Where In The World Is Jimmy Stegall?

In the fall of 1970, the Oakshire Raiders football team went undefeated. Coached by Coach Doug Daniels (full time postman and part time coach), the Raiders won the Whitehaven Elementary Athletic Association Football Championship. Oakshire Elementary is still located on Holmes Rd, near where it crosses I-55. In the late 60s and early 70s, Oakshire… Read more »

The Day The Music Died

In the early 1960s, just as the The Beatles brought a new sound to America, he brought rock and roll to Birdland. He taught every kid in Birdland to sing Herman Hermit songs with a “proper English accent”. Ponder that for a minute. He saw doing what he did as something of a public service…. Read more »

The ‘Cup’

Photo Credit Jeff Presley

Cajun Greenbeans

My son recently asked for my recipe for cajun green beans. He and his girlfriend Laura are spending Thanksgiving at Laura’s parent’s home. Ratboy is a pretty good cook. He understands that he has to bring something really good, and this is it. This isn’t a completely original recipe. I got the bones of it… Read more »

A True Story

In the July of 1976, I had just got my truck out of the shop after I hit a deer with it. A deer will do significant damage to a 1975 Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck. I must say, Dad was not amused. The truck was in the shop for about two weeks while it was… Read more »

Aunt Lottie

Sometimes in quite moments, just out of the clear blue sky, a random thought brings a memory back to life. I just thought of my Aunt Lottie. Aunt Lottie was a tiny woman with a big laugh. She had an exasperated way of saying “Randy!” She broke it into three syllables: “RAY-AN-DEE!” She was right… Read more »

The Witches of Shrewsbury – the Wives of Richard and Thomas Garner

In 1636, a woman in Shrewsbury, England was accused of witchcraft and sorcery. In a trial by water, her death established her innocence. She died by drowning in the dunking stool in the pool at the Square in Shrewsbury. Her name was Katharn, wife of Richard and mother of John, and she is buried in the Old Churchyard at St. Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury, England. From this family, my branch of the Garner family was born.

Remembering Rocket

When I was a child, the 4th of July was always a special time to me. It wasn’t special because that’s the day the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, or because it is the day Vicksburg fell in the Civil War. No, as a small child, I didn’t know about any of that…. Read more »

At Least I Can Sing

Fifty-some-odd years ago, a friend of mine, Jimmy Bolin, decided he wanted to open a guitar store. It didn’t matter that he was in high school or that he didn’t have any money to work with. He loved playing guitar and he wanted to open a guitar store. He taught private guitar lessons until he… Read more »

These Boots Weren’t Made For Walking

At lunch yesterday, I received a call that was a survey checking attitudes about smokeless pouches and vaping. Landi and I were at lunch with friends, so I stepped away from the table to take the survey. It was long and extensive. In our exchanges, I learned a lot about legislation and the positions various… Read more »

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Latest

  • A Tough Day at Work

    It will soak in at about 9:30 or so that the Catfish has gone back to school. Throughout the summer, if he was not working that day, it would be at 9:30 or so before he would wander into my freshly cleaned kitchen and begin the slow motion process of cooking breakfast and watching something… Read more »

  • In Memory of a Friend

    Moments of clarity. Singleness of thought. Focus. In a world broken up into 12 second sound bites, we have few moments of clarity. We are torn from one screaming crisis to another until something gives us pause, and we take that moment to think. It is sometimes said that youth is wasted on the young…. Read more »

  • Womens Volleyball

    Nearly everyone I know has spent at least a few minutes watching the Olympics.  My wife and I have watched more than our share of swimming.  Last night, we watched Women’s Beach Volleyball.  It brought back memories of a picnic and a volleyball match in Memphis many years ago. I was young, maybe 28 or… Read more »

  • Beware the Hookers

    I was excited about going to a casino, especially a casino in the Bahamas. I had never been to a casino anywhere, and all I knew about them I had learned from watching James Bond movies. I was excited at the prospect of playing roulette and baccarat surrounded by beautiful women. I was going to… Read more »

  • A Wedding Toast

    Laugh loud, laugh long, and laugh hard. Smile. Have a short memory and a big heart. Lift each other up, and help each other down. At the end of the day, be a hug and a smile. Be a harbor, not a storm. Be a rainbow, not a rain drop. Live large, eat well, rest… Read more »

  • The Old Man at the White Horse Tavern

    He was old and broken, but unbowed in his wheel chair.  The lady who brought him in could have been his daughter, but she wasn’t.  She was very pretty. For several weeks I watched her wheel him in for lunch each Wednesday at the White Horse Tavern.  That’s the bar in the Village, NYC where Dylan Thomas died. The old man… Read more »

  • Me, Boo, and The Goob

    No one could possibly enjoy raising kids more than I have.  Each and every day was an exciting new adventure.  We have had funerals for bunny rabbits, and created glow in the dark skeletons.   I coached every recreational league sport known to man.  I have probably spent years at Six Flags, Dorney Park, the Jersey… Read more »

  • A brave new world

    it begins.