From the Journal of Issac McNamara.....#3

The sun was an hour away when Zeke lead the sorrel horse from the Livery, behind it walking along was his mule. Zeke had found the young mule next to a burnt out wagon near Murder Rock over in Taney County, he was returning home to re cooperate from wounds he received at the Battle of Stone Mountain in Georgia. Best he could figure the owners had lost a fight with Alf Bolin's band of renegades and the little feller was standing weak legged by his dead mother. Zeke took charge and took care of him. He named him Alf, and where ever Zeke went that mule went as well. Alf Bolin had made a name for himself during the war as a murderer, he lead a band of misfits and created terror in Southwest Missouri raiding homes and killing people. He was beat to death over near Forsyth, and his head was placed on a staff outside the Christian County Court house for all to see that he was dead. Folks were that scared of him.

Zeke walked to the front of the Checkercloth were he tied the sorrel, Alf, walked up beside her and stood. Zeke entered the restaurant just as Ma was putting a plate full of hens eggs and sausage down in front of ole Mike the Jailer.

" Morning Zeke, sit yourself down and I'll fix you a plate." she said

Zeke sat down across from Mike. " Mike, good to see your still on the green side this morning."

"I am right now, but the day is young and Gerald Gideon still has his hopes up."

"Gerald is as dumb as an anvil, he should realize that should something happen to you he might go hungry for a day or two until someone remembers the prisoners."

" If that ain't the truth, ole Overstreet is so busy protecting his job, he may plum forget about them degenerates in the basement of the court house."

Ma brought out a plate full of eggs, sausage, fried taters and biscuits. She poured Zeke a cup of coffee and stepped back. She craned her neck out the window and seen Zeke's outfit at the hitching rail.

"Leaving us this morning Zeke?" she asked

"Yep, Sheriff says I need to earn my money. Say, you seen any strange men in town lately?"

"Just about everyday, now that the war is over they are coming through here in a regular basis. Most of them are bound for Texas and home."

"Seen any officers in full uniform?"

"Not so's I remember. they was a bunch traveling together yesterday afternoon, they had them a wagon and they got supplies from Cornelison's General store. paid for them with Yankee gold, surprised ole Cornelison half to death."
"They say where they was going?"
"You'd have to ask Cornelison, he might have heard, he don't ask many questions once the gold's been flashed."
Zeke finished his breakfast keeping up with the small talk of a morning restaurant as town folks came and went. He paid is money for the meal as was leaving when Mike asked him to hold up. Mike motioned for him to go outside away from the other folks eating.
"Boy, you listen to me, everybody in this town heard you was going to look for old Yokem's treasure. most of these folks would shoot their mothers for them diamonds. they also know about them Reb's gathering down near the White and James. These here folks was mostly with the south, they have them some strong feelings about Yankees and you need to watch your back. That Anderson bunch is running with Quantril now that Bloody Bill is dead. They would just as soon as kill a Deputy as look at one. Especially that young varmint Jesse James."
"I figured as much Mike, there is nothing that goes on in that courthouse than is not general news around town. Makes Mister Brown angry as a wet hen, he has to hustle to keep up on the news to report."
"Zeke, I mean it, your likely to be in a hot spot or two before this is over."
"Thanks Mike, I'll watch my top knot"
Zeke mounted the sorrel and with Alf following circled the court house and rode down to the river crossing on the James. It had been a dry year and the water was down enough that he didn't even get his boots wet as he crossed. Alf followed along with out a lead. Zeke had not gone down the trail more than a 100 yards when he seen a small piece of white fluttering from a low limb. He reached up to get it. It was a piece of white cloth with a warning written on it.
" Don't u Go, I mean it, turn around and head back, this is none of the laws concern."
Zeke had no more finished reading it when the limb above his head splintered and the sound of gunshot from a heavy rifle echoed off the river.....

