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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 »

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What is a TSR good for?

Over dinner a few nights ago, we visited with new friends and had a great time telling old stories from our lives. Our new friends are an interesting couple who share a lot of interests with Landi and me. The husband works in Information Tech. This of course, led to shop talk. Shop talk leads… Read more »

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One Hell of a Starry Night

On a warm and starry night in the spring of 1954, a dashing young doctor met a beautiful young nurse on the Skyway at the Peabody Hotel and they danced. On November Sixth in 1954, they eloped and embarked on a wonderful fairy tale of a life. Through house fires, tornadoes, three children, and a… Read more »

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Ashley’s Wedding

Roughly 15 years ago my niece, Ashley, held her wedding on a sweltering evening in mid-August. Everyone thinks they know hot. Everyone thinks they know humid. If you haven’t spent an August in Jonesboro, Arkansas you know neither hot nor humid. In August, if the air moves at all, you feel more like a dog… Read more »

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The Last Swim Meet

In early August of 1965, I joined the Jonesboro YMCA swim team. I joined on a Friday, and the State Swim Meet was held the next day in Jonesboro. I won 3rd place in Freestyle and Backstroke, and would have had 2nd in Butterfly, but I was disqualified. Before that morning, I had never heard… Read more »

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Blessings

Every now and then, I pause and count my blessings. I’ve had a wonderful life. In my time, I have been a cowboy, a carpenter, a diving instructor, a sky diver, and a computer geek. I rode a bull exactly one time. I have had an office in my basement, and I have had an… Read more »

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The Gin

The Gin was to Ole Miss what Rick’s Cafe American was to Casablanca. It was more than a cross roads or a meeting place where libations flowed and inhibitions fell. It was a place where ideas were debated, and pretty girls were woo’d; a place where music rattled the the walls of the old building… Read more »

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If that ain’t country, I’ll kiss your ass.

The old Masonic Hall in Pensacola stands on the corner of Palafox and Garden. The ground floor has been converted into a music hall with a smallish stage and a balcony. There are bars upstairs as well as on the main floor. In the back there is an area with couches and small tables. We… Read more »