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.
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