Announcing a new Facebook Group and a new Blog


We have created a new Facebook Group called

The Childress (Texas) High School Classes of 1960-1966

Created for anyone from the Childress (Texas) High School classes of 1960-1966 who is looking to reconnect or connect with former friends and classmates.

If you are currently a member of Facebook or if you are planning to become a member of Facebook, we invite you to join the group. Contact either Nicki or Jennifer for information.

You are also invited to visit our new blog, Voices From the Class of '63,

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Celebrating the Journey: The Power of Love: Kay and Gayle Whitten

Kay (Eatherly) and Gayle Whitten
August 20, 1966


How did you meet and what attracted you to each other?

We met in our sophomore history class, and I (Kay) did not learn history, but I was attracted to a cute boy who was full of fun and had a great smile. Gayle says he thought I was cute but probably would not give him a second look. He was so intriguing that I asked him to be my date at the Future Teachers of America banquet on March 24, 1961. From that night on, we spent a lot of time together. After we graduated from high school, Gayle went to Wayland Baptist while I went to Texas Tech. That first year of college left us longing to be in the same town, so the next year, Gayle transferred to Texas Tech where we discovered that we truly wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. So we married August 20, 1966 and have lived in Lubbock ever since.

What was the biggest thing that you had to change or learn to make your marriage work? What was the biggest challenge you triumphed over as a couple?

According to Gary Thomas, a Christian author, “God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy.” We are living examples of the truth of that statement. Marriage has been a challenge for both of us; living together, respecting each other, submitting to the Christ in each other, choosing to stay together, living on a one-teacher salary and bringing up two children to be Godly people who are responsible and delightful, being stretched and stressed while taking care of sick parents while working full time, and then dealing with the deaths of our parents.

How has your relationship changed over time?

GOD is faithful, and today we are happier, more content, more in love with Jesus and each other than we have ever been.

What Accomplishment are you most proud of in your life?

Our children are healthy and successful, bringing up our five grandchildren in homes with love and affection. We thoroughly enjoy our grandchildren and are blessed almost daily to see the three who live in Lubbock. The other two are in Houston, and it takes more effort to see them.

What activities do you enjoy doing together?

For years, we had a boat and spent many hours boating, skiing and fishing. We have been privileged to take many wonderful and awesome trips together—Korea, China, Russia, Japan, Czech Republic, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Canada, London, Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona, all over Texas, and soon we will go to Virginia and Washington, DC. We enjoy bird watching and sharing in the excitement of finding birds wherever we go.

What is your favorite thing about being married?

Having someone to share LIFE with is a precious gift, and God has used this gift to draw both of us closer to Him, truly revealing that the process of becoming holy is a road marked with trials and suffering, but the eternal rewards, that far outshine merely being happy, are true love, joy, peace and happiness.

Is there anything you haven’t accomplished that you dream of doing together?

As I write this, God is opening new opportunities for Gayle to embark on realizing his life-long dream of teaching Creation vs. Evolution in churches and in the Ministry Training School at our church. Together, we prepare PowerPoint presentations that emphasize the authority of the scriptures as they relate to this topic as well as to our daily lives. This is just another step in our journey, and we are eager to see where this path will lead and what new and exciting things lie ahead.

In your experience, what is the secret to a good marriage?

Our secret to a good marriage is not really a secret but a scripture: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths (journey).”

Reflecting on the Journey: The Power of Love

As we looked at these two pictures (wedding day and today), we were struck by the enormous space that separated them. What filled all those years? We have been on a journey that has led us in many directions and through valleys, across rivers, up onto mountain tops, and today we look back over that expanse and are amazed that God has been leading us and He has allowed us to share this journey together for nearly 42 years of marriage plus five and one-half years of dating.

Kay and Gayle Whitten June, 2008

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Marriage Bobcat Style

Thursday, July 31, we will begin a new series of posts entitled, Celebrating the Journey: The Power of Love. The goal for the project is to explore the question, “What is the secret of a good marriage?” All of the couples selected to participate include at least one spouse from the Class of 1963, with most having graduated from Childress High School. An added benefit for this project will be the opportunity for us to get to know each other in a different way other than the 18 year old classmates of the past.

During the past month, we have sent requests to many of our former classmates asking each one along with his/her spouse to consider participating in this project. Amazingly, the response was almost unanimously positive. Apparently this is a topic of great interest and we are so excited to begin the posts. Even more gratifying is the fact that many who have agreed to complete the questionnaires that were sent to to them are old friends who have not previously appeared on the blog. For those of you who have not yet been asked to participate, I assure you that we welcome every one and I will be contacting more of you as time goes on. However, if you would like to contact me prior to that, it would be a blessing to have you.

As the completed questionnaires are received each one will be posted on this (the main) blog. Because we consider these posts to be so special, a new blog (Celebrating the Journey) has been created so that we can move each one there for its permanent home. However, once again, because these posts are special, we want them to first appear where everyone can see them easily and then revisit them on the new blog as desired.

On Thursday, the first post (our mystery couple for now) will be featured along with a wedding photo and a today photo. Be sure to check it out.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Bobcat Treasure: Silk ... Spices ... and Essence ....

The Silk Road extending from Southern Europe through Arabia, Somalia, Egypt, Persia, India and Java till it reaches China. The Silk Road

When I began the "Bobcat Treasure" blogposts on September 15, 2007 with
Pearls ... of Wisdom ... and G
iants and Windmills (the editorial written by our blog friend and former teacher Darryl Morris for the May 19, 1963 Senior Edition of The Corral), it seemed natural to continue the planned series of updates on the Class of 1963 with the "treasure" theme. To date, in discussing our classmates, we have used analogies of a precious metal (gold on October 20) and precious stones (diamonds on September 21, jade on December 31, rubies on February 4 and emeralds on April 16), as well as one precious occasion (Amarillo Style, published by Nicki October 24, 2007).

