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Buckwheat
He was born in near Harrisburg, Arkansas in December of 1994. About two months later, my brother got him a plane ticket and shoved his hairy little ass on a Northwest Airlines flight to Newark, NJ. He weighed about 4 lbs, but most of that was bark and howl. He didn’t remember me when I… Read more »
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How To Ride A Bull
When I was about 18 years old, I moved out north of Jonesboro on 141 to ‘the farm’. The Farm was where Dad had his herd of Registered Brangus Cattle. Dr. O’Neal actually owned the farm, and I was supposed to live out there and take care of the cattle. For about 3 months, we… Read more »
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LSUcks
Many years ago, having been kicked out of Arkansas State University, and asked not to return to it’s branch campus at Beebe, I became a student at Ole Miss. I lived in a dorm called Twin Towers. Seems like every college has a dorm named ‘Twin Towers’. On the seventh floor, we had an interesting… Read more »
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A Chance Encounter at a Karaoke Bar
I have to admit that, in the beginning, I was some what skeptical of this. Jordan, one of my daughters, had met a boy she liked and wanted him to come on spring break with us. Oh yippee, I thought. Even though Jordan was in Massachusetts pursuing her Masters, she somehow had a boyfriend who… Read more »
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Heifer High
I have struggled for nearly a month to put words to a shared high school experience I enjoyed in the mid-1970s. In 1973 at the conclusion of our Freshman year, our last year of Junior High School, a tornado tore through Jonesboro, Arkansas (my hometown), and destroyed not only a lot of homes and businesses,… Read more »
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Birdland
It’s a small collection of streets that make up the neighborhood: Robin, Cardinal, Thrush, Lark, and Starling. Dove was added after all the history was made. In the early 1960s when we first moved into Birdland, there were an abundance of lots available. There were several undeveloped lots on the east side of Robin near… Read more »
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Bottling Bourbon in Texas
In late May of 1975, my friend Danny returned from college in Dallas. On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we drove to Hardy, Arkansas to participate in the Spring River Canoe Race. The race was held every Memorial Day. Danny had a very cool red jeep complete with a kick ass Craig stereo, over… Read more »
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Roy’s First Chance/Last Chance
Back in the day, Roy’s First Chance/Last Chance was where a lot of folks from Arkansas State had their first beer. Roy’s still exists, and is still little more than a shack that used to be held up by beer. Today I suspect it stands only because the termites are holding hands. It’s a small… Read more »
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A Night at the Landmark
In Paragould, Arkansas there is a bar called the Landmark Lounge. It’s a little out of the way place. A dingy, dimly lite dive where cold beer and lousy food is proudly served and where crappy local bands play really, really loud. When you are young, this seems like a good place to be. Cold… Read more »
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Kids and Puppy Dogs
Today I was working in the yard. I was pulling weeds from the gardens and putting mulch down. It’s not like I enjoy working in the yard. Some people enjoy it. Some people enjoy colonoscopies, too. I don’t enjoy either. I would almost rather have a tooth pulled than to have to work in the… Read more »