Fall Fishing

Folks I finally got a chance to get back out and fish a little. My fishing buddy Doug. ( right) showed me how to do it last night, his two were caught on the same plug at the same time. Both were short fish, however one was a Smallmouth the other a Kentucky or Spotted Bass. Mine on the left was a three plus pound Spotted Bass taken on a shad colored crank bait in 20 feet of water, at the very back end of a cove. They are scattered, however we found them off main lake points, over ledges and on the rip-rap of the Kimberling City bridge. Smallmouth are a little more active than the Largemouth, Spots are active when you are in their area. The shad, a bait fish. is plentiful in Tablerock and a main source of food for these fish. All of the Bass are stocking up on them. Buddy Doug even took a large Goggle-eye on a black spinner bait. I'd say right now if you have the patience to keep throwing you will catch a nice mess of fish. The lake level is coming up fgast due to the amount of rain we have relieved in the last couple of weeks. The water is still what I would call clear so a slight breeze is a bonus. The surface temperature was 73 degrees yesterday.

Fall Fishing continued

Fall fishing is a lot like spring fishing. As the water cools down the fish become more active and some internal switch is flipped in the fish. They seem to know that cold weather is coming and they need to stock up on as much as they can hold. The white bass are schooling now on Tablerock. They "herd" schools of shad into big balls then force them to the surface. They then swim through them with open mouths and turn the surface into a froth. Almost anything you cast will catch these aggressive fighters.

Fall Fishing continued

If you're a fisher person and the call of the lake hits you hard after it starts to cool down in the fall of the year. Then Tablerock Lake is a place you need to visit.

This is a three plus pound smallmouth bass, it was 17.5 inches long. I caught it on a topwater buzz bait right at dark.

I'm Back

Wow what a trip and busy week this turned out to be! We had our Thanksgiving in September and was it ever a success. All of my brothers were there with most of their families. We had a great time! I caught several nice fish, my brothers Alan and Kevin and nephew Matt worked on their food plots for deer season and my brother Barry keep every thing organized by helping everywhere he could. I learned that my Judy was a dead shot with my 9 mm pistol and made myself a promise not to get her too aggravated at me in the future. I learned that my niece Shannon wants to be on a shooting team at college, and her sister Amanda was instrumental in saving a young mans life after being run over by a bus near Columbia. She kept him from going into shock. WOW what a family!

My Mom and Dad were happy beyond measuring to have us all together. There was turkey, ham. roasted venison. We had homemade bread, sweet potatoes and dressing. There was green beans, fresh tomatoes and all kinds of home canned tasties from the garden. Mom went overboard and fixed pumpkin pies, pecan pies, peach crisp, apple crisp and coconut creme pies. If anyone went hungry it was not of my parents doing.

I tried to figure out just how long it had been since we were all together. I lost track after going back 10 years. It may have been as much as 15 years ago. I am happy to report that although I am the oldest of the clan, I still give youngest brother Kevin a run for his money in youthful looks. Its not that my other brothers look old.....it just they have.....a more defined look. (yeah that's the way to put it, sorry bros...)

The weekend covered everything from eating to riding four wheelers, to fishing, to shooting skeet and pistols, archery shooting and just plain goofing off. We listen to the St. Louis Cardinals win two, the Mizzou Tigers kick some rear and not once during the weekend was a news cast watched, listened too or even considered. We had the Lone Guinea Rooster give us a morning report, we just did not speak Guinea. He made more noise than three chickens. Each morning I listened as the surrounding farm's Roosters as they helped the sun come up. They were assisted by the owls, cows, bulls and mules all adding thier two cents worth.

My Judy and I had a great time, it was sad to pull away to come home. The car was packed with corn on the cob, fresh tomato juice and onions, potatoes and peppers. The ride home took 6 hours,

I can only pray that all of us will still be together next year when September rolls around. We should be we're healthy and fit. Mom and Dad will be here on Schooner Creek next week and Judy and I will get to spend a few more days with them before they return to Florida for the winter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving in September

My Judy and I are taking a trip up to north central Missouri this afternoon. MY Mom has arranged to have all of her children and most of her grandchildren present on Saturday for an old fashion family Thanksgiving. Yes I know, some of you will be thinking that I'm really pushing the season which is against my moral being. However, since Mother has asked, why should I be the one to deny....

It will be the first time in more years that can be remembered I will be together with all three of my brothers at one time. It might become interesting......but just in case it does not I have packed my fishing gear with several of my favorite lures. My shooting box with some practice rounds and my Judy wants to visit an Amish Community in Iowa. So we will have a good time.

For my Judy and I it will be the first time this year that we will have more than 24 hours together. It will just be like old times. I really look forward to that. I have packed the camera, and hope to have some good pictures to add to the blog. I will have two or three more chapters of the McNamara Journal ready to go . So, it is now time to head north....