But, as I pondered
this entry which I anticipate will conclude the series (although I have learned never to say never ... because there is always and always, ever), I could not avoid thinking that there are so many other treasures, valued through the ages, which have not been included, which in their time have been accorded more worth than diamonds or gold. And it seemed to me that the incredible diversity of the individuals of the Class of 1963 almost demanded the further diversity of analogy. So I have taken inspiration for this post from ancient treasures from fabled lands ... silk, spices and perfumes (essence) ... which may have bedecked, stimulated or anointed Pharaohs and Emperors, or the Queen of Sheba, or Cleopatra ... as well as our thoroughly modern selves.

Silk fabric
was developed in China between 6000 and 3000 B.C.E. (Before Common Era, a/k/a B.C.), and was originally intended solely for the use of Chinese Emperors, either to adorn themselves, or to bestow as gifts to favored members of the court. Through the enterprise of far-ranging Chinese merchants, starting about the time of the Han Dynasty (114 B.C.E.), silk eventually reached lands throughout the world on the storied Silk Road, which ultimately extended over 5000 miles and also was the conduit for other luxury trade goods like musk, rubies, diamonds and pearls.

The earliest evidence of the silk trade came with the finding of silk in the hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st Dynasty (1070 B.C.E.). In Homer's Odyssey, it is said that Odysseus wore a "gleaming" shirt, which scholars believe referred to silk. The secret of silk-making reached Europe at the time of the Byzantine Empire, around 550 C.E. (Common Era, a/k/a A.D.). Merchants of Venice traded extensively in silk and encouraged the growth of the industry in Italy; since the 13th Century, silk from the province of Como has been considered the most valuable in the world. Beautiful silk is also produced in Brazil, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, India and Thailand, as well as in other areas, and the fin
est examples are highly prized and quite expensive even today.

I've always been fond of the Robert Frost poem, The Silken Tent:

She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silke
n ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one's going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

But I digress....

Four of the most important domesticated silkmoths, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (1885-1892) Silk moths

Exotic spices (including salt, once known as "white gold" and for a time worth more than its metallic namesake) were also part of trade along The Silk Road, but had an even more extensive reach via other trade routes. Spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and ginger were trafficked extensively well into antiquity. Pepper and nutmeg became popular around the 7th Century C.E.

Expanded maritime trade led to an explosive growth in the distribution of spices from the Indian Ocean throughout Asia, from the Sunda Strait in Indonesia to the Cape of Good Hope, through the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea during the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt, where overland routes carried them to Europe and Africa. Java and Borneo in particular became hubs for the increasing trade in aromatic spices. Despite early Asian, Indian and Arabian supremacy in spice trading, from the end of the Middle Ages until modern times the spice trade was dominated by European traders, primarily the Dutch, Portuguese and the British. Penang in Malaya (now Malaysia), the setting of Tan Twan Eng's novel The Gift of Rain (recently referenced more than once by me on the the blog), was established as a pepper port by the British in 1786.
The Kingdom of Aceh (now part of Indonesia, and devastated by the horrendous December 2004 Asian tsunami) was a powerhouse of the Southeast Asia spice routes. The Republic of Venice was also a major factor in the Spice Trade.

A major consequence of the Spice Trade was the discovery of the American Continent(s) by European explorers, since Western Europeans did not want to be dependent on, nor pay the heavy taxes levied by, the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The first Asian spice grown successfully in the New World was Jamaican ginger, a root originally from Southern India and China.

Silk enhances the appearance of those who wear it, and delights the eye of those who behold its splendor. Spices titillate our palates, and their judicious use often lifts quotidian nourishment into the realm of the extraordinary, and sometimes the sublime. Silk and spices are without doubt life-enhancing and give pleasure to those who encounter and appreciate them. And so, I give you silk and spices....

Shop with spices in Morocco A spice shop in Morocco

Sharon Molloy: Office assistant, "Molly." Sharon is married to Ray Kelley (CHS Class of 1960) after 20 years of widowhood following the death of her first husband, Billy Smothermon (CHS Class of 1959). Sharon has published a wonderful update in "Show and Tell" (May 18, 2008), and she and Ray plan to be in attendance for the class reunion in Childress October 3-5, 2008. We look forward to seeing both of them then.

Bill Bailey: His Jeep, filming all of the CHS football games. Bill has allowed us to publish a great update on "Show and Tell" (June 10, 2008). He is presently Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, (where his wife Jean also works), after a 31-year career with the United Methodist Church. Bill unfortunately will not be able to attend the Childress reunion in October because of his school schedule, but we urge you to read his referenced bio.

Joe Hix: DE student, blond hair. We believe Joe lives in Childress. He plays the organ beautifully, as he did for my mother's funeral there in 1983.

Carolyn Z. Mooney: Tall, senior play. We believe Carolyn resides in Childress with her husband, but we have no additional information at this time.

Gerald Holeman: DE student, Kirkland. We believe Gerald has been living in Dallas, and we recently published an obit of his brother Curtis (CHS Class of 1960) on "Short Notes" (June 26, 2008). We have no additional information.

Patsy Poling: Hair, new Ford. Pat Sledge and her husband have been traveling in Colorado, but anticipate returning soon to their home near Waco. Pat does plan to attend the class reunion in October.

