Living well…

Three days after her departure from the Jonesboro Sun, Maria won a first place award for a general interest column at the annual Arkansas Press Association convention.

Hers was the only entry from the Sun to win a first place award.

She sent me a copy of the column to proof back on Feb. 3, 2012 which remains in my email folder. The version that ran in the paper may be been slightly tweaked, but this is the essence of her award-winning work:

By Maria Flora

Freddie Coggins and his coon hounds had no more than started hunting Jan. 16 when a man  in a truck ran over Trixie.

It was a customized white truck with large tires and may have been a Dodge. And if you see it, Freddie would appreciate you telling police. He’d seen the truck before in the neighborhood of Craighead Roads 955 and 954 where he and the dogs were hunting that night, but he doesn’t know the driver. And it was dark when Freddie whooped him, but he thinks he’s seen that boy before.

Freddie said he didn’t get the model and license number because he wanted to get to Trixie, who had crawled off into a ditch when the ruckus broke out — three against one, with Freddie the victor if you don’t count poor Trixie.

“It looked like her whole back end was broken,” he said. It was Trixie’s first birthday.

“It was just a kind of a bad night of hunting,” Freddie said. “I had just turned them loose not five minutes before.” They got back in Freddie’s truck when the fight was over and went off to tend to Trixie’s wounds. No coons lost their lives to Freddie that Monday night.

It was after 7 p.m. and dark, Craighead County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Davis’ reported.

Freddie said he didn’t realize Trixie was in the road when he saw the truck speeding toward him. “The guy was driving way too fast. I was flashing him my (spot) light to slow him down,” Freddie said.

After the driver ran clear over Trixie, Freddie waved for him to stop and was, no doubt, behaving a little aggravated. But what happened next surprised him.

“He got out and got in my face and jumped on me,” Freddie said. The driver in his early 20s smelled like he’d been riding around and throwing a few back.

“It was unbelievable. The guy runs over your dog and wants to fight,” Freddie said.

Now, the young men in my office doubt some of Freddie’s account of what happened from this point, but my money is on the 46-year-old man whose dog was just run over and who was just attacked, compared to some drunk 20-somethings. If you doubt it, run over an older man’s hunting dog and please tell me what happens next.

In Freddie’s case, we have his word and a police report and nothing from the bruised dog abuser. So I’m going with Freddie’s account, which is pretty entertaining. I called him myself last week.

And I’ll tell you up front I’m having a good time with this story. You’ll have to decide yourself if it was really a 2x4 board that hit Freddie, or if the second boy whacked him with something else at hand, but after talking to Freddie, it’s clear something deliciously fun took place, and the deputy recorded an injury that looked like Freddie was hit by a 2x4. So you can fill in your own blanks and substitute one detail for another if you want because it went quick and in the dark, and details can get a little fuzzy. These stories tend to grow with the telling, which is half the fun.

But Freddie’s account goes something like this:

The first young man got out of the truck and took a swing at Freddie. “And I set to wailin on ’em.”

At some point a second young man got out of the truck and came at Freddie.  “I didn’t know there were any more in the truck,” Freddie said.

“Somebody hit me with a two-by-four, and I set to wailing on ’em. He never did hit me again, but I beat ’em down into the road.”

Freddie had the two on the ground and was still kicking and stomping when he saw the truck cab light come on and a third young man starting to get out.

Freddie told the boy he’d get what his friends got if he stepped out of that truck, and the boy said “yes sir” and stayed put.

In a bit Freddie told the third boy he could scoop up his friends off the ground if he wanted to, which he did. And they drove off as Freddie went to see to Trixie, who he was sure was dying of her wounds. And he called police to report the assault that turned upside down Freddie’s aggressors. The deputy confirmed something had happened to Freddie, and Trixie.

Freddie took Trixie to the vet Friday because she was still passing a little blood, but she’s expected to be just fine, he said. But she’ll probably be shy about trucks now.

Freddie hasn’t seen that truck again, although he’s still watching. He’d like to let police know who they are. “But,” as he put it, “they still got a lesson.”

We later learned that Trixie had to be put down because of her injuries and that arrests were made. The local postmaster told me that Freddie liked the column so much he had it laminated and carries it around with him.

Saturday morning

Dora got lots of admiration and petting this morning at the ASU Farmers Market.