See you in a few days!

Mules....

Today I got the opportunity to meet three new characters, Albert, Frosty and Ornery. These three fellas are as different as three animals can be yet live in the same place, for a few more weeks at least. These three are mules, Albert is the biggest at about 15 hands, Frosty is next at about 13 1/2 hands and Ornery is the smallest and by the looks of him eats the most. According to his owner,Captain D, he eats anything and everything and he keeps his belly nice and round. Frosty and Albert on the other hand only eat the center of the round bale, and want their grain twice a day. Picky.

Albert will soon be going to a new home in central Missouri. He has joined a "cowboy church" group and will be used to preach the gospel. Albert is a good mule, with a strong determination to see things first and has yet to do anything that appears to tire him in the least. His new job may be right down his alley because we all know that cowboys need to be preached at for a lot of things.

Frosty on the other hand is a coon hunting mule. according to Captain D he loves to coon hunt and will stay out all night long, leading his hunters over hill and dale, through creeks, rivers and meadows in search of the elusive Missouri raccoons. His fame is know all over the county. Captain D has to keep him hid all summer cause if the raccoons get the word that Ole Frosty is after them they just lay down, shuck their skins and wait for him to get there. His fame is so great that last fall two old boys showed up at Captain D's place. They were from this uppity coon hunting group from up north. They begged Captain for so long that he finally agreed to let them use Frosty. He just told them to keep him away from Beaver Creek. Now Beaver creek is a tributary of Bull Shoals Lake, and the Captain knew the Frosty had no business being anywhere near that lake.

Them two Yankee coon hunters started off just about dark and wasn't gone an hour when Frosty took off after a coon. They chased that mule over hills and through meadows, up ridges and over fences when all of a sudden that came across a fence with metal signs every few feet. Those signs identified the US Army Corp of Engineers survey marker fence line for the high water line along Beaver Creek. Them two fellas looked at one another with fear in their eyes. They knew ole Frosty had jumped that fence and was heading toward Beaver Creek. They ran, called his name and fretted till almost morning. By that time they was both worn out and had to return to tell Captain that they had let Frosty get to the creek, and although they looked all night they could not find him.

Captain D was on his porch when they returned, they explained what had happened and Captain D took off his hat, threw it down on the ground a stomped it.He had at them two Yankee coon hunters like a Baptist preacher gets after a room full of sinners. Finally he stopped and said' Boys, we have a job of work to do, there is only one thing Frosty likes to do more than coon hunt......that's catfish, we may never get him of the bank of that creek.

From the Journal of Issac McNamara.....

(REMEMBER, TO KEEP UP WITH THIS CONTINUING STORY OR TO GET CAUGHT UP SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU FIND THE PREVIOUS STORY...)

Sheriff Overstreet eased back in his chair and put one booted foot up on the desk.

"Back around 1790, the Frenchies still owned Missouri, a trapper by the name of Yocum moved up the White River and opened a trading post where the James River comes in. He would trade with the Indians, Delawares, mostly, for furs and pipes and he supplied blankets, trinkets, hatches and such. Had him a good thing going. He was the only white male in 300 miles and them Indians needed what he had. One day this group of Delawares came in to trade. They did not have any furs, what they had was a sack full of almost clear stones. Some of them big as your thumb others the size of bird shot. Old Yokum knew what those stones were right away. Them Delawares spoke a little French and he a little Delaware and soon he determined that they had got them down in Arkansas a ways and that they was just a laying on top the ground. Yokum gave them what they wanted and told them Delawares that he would trade for all them clear stones they wanted to bring in. Them Delawares decided that the old French man had lost his mind and never came back. Yocum left in the Spring of 1803 and went looking for them stones. He never came back. Some say he took that sack of stones with him, others are convinced that they is still buried somewhere around the site of that old trading post. You figured out what them stones were Boy?"
" Valuable?" answered Zeke.
"Do wild bears poop in the woods?" snorted Overstreet " They was diamonds!"
"Alright, so how does that affect us Sheriff, treasure stories run wild in this country. Folks tell of pirate gold being buried along the banks of the Arkansas, or hidden Spanish gold, why you can even find folks chasing the end of a rainbow."
"Difference is, this one is true. There are a bunch of Confederate Soldiers saying they want to start the war again, and they could afford it if they found Yocums diamonds."
"Sheriff, we got to let that war go, its over, we lost. We got to learn to get along with them Yankees." said Zeke.
"Boy, them Yankees is going to take my badge away, some blue belly up there in Springfield claims I rode with Anderson's bunch back in '62 and he wants to appoint a new Sheriff."
"Well. he's right, you did, but only till you realized Anderson was more than a soldier, he was crazy. You left and joined up with Bedford Forest just before Shiloh, same as me."
"Well, he thinks I'm a bad influence on the folks here in Stone County, so I might loose this badge, anyway I want you to take a ride down river to check and see if there is a group of men acting like soldiers digging up the landscape."
"Well. Mr. Brown is wrong, he thinks your sending me out to look for some renagade Reb's that robbed Gordy's post down in Blue Eye."
Overstreet smiled, spit a stream of tobacco juice into a tin can at the end of his desk. "Well, seeing as how your going for a ride....."