Don Morgan: DE student, black hair. Don is married to Billye and lives in Childress. They have two sons and no grandchildren. Don graduated from West Texas State University in Canyon, then entered the U.S. Air Force and was an officer/pilot for 7 years. He has been farming in Childress since leaving the USAF in 1975. Don said (in our conversation this evening) that he is enamored of a French singer named Isabelle Boulay (look/listen on YouTube) and is contemplating a trip to Paris. He adds that he will plan on attending our class' dinner reunion on October 3 ... if he is not in Paris with Isabelle by then. (Billye was present during our conversation, and he was still living when I hung up .... grin....) I enjoyed talking to Don and look forward to seeing him soon.... Since publishing, we have been informed by unnamed (but reputable ... more or less ... grin) sources that Don is a devotee of the TV program "Dancing With the Stars." On one viewing, when the end of the show was somehow cut off, Don (through Billye) registered a complaint with the local ABC affiliate, which was later broadcast with other complaints received about the abrupt truncation of the show.

John Steed: Student council, Senior play cast. In recent e-mails from John, we have learned that John is a lobbyist working in Austin and, when not working, is at his homes in Arlington and Fort Worth. His next door neighbors are the actor Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure, etc.) and the novelist Sandra Brown. He is married to a doctor of Internal Medicine who practices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Sherry Sides: Betty Crocker Award winner, green Ford. Sherry and her husband, Dennis Haddon, live in Lubbock. Sherry works for the Lubbock I.S.D., and we wonder if her path ever crosses with Wayne Havens (see "Show and Tell" published May 22, 2008).

Johnny Thornton: Basketball player, National Honor Society. John and his wife Katherine live in Fairview, in the Dallas area. John graduated from Texas Tech in 1967 and obtained his MBA from St. Mary's University in San Antonio. John is retired from a career which included more than 30 years with U.S. Steel. He and Katherine have one daughter and three grandchildren, one girl and two boys. When I spoke with John on July 24, he indicated that he will visit the blog and consider attending the October reunion in Childress.

Carolyn Bruce: DE student; dinner ring. Carolyn Bruce Lane lives in Childress. I talked with Carolyn this morning (Saturday, June 26) and she told me she and her husband Dwayne have adopted and are raising two grandchildren (ages 15-17). Between them, they have four children and eight grandchildren. Carolyn and Dwayne are both retired. Their home was severely damaged in the recent Childress tornadoes. She said she had been hoping for a new roof, but that wasn't exactly the way she had imagined getting one ... and we both laughed over the wisdom in the old caveat to be careful of what you wish for ... or at least specific in the details of the request. Carolyn has also been battling cancer, and hopes to be able to attend the Class of 1963 dinner on October 3 at K-Bob's, if her health permits. We certainly send our best wishes to Carolyn and do hope to see her soon.

Bettye Galyean: All-Star volleyball player and NHS [National Honor Society]. Bettye Galyean Seagroves lives with her husband in Westcliffe, Colorado. after retiring from their jobs in Childress.


Philip Tutor: Basketball player, FFA. Phil (a/k/a "The Bish" and "Mzunga" as well as other colorful appellations) is pastor of the New Life Church in Stafford, Arizona and has traveled the world and the U.S. in the course of his ministry. We were privileged to publish a topic post from Phil, Change ... It's Good for You!!! on March 4, 2008. There was a wonderful mini-reunion with Phil and his wife Winnie, Jim and Nicki, Linda Kay and Wayne, Coach Joe Warren and Yahn and I at Pappadeaux's in Dallas on April 9, 2008 (to read about the mini-reunion, see It Was a Dark and Stormy Night..., published April 11, 2008). Winnie and Phil have 16 grandchildren!!! Phil is in Rwanda as this is being published. At this juncture, Phil will not be able to attend the Childress reunion in October, though we continue to hope for a change in his schedule.

Barry Wakefield: Junior play cast, UIL poetry interpretation. We understand Joe Don is in occasional touch with Barry and are awaiting information from him, but have nothing further at this time. We believe Barry is considering attending the October reunion. We have just learned that Barry graduated from Texas Tech with a degree in accounting, following a stint in the Navy. He has lived/worked in Oxnard, California for Helena Chemical for a number of years. We understand that Barry frequently travels to Texas to visit family and friends, and so hope this bodes well for attendance at the reunion.

Patricia Painter: State FHA Degree, Corral staff. Patricia Painter McCain lives in Missouri City, Texas (outside Houston).

Gayle Whitten: Best-Natured, National Honor Society. Gayle is married to our classmate Kay Eatherly Whitten and they live in Lubbock. As Kay reported in connection with Bobcat Treasure: Gold ... "King Tut" ... and the "Lost Buddha"... (published October 20, 2007): I retired from teaching 4 years ago, and Gayle still has his painting business. He quit teaching after 12 years so he could own his own business and I could be home with our children. So for 20 years I did not teach but was mom to Melissa (nearly 38) and Mark (36). Melissa and her husband live in Lubbock and they have 3 precious children: Lindsay (7), Aaron (5) and Colby (3 months). Mark lives in Houston and has Kamber (6) and Asher (4). When all the "grands" are together, they are like "fireants" What a blessing! Gayle and I have an intense desire to serve our Lord Jesus in any way He leads. We have been on a couple of mission trips to the Czech Republic, and we may begin a ministry of "mom and dad" to missionaries. We are not sure right now. We have been blessed to travel a lot, and we love people, so we are waiting. Kay and Gayle have confirmed that they will attend the Class Reunion in Childress in October, and will definitely be at our Class dinner at K-Bob's at 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 3.

Johnny Wilson: Greenbelt football player, student council. John and his wife Pam live in the Fort Worth area, where John coaches and Pam teaches middle school, after both retired from careers in education in Oklahoma. They have two children, a boy and a girl. We understand his son is getting married in close proximity to the October reunion, which may preclude his attending.

Bryce Wormsbaker: Wavy hair. Bryce lives in Childress, is married with children, and works for the U.S. Postal Service.