The essence of it

In case you weren’t inclined to read the entire transcript of the interview by Chris Mathews of the soon-to-be Pope Francis, here are the most pertinent quotes:

“Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I've been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the cause then I will not be Pope.”

“I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced… No more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace.”

“No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty.”

“Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia, and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man.”

“People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops.”

“Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty.”

“Friend, I've been studying America this month, before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination --giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, my child, has been infiltrated by men of sin.”

“The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state. And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians.”

Waiting on a tire repair

I'm spending time this afternoon in the Gateway Tire customer lounge while they fix the flat right rear tire on my Honda del Sol.

I've decided to sell it cheaper than I wanted because we can use the cash.

How can you not love Pope Francis?

The following is a transcript of an interview between CHRIS MATHEWS, MSNBC journalist and then Cardinal Bergoglio prior to the conclave earlier this year when Cardinal Bergoglio became Pope Francis.

It is clear why the interview was never broadcast. ________________________
CAMERA ON / BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
MATHEWS: Welcome Cardinal.
BERGOGLIO: Thank you. Happy to speak with you.
MATHEWS: Well, let me get into it directly. Last conclave, you were almost elected Pope. Can this happen again?
BERGOGLIO: What? That I will almost be the Pope, again?
MATHEWS: No. Will you be the next Pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I'm only jesting with you. I understand the question. I will not be the next Pope.
MATHEWS: Why not?
BERGOGLIO: I chose not to. God has someone else in mind I'm certain.
MATHEWS: But you would take the job if it were offered.
BERGOGLIO: I think not.
MATHEWS: Why not.
BERGOGLIO: I believe I'm too embroiled in the secular fiasco. It is a spiritual job and I'm a soldier. Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I've been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the cause then I will not be Pope.
MATHEWS: But you are worried you would be a spend thrift pope?
BERGOGLIO: Friend. Where did you go to school?
MATHEWS: La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania and
BERGOGLIO: And after that?
MATHEWS: College of the Holy Cross.
BERGOGLIO: They told me you were Catholic. Once elected, the Pope is by virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error. God would change any spend thrift politician into a responsible Pope. I'm just saying I'm not that man.
MATHEWS: So what is your job?
BERGOGLIO: My job is to ask you why are men creating poverty??
MATHEWS: What do you mean?
BERGOGLIO: I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced. I have and this is the reason I will not be Pope. I have a saying for myself, No more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace.
MATHEWS: Oh.
BERGOGLIO: It is a spiritual choice and I'm a political person. I'm sorry. I know you will make more money from this interview if I'm Pope. Or want to be Pope. But I'm sorry. I can't help you. God has already chosen someone anyway. Right? You learned this in school.
MATHEWS: Yes. Well. Where are you on the issues that matter most, issues about contraception, women priests?
BERGOGLIO: This might be a surprise to you, but I am Catholic. We are Catholic. It isn't an issue and for you to pretend that it is being debated goes against God.
MATHEWS: If you were Pope then you would not change anything.
BERGOGLIO: Certainly God would direct the new Pope to have more compassion for these newly created poor. And if there is any social justice in the Church, the new Pope would have a stern word for the creators of the new situation.
MATHEWS: But you are staunchly orthodox on the issues of abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage.
BERGOGLIO: I am Catholic.
MATHEWS: You were punished for opposing same-sex marriage in Argentina . You opposed free contraception and the government exiled you. What do you have to say about that?
BERGOGLIO: I am Catholic.
MATHEWS: In the secular world, as you say, you follow the conservative line. You oppose, uh, same-sex marriages, very popular with young people. You are conservative on birth control. Won't that be the doom of the Church, alienating young people who support reality based faith?
BERGOGLIO: Since God created the world, he also created reality. You seem to be arguing that a man can't be Catholic in reality. Son, you are a Catholic?
MATHEWS: Yes, of course. I meant no disrespect.
BERGOGLIO: You don't have to worry about offending me.
MATHEWS: Okay, good. Can, uh, a Pope even be elected if he is pro-choice or pro-love? I mean isn't the election sort of fixed in favor of anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, the election is fixed by God.
MATHEWS: Very witty.
BERGOGLIO: Well, you did ask.
