Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Best Stories of 2011

Since May 2011, I have posted 169 stories on my blog. As we near the end of 2012, I have decided to post the five most-read stories from 2011, starting today with the fifth most read story, Meeting her Family and Milking Goats. I have added to or changed some of them, even the name. I hope you enjoy them!
     Barbara and I have spent the last two weeks going over and proofing my book, Spreading Wing. Four hundred pages worth. It should be ready for sale on amazon.com in America and Europe in December 2012. I hope you enjoy it!

Meeting Her Family and Milking Goats - A two part story

     I met Barbara at the Delta Dip in Dumas, home of the Ding Dong Daddy. I knew immediately I wanted to marry this girl. But, I had this problem. I just could not talk to a girl I really liked. Well, Barbara was so fun, outgoing, bubbly and pretty, she just brought out the real me. I managed to set up a date with her for the next week. The time was January, 1966.

     Following her directions, I headed for Watson Saturday night. I had misgivings. It was a well known fact at A&M, twenty-five miles away, that a young man just did not venture into Watson, alone, after dark. Watson had three or four really bad young dudes, they loved to fight, and they were good at it. I slunk down in the seat as I drove down Main Street, well, actually, THE street. It was dark, but not nearly dark enough. Watson was like an old western town. In fact, at least one old western movie was made there. I couldn't help but remember all the men I had seen die in the street of just such a place, in the movies. Well, I made it through town, breathing easier, and headed for her house, out a winding gravel road three miles through the cotton fields.

     When I arrived, Barbara invited me in. I thought the whole family must be there, but no. I just barely scratched the surface of the Dunnahoe clan that night. Her little sisters, two squirmy little girls, whispered and laughed to each other about how tall I was, how big my hands were, and would you just look at those feet! Her brother, about my age, was there with his wife and baby. The brother, JD, shook my hand and all, but the look in his eye was anything but friendly. It wasn't until years later, I began to piece it all together from his stories. I began to realize, JD was actually the one I had heard stories about at A&M. He was not real big, but he had mastered the art of getting three running steps in and throwing the first punch in a one punch fight. Little did I know, the real danger was not on the streets of Watson, but here, in this house, looking at me hard.
Barbara's dad, I liked immediately. But her mom quickly found things to do in another part of the house when I came in, so I didn't get a chance to really know her that night.


     I was going to Wing one weekend, to see Mom and Dad. Barbara was going to Little Rock that weekend, to see sister Frances. So we set up a date to go to a drive in movie Saturday night.
On Saturday, Mom wanted me to take her to Gravelly to pick up a bunch of cats someone was giving away. They were guaranteed rat catchers, and Mom had a pretty good crop of rats at the cow barn. We did, and they were a wild bunch. I finally got all of them in a tow sack, and we headed home. Halfway there, they somehow got out of the sack, and tore up jack, running all over my clean car all the rest of the way. Well, after I got them delivered to Mom's barn, I cleaned that car up really good for my date with Barbara.

     We were in the middle of the drive in movie, and things were going good. All of a sudden, Barbara sits up real straight, and pointed toward the windshield. "What IS that? Every little bit, I see these little things float by, looks like a cat hair!" "I don't know, Barbara. Sometimes, a fellow just sees little things floating around in your vision. Perfectly normal, they say."

     Barbara told me once about her long school bus rides home every day, and how tired she got of that. The bus gets to within half a mile of her house, then turns off on a very long crooked side road to deliver another bunch of kids, then came back out. Barbara decided one day it would just be simpler if she had the driver just let her off when he made the turn to the side road, and she could walk that last half mile, and it would be a lot quicker. So she did. She was about two hundred yards from home when she heard the bus coming. She had to sprint all out that last two hundred yards. She was not about to let that driver pass her trudging along. The next day, the driver asked her if she wanted to get off at the turn again. "Nah'. I'll just ride with you."

     Barbara and I got to date a few more times, but then student teaching was over, and I was headed to the hills of St. Paul, Arkansas in my 55 Chevy to begin my teaching career.
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