me to death! I walked on until I got out range for him to hear and picked up where I had left off and finished that sermon. I either preached or sung nearly all the way to school.
I seldom had to walk all the way. There was a man in Bay who was a carpenter and he liked to drink. Almost every day he would go to the county line very early in the morning before he would go to work and he would get him a bottle. As he came back he would pick me up and just before we got in to town he would stop and drink a big slug of that drink and he would always offer me one and I never took it. He would take me on the school and then he would go on to work. If he didn't go for his bottle one day then likely someone else would be going to town and I would nearly always get a ride into town.
Many times in the afternoon I would stay later at school and play ball or something and then have to walk home. I have walked many miles on the railroad track walking on the rails. A classmate recently reminded me of that by telling some of my friends that I could walk on a rail as well as I could walk on a highway. Today I can hardly raise my feet high enough to step over a rail! I did walk many miles on the rails as I made my way home.
One night after church I walked Barbara to her sisters house a few blocks from the building and then ran back to the church building to go home with the folks. When I got there they were already gone. I went to Aunt Mollie's and they had stopped and picked her up and took her to our house because a bad storm was coming I couldn't stay with her. I had to run home that night because of the storm and Dad told me that I needed to manage better. Can you imagine that? He left me and I was the one that needed to manage better. I never heard!
I've always loved to walk and still do. For almost 30 years now I have walked almost every day between three and five miles. I love it! People used to stop and try to give me a ride and other people are always wanting to walk me. No, I just want to walk. It's just me and the Lord and I sing, pray, meditate and watch out for the dogs and crazy drivers talking on the cell phone, putting on makeup, or garage salers trying to get to the next one as quickly as possible. One lady calls me the 'singing man' when she sees me walking. But, those walks to school are memorable ones and they make Herman Junction such a pleasant place and all is well there tonight.
OUR BLACK FRIENDS: POST #19
Between our house and Bay, and across the tracks from where we lived, there was a settlement of black families. On our side of the tracks was the graveyard for them and we had to walk right by it every time we walked to town or back from town. I was scared to death of that graveyard at night. It wasn't because they were black, it was because they were dead! I could imagine all of them rising up from those graves and trying to catch me so I walked by a little faster and tried to be as quiet as possible because I had heard Mom and Dad say that we were so noisy we could wake the dead and I certainly didn't want to do that!
I remember those families as clearly as if we were all still there today. There was 'Hay' and his family and right now I cannot remember his last name. James Davis and his family lived there too and had several kids. Hay was a mighty strong man. He was built like a brick outhouse as we often said and folks that was a strong outhouse. In spite of his muscular build he was one of the most quiet and gentle people that I have ever known. He drank a lot but he was never rowdy and loud to my knowledge. Then, there was James Davis. I have picked a lot of cotton with James Davis and his kids. Do you know what he called himself and everyone else called him that too? "N----- James." I didn't know that there was anything wrong with that then but I wouldn't call him that today. I did wonder why his kids and the others didn't go to school with us at Bay and had to ride a bus all the way to Jonesboro. When James would pick cotton he would say, "Watch them fingas, watch them fingas" and he could pick a lot of cotton. He really picked fast. His son was named Eugene but James called him Lugene. He would stand up about dinner time and yell and say, "Lugene, you want a BANONA?" He didn't say banana like we did. Lugene would say, "Ah, Hah" because he didn't say "uh, huh" like we did either. That's about all that I ever heard Eugene say was "Ah, Hah!" James lived right near the bridge that went over the Little Bay Ditch and every time it would come up a storm he would run as fast as he could, leaving his wife and kids at the house, and crawl up under that bridge. One day someone asked him what he left his family behind. I will never forget what he said: "I can get myself another wife and some mo' kids, but I can't get myself no mo' James!" One day James disappeared and to my knowledge was never heard from again. Some thought that he went to Chicago to work but we never knew. I'll bet that he got himself another wife and some mo' kids!
I cannot write about our black friends without mentioning "Big Boy" Bill Poindexter. He was equal to several men when it was time to work. So kind and good that I will not forget him. Dad went to work on the railroad as a scrawny youngster and he worked with Big Boy. Dad told me that Big Boy would tell him to go sit down and rest and Big Boy did the work for both of them until Dad could get back to work. The last conversation that I had with Dad he talked nearly all night and I finally got a pen and piece of paper and just took notes. One of the things that he talked about was his relationship with Big Boy Poindexter and how much he loved him. Before Big Boy died he was in bad health and his wife, his second one, was mean to him. Dad told me that he would go to Jonesboro, get up on Big Boys back and massage him to make him feel better. Then, he would put a belt around Big Boys waist so he could hold him up good and he would walk him around the house to get some exercise for him. Dad said that it was a sad, sad, day for him when Big Boy died. There was another black man whose name was Early Hughes that was loved by everyone around the area. One Sunday night he kind of went out of his mind and came to Bay and was out in the street yelling and hollering and waving a shotgun. Dad took us on home and came back to Bay because he thought that he could help calm Early down but when he got there Early was already dead. The town marshal got behind the theater and shot and killed him. When they got to Early his gun was not loaded. But, the marshal didn't know that. I have always thought that there could have been another way.
I am thankful for our black friends. They made life better and made Herman Junction a better place to live and they contributed to Herman Junction being well today.
I remember those families as clearly as if we were all still there today. There was 'Hay' and his family and right now I cannot remember his last name. James Davis and his family lived there too and had several kids. Hay was a mighty strong man. He was built like a brick outhouse as we often said and folks that was a strong outhouse. In spite of his muscular build he was one of the most quiet and gentle people that I have ever known. He drank a lot but he was never rowdy and loud to my knowledge. Then, there was James Davis. I have picked a lot of cotton with James Davis and his kids. Do you know what he called himself and everyone else called him that too? "N----- James." I didn't know that there was anything wrong with that then but I wouldn't call him that today. I did wonder why his kids and the others didn't go to school with us at Bay and had to ride a bus all the way to Jonesboro. When James would pick cotton he would say, "Watch them fingas, watch them fingas" and he could pick a lot of cotton. He really picked fast. His son was named Eugene but James called him Lugene. He would stand up about dinner time and yell and say, "Lugene, you want a BANONA?" He didn't say banana like we did. Lugene would say, "Ah, Hah" because he didn't say "uh, huh" like we did either. That's about all that I ever heard Eugene say was "Ah, Hah!" James lived right near the bridge that went over the Little Bay Ditch and every time it would come up a storm he would run as fast as he could, leaving his wife and kids at the house, and crawl up under that bridge. One day someone asked him what he left his family behind. I will never forget what he said: "I can get myself another wife and some mo' kids, but I can't get myself no mo' James!" One day James disappeared and to my knowledge was never heard from again. Some thought that he went to Chicago to work but we never knew. I'll bet that he got himself another wife and some mo' kids!