MATHEWS: It is being reported in America that you are against marriage equality. Is that why you feel that you can't be Pope?
BERGOGLIO: God chooses the Pope and God also made men and women different.
MATHEWS: But you are ... a conservative and oppose abortion!
BERGOGLIO: Friend, the expression on your face gives you away.
MATHEWS: I'm sorry, I'm just trying to do my job.
BERGOGLIO: And what job is that?
MATHEWS: I've been sent to interview eight men in line for the papacy.
BERGOGLIO: And I guarantee you that they all oppose abortion. So?
MATHEWS: But?
BERGOGLIO: So, you feel like you need to alienate the eight from the flock?
MATHEWS: That isn't it. How can the church attract young people when it is opposed to abortion and contraception?
BERGOGLIO: Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency. So we will call it a draw.
MATHEWS: Doesn't the church need to modernize?
BERGOGLIO: Finally, I've met someone who will advocate publicly painting over the Sistine Chapel with one of the contemporary street artists. Are you sure you support this and in public?
MATHEWS: What?
BERGOGLIO: Forgive me, I was rude.
MATHEWS: Won't the new pope, and don't these cardinals realize what they've gotta do if they want to attract young people to the church?
BERGOGLIO: I am a cardinal.
MATHEWS: Won't the new pope, and don't you and the other cardinals realize what they must do if they want to attract young people to the church?
BERGOGLIO: I've explained the mysteries of the atom to rural young people and also I've explained the Grace of God. And you know what? They can understand both perfectly well. Frankly, I have more trouble with adults understanding both.
MATHEWS: But they have done focus groups; if you want to spread your message you can't have this position that's anti-gay marriage and anti-contraception.
BERGOGLIO: And you treat the church as a political institution.
MATHEWS: So we're not gonna see any kind of change when it comes to things that matter like abortion or gay marriage?
BERGOGLIO: All eight of the men you will be talking to are Catholic.
MATHEWS: Okay, I understand. Let's talk about your controversial stand on poverty.
BERGOGLIO: You want it to be controversial?
MATHEWS: But don't you blame various governments around the world for poverty?
BERGOGLIO: Some. Yes.
MATHEWS: But you refuse to blame corporations for their role.
BERGOGLIO: Okay, they also told me you have a degree in economics. No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty.
MATHEWS: And you blame government.
BERGOGLIO: No, I blame the self-serving politicians.
MATHEWS: So your solution to poverty is to change the nature of politics?
BERGOGLIO: Please feel free to broadcast this; I don't want to be pope. Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia, and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man.
MATHEWS: I've never heard such from a Cardinal. I'm not sure if you are here to help yourself or disqualify yourself.
BERGOGLIO: Please air this interview. People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops.
MATHEWS: You would be the first pope from the Americas.
BERGOGLIO: He stops fishing. I will not be pope, but yes I am from Argentina.
MATHEWS: And you didn't want to be pope?
BERGOGLIO: God didn't want me to be pope.
MATHEWS: Perhaps he changed his mind.
BERGOGLIO: Ludicrous.
MATHEWS: Okay, I'm sorry. I feel like we are getting off on the wrong path. I'm sorry.
BERGOGLIO: Yes, let's be productive.
MATHEWS: You are a classic conservative Catholic theologian?
BERGOGLIO: Of course there's politics clearly in the Curia throughout the Vatican, but in terms of church teaching, it's not a political institution. It's religious.
MATHEWS: I heard people, in fact, media people, "Is this cardinal, is he a liberal? Is he a conservative?"
BERGOGLIO: Tell them please, he's a Catholic. It's no more complicated than that. Catholicism is what it is. You don't have to believe it; you may not. You don't have to follow it; you may not go to Mass. But it's not up to you to modernize us.
MATHEWS: You see no room for reform?
BERGOGLIO: It's not up to any religion, although some do this, because they want the money. They want the membership. But the Catholic Church doesn't do it. It's not up to them to bend and shape and mold itself to accommodate the shrinking depravity of a worldwide culture. It's to provide the exact opposite. It's to provide a beacon out of depravity, socialism and sin, among other things.
MATHEWS: If pope you would be bad news for the left.
BERGOGLIO: I won't be pope. But I am opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to euthanasia. The pro-choice movement is a culture of death. I oppose the demonic same-sex marriage. I oppose gay adoption on the grounds that it is discriminatory to the child. I was exiled by the Cristina Kirchner government, but I hold no grudge. How is this bad news?
MATHEWS: John Paul II rescued you?
BERGOGLIO: He made me the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Yes.
MATHEWS: And so you feel like you owe the Right some sort of repayment?
BERGOGLIO: There are many values, and many types of people. Perhaps it is my interest in mathematics, but I'm the type of human who is interested most in the truth. God gave me a healthy love for the truth. Loyalty is only a virtue if in support of the truth or another important value.
