Indian Mall

The Indian Mall was, for half a century, the crown jewel of North East Arkansas shopping. Paragould, Batesville, Blytheville, nor West Memphis had anything even remotely like it. It was cool, air conditioned indoor shopping on hot summer days and warm dry shopping on cold, rainy winter nights.

Kill Ball

As an underclassman, I remember fear the first time we all walked onto the basketball court in Junior High to play kill ball. I had never played before. Most of the ninth graders were nine feet tall. Eighth graders werent that tall. They were only eight feet tall. Seventh graders, we were tiny. We were… Read more »

Interacting With The Spirit World

In Fall of 1994, I moved from Memphis, Tennessee to Allentown, Pennsylvania. After living in an Embassy Suites hotel for a few months, I finally committed to an apartment of sorts. It was actually the upper floor of a place called the Mauch Chunk Hotel. It was 200 years old and was located on Mauch… Read more »

The Best Thing About Waking Up

I have an ax to grind with the weasel who first conceived the idea of putting images and messages on coffee mugs. You know, coffee mugs that have pictures or phrases on them commemorating places you’ve been or offering some funny observation. Those are the ones. I have about fifty of them, and I can’t… Read more »

Friday Night in Pensacola

Have you ever been to a bar or restaurant that was so good or so much fun that you almost didn’t want to tell anyone about it so that it didn’t get overrun? I knew a place like that in Memphis and now I’ve found one in Pensacola. Upstairs above The District Steakhouse, there is… Read more »

The Importance of Reading Instructions

Recently, my wonderful wife and I have been reminiscing about the joy of trying to teach teenagers to read the instructions that accompany new things. Some things are complicated to operate, and kids tend to ignore the instructions and just begin messing with the ‘thing’ until they either break it, or it works. With Ipads… Read more »

Boxes of Crap

Boxes of crap always pose unseen dangers for me. I keep mementos. I have a spirit ribbon from a Douglas MacArthur Junior High football game in 1972. I’m sure it meant something at one time, but I seem to have killed the brain cells that held that memory. I can’t throw it away because I… Read more »

Memphis

I haven’t lived in Memphis for over 30 years. For many of those years, I flew in and out of Memphis on a fairly semi-regular basis. Holidays and birthday always brought me back. In those days Memphis was a hub and there was a direct flight on Northwest from the cold, gray skies of New… Read more »

Momma and The Senator from Arkansas

Come July, Mom has been gone for 14 years. Each time we visit Jonesboro, we visit the cemetery where she and dad, as well as Coachie and Miss Dot rest. We give each a little bourbon, and we have a drink with them. We’ve done this so often and for so long, I’m surprised that… Read more »

Always the Last to Know.

There are times in your life when you discover things that are shocking, completely unexpected, just out of the clear blue sky. People manage these moments in different ways. We all have friends who are blessed with grace and poise, a calm demeanor able to absorb difficult news with control and dignity. I’m not one… Read more »

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Latest

  • White Dog

    There was a time many years ago when exploring new albums meant going to TG&Y at Indian mall, or perhaps KATZ at Caraway Plaza and perusing the bins containing albums. The tiny and sparse inventory was selected and creatively managed by some middle aged clerk in a back room who enjoyed listening to regional classics… Read more »

  • In Search of Open Water

    Years ago, a friend, let’s call him JD, and I used to hunt at every opportunity. We were young, so getting up at 4:00AM after drinking and chasing girls until midnight was not a problem. We just got up, loaded up and went. I remember one year we had tons of snow. I woke up… Read more »

  • My Favorite Uncle

    I hope everyone has a favorite uncle.  Kids need favorite uncles. Mine was my father’s brother, Randy.  Uncle Randy is 12 years younger than dad was, and he’s 12 years older than Sweet Pea.  He’s an impressive character even before you know much about him.  He was a college football player at Northwest Mississippi Jr…. Read more »

  • The Road Less Traveled

    Once the ‘new’ highway to Harrisburg was completed, and liquor stores popped up in rice fields on the country line, Highway 63 became the road less traveled.  Ever since Craighead Country had gone dry, Highway 63 had been the path to liquor.  The liquor stores in Truman had struck gold.  Craighead Country going dry didn’t… Read more »

  • Under the Dogwood Tree

    My first dog was a German Shepherd named Duchess Ann, but pronounced ‘Duchess-zann’. I was probably 25 years old when I realized that the name was actually “Duchess Ann”. I had always heard it and said it as one word. I am told she was named for a friend of my parents who lived in… Read more »

  • Darlin’

    Late one night many years ago after spending some quality time drinking beer, laughing, and listening to music in an Oxford bar called The Gin,  three friends and I meandered our way back to an apartment at the Round houses.  Katherine and Allyssa lived there.  We all staggered into the apartment and flopped into various… Read more »

  • Thoughts on a Lab

    A Lab believes she can cure you when you are ill A lab does not recognize the concept of personal space. A lab considers all bugs to be playmates. A lab will ensure that your beer does not get warm. A lab will joyfully remove your empty beer can. A lab will joyfully bring your… Read more »

  • Rest in Peace, Tony Perez

    Tony Perez had a tough start in life.  When he was just a puppy, the guy who owned him broke his front leg.  In stead of putting the puppy down as the bastard requested the vet, Dr. Perez, offered to take the dog off the bastard’s hands and in exchange would not call the police… Read more »

  • Pizza Drive-In

    As I sit here this morning, the smell of the fresh, homemade pizza still drifts in my mind if not in the air.  Pizza is a magical food that, if homemade, is fully configurable.  You can put anything you want on it and it will never cost you $30 per pizza.  As a long time… Read more »

  • A Blind Date Gone Bad

    Each spring I am reminded of a long, cold winter many years ago.  It was my first winter living up north, in Pennsylvania.  I had rented the top two floors of a 200 year old hotel.  I got them cheap and shared them with a five and a half foot tall, somewhat shady, chef.  Just… Read more »