I cannot write about our black friends without mentioning "Big Boy" Bill Poindexter. He was equal to several men when it was time to work. So kind and good that I will not forget him. Dad went to work on the railroad as a scrawny youngster and he worked with Big Boy. Dad told me that Big Boy would tell him to go sit down and rest and Big Boy did the work for both of them until Dad could get back to work. The last conversation that I had with Dad he talked nearly all night and I finally got a pen and piece of paper and just took notes. One of the things that he talked about was his relationship with Big Boy Poindexter and how much he loved him. Before Big Boy died he was in bad health and his wife, his second one, was mean to him. Dad told me that he would go to Jonesboro, get up on Big Boys back and massage him to make him feel better. Then, he would put a belt around Big Boys waist so he could hold him up good and he would walk him around the house to get some exercise for him. Dad said that it was a sad, sad, day for him when Big Boy died. There was another black man whose name was Early Hughes that was loved by everyone around the area. One Sunday night he kind of went out of his mind and came to Bay and was out in the street yelling and hollering and waving a shotgun. Dad took us on home and came back to Bay because he thought that he could help calm Early down but when he got there Early was already dead. The town marshal got behind the theater and shot and killed him. When they got to Early his gun was not loaded. But, the marshal didn't know that. I have always thought that there could have been another way.
I am thankful for our black friends. They made life better and made Herman Junction a better place to live and they contributed to Herman Junction being well today.
RAYBURN LEO (SMILEY) KNIGHT: POST #18
I wonder where that Leo came from? I never did know. Anyway, on OCT. 28, 1936 he made his appearance into the Knight family, the fourth boy in a row. I would be boy number five a few years later and Barbara says that Mom probably wanted a girl so bad that she should have set me in the trash basket. But, Ray was number four. He was affectionately called "SMILEY in his high school and college days because he had a smile on his face almost constantly.
Since Ray was the closest one to me in age he was the one that I always tried to pattern my life after. I did a lot of the same things that he did and he had a pretty powerful influence over me. He used that power sometimes to my chagrin. It was a very cold, snowy, day when he needed to walk about two miles to see someone for something and he wanted me to go with him. I may have been younger but I wasn't stupid! I told him 'NO' a couple of times. I learned later that he went in the kitchen where Mom was and told her, "Watch me make him go with me." He came back to me in a minute and said, "I wouldn't let you go with me if you wanted to!" I didn't take the bait. So, he came across again with a little more fervor that I could not go with him for anything in the world. He said the wrong thing for me that time. I walked FOUR miles and nearly froze to death but I showed him!
I love to hear him tell today about Principal Arthur Cooper taking him to the 'sweat room' one time and threatening to thrash him for something. Ray had no idea why he was accusing him of something that he knew nothing about and continued to deny any guilt. Then, it hit him what was wrong and he told Mr. Cooper that it was me! Boy, I wish that Ray had gotten that whipping. Ray helped me out more than a lot of times. Older brother Harvel owned a service station at Truman and he always had a pocket full of change. I would get up very early sometimes and get me a few cents out of Harvel's pants and put them in my pants and then go back to bed. I knew that Harvel didn't know how much change he had and he wouldn't miss a few cents. One morning early I got up and got my stash for the day and put it in my pants. The next morning I walked to school, stopped in the 'the station' as we called it for a soda pop and a bag of peanuts and discovered that I had no money. What in the world had happened? I figured it out. I had put my money in the wrong pants. I went to Ray's class later in the day and asked the teacher if I could speak to my brother. Ray came out in the hall and I asked him to check and see if he had Twenty cents in his pocket. He did and he did! He gave me my money, didn't ask where I got it and never told on me because I think that he knew how I came by those two dimes. I quit stealing right then and asked Harvel for some money from then on and he would always give me some. Wonder why I didn't think of asking in the first place?
The best thing that Ray ever did for me happened when I enrolled at Harding College and he had already been there a couple of years. He was in the SUB-T 16 club and I wanted to join it. It was the most popular club for men on campus. The initiation was a bit tough in two or three ways. When you had to stand, bend over and hold your ankles, and let each member come by and hit you with a belt it was pretty awesome because some of those guys would nearly lift you off the floor. But, the one thing that challenged me more than any other was sucking a raw egg. I had never eaten an egg and still haven't. Mom said that when I was a baby and she would try to feed me an egg, cooked in any fashion, I would throw up! Now, here I am a big boy at Harding and I've got to suck a raw egg. Ray was the guy to hold the egg in my mouth and do you know what he did? He held his finger over that hole and I didn't have to suck that egg but nobody knew it. I sure was thankful for that.
Ray entered Harding College upon graduation from Bay High School and graduated from Harding in 1961. He joined General Electri Credit Corporation where he worked for 25 years.
Ray married Rachel Hamley in September 1968 in Laporte, Indiana and they live now in Nashville, Tennessee and are in poor health. The three remaining children, Terri, Todd, and Tammy live there and see after them. Their oldest son Tim died in a motorcycle accident in 1982 and that hurt me really bad because Tim was one of my favorite guys from the day that he was born. It's been good to visit in my memory back at Herman Junction today and all is well there still.
(Ray lost his beloved wife Rachel on September 11, 2009. She had suffered for a long time and battled courageously against several different health problems. We all miss her so very much.)
(Ray passed away on January 1, 2011 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Tenn. beside his beloved Rachel.)
Since Ray was the closest one to me in age he was the one that I always tried to pattern my life after. I did a lot of the same things that he did and he had a pretty powerful influence over me. He used that power sometimes to my chagrin. It was a very cold, snowy, day when he needed to walk about two miles to see someone for something and he wanted me to go with him. I may have been younger but I wasn't stupid! I told him 'NO' a couple of times. I learned later that he went in the kitchen where Mom was and told her, "Watch me make him go with me." He came back to me in a minute and said, "I wouldn't let you go with me if you wanted to!" I didn't take the bait. So, he came across again with a little more fervor that I could not go with him for anything in the world. He said the wrong thing for me that time. I walked FOUR miles and nearly froze to death but I showed him!