MATHEWS: Cristina Kirchner said you held a grudge.
BERGOGLIO: Funny, I've never spoken her name. Not once. And it is a battle of ideas not a battle of two or more people. I'm only concerned with ideas.
MATHEWS: She said you refused to speak up for civil rights violations.
BERGOGLIO: As a spiritual leader, I opposed cultural modernization, and so I became a political enemy. I understand politics as well as I do mathematics.
MATHEWS: And the Jesuits, they were eager to cast you out, which they did.
BERGOGLIO: So you are implying that I'm a vengeful priest?
MATHEWS: Do you feel that you need to erase the progress recently made in Latin America?
BERGOGLIO: I say poverty. You say progress.
MATHEWS: Let's talk about poverty.
BERGOGLIO: Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty.
MATHEWS: That is what I thought you would say.
BERGOGLIO: Why?
MATHEWS: Because you are a capitalist right?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, I think capital is needed to build a factory, a parochial school, or a church or hospital, all. Do you oppose factories or churches or hospitals?
MATHEWS: Of course not but don't you think the capital is sucked out of peoples hands by greedy business types to pay for these factories?
BERGOGLIO: No, I think people agree, through their economic choices, that some of their money goes to build these. Capital building should be voluntary. Only when the politician confiscates their wealth, to build government factories, government schools, government hospitals; only then do the people not agree. Money given voluntarily is legitimate to build with. Money coerced from the people is not legitimate to build with, because it isn't given voluntarily.
MATHEWS: You are opposed to all government?
BERGOGLIO: No of course not. But it isn't the seat of wisdom in any society I've seen in my life. The best government was created by the Americans, in which they admitted that people are endowed by their creator and most of the administration of society was left to the relationship between God and man. However, slowly that has been eroded by the atheists on the left, who would replace man's relationship with God with a new relationship with an opportunist like Hugo Chavez.
MATHEWS: I just found it fascinating that you were willing to stand up to an entire government in Argentina. You were cast aside. Didn't you care about your career?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, there are people who cave to worldly authority. Even priests.
MATHEWS: But you didn't?
BERGOGLIO: No, I changed nothing. How did I have the power to change anything in Church teaching? My opinion? The democrats, seeking votes, only wanted me to change my opinion and legitimize their decadence. I did not, as evidenced by the fact that I was teaching high school math in a small isolated town.
MATHEWS: I'm sorry that happened to you.
BERGOGLIO: Why don't you feel for others oppressed for their interest in freedom.
MATHEWS: Freedom isn't punished anywhere, is it?
BERGOGLIO: Certainly it is.
MATHEWS: In Latin America?
BERGOGLIO: I'm afraid Latin America is lost. The people of the entire area are controlled by a bloc of militant socialist regimes in the region, most prominently Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. They have a gun pointed at their head. So their heart is now captured. Who will save them at this point?
MATHEWS: So the game is over. Checkmate?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I've been studying America this month, before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination --giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, my child, has been infiltrated by men of sin.
MATHEWS: These are pretty radical ideas.
BERGOGLIO: No. Perhaps reactionary. Radical means something different. But a very long time ago, Khrushchev warned, that we cannot expect Americans to fly from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small injections of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism. This is what is happening now in an ancient bastion of freedom. How can America save Latin America when they are slaves to the government themselves?
MATHEWS: I'm having a hard time digesting most of this.
BERGOGLIO: The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state. And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians.
MATHEWS: I'm not sure this interview is going to work.
BERGOGLIO: You asked and now you will listen, my son. The social assistance state leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic thinking than by real concern for helping people. Needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them who act as neighbors and parish members to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. This is not to mention the welfare states excesses and abuses.
MATHEWS: I think we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Wait. If I speak on the ordination of women, on celibacy, on divorce, will you air this interview and my message?
MATHEWS: No, we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Partially what irritates me to the core is the media's inability to look at anything without looking into the cause of the various problems. People are made poor so they will vote for the very candidates that made them poor.
MATHEWS: Have a nice day and thanks for your time.
CAMERA OFF / END TRANSCRIPT

