May 08 '04
Volume 414


The Unexpected Rain - Ear - Chores & More

ThingsLutheran Hymnal and events that were unexpected characterized last weekend at my household. From this time of year until after the first killing frost, my Saturdays are by necessity devoted largely to yard work. While the weather sometimes prevents me from working outdoors, and an occasional funeral or social gathering calls me away from my weekend work, most likely, I can be found mowing, trimming, pruning, or mulching on any given Saturday. And, with the annual cookout less than three months away, attention must be given to those infrequent chores such as washing away the mildew from fascia boards and gutters, scrubbing the inside walls of the garage, and tidying up flowerbeds.

Rain was forecast for Saturday p.m., but it’s rare that I think of p.m. as "afternoon." P.M. should be confined to evening and night. Thus, as I began a few projects Saturday morning, I didn’t consider rain would be a factor until that evening.

The elaeagnus shrubs along the back property line are presently in danger of being engulfed by my neighbor’s kudzu. The shrubs grew vigorously during the winter months and have all but obliterated the path along the cliff’s edge where I stand to fight off the kudzu. I whacked away on some of the kudzu before abandoning that project in favor of trimming the shrubs. But, it didn’t take me long to abandon trimming the shrubs with loping shears. Since the motor for my gas-powered hedge trimmer was attached to the Mantis tiller, I decided to finish the task I had begun with the tiller the previous week and tilled around the crape myrtles that border the sides of our yard.

By eleven a.m., I’d had all the fun I wanted with the tiller and upon inspecting the circle determined it needed mowing. I’ve taken to blocking off the circle in approximately thirty-foot wide swaths that run perpendicular to the "length" of the circle. Once a section is blocked, I mow in a clockwise pattern, throwing the clippings onto the uncut grass where they are mulched with successive passes until only one row of clippings is left in the center of the block. When all the blocks are mowed, I then raise the mower deck an inch and pass the mower over each row of clippings. This scatters the partially dried clippings and gives the circle a freshly groomed appearance.

There’s nothing unexpected in the preceding paragraphs, but I was cutting the last blocked portion of the circle when the p.m. rain, that I was expecting much later, began to fall. The rain continued to fall gently as I finished the last block and even allowed me to scatter the rows of clipping before they had a chance to become too damp for a good scattering.

Because the rain never came as a downpour, I was able to complete a couple of other outdoor chores. I managed to prune most of the lower limbs from one of the oak trees in the front yard to allow more sunlight to reach the ground beneath the tree, so hopefully some grass will now grow in the bare spot formerly occupied by weeds. I also managed to remove a year’s worth of debris from the rain gutters and rinsed the remaining silt through the downspouts. Completing the gutter-chore was as unexpected as beginning it on a rainy afternoon.

In the last issue of this newsletter, I mentioned having a stopped up ear. I finished off the prescription in mid-week and by Saturday had begun to think I had taken them for naught. However, unexpectedly and in the middle of a movie, Saturday night, my left ear suddenly opened. It was wonderful to hear again. However that was short lived as it stopped up again that night. My hearing has been on-again off-again ever since, but the periods of good-hearing seem to be increasing, and hopefully by the time this article is in the hands of most readers my ear infection will be history.

The movie we were watching was "Big Fish." It had nothing to do with fishing, and just about the time I was ready to retreat to my computer room, for want of something interesting to do or see, the movie unexpectedly took a turn for the better and held my interest until the end. If one is tired of action filled adventure films, Big Fish may suffice for entertainment. It’s a study in family relationships but is presented in an unusual way. Rent the DVD and you’ll see what I mean.

Sunday morning notwithstanding, probably my most unexpected weekend experience occurred Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning caught me a little off guard when I arrived at church to learn the choir was off for the day and a guest singer would be entertaining us. Ann Downing was good, but she was no substitute for good congregational singing. I’m sure her coming was well publicized, but somehow I missed it.