Friday September 11, 2009

There is no doubt we all remember what we were doing on this day, My Judy and I were at Stillwater Resort on Indian Point at Tablerock Lake. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary. We had the Today Show on and they were live covering the "horrible accident" of an airliner crashing into one of the Twin Towers. We watched in awe as the second plane hit the remaining tower. I first wondered if there was something wrong with the Air Controllers, had one of them gone berserk and started guiding planes into buildings? It was some time after the crash in Pennsylvania that it became apparent that we had been attacked by terrorists.
Our reactions were across the board, first there was sadness for the families, then anger against the attackers. Then frustration as we the strongest nation in the world just sat back and did not annihilate every terrorist camp we knew was in existence.

Later that day we were with others at Silver Dollar City, there was a sense of loss and everyone was talking about it. Judy noticed that there were no planes flying and the quiet was almost deafening.

When I think back I am still mad. Not at Muslims in general, just those that are fanatics. I have never done anything to any of them so why should they decide to take it out on me? I don't care how they worship the god they worship, or how they live the life they live. However if they are insistent on going to meet Allah and play with a bunch of underage girls then I say, send them on their way, use what ever means necessary to get them there, do it with force and extreme prejudice.

Well I could get really rolling on a soap box over this, it would not do me any good and you folks that follow my blog may lower your opinion of me as a result. What I will say is that World Peace cannot be achieved as long as knuckleheads are in positions of power and they have no reason to listen. My Grandpa Jack, worked horses and mules all of his life. He could make one of them critters just about do anything. However, he always said, get their attention, once you have their attention they will listen."

I ask that today you remember the ones that we lost on this day and the days since. If you see a soldier say thankyou. Be thankful there are men that will run into an emergency instead of away from it as well as pray for your policemen/deputy sheriff's, for they are your first line of defense aganst the kind of people that caused 9/11.

May God bless us as a people, and may he bless the United States of America.