Changes

When I left the employ of The Indianapolis Star, the first thing I did was to cancel my mandatory subscription to the paper.
We canceled our subscription to the Jonesboro Sun this afternoon.
To say that I am angry and bitter about the way my wife has been treated over the past six years by the company that lured us down here from Indiana would be a gross understatement.
Perhaps, when I’m a little calmer, I can blog about the hideous mismanagement that made today seem like a kind of deliverance.

Amazing discovery

Considering what a wasteland popular music has become – at least from my nearly 67-year-old perspective – it’s a real thrill when I discover music that really lights me up.

Usually, that means something that’s been around for awhile but somehow escaped my notice.

Maria was on the local public library’s website the other night, looking for MP3 songs to download as part of the library’s five free song downloads per week for registered patrons.

She was looking for classic cowboy songs by Roy Rogers, but what she found was a whole other thing – Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings, specifically their “Live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room” album.

What burst forth from her computer speakers was the most joyous sound I’ve heard in months – New Orleans flavored Delta blues featuring Rogers (the blues musician, not the King of the Cowboys) playing slide guitar like nobody I’ve heard since I stumbled across Sonny Landreth several years ago.

I logged on and downloaded five tracks of the album, clapped on my headphones and took off on a musical excursion that had me grinning from start to finish.

Then it got even better.

Internet searches brought me to his website where I discovered Rogers collaborated in recent years with Ray Manzarek, former keyboardist with the Doors, who died a few weeks ago.

They released two albums – Translucent Blues in 2011 and Twisted Tales, just out June 18 – and played several gigs together.

What I’ve heard of the Rogers-Manzarek material knocked me out!

If you like the blues and the Doors you owe it to yourself to check out Roy Rogers, with and without Ray Manzarek.

Dora wake up calls

Dora's internal alarm clock is set for 1:30 am.

And 5:45 am.

We must adjust our sleep patterns accordingly.

Kennel time

Dora on the attack!

Dora has been feeling her oats the last few days, playing aggressively with Jack – nipping at his face and fur, yapping and growling.

I caught her yesterday afternoon as she broke cover from her hiding spot in the tall grass to launch an attack on Jack’s heels.

Jack continues to show remarkable restraint in the face of her needle-teeth piranha-like attacks. He really likes her and will put up with a lot before he corrects her.

Dora in HDR

Shot this afternoon.

The Dora Report: First Week

Dora has been with us a week and she continues to amaze and delight.

Everyone who sees her is captivated by her piercing blue eyes and fuzzy good looks. We took her to the ASU Farmers Market yesterday morning and she was surrounded by admirers who wanted to pet her or hold her.

Jack is clearly in love with her. He pointedly gets between her and any visiting dog – Morgan’s bulldog or Susan’s poodle.

Since Dora came to our house, Jack is showing us a side of his personality we never knew – that of a gentle, nurturing father figure. He plays gently with Dora and lets her chew on his fur and bat at his face with her tiny paws. He offers her has favorite toys and spends a lot of his time trying to draw her into a tug of war.

At the same time, Dora follows Jack around the back yard and when they lie down to rest on the patio, back porch or in the house, they’re always close to each other.

Jack has always been like a Tasmanian devil when let loose in the house – grabbing clothing from the bedroom or anything he can snatch from the kitchen counter and running merrily through the house expecting us to chase him to retrieve his prize.

Now that Dora is here, Jack puts most of his in-house attention on her and is more interested in playing with her than with stealing our underwear.

Dora got the fundamentals of toilet training from his breeder and has had very few accidents in the house – a bonus I would have gladly paid another $200 or so for.

Dora, in short, is a joy and a blessing.

Helluva book!

I just finished reading the Kindle version of “A Higher Call,” an extraordinarily well researched and well-written page-turner about Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown and their encounter over Germany in World War II.

Watch the video, read the book.

Coincidentally, Franz Stigler’s old boss, Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering posed for a rather unflattering prison portrait on this date 68 years ago.

Kongs!

Dora found a couple of long-lost Kongs under the couch this afternoon and examined them with Jack.