Johnny Wright: Debate team, black eyes. We believe John is living in Greenville, South Carolina, but have no further information at this time. We will update if possible. Since publishing, I have spoken to John Wright in South Carolina and sent him the link(s) to the blog. We are hopeful that John will provide us with an update which we can share with the class. It will be appended here when received.

Etruscan perfume vase shaped like a female head Etruscan perfume vase shaped like a female head

Perfumes (from the Latin per fumus meaning "through smoke") have been valued for trade throughout recorded commercial history. The blending of perfume began in Ancient Egypt, and was expanded by the Arabs and the Romans. The oldest known perfumery, dating to the Bronze Age about 4000 years ago, was excavated on Crete. The first recorded chemist was Tapputi, a perfume maker mentioned in a Mesopotamian Cuneiform tablet from the 2nd Millennium B.C.E. Gaius Plinius Secundus, a/k/a Pliny the Elder, author, naturalist, philosopher and naval and military commander at the time of the Roman Empire, described the basic ingredients and methods of making perfume in his Naturalis Historia, which was dedicated to the Roman Emperor Vespasian. (Pliny the Elder died during the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 C.E. But again I digress....)

Early perfumes were made from amber, musk, aromatic oils and spices. Persian doctor/chemist Ibn Sina (a/k/a Avicenna) perfected the process of distilling oils from flowers, the process most often used today.


Scientific research (and sometimes personal experience) suggests that scent is the strongest trigger to memory. The smell of cut grass or baking cookies may remind us of childhood. The smell of woodsmoke can evoke thoughts of autumn or cozy winter nights before the fireplace. The scent of a particular perfume can recall a mother, a special friend, a lover.... Sugawara Takesue no Musume (1009-1070) knew the poignancy of memory manifest in a tantalizing waft of perfume when he wrote in Perfume Laden Air:

When from the neighboring garden the perfume-laden air
Saturates my soul with memories,
Rises the thought of the beloved plum tree
Blooming under the eaves of the house which is gone.


In about the 15th century, essential oils and blended perfumes used by ancient Greeks and Romans were often transported in amphorae, ceramic vases with two handles and a long neck which was narrower than the body of the jar. Amphorae have proven of great benefit to archaeologists, since amphorae found in shipwrecks or in caves or ancient cellars are sometimes so well preserved that the original contents are still present. Even when the amphorae have been broken, or lost for centuries, there sometimes remains a residue which can be reconstituted to a remarkable degree as it was in its original state. And so, finally, for those Bobcats, our former classmates, for whom we have been unable to find any information, I give you perfumes ... essence....

Greek amphora, showing the goddess Athena Greek Amphora, showing the goddess Athena


Juanita Foster: DE student and shorthand. No information.

Linda Ham: Larry's big sister, brown hair. No information.

Woody Maggart: FHA sweetheart, white convertible. No information.

Darrell Manuel: Track and speech club parliamentarian. Despite leaving messages for Darrell on the Classmates website (where he is registered), we have heard nothing from him and have no information.

Barbara Moore: Librarian's Club President; Joe's big sister. No information.

Linda Ritchie: Engaged, red hair. No information.

Eddie Simmons: DE student, student council. No information.

Eddie Worthington: DE student, green Falcon. No information.


If we have inadvertently missed any of our graduating classmates in this series, or have unknowingly conveyed incorrect or incomplete information, we would appreciate your letting us know.

We also hope to catch up more with our classmates at the Class of 1963 dinner at 7:00 p.m. at K-Bob's Restaurant in Childress on Friday, October 3, 2008, held in conjunction with the All-School Reunion October 3-5. If you do plan to attend, please let us know so we can arrange for the appropriate number of seats. See you soon???

)O(

My Photo

Saturday, July 19, 2008

To Be Or Not To Be Boring: That is the Question

Recently, I have been communicating with many of the members of the CHS Class of 1963 in regard to a new blog project that I am working on. The project is called “Celebrating the Journey: The Power of Love” or it could also be called “Secrets for a Lasting Marriage.” The response has been great, and just for the record, if you haven’t heard from me, you will! Every couple that I have contacted so far has been asked to complete a questionnaire by responding to questions regarding their marriage, most of which are approaching the 30th to 40th or more anniversaries. I have had to smile several times because one of the first responses that I have had is something to the effect that while they as a couple will be happy to participate, they can’t imagine what they can contribute that would be of interest because as they describe themselves, “we are the most boring people you can imagine!” Now, I have to smile, because that is the way I often describe myself and Jim. Naturally, being the curious person that I am, I began to think about “boringness.” Why do so many of us think of ourselves as boring? What makes a person boring” Is it bad to be “boring?” Does one have to be a “party animal” to not be boring?” “Is boring the same to each person?” Who determines the standards for boringness?” The questions are endless.

In a past comment to one of the posts that Jennifer published, I told Jennifer that I was certain that her marriage to Yahn is never boring. She assured me that when they married she promised him that he would never be bored and she has indeed kept that promise. I know that Jennifer could say this much better than I, but from our conversations over the past year, I have observed a true joie de vivre (love or joy of life) that emanates from the two of them when they speak of their travels, share the books they are reading, describe the restaurants and good food they have discovered, when they speak passionately about the beliefs and causes that they care about, and when they speak about each other. They have many friends that they enjoy, and in the past both enjoyed interesting careers. Could the secret of their “non-boringness” be the result of making it a priority to savor life to the fullest in mind, body, and soul?