Sunday afternoon, after visiting briefly with Aunt Jo at Sunshine Nursing Home, I attended a concert at First Baptist Church by the Men’s Quartet. The Music Club sponsored the concert. I expected to enjoy the harmony and songs sung by George Rutledge, Larry Young, Harry Patterson, and Joel Hale; I was not disappointed. My neighbor, Ricky Hodge, plays piano for the quartet. It seemed to me that Ricky was in rare form and I enjoyed his playing almost as much as the singing.

I expected a blessing from the music part of the program, but it was the role Patricia Young Henry had on the program that touched me deepest. Patricia deserves an article all by herself, and maybe I can put one together, later. For now, let me say that Patricia has taught piano to aspiring musicians for the greater part of her life and that she is a few years older than me. My daughter, Rayanne, was her student for twelve years.

Patricia was our church organist for many years, and she took the gratuity she received from the church and invested it into a fund for a grand piano. I’m sure others contributed to the piano fund, too, but I’d bet the greater portion of the proceeds came from Patricia. Ricky Hodge is also one of her former students, and hearing him play so beautifully on the piano she helped provide to the church must have been gratifying to her.

Patricia had been introduced by Nancy Anderson who explained the Music Club’s purpose was to incorporate the study of music into the programs presented by the club. Patricia Henry is well qualified to talk on the subject of music, having studied it most of her life, and because of her background is particularly qualified to talk on the subject of Gospel Music.

Patricia’s father had a strong influence on her as a child. He traveled near and far leading music schools in rural churches. Patricia remembered some of the many all-day singings from her youth. As a young piano student, she sought her father’s approval. She told us that she knew her father would know if she played something wrong, so an early goal in her life was gaining the ability to "play it right."

Patricia remembered spending many a Sunday afternoon on the piano bench of a rural church as her father's accompanist while he taught music or lead singers, time she might otherwise have spent engaged with friends in social activities having less long-lasting consequences.

Good musicians seem to gravitate toward a style that’s all their own. Floyd Cramer was such a musician. He had a number of poplar tunes during the sixties and seventies and his piano tunes were recognizable as uniquely his. In the years that Rayanne played piano in First Baptist Church, a number of folks commented on her "touch," in that her playing was distinctive.

Over the years, Patricia developed her own style of playing. She also commented on learning how to "add to" written music or music in the songbooks. "Adding to" consists of a series of notes or chords not written in the songbook but formed so as to blend harmoniously with the score and, generally speaking, adds to the enjoyment of the listener. Patricia recalls that her father approved of her "adding to," but she also remembers how he would occasionally ask her to play the music as it was written so he could see/ hear that she played it correctly. Once Patricia developed her personal style of playing, a friend commented that he could stand outside the church at a singing and tell when she was playing the piano.

Scores of piano students are indebted to the instruction and training they received from Patricia Henry. Likewise, the larger community of Pontotoc and Pontotoc County are similarly indebted and are beneficiaries of the legacy of Patricia’s students. While, it’s possible Patricia might have become a piano teacher had her circumstances been different, it most surely helped that her father was so dedicated to the task of teaching others that his efforts inspired his daughter to do likewise. Unexpectedly, the remarks of Patricia set the tone for the concert that followed and greatly added to my enjoyment of the musical afternoon. 


Reader's Respond RE: Pocketknives

It's not often that readers of this newsletter comment on a given article, but it happens. The recent article on pocketknives prompted comment from three individuals. Larry Young was filling a prescription for me at the time he mentioned his appreciation of the article. For years, Larry worked in a corner building facing the courthouse, which provided pristine viewing of the goings-on at the Square. Larry remembers several of the "serious traders" of pocketknives and the crowds of people who once competed for sidewalk space all over downtown Pontotoc. Larry also reached into his pocket and produced a small pocketknife that he's carried for more than thirty years.