Cool stuff

Hoosier Boys’ State

Fifty-one years ago this week, I was on the campus of Indiana University at Bloomington, participating in the American Legion’s Hoosier Boys’ State program.

Boys’ State is a week-long seminar on government for boys from virtually every high school in Indiana. Delegates, who are between their junior and senior years, are chosen on the basis of academic standing. Delphi High School was allotted three delegates and I attended, along with Ed Cook and Jack Klepinger.

Delegates are assigned to one of two political parties – Nationalists and Federalists – and run for various city, county and state offices. I don’t remember which party I belonged to, but I was the unsuccessful candidate for coroner of Brunton County (HBS county names do not correspond with real Indiana county names).

I still have my name tag and my HBS t-shirt is somewhere in an under-bed storage bin.

The guys who were serious about their political ambitions, I discovered, had done extensive preparation and alliance-building. The rest of us just showed up.

The program was launched at Butler University in 1937, was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds from 1938-41, the Indiana State School for the Deaf from 1942-55 (except for 1945 when it was suspended because of WWII), I.U. from ‘56-‘68, Indiana State University from ‘69-2008 and at Trine State University in Angola since 2009.

The top office is governor and a kid named Mike Valentine from Warsaw won it when I was there in 1962. Mike went on to practice law in his hometown.

Looking back at the list of HBS governors since the program’s inception in 1937, I don’t recognize any of the names, so the HBS governorship hasn’t proven to be a stepping stone to fame.

That said, HBS alumni include Purdue University President and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a bunch of congressmen and senators, a former astronaut and Brian Lamb, president and founder of C-Span. And my brother-in-law Kerstan.

And me.

Best friends

The focus is a little soft, but the convenience of the iPhone camera is a godsend and lets me capture images that I could never get if all I had was my Nikon D200.

Being here

If everything had gone according to plan, I would be waking up in my tent on the grounds of the Biltmore in Asheville, N.C. this morning. I planned to go to the BMW Riders Association rally this weekend, but events have conspired to keep me home.

Dora is one of those events.

When I took her out this morning, she discovered my bootlaces and attacked them with enthusiasm and determination. I finally foiled her by tucking them into the tops of my boots and covering it all with my pants leg.

So she attacked the cuff of my jeans.

A few minutes later, I glanced over my shoulder at the back steps in time to see her launch off the side of the steps from the top step. She came down in an awkward pancake landing, but shook it off and seemed none the worse for it.

Dora becomes bolder day by day and increasingly owns her space. She has had some toilet training lapses, pooping in her kennel, but I think we can correct that by restricting the amount of space in her Jack-sized kennel.

We supervise her trips to the back yard because she’s still small enough that a large owl or other raptor could conceivably snatch her up as it would a rabbit or other small prey. I’m hopeful that she’ll be too big for birds of prey by the time I leave town for the West in a few weeks.

At the doc's office

Follow up from last week's tests.

The nurse practitioner is a dull, frumpy woman who started out explaining how big a 5mm polyp is. I bristled and told her she wasn't addressing a second-grader and I am well acquainted with the metric system.

She also seemed disturbed that I am getting better results with my chiropractor and have rejected her doc's recommendation that I start taking prescription strength Prilosec.

She is obviously clueless. She also asked the name of my chiropractor, which I declined to give.

I have great confidence in her doc's ability to scope and excise bad things in my innards, but I never want to see her face again. Never.

Third generation

Dora is the third generation of puppies to play with this knobby ball toy.

We bought it for Pete when we lived in Indiana. Then Jack had it and now it's Dora's.

Dora! Dora! Dora!

Dora has figured out how to negotiate the back steps and use the dog door, which has us extremely impressed.

It looks like Jack is in love with his new kennel-mate. He spends a lot of his time watching her, either from inside the house or through the kitchen windows from the porch.

When Dora is loose, they play and lie together almost constantly, preferring to be touching if possible. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship/romance.

I think they’re gonna be good friends

Getting microchipped

We took Dora to the vet this morning for her first visit for shots and a microchip.

She took the shot with a whimper, but screamed bloody murder when the rice grain-size microchip went in.

She seems to understand it is not cool to pee or poop in the house and has managed to do all of her business outside, which we find utterly amazing.