From the notebook of Deputy Issac McNamara, June 1865

The sun was a hour from coming up when Issac " Zeke" McNamara stepped out of the Sheriff's Office. The bunk he had used had left him stiff. He knew the ticking in it had not been changed in a long time. Across the dusty street stood the Court House. He looked at it as he stretched and then looked down the street at the Checkercloth Restaurant. There were lights on there. Ma Wilson was known all over the county as having the best biscuit's and gravy. Zeke had shot two young squirrels the night before and left them with her. He could taste the fried squirrel with Ma's biscuits and gravy. He buckled the gun belt around his waist, settled the revolver on his hip and turned toward the restaurant.
"Morning Deputy," came a cheery greeting from the kitchen.
"Morning Ma,"
"Coffee is coming up, them squirrels are just about done, sit yourself down and I'll have your breakfast in a jiffy"
Zeke sat down with his back to a corner, so he could see the front door and the door to the kitchen.
A few minutes later Ma came out of the kitchen carrying a plate mound up with fried squirrel and a plate heaping with biscuits covered in homemade sausage gravy. Ma carried both plates in one hand and a pot of coffee and two cups in the other. Zeke looked up at her and smiled She sat down across from him being careful not to block his view of the doors.
"I just knew you'd be here before first light. Told the mister, that Zeke is not a lay-about, he'll be up early and I've got to get them squirrels fried,"
"Thanks Ma, what would I do if you didn't take such good care of me?"
"Why, you young fool, you'd do it yourself! I know your ma taught you how to cook and mend so don't be trying to sweet talk this old girl. cause I know better!"
The door opened and two men came in, Zeke recognized Bill Murphy and Lou Brown. Murphy ran the livery and Lou was the town newspaper man.
"Morning Zeke, you are up early, if your going to need your horse, you just help yourself, livery is open,"said Murphy.
"Thanks Murph, I'll need him, its just I have to see the Sheriff first. He's got something for me to do. "
" I know what that is lad," offered Lou Brown. "Them Rebel deserters robbed a store down to Blue Eye and they ran off to Taney County. Sheriff Overstreet wants to see you about that! Them scoundrels took a weeks worth of food and five dollars in gold from old Gordy. Hit him in the head with a revolver to boot. There was a mail rider came through yesterday telling the story. Gordy took several shots at them. He was pretty sure he hit one of them."
"Gordy know any of them?" asked Zeke.
"I'd wager he did, cause he protects that bunch most of the time, least ways when there is any Yankee's around. Now he is just mad clean through this time, I'd reckon." answered Brown.
"War's over Mr Brown, Lee surrendered back in April and the Missouri outfits will be disbanded."
"Makes no gall durn difference to me, Yankees is Yankees and they need to be run out of the county. Boy you should know that, you rode with Major Cloud"
"I know, Mr. Brown, I still carry a ball or two, its just now the war is over, we got to get past it and go on. The sooner we do the faster things will get back to being quiet. Bloody Bill's bunch and Quantrell ain't going to make things easier. Things need to settle and folks need to forget which color a man wore. We are all the same again."
Zeke finished his meal in quiet, Ma slipped him the bill and Zeke left the money. Ma would have billed the County for his meal, it was just not Zeke's way to let the county pay to feed him. He walked out just as the back door to the jail opened and out came the three prisoners currently being held there. Zeke watched as old Mike, the jailer walked them over. The chains on their feet rattled with each step and the last man, Gerald Gideon glared toward Zeke as they past.
"Careful Gerald, if that look you got there froze you would scare every woman between here and Christian County."
"Durn you McNamara, you didn't have to hit me with that rifle butt"
"You didn't have to take those shots at me either Gerald, heck, you knew I was coming, you done busted ole Jimmy up, he swore out a warrant for you"
" I'll do more than bust him up when I get out of these chains."
Zeke walked into the court house and up the steps to the second floor. He smelled Sheriff Overstreet's pipe long before he got to the office door. He tapped on the door jam.
Sheriff Overstreet looked up from some papers and smiled.
"Good Morning Deputy, I trust you slept well and have had your breakfast. Come over here and take a chair, help yourself to the coffee first and let me tell you a story"........

Labor Day

Well if you follow the belief of the Schooner Creek area windowless weather people today is the official end of summer. It seems that changing holiday dates to co inside with Saturdays and Sundays was not enough. The weather folks decided to change the seasons So all you folks out there that care, its now officially Fall. Now I will have to admit that it has been cool enough the last week or so that My Judy and I have turned off the AC. However this afternoon as I BBQ'ed the official last pork steaks of the summer I happened to notice that the trees are still very green, the grass looks like it is still growing and what little tomato plants I have left are still in bloom. Now how is that suppose to go along with the Official end of Summer. Why, I seen boats on the lake with kids being towed on rubber toys, and when I was at the grocery store there was a woman in there wearing a swim suit cover up over a swim suit. She was with a man wearing flowered swim shorts and a muscle shirt with a Miller high life beer logo. I had to tell them that they were not dressed for Fall, the man looked at his watch and said he still had 6 hours of summer left. Well that explains why they were looking at me wearing a long pants a flannel shirt and jacket. I heard him say to the woman as they walked away, "Hillbillies......"
So now I am confused. If it is still summer does that mean I can wear white? Should I put my straw cowboy hat away and break out the felt ones? Must I move my summer shirts to the storage and get my winter clothes out? If it stays warm what should I wear? I never did like the shorts and jacket ensemble you see on some men. (If its cold enough to wear a jacket, put on some pants for goodness sake.) I know that some kids wear wool watch caps all summer, does that mean they will go hat less in the fall or just change colors? The more I think about it the more confusing it becomes. Just to show how bad it is I was listening to the news yesterday and the commentator was spreading gloom and doom about the Christmas shopping season. I turned it off. As a matter of fact, I believe I'm going to turn them all off. After all, I cannot change the weather so why should I care what the windowless weather people see in their magic screens. Fish don't care if it is raining, they are wet anyway. As far as politics go, I plan to do the only thing I can this fall and not vote for one single politician currently in office local, state or federal. I'll vote for the person running opposite. (Spread the wealth, give some other crook a fair shot at my tax dollars) Why should I worry over what politician is taking what group of people for an imaginary ride. I don't see where my watching the President is going to change my opinion of him and how he is doing. I did not vote for him and I'm sure he cares less about my everyday issues. Wow, I just freed up a whole lotta time....and that knucklehead in North Korea won't mind.