What about the rest of us? Is it possible that some of us have failed to recognize and nurture the things in our life that could contribute to our own personal joie de vivre or love of life? Though I often think of myself as boring to other people, I find that I am never or rarely ever bored. How can that be? I find great pleasure in reading so as long as I have my books I can pass time in total contentment no matter what else might be going on around me. I love being at home. I experience contentment when I am surrounded by my things, my yard, and my kitties, and I love it when Jim is there, too. I enjoy working on the computer, the blog, and other technology related projects. I love learning new things. I have friends to lunch with, family to be with, and my church where I find peace, but spending time alone is also necessary to my sense of well-being. I have no doubt that there are many who would find my life style choices to be boring, while I view it as a good thing.

Jim on the other hand is drawn to activities that take him outside our home. He loves spending time at the golf course sometimes with friends, but often alone. When he was coaching, he spent most of his time in the gym, and when he wasn’t on the court, he loved spending time in his office. In other words, he, too, is drawn to a place where he can spend time alone working on the things he loves—golf and basketball. When he is at home, he enjoys sitting in his chair reading and working on his current interests, and I think he likes it when he sees me there, too. Spending time with family, going to church, and working in our yard are other priorities with him. However, he, unlike me, has to retreat to activities that take him away from home—no spending all day at home or watching television. He does not view himself as boring at all and neither do I.

The question in terms of being boring is how we rate as a couple. Perhaps because we are both contented with whom we are as individuals, it is not so important to dwell too much on how we are perceived by others. We enjoy our time together, and we do have many common interests; we are both open to learning new things; neither of us is a couch potato; we both enjoy activities apart as well as together; we are committed to our relationship, and we can still make each other laugh. In our own quiet way, I believe that we too savor a true zest for life through the priorities that we have established--- we share a true love of our family, our home, our God and our church, and for one another.

Maybe we only become boring when we think of ourselves as boring because we compare ourselves to the expectations and lifestyles of others and let other people set the standard for boring. When we immerse ourselves in the activities we love, surround ourselves with people we love, remain open to what life brings, maintain a sense of fun, and make no apologies for who we are (not boring at all) then maybe we, too, can bask in the warmth of having the much desired joie de vivre. The questions about “boringness” will no longer matter!

In my final observation, I find myself turning to the three furry felines that share our home. We love all of them and each is blessed with a unique personality.
Bandit is a whiner and is very needy. He can’t stay out of the kitchen where he constantly begs for food. He is never satisfied.

(Bandie hides under the table waiting for a chance to escape into the house for food.)

Coalie is very sweet, very quiet, and a total couch potato—sleeping the day away. He only moves from comfy spot to comfy spot inside and outside. He has
little interest in anything else.

((Coalie rests on the bench until it is nap time.)


Both of these kitties in their defense are getting old and their lives have been disrupted by Chloe, the new
kitty
in the house,

Chloe is only two. She is full of life. She is constantly on the move and has a total fascination with learning new things and investigates every object inside and outside. She delights us with her curiosity and zest for life. Chloe is also extremely fascinated with the humans in the house-watching every thing we do, listening to us, and never failing to make us feel special in her life by purring, snuggling, and seeking us out for attention. In return we find her delightful company because she brings to us a total sense of fun and love of life that is a joy to experience. I know that if I give it a little thought, there is a valuable lesson to be learned here when I think in terms of relationships and boringness.


(Chloe Keeps watch on the yard to protect it from intruders like birds and other cats.)



Now, if only I can get Jim to learn to use a computer, and if only he can finally teach me to play golf!! Let the fun begin.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blast From the Past: January 24, 1963 ... The Corral ... and "As You Like It" ....



America's sweetheart (then), in a bad hair moment from Imitation of Life

As I write this, I am looking at the (fading, crumbling) Thursday, January 24, 1963 edition of
The Corral, a true trip down the sometimes seemingly ubiquitous Memory Lane. In addition to the alphabetically featured Senior Personalities ... me, Ronnie Kindle and Paula Leach, about which more to follow ... there are a few other items/articles which might bring a smile or two or a nod of remembrance. Of course ... the
piece de resistance ... all right, perhaps it should be resisted ... is another of my "As You Like It" columns which ran on that date. Let's scan the paper together for all the news that was fit (and we were permitted) to print....

At top center, there is a story with a cute picture (unfortunately not sharp enough to be scanned and reproduced here) of Joy Hackler being honored as 1963 FFA Sweetheart. Joy was presented with a jacket commemorating the occasion by Quentin Henderson and Ben Teague, FFA President that year.

Top right, the "Cat's Corner" sports column, notes that the "Childress Bobcats remained in the middle of the District 5-AA [basketball] race with a convenient win over a tough Iowa Park team, 52 to 39. The Bobcats are now tied with Quanah for second place. Seymour leads the district with a 4 win-loss.

"The 'Cats hit a remarkable 54 percent of the shots from the field and a very respectable 62 percent from the free throw line. ... Iowa Park hit only 26 percent.... The Bobcats also beat the Hawks on the boards as they grabbed 22 rebounds to 16 for Iowa Park. The 'Cats have yet to be out-rebounded this season.

"Jim Wilcoxson led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points. Wilcoxson attempted nine shots from the field and connected on six for 67 percent and added five free throws. Johnny Thornton scored 12 points. Joe Hopkins and Ronnie Lawrence added 8 points each, and sophomore Ricky Hamm added seven. ... Hamm led all rebounders with nine, Thornton had six, Lawrence three, Wilcoxson two, and Hopkins and Jimmy Don Wilson one each."

There is a notice that Nellie Agnes Kennedy's sixth period speech class presented the play "A Modern Cinderella" on January 10. The cast consisted of Linda Sally as Stephanie; Linda Trent as Clarice; Linda Key as the stepmother; Margaret Hadley as the godmother; and Sandy Collyer as Cindy. Phyllis Keel directed.

Devotionals had recently been given by Keith Moore, John Steed, Clara Robinson, Carolyn Loter, Linda DeArmond, Bettye Shahan, Pat Williams, Larry Don Feagan, James Driver and Steve Fanning.

