You can take the Herman Junction boy out of Herman Junction, but don't leave him forever in Hot Springs. Really, I love Hot Springs and have had many enjoyable and pleasant times there. We try to go for a short stay at least one time each year but sometimes don't make it. One of my favorite places in the world is the famous Arlington Hotel in downtown Hot Springs. I like to think of the history of that 134 year old structure and all of the things that have gone on there.
It is said that there were a lot of big time crooks who stayed there many years ago and I suppose that is true. Speaking of crooks some of our nations Presidents have spent some time there too and I suppose that you can guess who at least one of them was. But, there have also been a lot of other famous and not-so-famous people who have walked the halls of the Arlington Hotel.
One time Barbara and I were there between Christmas and New Years. In the past we have gone there at that time of year many times. We were sitting in the lobby one day and an elderly lady was sitting across from us and she seemed so alone. Barbara went over and invited her to sit with us and visit if she desired to do so and she came over immediately. She lived at the Arlington and had done so for many years. She had never married and owned a farm in Illinois consisting of almost 2,000 acres. Her nephew farmed it for her while she enjoyed living at the Arlington. She told us that she was 93 years old and that she needed to get a will made soon to take care of that farm and other assets. I didn't tell her, but I thought that she needed to hurry!
We just returned from a short trip to Hot Springs and I learned a lot. I strongly believe that "NURDS" should not be allowed to reproduce. Now, I have my own definition of a 'Nurd' but I am not telling you what it is, you will have to make up your own. We were sitting on the veranda of the hotel and here came a NURD with a bunch of little NURDS right behind him. He had no idea where he was going and the baby Nurds kept telling him that Momma said that she would meet them in the lobby. Finally, Papa Nurd listened to them and they strung into the lobby and sure enough Momma was there and she was a NURD too! How they got into that hotel I will never know and it must have been real interesting to see them get around the city.
Has your companion ever talked you into doing something that you really didn't intend to do? I have had that experience many, many times. This time she talked me into having a thermal bath and a massage. Can you imagine Booie Woods from Herman Junction doing that? I can't imagine me doing it either. But, here I was and at least I thought that I had no choice.
I went in for the bath and here was a great big guy handing me a key to a locker and telling me to get COMPLETELY undressed! I hid in a closet and did it and wrapped up in a towel. Then, he took the towel away and made me get in a tub of scalding mineral water and that almost took the hide off me. He took a mit and put it on his hands, rubbed off my arms and then told me to lift up my leg! When I did he could see where I didn't want him to see but he was much bigger than me and was in charge. He got me bathed off and that was my first time to have a bath by someone other than my Momma or me and I don't want to make that a habit. He gave me a cup of that HOT water and told me to drink it. SHOO! He left me in there for 20 minutes and came to get me and put me in a 'HOT BOX" he called it and it sure was a "HOT BOX". Much hotter than the "SWEAT ROOM" at Bay High School.
When he took me out of that hot box he put me on a table with a hot towel under my neck and left me again and then he put me in a COLD SHOWER! He didn't know it but I kind of hunkered over in a corner where just a little bit of it hit me because it was really COLD. That ended my bath....I mean it really ended my thermal baths at Hot Springs. Never again!!
Now it was time for the massage. Everyone had told me how wonderful a massage is and how they felt so wonderful after it was over. So, here I go and a guy named "Bob" came out to administer the massage. He rubbed me down on both sides for about 15 minutes. It seemed to me that he got his hands all wadded up in the flab and after getting untangled he told me that he was through and I could go. He held out his hand and said, "Bob" again and I thought that anyone could remember a man's name for 15 minutes. I really did not feel any different than I do when I get out of Barbara's whirlpool tub at home. Barbara said that I should have given him a good tip before he started and he would have done a better job. But, where is a man going to find a tip when they have taken all his clothes away and locked them up? Besides, I think that they should have paid me for all that.
From now on I am going to just stay at home or maybe go visit Herman Junction where they all do their own baths and if someone gets a massage I never have heard of it.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
PREACHER MAN: POST #65: July 9, 2009
I worked at Independent Steel Co. for some time and really enjoyed my time there. One day as Ray Brown and I were sitting side by side working, he asked, "What do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" I said, "I hope to someday work as a full time preacher of the gospel." I had already been preaching for a few months every Sunday morning and the other men of the church rotated the preaching duties on Sunday evening. We talked about that for some time that day and I had absolutely no idea what was about to happen.