Family stories...

My Grandparents on my fathers side, raised seven children. four boys and three girls. The girls were the oldest, they came before the boys. Now my grandfather was a dairy farmer. He milked a number of cows twice a day, 365 days a year. Rain or shine, sleet, snow and sub zero temperatures. What little spending money the family had came from selling milk. They grew their own food, vegetables to meat. My dad was born in 1931, and he cannot remember much of the Great Depression, as a matter of fact my aunts and uncles didn't have much to say about it, they got by just like always. Other than spending money being a little hard to come by it was hard to tell there was anything wrong if you was a kid.

Grandpa took a lot of pride in his milk, his cows always tested high in butter fat, which is a scale used to determine the quality of the milk a cow produces. he had some pretty strict rules, cows were to be milked twice a day, 12 hours apart. He started milking at about 4 am. My uncles were taught to milk as soon as they could make a good fist. The dairy was a family operation. Cows were cleaned, equipment was kept spotless and cows were "babied" to a degree to keep them healthy. They were not to be bothered in the pasture, the dogs were not allowed to chase them, varmints were closely watched for and any issues with the fence was addressed as soon as it was found. Grandpa's rules were for the protection of the family and strictly enforced.

Now along comes my Dad and his brother Oscar. Between the two of them my grandmother had to have her hands full. Dad worked as hard as the rest of them and he played just as hard. One of the favorite pass times in those days was riding cows. Dad and Oscar would catch a cow or two laying down in the shade of an old hedge apple tree, crawl up on the blind side of the cows, climb into that tree, scoot out on a branch, then drop down on the unsuspecting cow and off they would go. The ride would last as long as they could hold on. According to Dad, he would ride cows to school when they could catch them. On one particular day, My Grandparents were of to some meeting when Oscar and Dad decided that the time had come to ride cows. Throwing Grandpas rules to the wind they spotted two old cows laying under the tree. Slowly they crawled through the grass until they could ease their way up into the tree. Slowly they crawled out on the limb and at the given signal dropped down on the backs of these two sleeping cows and off they went.
Now I had the chance to ride a cow one time in my life, I quickly found there was nothing to hold on to. The cow I rode didn't buck per say, it ran. They run fast. So the best you can do is kind of lay down and put your arms around their necks and hold on.

Them two cows took off like the devil himself had grabbed their tails and up towards the barn they went. My Dad and Oscar holding on for dear life. The cows reached the barn and began to circle it at a dead run. My uncle Oscar, began to slip to the inside. Each turn around a corner found him a little more off center. Oscar had his tongue stuck between his teeth and the corners of his mouth were turned up in a great smile when the cow cut real close to a corner and the side of the barn caught Oscar full in the face, he stopped right there, Dad says he kinda hung there for a second with his face plastered to the barn then he fell. Dad claims he bailed of his cow and ran to help Oscar. Oscar had almost bite his tongue in two pieces, his eye was swelling shut and there was a cut on his forehead. Dad says he was helping him up when he heard Grandpa and Grandma coming back. Oscar got to his feet and Dad dragged and carried him to the back of the house where Grandma was getting out of the wagon. Dad said he got real excited and told them that Oscar had been walking the orchard gate, slipped and fell off. Oscar looked at him like Dad was an angel from heaven. After all you could not get a strapping for falling off the orchard gate, you could get a good one for riding dairy cows.

I was there the day my dad and Oscar told my Grandma the truth. She just kind of smiled and said she knew it all the time and so did grandpa. Boy were they surprised to think that for all those years they had pulled one off. Goes to show that mamas always know.......