I love to hear him tell today about Principal Arthur Cooper taking him to the 'sweat room' one time and threatening to thrash him for something. Ray had no idea why he was accusing him of something that he knew nothing about and continued to deny any guilt. Then, it hit him what was wrong and he told Mr. Cooper that it was me! Boy, I wish that Ray had gotten that whipping. Ray helped me out more than a lot of times. Older brother Harvel owned a service station at Truman and he always had a pocket full of change. I would get up very early sometimes and get me a few cents out of Harvel's pants and put them in my pants and then go back to bed. I knew that Harvel didn't know how much change he had and he wouldn't miss a few cents. One morning early I got up and got my stash for the day and put it in my pants. The next morning I walked to school, stopped in the 'the station' as we called it for a soda pop and a bag of peanuts and discovered that I had no money. What in the world had happened? I figured it out. I had put my money in the wrong pants. I went to Ray's class later in the day and asked the teacher if I could speak to my brother. Ray came out in the hall and I asked him to check and see if he had Twenty cents in his pocket. He did and he did! He gave me my money, didn't ask where I got it and never told on me because I think that he knew how I came by those two dimes. I quit stealing right then and asked Harvel for some money from then on and he would always give me some. Wonder why I didn't think of asking in the first place?
The best thing that Ray ever did for me happened when I enrolled at Harding College and he had already been there a couple of years. He was in the SUB-T 16 club and I wanted to join it. It was the most popular club for men on campus. The initiation was a bit tough in two or three ways. When you had to stand, bend over and hold your ankles, and let each member come by and hit you with a belt it was pretty awesome because some of those guys would nearly lift you off the floor. But, the one thing that challenged me more than any other was sucking a raw egg. I had never eaten an egg and still haven't. Mom said that when I was a baby and she would try to feed me an egg, cooked in any fashion, I would throw up! Now, here I am a big boy at Harding and I've got to suck a raw egg. Ray was the guy to hold the egg in my mouth and do you know what he did? He held his finger over that hole and I didn't have to suck that egg but nobody knew it. I sure was thankful for that.
Ray entered Harding College upon graduation from Bay High School and graduated from Harding in 1961. He joined General Electri Credit Corporation where he worked for 25 years.
Ray married Rachel Hamley in September 1968 in Laporte, Indiana and they live now in Nashville, Tennessee and are in poor health. The three remaining children, Terri, Todd, and Tammy live there and see after them. Their oldest son Tim died in a motorcycle accident in 1982 and that hurt me really bad because Tim was one of my favorite guys from the day that he was born. It's been good to visit in my memory back at Herman Junction today and all is well there still.
(Ray lost his beloved wife Rachel on September 11, 2009. She had suffered for a long time and battled courageously against several different health problems. We all miss her so very much.)
(Ray passed away on January 1, 2011 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Tenn. beside his beloved Rachel.)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
JAMES LOUIS KNIGHT MARCH 17, 1934-MARCH 24, 1978: #17
Everybody needs a brother like James (Jamie) knight. He was the third son of Dad and Mom, born on March 17, 1934. He was one of the most gentle men that I have ever known. I never knew of Jamie getting into trouble at school, with our parents, or anyone else. He was a quiet guy and that may have been because he followed Harvel in the line of boys and it paid to be quiet when Harvel wanted you to.
One of the funniest things that I remember happening involving Jamie, and probably the most mischievious thing that he ever did happened one night after everyone was in the bed. I have mentioned that in the 'big house' we had three bedrooms. Dad and Mom took one, when Granny was with us she took one and Linda slept with her some, and then the boys had the other room. Most times there were two boys in one bed and sometimes three. One night Jamie and Rayburn were in bed and they were talking and cutting up. Dad kept saying, "You boys quieten down in there." But, Jamie must have been feeling too good to go to sleep or something and he just kept on. After about two or three admonitions from Dad and them being ignored, the boys heard Dad take the razorstrap off the nail and they knew what was coming. Jamie was the instigator of about all of the noise and when he heard Dad coming he just rolled off the edge of the bed between the bed and the wall. Dad came in and it was dark of course, he pulled back the cover and started whaling away and saying, "Jamie, are you gonna stop this racket and go to sleep?" Rayburn kept yelling, "I ain't Jamie!", but it took Dad a few swipes with that razor strap before he realized that he wasn't whipping Jamie. I guess Rayburn needed it anyway and he probably got Jamie out from behind that bed and he got his too.
When I first started preaching Jamie had already been preaching a few years and I needed help. I had four volumes of Hardeman's tabernacle sermons and a Bible and that was it. Harvel sent me a few outlines and I stole a few from him when I would visit, but James sent me a lot of help in addition to writing a lot of letters of encouragement and instruction. Until the day that he died he was a great help to me. His wife Elta gave me Jamie's library after he died and I have been blessed tremendously by it.
He preached in a meeting for us in Michigan City, Indiana, my first local work. He, Elta, and Cindy came up from Oklahoma and the church had very little money to help with their expenses. They came in a brand new car. One night we had a baptism and had to go to LaPorte for the baptism and croYsing over a railroad a bit too fast he ruined that car and had to trade for a new one to get home. He had only a few miles on his car. It was my great pleasure to preach in gospel meetings in Farmerville, La. where they lived. In recent years I have been back there to preach in meetings and many times people will tell me, "Your brother married us", or "Your brother preached my mates funeral" and many of them tell me, "Your brother baptized me." He has been gone for more than 30 years but is still deeply loved at Farmerville. I consider it a compliment when some of the people call me James before they catch themselves. Jamie really made sure that all is well at Herman Junction.
Jamie died in March 1978 after having some health problems for some time. He is buried at home in Farmerville, La. His wife, Elta Starling Knight still lives in Fermerville. He also left a daughter, Cindy Johns who lives in Monroe, La. and a son Steve Knight who lives in Beaumont, Tx. Granddaughter Kelli lives in Jackson, Tn. and she and her husband produced James on Great-Grandchild, a boy names Cash.