The Distributive Education Spotlight fell on Eddie Worthington and Gerald Holeman. We learned that Eddie was 17 years old, stood 5'6" tall and had brown eyes and black hair. Eddie worked for his father as a salesman and delivery man at Worthington's Welders Supply.

Gerald was 5'10" tall with brown hair and was employed by Newberry Funeral Home, where he assisted with many aspects of the funeral business. Gerald said that DE had helped him learn how to meet the public.


The band column "Blue Notes" noted that new uniforms would need to be bought for the incoming Freshmen as the Bobcat Band would then expand to a 101-piece marching band. [I am assuming the "1" was the drum major ... or else there was a lonely tuba or drummer out there somewhere ... grin....] Uncle Norm's Thought for the Day was: "Cynic -- a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." (Unknown)

There were two articles (no bylines) about the "Amazing History of Valentine" (coming soon) and "February Is A Month of Love."

As for the Senior Personalities (alphabetically, as we ran the personalities that year, and with the pro forma apology that many of you know more about me already than you ever wanted to):

I was 16 years old, born in Denver, Colorado on October 18, 1946, 5'9" tall with blond hair and blue eyes. My pet peeves were people who say one thing and do another, people who go out of their way to hurt someone else, and false friends. Some of my favorites were: food, Chinese and Japanese; songs, "Exodus" and "Hatikvah" [the Israeli national anthem ... I was a strange kid ... which is no news flash]; colors, lavender and blue; car, the 1963 Corvette Stingray; movies, Exodus and Judgment at Nuremberg; actors, George Maharis, Maximilian Schell and Richard Chamberlain; actress, Elizabeth Taylor; books, Exodus and Mila 18; hobbies, reading, writing and listening to good music. I answered the question about my ideal boy by asking: "Are there any REALLY ideal boys?" (grin)

Ronnie Kindle was 18 years old, born in Childress on October 20, 1944. He was 5'11" tall with green eyes and brown hair. His pet peeve was people who talk behind other people's backs. His favorites were: foods, steak, chicken and chocolate pie; color, blue; car, Chevrolet; actor and actress, John Wayne and Natalie Wood; hobby, playing pool. In high school he served as Sophomore Class Secretary-Treasurer and Junior Class Reporter. He was voted Cutest as a Senior, and was runner-up as Most Bashful during Junior year.

Paula Leach was 17, 5'6" tall, with auburn hair and brown eyes, born in Childress on September 1, 1945. Paula's pet peeves were "hypocrites and girls with solitaires." Favorites: foods, sirloin, watermelon and coconut pie; colors, red and baby blue; cars, Chevrolets and Pontiacs; movies, Back Street and From the Terrace; actors, Paul Newman and Grant Williams; actresses, Susan Hayward and Elizabeth Taylor; books, The Hustler, Suddenly Last Summer and Anthem; hobbies, dancing, sports and collecting. [I had to smile at this when I remembered Paula's shop "The Wild Plum"....] Paula's most embarrassing moment occurred during a swimming excursion during Freshman year ... and I'll never tell....

And now ... the moment you've no doubt been waiting for, breathlessly, of course. The third of my "As You Like It" columns, which ran in this edition of The Corral. As promised, not a word has been changed, except for one small, explanatory, parenthetical aside....



As You Like It
by Jennifer Johnston

You are moving into another dimension -- passing the boundaries of reason and logic -- That's right, dear reader ... you're walking into the Twilight Zone -- a room filled with the latest female hair styles.

Not that I have anything against hair, or females -- I haven't started hating myself yet -- but I do very definitely resent those so-called hair styles that beauty operators keep springing on us -- and the impression created by the girls under them.


The flip

First we shall discuss the puffy-headed, bow-bedecked tumbleweed -- otherwise known as the back-combed bubble. In case you are not familiar with this style, and are interested in hair watching, it has the following characteristics: may resemble a tumbleweed, or a rat's nest which the rats couldn't stand any longer; stands out four feet on each side (if under four feet, this style is considered un-chic); has small colored bows at strategic points, which somehow become lost in the tangles; usually lightly brushed on top (in some cases not at all) and stuck together with hair spray. If one steps into the wind wearing this hairdo, one is likely to look like one has tangled with a live electric wire. To top all this off, the girl who wears it just has to have a skinny neck, thereby creating the appearance of a fuzzy lollipop as compared with the stick.

The beehive

Then we have the upswept hairdo (you know, French rolls, etc.). Now there's nothing wrong with upswept hair -- as long as it STAYS upswept. Somehow girls seem to have gotten the idea that hair cut as short as a girl can wear it will still go into a French roll if they wind, twist, turn, pull and use a card of bobby pins. The end result of this may be called the Yeeeccchhhh!!! With innumerable ends sticking out, bobby pins showing and a general mess covering the head, "Yeeeccchhh!" is the only word possible to use.

While on the subject of upsweeps -- how about the upsweep that has been back-combed for fullness -- but hasn't had the back-combing combed over? And how about the upsweep that has so much hair spray on it that the girl must freeze to death because she can't afford to get within 50 feet of a match, even?

Next we come to short hair. I must agree that short hair is very popular -- but must it be cut so short that you have to show your birth certificate, driver's license and Mickey Mouse Club membership to get into a Women's Auxiliary Club meeting?

Finally, we go from one extreme to the other. This year, in an attempt to annihilate puffy-headed, bow-bedecked tumbleweeds, hairdressers have given us "the Marienbad". [From the film Last Year at Marienbad."] This monster looks somewhat like the following: flat on top, flat on sides, flat in back (and when I say FLAT I don't just mean straight), and having large curls behind the ears or from the temples, around the cheekbones and stopping just under the eye. All in all, it creates the impression that the wearer backed into a wall and got caught between a pair of cymbals just as someone dropped an iron on her head.

