-
CHRISTMAS PONDERINGS
This is being dictated on Christmas of the year 2012. It is near noontime and the house where we have lived for a long time is quiet now. The children who carry the Carr surname and their husbands and children are involved in festivities in Florida and in Texas. So in these peaceful surroundings I…
-
LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
As most of you know, my birth place was in a suburb of St. Louis which was seven miles west of the Mississippi River. I am aware that from time to time, the Mississippi has overflowed its banks and has caused considerable harm to the surrounding territories. I remember a flood in 1937 which resulted…
-
REMARKS TO MRS. BRIBER’S FOURTH GRADE CLASS, GLENWOOD SCHOOL
All things considered, I was born in the year of 1922. I had nothing to do with the date that I was born. Those questions were settled by my parents. As it turns out, I was born the seventh child to a family who tended to the fortunes of the Lilac Roost Farm. It was…
-
MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI
As it so happens, I finished my glorious career in the Army of the United States, not the United States Army, in the great state of Mississippi. I use that title, “the great state of Mississippi,” because it is always used by politicians. In August of 1945, I had returned to this country after 28…
-
MAYBE LILLIE WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG
The Lillie in the title of this essay is my mother, to whom you have been introduced before. Lillie was born in Pope County, Illinois on the banks of the Ohio River in a community called Lusk. It was not a town at all. It was simply a landing spot for the folks who traversed…
-
ENHANCED VULGARITIES AND/OR DO AMERICANS REALLY TALK LIKE THIS?
In an effort to be as straight forward as possible, I will admit at the beginning of this essay that the George Bush administration made it known to all Americans that enhancement had taken on a more sinister meaning. When the Bushies talked about enhanced interrogation, they were really talking about torture. This essay has…
-
DIRECT DEPOSIT?!!
On very rare occasions an incident will happen that demands to be written about. In this case, I am led to believe that if this essay is not written promptly, an indescribable act will be committed on my front porch. The incident in question took place on Friday morning before the start of the Labor…
-
ANSWERING THE CALL
If my sources of news are correct, there will be a large meeting in Houston called by the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry. I gather that he has made arrangements to set aside a Saturday in August when he will conduct a national day of prayer. The most important element of the national day of…
-
THE BLACK CAT ESCAPES FROM THE BAG
I had hoped never to have an occasion to write an essay that charges racial discrimination against a presidential contender. But the facts are clear. The Republican campaign in 2012 is aimed at vilifying Barack Obama. In spite of all of his accomplishments, Mr. Obama is vilified for no apparent reason. I have long suspected…