One of the funniest things that I remember happening involving Jamie, and probably the most mischievious thing that he ever did happened one night after everyone was in the bed. I have mentioned that in the 'big house' we had three bedrooms. Dad and Mom took one, when Granny was with us she took one and Linda slept with her some, and then the boys had the other room. Most times there were two boys in one bed and sometimes three. One night Jamie and Rayburn were in bed and they were talking and cutting up. Dad kept saying, "You boys quieten down in there." But, Jamie must have been feeling too good to go to sleep or something and he just kept on. After about two or three admonitions from Dad and them being ignored, the boys heard Dad take the razorstrap off the nail and they knew what was coming. Jamie was the instigator of about all of the noise and when he heard Dad coming he just rolled off the edge of the bed between the bed and the wall. Dad came in and it was dark of course, he pulled back the cover and started whaling away and saying, "Jamie, are you gonna stop this racket and go to sleep?" Rayburn kept yelling, "I ain't Jamie!", but it took Dad a few swipes with that razor strap before he realized that he wasn't whipping Jamie. I guess Rayburn needed it anyway and he probably got Jamie out from behind that bed and he got his too.
When I first started preaching Jamie had already been preaching a few years and I needed help. I had four volumes of Hardeman's tabernacle sermons and a Bible and that was it. Harvel sent me a few outlines and I stole a few from him when I would visit, but James sent me a lot of help in addition to writing a lot of letters of encouragement and instruction. Until the day that he died he was a great help to me. His wife Elta gave me Jamie's library after he died and I have been blessed tremendously by it.
He preached in a meeting for us in Michigan City, Indiana, my first local work. He, Elta, and Cindy came up from Oklahoma and the church had very little money to help with their expenses. They came in a brand new car. One night we had a baptism and had to go to LaPorte for the baptism and croYsing over a railroad a bit too fast he ruined that car and had to trade for a new one to get home. He had only a few miles on his car. It was my great pleasure to preach in gospel meetings in Farmerville, La. where they lived. In recent years I have been back there to preach in meetings and many times people will tell me, "Your brother married us", or "Your brother preached my mates funeral" and many of them tell me, "Your brother baptized me." He has been gone for more than 30 years but is still deeply loved at Farmerville. I consider it a compliment when some of the people call me James before they catch themselves. Jamie really made sure that all is well at Herman Junction.
Jamie died in March 1978 after having some health problems for some time. He is buried at home in Farmerville, La. His wife, Elta Starling Knight still lives in Fermerville. He also left a daughter, Cindy Johns who lives in Monroe, La. and a son Steve Knight who lives in Beaumont, Tx. Granddaughter Kelli lives in Jackson, Tn. and she and her husband produced James on Great-Grandchild, a boy names Cash.
Friday, November 14, 2008
TRACTORS: POST #16
I have loved tractors all of my life. When I was small my Dad traded our pair of horses to Lofty Preston for a big, Red, M Farmall tractor. Since that time my favorite tractor has been a Farmall although I like all the others as well. About the time that he traded for that tractor I got one just like it for Christmas I guess. It was Red too! It had two or three other pieces of equipment and I remember playing in the dirt with for hours. I have had three experiences with tractors including the one when Dad traded the horses for the big M, that I will never forget.
There was man named Poss Phillips who lived in our area and he drank quite a bit. One time he came into town, probably to bring a load of cotton to the gin, and while we was waiting for his cotton to be ginned he had a little too much to drink. When he started home he was driving across the big bridge over Gum Slough ditch and ran off into the ditch filled with water. He died in that accident. He was pulling the wagon and they got it and of course the tractor out of the ditch and my Dad bought that wagon. For many, many, years Dad kept that wagon and every time that I looked at it I thought of that tragic accident that took the life of one of our neighbors.
The most memorable tractor story that I vividly remember is one that involved me and Dad's little Allis-Chalmers tractor that he had bought. The wheels on the front were spread far apart. Dad had taken the tractor to a garage in town and worked on it and the day that we went to get it we had a problem. Dad had driven the truck and the tractor needed to be driven home too. So, he asked me if I thought that I could drive the tractor home. I was about 14 years old. I told him that I could do it.
When I left for home I knew that Dad was standing in the street watching me drive down the road to Herman Junction. When I got a pretty good distance from town and I knew that he wasn't looking, I began turning the wheels and driving back and forth from one side of the road the other ....back and forth, back and forth. One time I got the wheels turned so far to the right that I couldn't get them turned back in time and ran down a big embankment and turned over in the ditch. It threw me off in the railroad right of way and I was not hurt. It scared the thunder out of me. I jumped up on the road and took off running back to the garage where Dad was. I ran in there and told him that I had met a drunk man in a white car and he ran me off the road and I turned the tractor over. Would you believe that Clarence Rodgers came driving up and heard me tell that story and said, "Herb, I met that same SOB and he nearly ran me off the road too!" Do you believe in miracles? Here I had told the biggest lie of my life and had a witness to back me up! I don't know what or who Clarence Rodgers saw but to this day I have not seen that white car with a drunk driver. You know, I don't think that I ever did tell Dad the truth about that incident. If I had he surely would have taken the razor strap to me regardless of my age.
Mom's best friend from her childhood days was Gladys Bradke Cook from Enola, Arkansas. Glad and her girls came to visit us occasionally and they were there when I turned over the tractor. I had the biggest crush in the world on Allie Rae, one of her girls. But, she and my older brother Ray were the same ago and they had a crush on each other so I was just left out of the picture. That is until the day that I wrecked the tractor. I was lying on the bed after we got home and Allie Rae came and sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my forehead. I thought that I had died in the tractor wreck and an angel was taking care of me! Allie is to this day a great friend and we love her children to death. By the way, she doesn't even know this story but it sure is the truth. See, that is one of the reasons why all is well at Herman Junction.
There was man named Poss Phillips who lived in our area and he drank quite a bit. One time he came into town, probably to bring a load of cotton to the gin, and while we was waiting for his cotton to be ginned he had a little too much to drink. When he started home he was driving across the big bridge over Gum Slough ditch and ran off into the ditch filled with water. He died in that accident. He was pulling the wagon and they got it and of course the tractor out of the ditch and my Dad bought that wagon. For many, many, years Dad kept that wagon and every time that I looked at it I thought of that tragic accident that took the life of one of our neighbors.
The most memorable tractor story that I vividly remember is one that involved me and Dad's little Allis-Chalmers tractor that he had bought. The wheels on the front were spread far apart. Dad had taken the tractor to a garage in town and worked on it and the day that we went to get it we had a problem. Dad had driven the truck and the tractor needed to be driven home too. So, he asked me if I thought that I could drive the tractor home. I was about 14 years old. I told him that I could do it.