Tami Harrell wrote to share that she had struggled with whether or not to allow her nine-year old son, Daniel, to have a pocketknife. She finally relented, and he now has one purchased from Dollar General that Tami described as dull. I felt obligated to remind her that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one, but I've not checked to see if she's acted upon my advice and purchased her son a sharp pocketknife.

Tami also shared, "Your story reminded me that this past fall while at our cross country meet at Trace Lake, I was responsible for cutting up watermelon. I forgot the butcher knife, and none of us younger folks had a knife of any sort. I knew what to do…I looked around for a "papaw" & found George Higginbotham…with a pocketknife in his pocket of course! Took me forever to hack up those melons, but they ‘shore’ were good!"

On Sunday morning after the Saturday newsletter containing the pocketknife article, Floyd McCullough commented as I settled into the pew immediately behind him, "I've got something I meant to bring to show you, but I left it at home."

He then related his pocketknife story concerning a miniature knife from Germany and a handmade one he had been given. It took Floyd two more Sunday mornings to remember to bring his pocketknives to church, but last Sunday he showed them to me. The miniature one was only about an inch long. The handmade one was approximately three inches in length, and both his initials and the initials of the craftsman were engraved on the butt of the handle. He told me the craftsman was Ben Yandell, who married Julia Shannon.

I appreciated getting to handle both knives and found the larger one more interesting in that the two blades were encased side-by-side and identical in length and shape. Floyd said his wife, Ruth, had asked Ben to make the knife so she could give it to him for a special occasion.

When Miss Ruth asked Ben how much she owed him for the knife, he replied, "You can't afford it."

I like that comment so much, I think I'll start using it when someone asks about the price of a subscription to this newsletter. All the work, thought, and expense of producing a weekly newsletter adds up to being something beyond "affordable" for the average person. As with the craftsman's pocketknife, love makes possible that which money cannot. 


Bodock Beau Selected Humor

The following (contributed by Ken Gaillard) comes from Catholic Elementary school tests. Kids were asked questions about the old and new testaments. The following unedited statements about the Bible were written by children:

1. In the first book of the bible, Guinessis. God got tired of creating the world so he took the sabbath off.

2. Adam and Eve were created from an Apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark and the animals came on in pears.

3. Lots wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire during the night.

4. The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with unsympathetic Genitals.

5. Sampson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah.

6. Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the Apostles.

7. Moses led the Jews to the Red sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.

8. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert, Afterwards, Moses went up to Mount Cyanide to get the ten ammendments.

9. The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

10. The seventh Commandment is thou shalt admit adultery.

11. Moses died before he ever reached Canada . Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.

12. The greates miricle in the bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

13. David was a Hebrew king who was skilled at playing the liar. He fought the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in bibical times.

14.Solomon, one of Davids sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.

15. When Mary heard she was the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.

16. When the three wise guys from the east

17. Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption,

18. St. John the blacksmith dumped water on his head.

19. Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do unto others before they do one to you. He also explained, a man doth not live by sweat alone.

20. It was a miricle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.

21. The people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels.

22. The epistels were the wives of the apostals.

23. One of the oppossums was St Matthew who was also a taximan.

24. St. Paul cavorted to Christianity, he preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.

25.Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.

Modern Miracles

Three Texas plastic surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed.

One of them said, "I'm the best plastic surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident, I reattached them, and 8 months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England."

One of the others said. "That's nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident, I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in 5 field events in the Olympics."

The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago a cowboy who was high on cocaine and alcohol rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse's ass and a cowboy hat….Now he's President of the United States."

Happy Mother's Day

A man asked his wife what she'd like for Mother's Day.

"I'd love to be six again, " she replied.

On the morning of Mother's Day, he arose early, got up made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms and then took her off to the local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, every thing there was to ride.

Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. Right away, they journeyed to a McDonald's where her loving husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie, the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted.

He leaned over his precious wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, "Well, Dear, what was it like being six again?"

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.

"You idiot, I meant my dress size!"

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

Submissions by Lisa B. Rolik

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