Next week I'm going to discuss makeup -- if the puffy-headed, bow-bedecked tumbleweeds haven't done away with me -- snarf, snarf!

)O(

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Summer Magic ... July 4th ... and Ahhhh! ....

The Pleiades, an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus. NASA photo

The Pleiades, Constellation Taurus

There is something magic in summer ... a special, often startling beauty, wrapped in evanescent poignancy ... a season of emergent, fevered hopes and desires that burst recklessly into bloom and flourish more quickly in our terrestrial hothouse than at other times of the year. I've always envisioned spring as the time for gestation and rebirth, and autumn (my favorite time of year, BTW) as the season for reflection and meditation, with winter seemingly and suitably (!) tailor-made for introspection and resolution ... but summer seems uniquely crafted for celebration and exuberance, wishes and dreams ... an allegory, a metaphor writ large if you will, for the splendor and incandescence of life itself.

There is something magic in a summer's night ... a warm, enveloping comfort for the mind and the senses ... fertile conditions for ideas, aspiration, imagination, fantasy ... a thousand thoughts, symbolically evinced in the billions of stars shimmering in the firmament. Jack Kerouac (On the Road, and other writings) mused: "Maybe that's what life is ... a wink of the eye and winking stars." I am inclined to agree with his analogy, expanding it to include the knowledge of those twinkling stars as immortal constants, returning to us each night, in recurrent movement through our transient lives, serenely and eternally reassuring in their timeless trajectory.

There is something magic in memories of summer days ... memories of blazing hot noons and scorching suns, spent at the swimming pool, or cruising the highway and Main Street, or daringly taking the car outside the city limits and driving to Memphis, or Paducah, or Wellington or Quanah ... or even more dangerously, to Hollis. I so remember the loooong bridge over the Red River on the Memphis side of Estelline ... and I recall that somehow, probably from some other summer dreamer, the girls and I, packed into someone's car like the proverbial sardines, got the idea that if we could hold our breath (while touching our right index fingers to the top of the car) for the entire length of that bridge, whatever we wished would come true.

(Side Note: On recent drives through Texas, despite many cigarettes inhaled over many years, I found I am still capable of this feat ... and more importantly, of wishing and dreaming and hoping. And I have learned in this life that a dream not immediately realized is not necessarily a dream denied, nor an illusion ... or delusion ... that can never be. It is sometimes merely a dream or a vision deferred, until a more propitious time, until the dreamer can recognize and understand and act upon the message within the dream. But I digress....)


Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star approaching the end of its life cycle Betelgeuse

Like wishing on stars, or birthday candles, or other totems, the girls and I found that this bit of magic didn't always work ... or perhaps it did, in its way, but we didn't apprehend the nature of the answer then. Someone very wise once said that there are no such things as unanswered prayers ... that "No" is an answer ... and despite disappointment that our wish, that thing we wanted, was not granted, we sometimes find that our supplication was in fact answered in the way that it should have been, for the betterment and growth of our selves and our souls ... and that it may yet be answered again, with a different result, in the infinite track of time. It is sometimes difficult to comprehend infinity ... which by definition has no spatial boundaries ... and yet nearly all of us believe in the mysterious infinite, in one way or another....

There is magic in summer loves ... even those which don't work out (or do they, like unanswered prayers?) ... even those that disappear like smoke after a Labor Day cookout. But there is special magic in a summer love that transcends autumn, and winter, and flourishes again in spring and back into summer ... through the seasons, through the years, the decades, the lives...

My old "friend" Sara Teasdale knew the seductive magic of ethereal summer nights and luminous summer loves, as she wrote in Summer Night, Riverside:

In the wild, soft summer darkness
How many and many a night we two together
Sat in the park and watched the Hudson
Wearing her lights like golden spangles
Glinting on black satin. ...

And down the hill a tree that dripped with bloom
Sheltered us,
While your kisses and the flowers,
Falling, falling,
Tangled my hair.
...

And now, far off
In the fragrant darkness
The tree is tremulous again with bloom. ...

Tonight what girl
Dreamily before her mirror shakes from her hair
This year's blossoms, clinging in its coils?

As has been discussed recently on the blog, one cannot live in memory, or in the past. To do so would be stunting to the mind and the soul ... a disservice to our selves and to the imperative to learn and grow and progress. The present must be attended, and savored and given its proper, urgent place ... for in the blink of an eye, it too will become the past. But I believe we make a huge karmic mistake in attempting to denigrate the past, or in dismissing it as something which happened a long time ago and is not worthy of much reflection ... because, like it or not, in substantial, intrinsic ways we are our past ... the walking, talking literal embodiment of our prior actions and experiences ... for good or ill. It is our past, and (if we are wise) the lessons we have learned from it, that make us the people we are today.

I'll go out on a leafy summer limb here (stronger than many though, I think) and say that no one reading this blog ... indeed no one I know ... can say in truth that he or she has never made a mistake or a wrong decision. Or ... was it wrong ... or in actuality, a karmic necessity? Did we do something, say something, fail to do something that we later regretted? If we recognize that we did, and why, and come to understanding, and change our behavior, this is called learning ... and as in high school, we all must learn the lessons we need in this life and others, before we can move on to higher education.

The Crab Nebula, remnants of a supernova that was first observed around 1050 AD The Crab Nebula

Did you break a heart ... or more than one ... of a friend or a lover ... on some long ago summer night, or in the golden chill of autumn, or the drear of winter, or the frenzy of spring? Did you know, with malice or indifference aforethought, that you would break that heart at the time, with full knowledge of the consequences? Or did the realization of the end result of your actions only come later? No matter now when or how you became aware ... the point is to gain awareness ... and empathy ... the feeling of being connected with every heart and soul on the planet ... so that now you can progress.