When I left for home I knew that Dad was standing in the street watching me drive down the road to Herman Junction. When I got a pretty good distance from town and I knew that he wasn't looking, I began turning the wheels and driving back and forth from one side of the road the other ....back and forth, back and forth. One time I got the wheels turned so far to the right that I couldn't get them turned back in time and ran down a big embankment and turned over in the ditch. It threw me off in the railroad right of way and I was not hurt. It scared the thunder out of me. I jumped up on the road and took off running back to the garage where Dad was. I ran in there and told him that I had met a drunk man in a white car and he ran me off the road and I turned the tractor over. Would you believe that Clarence Rodgers came driving up and heard me tell that story and said, "Herb, I met that same SOB and he nearly ran me off the road too!" Do you believe in miracles? Here I had told the biggest lie of my life and had a witness to back me up! I don't know what or who Clarence Rodgers saw but to this day I have not seen that white car with a drunk driver. You know, I don't think that I ever did tell Dad the truth about that incident. If I had he surely would have taken the razor strap to me regardless of my age.
Mom's best friend from her childhood days was Gladys Bradke Cook from Enola, Arkansas. Glad and her girls came to visit us occasionally and they were there when I turned over the tractor. I had the biggest crush in the world on Allie Rae, one of her girls. But, she and my older brother Ray were the same ago and they had a crush on each other so I was just left out of the picture. That is until the day that I wrecked the tractor. I was lying on the bed after we got home and Allie Rae came and sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my forehead. I thought that I had died in the tractor wreck and an angel was taking care of me! Allie is to this day a great friend and we love her children to death. By the way, she doesn't even know this story but it sure is the truth. See, that is one of the reasons why all is well at Herman Junction.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
BARBARA JEAN EARLS BALDRIDGE KNIGHT: #15
I received a message on email this week that showed a picture of a 1936 Ford car. It was one of only four of those cars produced and is the only one that is still in good running condition. It was made of pure stainless steel and is as beautiful as it was the day that it was made. It is insured for $1.5 million dollars! It would be wonderful to get to actually see that car.
But, I have something more unique and by far more valuable and I fell in love with her at Herman Junction, Arkansas many, many, years ago. Barbara Jean Earls Baldridge Knight is in a class all by herself. There was only one of this model made. She, like the unusual car is still as beautiful as ever and in good running condition. I had a shirt made for her once that said on the front, "This old gray mare is still what she used to be!" And she certainly is.
Barbara was raised in a family with two brothers and three sisters. She also had a half sister from a previous marriage of her father. Barbara would tell me through the years that she felt that she had a biological father somewhere that she didn't know. When she was 41 years of age she learned that she did indeed have a biological father and learned where he was and visited him. She learned that she had two more brothers and two more sisters. She contacted them in 1998 and since then has become very close to them. So, she is probably the only person in the world that had four brothers and five sisters but biologically is an only child! I have kidded her that many years ago two good people made a mistake and I married it!
I said that I fell in love at Herman Junction, Arkansas. When we were youngsters we didn't have a 'youth minister' but the parents attended to that task. We had a bunch of young people our age at church and the parents were great at entertaining and teaching us. We had parties in those days at our homes and we played games of all kinds, but usually played a game or two where the guy and gal would go walking as we called it. We would get in a circle and put a coke bottle in the middle and a guy or gal would spin it. When it stopped spinning the guy would go walking with the gal that it was pointing at or or the gal would walk with the guy it was pointing at.
One night we played that game and I gave the bottle a spin and when it stopped it was pointing at 'Bob' as we all called her in those days. We took our walk down the road a little while and on the way back we stopped and I took her in my arms and kissed her in the middle of the old dirt road. That was the first time. A few days later she came home with my sister for Sunday dinner and we had a great time all afternoon. That evening as we crawled into Dad's 1939 Ford car to go to church, somehow my hand and hers touched and we held hands all the way to church. There has never been a moment since then that I have not loved her. We were married at Herman Junction in the 'big house' on July 24, 1958 and someday I will tell you about that wedding. We enjoyed many, many, wonderful times at Herman Junction and still go back there to visit my sister and remember the beginning of our 50 plus years of being in love.
So, I have something far more beautiful and valuable than an old 1936 stainless steel Ford. I think that I will just keep her! Now, you surely understand why I say that all is well at Herman Junction.
But, I have something more unique and by far more valuable and I fell in love with her at Herman Junction, Arkansas many, many, years ago. Barbara Jean Earls Baldridge Knight is in a class all by herself. There was only one of this model made. She, like the unusual car is still as beautiful as ever and in good running condition. I had a shirt made for her once that said on the front, "This old gray mare is still what she used to be!" And she certainly is.
Barbara was raised in a family with two brothers and three sisters. She also had a half sister from a previous marriage of her father. Barbara would tell me through the years that she felt that she had a biological father somewhere that she didn't know. When she was 41 years of age she learned that she did indeed have a biological father and learned where he was and visited him. She learned that she had two more brothers and two more sisters. She contacted them in 1998 and since then has become very close to them. So, she is probably the only person in the world that had four brothers and five sisters but biologically is an only child! I have kidded her that many years ago two good people made a mistake and I married it!
I said that I fell in love at Herman Junction, Arkansas. When we were youngsters we didn't have a 'youth minister' but the parents attended to that task. We had a bunch of young people our age at church and the parents were great at entertaining and teaching us. We had parties in those days at our homes and we played games of all kinds, but usually played a game or two where the guy and gal would go walking as we called it. We would get in a circle and put a coke bottle in the middle and a guy or gal would spin it. When it stopped spinning the guy would go walking with the gal that it was pointing at or or the gal would walk with the guy it was pointing at.
One night we played that game and I gave the bottle a spin and when it stopped it was pointing at 'Bob' as we all called her in those days. We took our walk down the road a little while and on the way back we stopped and I took her in my arms and kissed her in the middle of the old dirt road. That was the first time. A few days later she came home with my sister for Sunday dinner and we had a great time all afternoon. That evening as we crawled into Dad's 1939 Ford car to go to church, somehow my hand and hers touched and we held hands all the way to church. There has never been a moment since then that I have not loved her. We were married at Herman Junction in the 'big house' on July 24, 1958 and someday I will tell you about that wedding. We enjoyed many, many, wonderful times at Herman Junction and still go back there to visit my sister and remember the beginning of our 50 plus years of being in love.