One day Ray came to me and asked if I would be interested in preaching full time for the church at Michigan City and I told him that I would like that. A few days later the men of the church had a business meeting and to my utter surprise asked me to begin working with the church on a full time basis. I began on February 1, 1959. I had four books...my Bible and four volumes of Hardeman's Tabernacle Sermons which had been delivered by Brother N. B. Hardeman and published shortly after that. My two older brothers who were preachers sent me some helps and I bought other helpful books and materials as I could afford it.
I would write out my sermons and go over to the church building and preach to the empty seats all week. When we moved into the preachers house in September 1959 Barbara said that she could hear me all the way over inside our house as I would 'lay back the hide and pour in the salt' on those empty seats. One day I was able to buy a small tape recorder at Sears and then I would go to the building and record my sermons and listen to them over and over again as I prepared for the next Sunday. Of course, I did all the other things that a 'minister' does such as visiting the sick, hospitals, etc.
One of the more interesting things that we did was working with inmates at the State prison in Michigan City. The first time that I went there I was absolutely scared out of my wits. I had never been behind so many locked doors in my life and I wondered if I would get out or become another inmate. We baptized some men and when they were released we were able to get jobs for them and they worshipped with us. But, I must admit that every one of them that we worked with returned to prison and that was disappointing to me. I saw enough that I surely knew that I never wanted to reside in one of those places.
The preachers house was a wonderful place. It was a huge, two story house with a full basement and here were two kids from Herman Junction moving in. Dad and Mom had come to Michigan City and he co-signed the papers for us to buy a cook stove, refrigerator, bedroom furniture, living room and dining room furniture, at Montgomery-Ward's and we moved in. It was so big that we could just get lost in there but we loved it so very much. That house still stands and looks almost exactly the same and we often wish that we could spend just one more night there.
What a wonderful place Michigan City was and is. There is one special thing to me....the first check that I ever received as a full time preacher was signed by brother James Alred on Feb. 1, 1959. Today in 2009 the church there helps to support us in our present ministry and the check they send each month is signed by brother James Alred. We are still blessed to go there almost every year and preach in a gospel meeting and it is one of the highlights of our year.
We had left Herman Junction less than one year before, planning to go back home but it has been fifty-one years and we have never lived at Herman Junction again.
One day Ray came to me and asked if I would be interested in preaching full time for the church at Michigan City and I told him that I would like that. A few days later the men of the church had a business meeting and to my utter surprise asked me to begin working with the church on a full time basis. I began on February 1, 1959. I had four books...my Bible and four volumes of Hardeman's Tabernacle Sermons which had been delivered by Brother N. B. Hardeman and published shortly after that. My two older brothers who were preachers sent me some helps and I bought other helpful books and materials as I could afford it.
I would write out my sermons and go over to the church building and preach to the empty seats all week. When we moved into the preachers house in September 1959 Barbara said that she could hear me all the way over inside our house as I would 'lay back the hide and pour in the salt' on those empty seats. One day I was able to buy a small tape recorder at Sears and then I would go to the building and record my sermons and listen to them over and over again as I prepared for the next Sunday. Of course, I did all the other things that a 'minister' does such as visiting the sick, hospitals, etc.
One of the more interesting things that we did was working with inmates at the State prison in Michigan City. The first time that I went there I was absolutely scared out of my wits. I had never been behind so many locked doors in my life and I wondered if I would get out or become another inmate. We baptized some men and when they were released we were able to get jobs for them and they worshipped with us. But, I must admit that every one of them that we worked with returned to prison and that was disappointing to me. I saw enough that I surely knew that I never wanted to reside in one of those places.
The preachers house was a wonderful place. It was a huge, two story house with a full basement and here were two kids from Herman Junction moving in. Dad and Mom had come to Michigan City and he co-signed the papers for us to buy a cook stove, refrigerator, bedroom furniture, living room and dining room furniture, at Montgomery-Ward's and we moved in. It was so big that we could just get lost in there but we loved it so very much. That house still stands and looks almost exactly the same and we often wish that we could spend just one more night there.
What a wonderful place Michigan City was and is. There is one special thing to me....the first check that I ever received as a full time preacher was signed by brother James Alred on Feb. 1, 1959. Today in 2009 the church there helps to support us in our present ministry and the check they send each month is signed by brother James Alred. We are still blessed to go there almost every year and preach in a gospel meeting and it is one of the highlights of our year.
We had left Herman Junction less than one year before, planning to go back home but it has been fifty-one years and we have never lived at Herman Junction again.
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