Did you ... have you ... regretted some action(s) and contemplated how you might have been a better person then, and how you can be a better person now? Have you put your thoughts and resolutions into practice, even though they may yet be in the formative stage? Then you are in transit on the journey to awareness. Of course you can't go back and undo what you did ... but the point of life, of life lessons, is for us to learn ... to learn love and empathy, with compassion thrown in as an advanced credit course. Fail to learn ... fail to know ... fail to take responsibility, even if only in the hidden corners of your mind ... and you not only fail that test, you may have to repeat the class ... the semester ... the year ... ad infinitum.

Were you hurt by a parent, a sibling, a lover, a friend, or perhaps directly or tangentially by someone you never knew who never knew you? All of the foregoing? Have you analyzed what happened ... and why? Perhaps you were in no way at fault ... perhaps some of the fault was yours. But ... have you learned to forgive yourself if necessary ... and to forgive those who hurt you ... and accept those painful life lessons as agents of growth and knowledge and enlightenment? Do you harbor any grudge(s) against those who hurt you ... or have you come to an understanding that their callous or indifferent or cruel behavior was not only part of your life lessons, but part of theirs? Part of the struggle to mend fragmented souls? Their karma, not yours? Are you able to empathize with them, to understand and acknowledge the often terrible demons which may have driven them to their actions?

I am not suggesting here that bad or certainly horrendous behavior be excused, or tolerated ... or just sloughed off as being "all in the past" or "all in the game" or with some other salving, face-saving catchphrase. There is true, irredeemable evil in the world ... but when confronted with it, or thrust into its path, the point is to find a way to overcome, to grow from what may be in some cases extremely fallow soil ... to till and fertilize, to contemplate and reflect ... to irrigate, if necessary ... and to forgive, yourself and those others, if you can ... or if you can't, to at least comprehend that hatred and anger are poisonous, life-denying emotions.


Anger has its uses ... pulsing heat will cauterize a wound, prevent infection, stop loss of blood and life. But hold the fire of anger too long against your torn skin and it burns away the surrounding whole flesh, leaving a deeper, more disfiguring scar. The path to peace and serenity lies through the door of understanding ... and in the wisdom to put away anger and bitterness before they sear your soul.

In extremis ... in one of those long dark nights of the soul which come to all of us ... we sometimes punish ourselves with flails of guilt, or longing, or regret, or sorrow for what might have been ... might being the operative word here. If we were magically able to go back and pull one tile from the mosaic, or to rearrange just a few grains here and there in the sand painting of our lives ... to go back and do things differently than we did once upon a time ... the pattern would likely be altered irrevocably, changing not only that facet of our lives, but each facet which was placed thereafter in context to create the total picture ... the good as well as the bad. The law of unforeseen or unintended consequences.... Perhaps things might have been better ... perhaps worse ... but they would definitely be different, the quality and reality of that difference unknown and unknowable. And so we must continue to build on the existing structure ... until it is done, and we move on to a time and place when we can build again ... make different choices ... have more knowledge of the choices available and the results of those choices on our growth and wisdom.

To quote a few lines from The Rubiyyat of Omar Khayyam, beloved by adolescent (and older) girls:

The moving finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on; nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.


But your next quatrain ... and the next ... and the next ... have yet to be written by that spectral digit ... and you are the ultimate author of your lives.

There is an urgency in summer's magic, too ... or at least it always seemed so to me. Some ineffable sense that something must be done, concluded, brought to fruition, finished ... before the chill of autumn stills the vibration and leads to winter hibernation. And yet I am reminded of the old superstition that to look too far ahead, to turn forward the pages of a calendar before the actual date has passed, is to encourage the sands of your life to run out more quickly ... and so I am content to pass these summer days as they come, in sustaining heat and cooling shade, by and in the water (some might say all wet!), as I choose, favorite libation at hand, and in as close proximity as possible (whether physically or by phone or e-mail) with family and friends ... with all those I love.

A typical spider effect

And, even with summer's joy and passion, there is wistful and tender magic in summer too, as for this 4th of July I again summon cherished memories of family and community and genuine love of country ... celebrating the birth of our nation and the ideals of the Founding Fathers ... under optimally cerulean and/or indigo skies. I like to believe that on that day we will all remember earlier Fourths, moments of love and joy in the times of our lives. I cannot contemplate fireworks, or a series of them, exploding into glorious colors and patterns ... without also conjuring faces once glimpsed around bonfires, roasting wieners and marshmallows ... without hearing the voices of our then-young parents, and our even younger selves ... without imagining ephemeral smoke hanging low over the concentrically rippling waters of life ... without lighting a figurative joss stick in memory of summer kisses and summer dreams with young loves, and lost loves ... with once new loves who are now
old loves, who have shared the other summers and seasons with us ... with memories of once upon a time loves we will one day find again ... sitting under those timeless, winking stars in anticipation of the first streaking, glowing tail ascending to the heavens, bursting into wondrous brilliance, followed by more telltale tails of light ... "exploding" as Kerouac wrote, "across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Ahhhhh!'"....

We live for the "Ahhhh!" moments in those bursts of light ... and the long, slow exhale and the sense of warmth and love and well-being when the show is done. And as I fold the metaphoric blanket and journey from that place memorialized in mind, I always remember that it isn't really over ... the stars will come out again ... tomorrow, weather permitting, or the next night, or the next ... but they will return ... the same, yet with their position in the sky minutely changed as the earth revolves and the seasons slowly change ... with the promise of more summer nights ... more light and love ... more life and lives to come....

Fireworks over Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007

Wishing a glorious day ... a starry, star-filled night ... and a happy 4th to all....

)O(

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