Jack, whose favorite game is pulling a toy, has been offering her toys and inviting her to play and they had a momentary game this morning on the porch with a small twig. Jack appears fascinated with her and was quite protective last evening when a friend brought her poodle over and the poodle got aggressive with Dora.

We got her a collar and a name tag yesterday.

A-DORA-ble Dora is here!!!

We got to pick up Dora last night - a week earlier than expected. She made the 150-mile car trip without getting sick & with no accidents. And she only woke us a few times during the night.

Jack seemed very happy to meet her and is playing gently with her.

Lunch

The Brick Oven, Paragould, Ark.

In case you missed it

That’s the late, great Pete with Maria. The photo was shot last summer, a few months before his liver failed and killed him.

From this week’s Carmel (Calif.) Pine Cone

Stuck in the retard parade

One of the first things I learned when we moved here almost six years ago was that people here are bad drivers with molasses-slow reflexes.

I have adjusted my expectations since then and have come to accept that even though I am not a particularly aggressive driver, no one – absolutely no one – will ever beat me off the line at a stoplight unless I doze off during the red.

Based on anecdotal evidence, I’d bet that Arkansans are statistically under-represented in the ranks of jet fighter pilots.

But something has happened in the past week – maybe it’s the advent of the first mini-heat wave of the late spring – to make local drivers slower and stupider than usual.

Every time I’ve driven in to town this week, it feels like I’m stuck at the back of a retard parade. Or maybe just a parade of 80-something blue-haired old ladies in Buicks.

The times I’ve been on a bike, I’ve seriously considered lane-splitting. It’s legal and not discouraged in California, but would probably get me arrested here for startling the incompetents.

They call turn signals “blinkers” here, but they might as well not call them anything because most drivers rarely use them.

Odd Pet Dept.

I had never heard of a Sugar Glider until yesterday when I noticed this posting on the public bulletin board at the local post office.

The picture isn’t much help, so I did an internet search and discovered it’s the marsupial counterpart of the North American flying squirrel.

You can read all about it in this Wikipedia article.

Eight days until D-Day!

We travel to Greenbrier, Ark. a week from tomorrow to pick up our new puppy, Dora, and bring her back to her Forever Home.

Breeder Joleen Marple sent us some new photos last evening. Here are a few.

Coffee & Kindle

Killing time at Starbucks waiting for a 2 pm appointment.

Birthday roses

In the mail this morning

In an amazing burst of unusual efficiency and speed, the U.S. Postal Service transported these two sets of Little Buckaroo bowls and cups from scenic Idaho Springs, Colo. to Brookland, Ark. in less than two days.

The Ebay vendor mailed the package on Monday morning and it was ready for pickup here by 9:30 a.m. today.

I already covered the significance of these pieces here a couple of days ago, so suffice it to say that I’m delighted to have them.

Here’s a detail shot of the artwork on the bottom of the bowls. Till Goodan drew the youngster in a way that made it possible to see it as a boy or a girl. I suspect his daughter Betty Goodan Andrews, who retains sole control of the rights to her father's name and all of his work, was the model.

Happy Birthday, Maria!

Today is my wife Maria’s birthday. I won’t specify which one other than to say it’s a milestone or sorts, but she’ still just a kid compared with me.

She is without question the smartest, most compassionate, bravest, most tenacious, most adaptable and all-around best everything woman I have ever known.

We were extremely lucky to find each other at a point in each of our lives when we were free to appreciate each other’s talents and capacity for fun and adventure. I shot this photo across the table of a restaurant in Lebanon, Ind. in 1996 not long after we met.

I love her with all my heart and look forward to many more years together.

In case I forgot where I live…

I noticed this sign on the post office door when I picked up our mail a little after noon today.

I suppose you could see something like this in a larger city, but I doubt it. It’s emblematic of small town life and, being the son of a small town (Delphi, Ind., population 2,500 when I left there), I find it charming.

I also like the fact that I pretty much never have to wait in line at the local post office. And we all know, thanks to that guy in the Stamps.com commercial, that there is nothing worse than waiting in line at the post office. Not even public beheadings or an extinction level asteroid collision. Nothing.

I lived in Indianapolis (the 12th largest city in the U.S.) for nearly 30 years and enjoyed the shopping and other amenities of a city, but small town life and rural living suits me just fine. I like knowing my neighbors, having deer and other wildlife in my yard and knowing that the occasional gunfire I hear is folks shooting for sport.