So, I have something far more beautiful and valuable than an old 1936 stainless steel Ford. I think that I will just keep her! Now, you surely understand why I say that all is well at Herman Junction.
HERBERT HENRY KNIGHT, APRIL 22, 1910-JAN.30,1994:#14
I have often wondered why Dad chose Herman Junction to buy a small piece of land to build a house for his family. And, I have often wondered how in the world he managed to do it at all! He was working on the railroad and Mom said that he would buy some materials every time that he got paid until he got enough to get started. Then, there were some other men who helped him voluntarily and one or two that he had to pay some money for thier work. Most of you have never heard of 'swapping labor' where someone would help you in your crop or wherever you might need help and then you would return the favor. But, I remember that well
There are several things that always come to my mind when I think of Dad. He was one of the finest singers and song leaders that I have ever heard. I can hear him now as he gets ready to begin a song..."Do, sol, mi, sol, do.....On the first." He knew music and seldom got one too high or too low. My favorite song to this day is the one that I first learned sitting on his knee and singing with him as a child..."Each day I'll do a golden deed, by helping those who are in need." You remember that as "A Beautiful Life." I have some tapes of him leading singing and some of him singing at our family reunions. One time a cousin objected to us singing at our reunions but Dad said, "When the Knight's get together, the Knight's sing." And, we sill do.
I viewed him as the strongest man that I ever knew. When there was a horse that needed shoeing and no one could get it done, Dad would throw that horse just like he would throw a man and the horse had new shoes in a few minutes. I heard the story about someone stealing all the clothes off the clothesline and dad ran him down. The guy crawled under a cotton gin and it was at night, and dad crawled under and took away his knife, got the clothes, and crawled out. There is no way that you could get me under a gin in the dark. I would have just worn the drawers that I had on until I could get some new ones.
Dad and Mom would get the early morning paper, divide it, and sit at the breakfast table and read the news. I remember that My Lady and I stayed all night with them once and we laid and listened as they read things to each other. Dad said, "Well, I wonder what old Clinton is up to today?" Later Mom would say, "They have three loaves of bread for a dollar at Young's Big Star in Truman." It was like that until they got the whole paper read.
Among the very last words that I heard him say was when he had his last stroke. When he had suffered strokes before and then get better, he would say, "Let's go." "Where do you want to go Dad?" someone would ask. He would say, "Let's go out on the porch." The last time he had a stroke I went to Jonesboro and as I entered the room where several others were already there, he was sitting up in his bed and he looked at me and said, "I'm going!" I asked, "Where you going Dad?", expecting to hear him say 'to the front porch.' But, this time he said, "I'm going to gloryland!" That was on Thursday and on the next Sunday morning he went to gloryland. I suspect that when he arises from that rest, he will proably lead the saved creation in 'A Beautiful Live' and that will be a joy. Yes, all is well at Herman Junction tonight.
There are several things that always come to my mind when I think of Dad. He was one of the finest singers and song leaders that I have ever heard. I can hear him now as he gets ready to begin a song..."Do, sol, mi, sol, do.....On the first." He knew music and seldom got one too high or too low. My favorite song to this day is the one that I first learned sitting on his knee and singing with him as a child..."Each day I'll do a golden deed, by helping those who are in need." You remember that as "A Beautiful Life." I have some tapes of him leading singing and some of him singing at our family reunions. One time a cousin objected to us singing at our reunions but Dad said, "When the Knight's get together, the Knight's sing." And, we sill do.
I viewed him as the strongest man that I ever knew. When there was a horse that needed shoeing and no one could get it done, Dad would throw that horse just like he would throw a man and the horse had new shoes in a few minutes. I heard the story about someone stealing all the clothes off the clothesline and dad ran him down. The guy crawled under a cotton gin and it was at night, and dad crawled under and took away his knife, got the clothes, and crawled out. There is no way that you could get me under a gin in the dark. I would have just worn the drawers that I had on until I could get some new ones.
Dad and Mom would get the early morning paper, divide it, and sit at the breakfast table and read the news. I remember that My Lady and I stayed all night with them once and we laid and listened as they read things to each other. Dad said, "Well, I wonder what old Clinton is up to today?" Later Mom would say, "They have three loaves of bread for a dollar at Young's Big Star in Truman." It was like that until they got the whole paper read.
Among the very last words that I heard him say was when he had his last stroke. When he had suffered strokes before and then get better, he would say, "Let's go." "Where do you want to go Dad?" someone would ask. He would say, "Let's go out on the porch." The last time he had a stroke I went to Jonesboro and as I entered the room where several others were already there, he was sitting up in his bed and he looked at me and said, "I'm going!" I asked, "Where you going Dad?", expecting to hear him say 'to the front porch.' But, this time he said, "I'm going to gloryland!" That was on Thursday and on the next Sunday morning he went to gloryland. I suspect that when he arises from that rest, he will proably lead the saved creation in 'A Beautiful Live' and that will be a joy. Yes, all is well at Herman Junction tonight.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
FLORA DESSIE KNIGHT April 12, 1912-July 25, 2004:#13
The citizens of Herman Junction never knew a finer human being than Dessie Knight. I will never forget how blessed she felt when we moved into the 'big house' after moving from place to place in the first few years of my life. Now, we had our own house and we did not have to move again. Dad was working on the railroad and share crop farming too and so we made it fine. One of the reasons that we made it so well was the contribution of my blessed Momma to the family. I asked her one time shortly before she died, "How many biscuits did you make each morning?" She told me that she made FIFTY-FIVE big 'cat head' biscuits every morning and an equal amount of cornbread every night during school and at noon and night when we were in the fields. That is just the bread and there was all the rest of the meal to prepare as well. In between preparing those meals there was house cleaning, washing, ironing, canning, gardening, taking care of Grandma, and all the other things that came with having a family of 10-11 people. Of couse she was pregnant most of the time too. She always insisted that we get our lessons not only for school, but for Bible class at church as well. If there ever was an example of committment and dedication to the Lord, Dessie Knight was it.
During the last few years of her life Barbara and I were worked a lot in Romania and there was one time in particular that I was very uncomfortable leaving because she was having so much trouble. I told Laura how I felt and she told Momma. I went to see here just before I was to leave for Romania and as I was leaving her she said, "I hear that you are worried about going to Romania because of my health. You go on because you have a contract with God to preach the gospel and I will be alright." And she was. She sent me $50 once in memory of Dad to help with our work. I know she didn't have it but she sent it anyway.