Hey Guess what....ITS Friday! AGAIN!

Busy week here on Schooner Creek, I had to work an extra day and I've gotten far behind. I spent most of the day playing catch up, except for the hour I spent on the lake trying to find a fish or two. No fish, however I did manage to get my self soaked to the skin. That's another story.

Today while I was getting wet from a nice downpour. I remembered back to a time when I was growing up. My Dad like frog legs and we would spend hours walking from farm pond to farm pond down in Texas County looking for bull frogs. On one particular outing we got caught in a rain. Now it wasn't just a gentle little drizzle, it was a regular down pour. One so hard that your sight distance went to zero and you had to point your nose to the ground to get a breath. We were on a farm that Dad said used to belong to a man named Andy Walling Old Andy was long gone of course, and his being dead did little to keep my Dad from telling me and my brother just how mean old Andy was. Dad went to great length telling us how he would beat his dogs, his mules and not feed his chickens. We were walking towards an old house during this tale, Dad kept it up saying that Old Andy was hated by all the folks in the community cause he would not doctor his hogs. Back in those days Texas County was still free range. Folks let their hogs run loose during the summer and then would have a hog roundup in the fall. Anyway, old Andy's hogs were always sick and spreading the illness from one group of hogs to another. Dad said that he always wore and old leather coat with a sheepskin lining. He would wear that coat in August when it was 100 plus degrees. He never took a bath and folks could smell him coming long before they ever seen him if the wind was right.
We got to the old house and went inside to get out of the rain. Now keep in mind that at 13 years old I thought I was pretty tough, except when it came to goblins, ghosts and ghouls. I would not watch the epics like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman just because I never seen any value in these movies. I would climb into a cave, but had to hide behind the couch to watch Dracula bite some unlucky person neck. I had no issues tackling someone twice my size if they wanted to fight, but to watch the stiff legged walk of a seven foot monster was out of the question.
Now getting back to my story. Dad continued to tell of events where in old Andy had beat a kid or starved a dog, he finally ended the story by saying that old coat must have been buried with him because no one had seen it since. The rain was beating down on the roof and we had to watch were we stood because with every little gust of wind the roof would spring a new leak. It was one of the shifts to stay out of a drip when I looked up and hanging right there on a nail on the wall was that old leather coat with a sheepskin lining.
I hit the door faster than a bolt of lighting. I did not stop or look back, as for as I was concerned being out in the rain was a whole lot better than standing in that old house with the windows broken out, wallpaper pealing off the wall, and that old coat Andy Walling had been buried in hanging on the wall.
I'm a lot older now, my father still laughs out loud when he tells this story. Me, I still feel the goose bumps on my arm when I think about looking up and seeing that coat.

The old days...

Every morning when I arrive at work I pass a photo of the current Sheriff of Stone County Missouri, Richard Hill. It is a pleasure to work for Sheriff Hill, he leads a very efficient Sheriff's Department. We are reputed to be one of the best if not the best Sheriff's Office in southwest Missouri. Across the lobby from his picture hangs the pictures of former Sheriff's of Stone County. The photo's date back to the mid 1800's. By the look of some of these men they were more than capable of taking care of the county. One of them is posed showing his six gun, another supporting a beard to his belt buckle. Compared to the neat clean look presented by Sheriff Hill in his uniform, they just did not look like Sheriff's. These men had to be tough, I wonder if they did not patrol the 505 square miles of Stone County on horseback, or did they keep the county safe by leaning back in a wooden chair on a porch in front of the jail. By Missouri State Law the only "job" a Sheriff has is to maintain the jail. All of the protect and serve stuff
Law Enforcement does after that comes at the discretion of the Sheriff. I realize that once Mr. Ford's invention hit the back woods of the county the Sheriff's job changed. We have all seen enough old westerns to know that some Sheriff's just did not get from in back of the desk. My imagination runs rampant with me. I picture a grizzled older man with more guns that the first infantry division riding away from the small county seat of Galena to investigate an act of cattle rustling on the Arkansas border. I can also see several rustlers hanging from low limbs once he got there.