Somewhere between here and the Rocky Mountains…

The Wallace China Co. made  a three-piece “Little Buckaroo Chuck Set” as part of its Westward Ho line of dinnerware.

The Little Buckaroo plate, bowl and cup are being reproduced these days by the True West Co. of Royse City, Texas. The True West version is shown above. The set goes for $89 and you can buy each piece separately – $37 for the plate, $31 for the bowl and $21 for the cup.

I bought an original Little Buckaroo plate on Ebay in February and have been searching for the other two pieces ever since.

Then last week, an Ebay vendor in Idaho Springs, Colo. offered a pair of bowls and a pair of cups which I was able to snipe last Friday night for $76. That may seem like a lot, but they are original Wallace manufacture and True West reproductions would have cost $104. The True West version of the plate has a rather poor reproduction of the original Till Goodan artwork, with a bunch of cheesy colors added that were not present in the superior original. Likewise, the True West bowl is an inferior reproduction.

I suppose I should be on the lookout for another plate now, so as to have two complete chuck sets for the occasional young dinner guests.

The seller put them into the mail this morning, so the waiting has begun.

It occurred to me the other day that there is a curiously happy feeling involved with anticipating the arrival of a package, either by mail or commercial carrier. I think I’m always happier when I know something like this is in the pipeline. (Just writing that gives me pause and makes me wonder if there isn’t a bit of the Home Shopping Channel shopaholic in me. Naaaah, I’m just a collector.)

Here’s the original Wallace Little Buckaroo Plate. Notice the finer detail in the graphic. Also the Till Goodan signature in the bottom left.

Yikes! I did it again!

It felt so novel and so good to have washed the 1994 K75S last week that I felt compelled to give my 2003 K1200GT its first Arkansas wash after nearly six years of residence.

It was hot and sweaty work this morning, so I did kind of a slap-dash job. Hardly what you would call detailing, but the bike is no longer conspicuously buggy or dirty.

BTW, ArmorAll Wash & Wax is pretty good stuff and did a decent job of washing off the bug splat. I borrowed a little from my stepdaughter to wash the K75S last week and bought a bottle for myself at AutoZone yesterday afternoon.

As with the K75S, I pretty much left the wheels alone. Some day when I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll get some Mr. Clean scrubbing pads and get after the grease, dirt and brake dust accumulated on the wheels of both bikes.

Putin' on the dog

There is something supremely satisfying about sitting on the porch with a good dog while a soft Arkansas rain falls on a lazy Sunday afternoon in June.

Remember PDAs?

This is a page from the June, 1999 Popular Mechanics article on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), which seem shockingly primitive compared with today’s smartphones and tablets.

A helluva lot has happened with technology since 1999 – hard drive capacity has soared from less than 500 megabytes to 4 terabyte drives, there were no iPods, no iPhones, no iPads, PCs ran Windows 98, and Wifi hotspots were few and far between.

I remember admiring a PDA in an Office Depot in Silverthorne, Colo. and thinking it was pretty cool.

I wonder what I’ll think is cool in another 14 years.

OMG! I washed a bike!

Kinda like the KFC commercials where the guy freaks out and thinks he ate the bones. I washed a bike!

I was watching TV this afternoon and felt a sudden uncontrollable urge to wash one of my two bikes.

Now that I think about it, I know how it started.

I was at my chiropractor’s office yesterday afternoon when she introduced me to another patient who is also a BMW rider. We hit it off like long-lost friends and I took him out to the parking lot to admire the ‘94 K75S I had ridden to the appointment.

As we stood there gazing at the bike, I became unusually aware of how dirty it was, not having been washed in the nearly six years we’ve lived in Arkansas. It wasn’t hideous, but it was mildly embarrassing.

So I rolled it out of the garage this afternoon, hosed it off and went after it with car wash solution, sponge, hose and artificial chamois. Being lazy, I didn’t bother with the wheels. Even so, it looks pretty damn good for a 19-year-old motorcycle with only 13,800-some miles on the odometer.

I’m enjoying the results so much I might just wheel the K1200GT out for a wash tomorrow. My Indianapolis BMW Club friends would be shocked.

The Dora Report

Dora was five weeks old yesterday and comes home with us in just 16 days.

Breeder Joleen Marple shot these photos for us this morning.

Her eyes are still very blue!