But, with all of her busyness and raising a family she had a tremendouos sense of humor and would keep a person in the floor laughing, especially if you were part of the family. She told me once that her number one weakness was laughing at dirty jokes! I'd love to tell you some of those jokes but I am a preacher you know and other people read this blog from time to time. (I had one in here but I decided to delete it before I got in a bunch of trouble. You'll just have to wonder what it was).
I loved to tease and aggravate her and watch her laugh. I was the only person that she allowed to call her "DESS" and I loved calling her that. One time I was driving the truck to church and for some reason she got scared and grabbed the steering wheel and pulled us off into a fence and almost the bottom of the ditch. I was able to get out but she laughed about that forever.
She wanted to move into town when all the kids were grown up and gone and they did. She worked as a cook for the school for several years. She took care of Dad when he became ill. One day he was putting on his tie to go to church and he was having trouble and so Mom was going to help him. She had hold of the tie and he began to fall and she wouldn't turn loose of the tie. They both fell to the floor and laid there and laughed and Dad told everyone that she tried to choke him to death with his own tie.
Momma lived until she was 92 years of age and was in good mental health until about three weeks before she died. We all thank God for her and miss her so much. God has maybe washed her mouth out with soap and has let her rest in peace until He comes for her. She was a great reason why all is well in Herman Junction today.
During the last few years of her life Barbara and I were worked a lot in Romania and there was one time in particular that I was very uncomfortable leaving because she was having so much trouble. I told Laura how I felt and she told Momma. I went to see here just before I was to leave for Romania and as I was leaving her she said, "I hear that you are worried about going to Romania because of my health. You go on because you have a contract with God to preach the gospel and I will be alright." And she was. She sent me $50 once in memory of Dad to help with our work. I know she didn't have it but she sent it anyway.
But, with all of her busyness and raising a family she had a tremendouos sense of humor and would keep a person in the floor laughing, especially if you were part of the family. She told me once that her number one weakness was laughing at dirty jokes! I'd love to tell you some of those jokes but I am a preacher you know and other people read this blog from time to time. (I had one in here but I decided to delete it before I got in a bunch of trouble. You'll just have to wonder what it was).
I loved to tease and aggravate her and watch her laugh. I was the only person that she allowed to call her "DESS" and I loved calling her that. One time I was driving the truck to church and for some reason she got scared and grabbed the steering wheel and pulled us off into a fence and almost the bottom of the ditch. I was able to get out but she laughed about that forever.
She wanted to move into town when all the kids were grown up and gone and they did. She worked as a cook for the school for several years. She took care of Dad when he became ill. One day he was putting on his tie to go to church and he was having trouble and so Mom was going to help him. She had hold of the tie and he began to fall and she wouldn't turn loose of the tie. They both fell to the floor and laid there and laughed and Dad told everyone that she tried to choke him to death with his own tie.
Momma lived until she was 92 years of age and was in good mental health until about three weeks before she died. We all thank God for her and miss her so much. God has maybe washed her mouth out with soap and has let her rest in peace until He comes for her. She was a great reason why all is well in Herman Junction today.
Monday, November 10, 2008
RAINY DAY AT HERMAN JUNCTION: POST #12
I loved rainy days at Herman Junction. For one thing it meant that there would be no work in the cotton patch if it was raining. I loved to lay in the bed and listen to the rain dripping off the house into a big wash tub sitting under the edge of the house catching rain water for Mom to wash clothes in. If I had been normal I could have slept late but I have never been able to sleep late in my life. The old saying, "Early to bed and early to rise" has certainly been true of me.
Since we didn't have a TV we had to manufacture something to do and that was not really a hard thing to do. We could always go to Booie's house and watch TV with the Woods kids and that was enjoyble. If the Burn's family happened to be there we could sit and listen to them play music and I loved that too. The big house was built high enough off the ground that sometimes we could crawl under the house and sit and play marbles. It was a great time to have corn cob fights because the cobs were good and wet. We could always put on our roller skates and have fun skating and trying to figure out new moves. That is, if they weren't already worn out. It is amazing what can come out of the head of a youngster who has no TV to watch or electronic games to play. If someone had said 'Nintendo' in those days Harvel would have probably popped him thinking that he was trying to speak Mexican.
One of my favorite things to do was to just watch some of the older brothers and some neighbor guys draw a big circle on the ground and all of them get in there and see who could stay in the longest with all the others trying to throw the rest of them out. Now, that was quite a tussle. Or, they might get on top of that storm celler and see who could stay up there the longest and be declared the King Of The Hill.
We had a big front porch and a big back porch so we could sit on the porch and be sheltered from the rain and just watch it rain or play some game or another. Of course, it wasn't long until I was out in the rain jumping in mud puddles and making a mess of myself. Mom was standing yelling at me to stay out of the mud but I was already in it! We have gone out in the road between our house and Booie's and the mud was just right to slide barefoot in it. You could back up a little distance and run and slide for a good ways in the mud. I wonder now what would have happened if we had hit a piece of glass or a splinter off an old piece of a board. I hurt just thinking about that.
Of course when Linda and I got a bicycle for Christmas to share, one of us could ride the bicycle up and down the road. Every time that I got on it she wanted it too. Ain't that just like a little sister?
If it had rained a lot, the ditch in front of our house was full of water and Booie would bring his fish net down and throw it in the ditch and catch fish. I cannot imagine now us eating those fish but we did. The fish had come up that ditch out of the Big Bay Ditch about a quarter of a mile from the house.
I've always loved a rainy day but there is none better than the days at Herman Junction and that is what made everything well at Herman Junction.
Since we didn't have a TV we had to manufacture something to do and that was not really a hard thing to do. We could always go to Booie's house and watch TV with the Woods kids and that was enjoyble. If the Burn's family happened to be there we could sit and listen to them play music and I loved that too. The big house was built high enough off the ground that sometimes we could crawl under the house and sit and play marbles. It was a great time to have corn cob fights because the cobs were good and wet. We could always put on our roller skates and have fun skating and trying to figure out new moves. That is, if they weren't already worn out. It is amazing what can come out of the head of a youngster who has no TV to watch or electronic games to play. If someone had said 'Nintendo' in those days Harvel would have probably popped him thinking that he was trying to speak Mexican.