The Civil War and the reconstruction afterward had a hard impact on southwest Missouri. farming was tough, folks could barely scratch out a vegetable garden from the rocky soil. So most of them lived off the land or what they could raise in the form of cattle and pigs. Wild game all but disappeared due to the need for meat. My guess is that during those times you had to reach way outside the law for the Sheriff to get involved. Your justice most of the time came from the end of your own gun or any other means. Most men were Civil war Veterans or they may have served in the Army against the noble red man therefore most problems were solved with out the Sheriff's involvement. If you read history and forget what you seen on tv growing up, very few gunfights ever happened. I know that it is recorded that Wild Bill Hickcock, shot a man in Springfield, Mo. in a gun fight. Furthermore over in Taney County there is a place called Murder Rock, where an outlaw killed several individuals in robberies and because he could. There is a Golf Course by that name there now. There was a group of Vigilantes called the Bald Knobbers that ran amok in the area and these were all things that I could see would keep a local Sheriff and his Deputies busy. If a lot of people were shot, it sure isn't recorded anywhere.
I know we cannot go back in time, however if I could,I know I would choose to land in that 1860-1910 time period. Yes while I'm there I think the job of Sheriff would be my chosen profession. Life was hard then and a lot simpler I believe after all, back then who cared what some knucklehead in North Korea was up to, you were to busy wondering where the next meal was coming from. Sheriff's and Deputies used the force necessary to get the job done and lawyers were hard to find and seldom listened too. If a Judge told someone to do something he done it and if you got sentenced to 10 years in jail, you done 10 years.
I like to write about that era in time. I am currently working on a project where I will feature short stories of fiction about some of the adventures of Sheriff's and their Deputies here on the blog. Look for them starting next week. In the mean time try to imagine yourself crossing this great nation in a covered wagon where, sometimes, you would work all day and when you stopped that night you could still see the place where you camped the night before.

Well its been a couple of days....

I was on my way to work this morning at o-dark-thirty when my cell phone rang and seeing as how I had just left My Judy, and I knew I had everything, or at least I thought I did who would be calling me at this time of day, as I reached for my phone, inside my shirt pocket, I mentally went through the check list, lets see, I have not forgotten anything have I : Lunch - check,-wallet - check, sunglasses - check , phone - ring- 0 duh, pants? I finally got the phone clear of the flaps on the pocket and low and behold it was my supervisor. I answered with a song in my voice, and his comment was....no blog, Armfield, Why is there no blog? He hung up.

Its not that I have not written anything new here in a couple of days, its just that there is only 24 hours in any given day, I know, for a lot of us that is not enough, but don't blame me. Blame the Romans, I think, they come up with the twelve month calender. Lately I have been running out of hours just about the time I have to start all over again. So not having enough hours in the day got me to thinking. If we made each hour last 45 minutes, that would give us another 6 hours in the day to get things done. six more hours of family time, six more hours of play time, six more hours of sleep. WoW, that is a lot to think about!. Now if that was accomplished we would have to be careful, after all, when the government, by an act of Congress, can change the date of Memorial Day, Labor Day, Fourth of July and Christmas to get a three day weekend we ought to be able to get them to change and hour from 60 minutes to 45. The being careful part plays in with keeping them to working at least a few hours a week at their jobs. If we give Congress any excuse to not be at work they will take it and then some, I'm off topic, I will digress.
I really feel that most employers would appreciate changing the minutes in an hour. After all if they all agree, we would be paid an hourly wadge for less time on the job and overtime would kick in faster. IRS would be able to collect more taxes on hours worked. Contractors would make more money for doing less work. Shoot, it might be the best thing that ever happened to the economy.
WAIT, isn't that what is going on now? People all over are getting paid good money for doing less and less. Just look at the stupid stares you get in a grocery store when you ask where they put the dill pickles. Last night on the news I watched a story about a new company that does GPS type tracking on products in the grocery store. If you get lost or need to find the disposable diapers, you call a number, and a mechanical voice leads you to them.
When is the last time you had someone pump gas in your car? Helped you carry something to your car? Showed up on time for an appointment or your appointment was on time? Of course my all time favorite is weather people, never in the history of pay days have so many people in one industry been paid so much money for being wrong.....over 70% of the time!

If I have accomplished the goal of today's entry you have already forgotten that I have not entered anything for a couple of days and your off thinking of all the people that don't do their jobs which makes yours harder to do, and all of the weathermen with their styled hairdos and designer clothes getting paid for being WRONG......

Oh all right, I'll try to do better......