One of my favorite things to do was to just watch some of the older brothers and some neighbor guys draw a big circle on the ground and all of them get in there and see who could stay in the longest with all the others trying to throw the rest of them out. Now, that was quite a tussle. Or, they might get on top of that storm celler and see who could stay up there the longest and be declared the King Of The Hill.
We had a big front porch and a big back porch so we could sit on the porch and be sheltered from the rain and just watch it rain or play some game or another. Of course, it wasn't long until I was out in the rain jumping in mud puddles and making a mess of myself. Mom was standing yelling at me to stay out of the mud but I was already in it! We have gone out in the road between our house and Booie's and the mud was just right to slide barefoot in it. You could back up a little distance and run and slide for a good ways in the mud. I wonder now what would have happened if we had hit a piece of glass or a splinter off an old piece of a board. I hurt just thinking about that.
Of course when Linda and I got a bicycle for Christmas to share, one of us could ride the bicycle up and down the road. Every time that I got on it she wanted it too. Ain't that just like a little sister?
If it had rained a lot, the ditch in front of our house was full of water and Booie would bring his fish net down and throw it in the ditch and catch fish. I cannot imagine now us eating those fish but we did. The fish had come up that ditch out of the Big Bay Ditch about a quarter of a mile from the house.
I've always loved a rainy day but there is none better than the days at Herman Junction and that is what made everything well at Herman Junction.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
HERBERT HARVEL KNIGHT: POST #11
I wrote a little about my oldest Brother C.W. earlier. Well, I have to tell you about the next brother in the litter and that is Harvel. Nowadays a lot of people know him as Herbert and that is his first name, but we always called him Harvel because Dad's name was Herbert.
Harvel was one tough guy. He would fight anyone that he encountered IF HE COULD SEE HIM. He was known as a guy that could whip about anybody, but as tough as he was he was afraid of the dark. I am told by some of his kids that he still is. I remember stories about him and the dark, like the night he was walking home by himself and something made a noise in the weeds in front of the cemetery and he ran completely by the house. One night he and some of the other brothers and a neighbor guy was walking home and a car full of guys from somewhere stopped and asked if they wanted to fight. Harvel told them to just come on, but when he looked around all the other guys were a quarter of a mile down the road and he stood there by himself. I don't remember for sure but I think that he got out of it someway. One of the funniest stories that I remember from my childhood at Herman Junction involves Harvel and his close buddy Charles Bratcher. The family had all gone somewhere and brother James (Jamie) came home from Freed Hardeman College. Since nobody was there Jamie just went on to bed. Later that night Harvel and Charles came home and after coming in and turning on the lights decided to go to the wood pile and get some wood for a fire. While they were outside Jamie got up and turned the lights out! The story as I heard it was that Harvel and Charles walked back to Truman instead of going in that house.
Harvel had a little green 1937 Ford couple. I really liked that car. One time he and old friend Charles Bratcher were driving down the street in Truman, Arkansas and they noticed a rattle in the back of the car. They devised a plan to find it. They got out and Charles climbed in the trunk and Harvel slammed the lid down and took off to see if Charles could find the rattle. But, an older lady had seen all this and called the police to report a kidnapping that she had just witnessed. If I remember right, brother Gib McCord who may have been the police chief caught them and of course when they explained he knew that everything was fine.
I also remember the time in the cotton patch when Rayburn was trying to speak Spanish. We had a lot of mexicans come to our country then to work in the fields. Ray kept trying to speak spanish and Harvel told him to shut it up. Ray said, "Si, Senor." Harvel kept telling him to stop it and Ray kept saying, "Si, Senor." It wasn't long until Ray was knocked about five rows across from where we were working. I'll tell you this, "you haven't lived until you have Harvel Knight for an older brother."
Harvel was the first of my brothers to preach the gospel. I guess that by now he has been preaching for nearly 60 years and is still going. He and his wonderful wife Bobbie produced seven fine children. His beloved Bobbie died Nov. 7, 2001 and we all miss her. She sure brightened things up when Harvel brought her home and she helped to make everything well at Herman Junction.
Harvel was one tough guy. He would fight anyone that he encountered IF HE COULD SEE HIM. He was known as a guy that could whip about anybody, but as tough as he was he was afraid of the dark. I am told by some of his kids that he still is. I remember stories about him and the dark, like the night he was walking home by himself and something made a noise in the weeds in front of the cemetery and he ran completely by the house. One night he and some of the other brothers and a neighbor guy was walking home and a car full of guys from somewhere stopped and asked if they wanted to fight. Harvel told them to just come on, but when he looked around all the other guys were a quarter of a mile down the road and he stood there by himself. I don't remember for sure but I think that he got out of it someway. One of the funniest stories that I remember from my childhood at Herman Junction involves Harvel and his close buddy Charles Bratcher. The family had all gone somewhere and brother James (Jamie) came home from Freed Hardeman College. Since nobody was there Jamie just went on to bed. Later that night Harvel and Charles came home and after coming in and turning on the lights decided to go to the wood pile and get some wood for a fire. While they were outside Jamie got up and turned the lights out! The story as I heard it was that Harvel and Charles walked back to Truman instead of going in that house.
Harvel had a little green 1937 Ford couple. I really liked that car. One time he and old friend Charles Bratcher were driving down the street in Truman, Arkansas and they noticed a rattle in the back of the car. They devised a plan to find it. They got out and Charles climbed in the trunk and Harvel slammed the lid down and took off to see if Charles could find the rattle. But, an older lady had seen all this and called the police to report a kidnapping that she had just witnessed. If I remember right, brother Gib McCord who may have been the police chief caught them and of course when they explained he knew that everything was fine.
I also remember the time in the cotton patch when Rayburn was trying to speak Spanish. We had a lot of mexicans come to our country then to work in the fields. Ray kept trying to speak spanish and Harvel told him to shut it up. Ray said, "Si, Senor." Harvel kept telling him to stop it and Ray kept saying, "Si, Senor." It wasn't long until Ray was knocked about five rows across from where we were working. I'll tell you this, "you haven't lived until you have Harvel Knight for an older brother."
Harvel was the first of my brothers to preach the gospel. I guess that by now he has been preaching for nearly 60 years and is still going. He and his wonderful wife Bobbie produced seven fine children. His beloved Bobbie died Nov. 7, 2001 and we all miss her. She sure brightened things up when Harvel brought her home and she helped to make everything well at Herman Junction.
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