The Doctor's Wife

The doctor's wife, like I said, was a real beauty. Her name was June and she was Miss Battle Creek and runner up for Miss Michigan, so we heard. Most of us young boys was in puppy love with her. We knew a lot about Battle Creek cause we all ate cereal and that's where we sent box tops for prizes. I once got an entire set of World War I soldiers with tanks and trucks and weapons and even one airplane. I think some of it is still in my old footlocker in the attic of the big house which is now closed up for the most part.
Well anyway we was standing there, Willie and me, and had sort edged closer to the house, when we seen the undertaker pull up. Him and his assistant took a stretcher inside and was in there a long time. About half an hour later here they come, both of 'em, and they was carrying a body, all covered in a white sheet.
Well, we was wondering whose body it was and nobody would tell us nothing. We wouldn't ask the sheriff and Silent Schultz warn't saying nothing.

Tomorrow: The Sheet Slips Up

Hollis' funny names:
Rick Shaw will take you for a ride
Hal O'Ween is spooky

Special note from Hollis

Tonight while I was editing the post "Silas Become Silent" (only about 5 minutes) fifteen people visited the site. I am very sorry, but I left out a few lines (very important because they explained the title of the post) and was in the process of correcting my error.
Please reread this post when you sign on again. I'll be more careful in the future. I was in a hurry because I was expecting an important phone call.

Silas becomes Silent

Grandpa let me drive that night. I could even though I was only fourteen cause the law was kinda laxed for us young'ns cause of the farm kids who had to drive. So I pulled grandpa's old Packard right up to where thesheriff's car was parked. He must just got there cause the aerial on his car was still swishing back and forth.Deputy Silas Schultz was standing there and signaled us to park down the street. We did and walked up and on the way my friend Willie caught up with us. He wanted to stay with us cause he was and still is an Afro-American and the law warn't gonna say nothing to him when grandpa was there. When we got up close to the action we seen it was all taking place in the house of Dr. Marvin McKinley. Now, Dr. McKinley moved to Harper from Michigan and talked like any Yankee you ever heard. Sounded real different in Harper so they got him to do the color for the local football team, the Harper Hooligans, on the radio and on the P.A. system at the football field. His wife was from Michigan too and was a real knockout. Silas came up to us. As usual he had a toothpick in his mouth and was moving it from one side to the other. Somebody asked him one day how often he changed his toothpick and he said every day. Just like he was talking about his underwear or something, don't you know. When we asked Silas what was going on he wouldn't say nothing. Not a single word. Well from then on we called him Silent. Silent Schultz. I reckon the only time after that anybody referred to him as Silas was on his tombstone.
Tomorrow: The Doctor's Wife

Hollis' funny names:
Hattie Gnown would have done it differently
Major Grades graduated (this may not be the first thing you think of)

Sheriff's Siren

I reckon tonight is good a time as any to tell y'all about the murder we had here in Harper. It was a cold night I think one night after Christmas just after the war was over. Me and grandpa and grandma and my momma was sitting around by the fire. We was busy digesting the good leftovers from Christmas. Y'all know how good Christmas leftover is. All of a sudden we heard this loud siren howling past our house. It was heading toward the east side of the lake where all the doctors and lawyers lived back then. Now they all moved out close to the state park. We said amongst ourselves that it must be some kind of medical emergency. We never dreamed it was a murder.
Tomorrow: Silas becomes Silent

Note from Hollis: I have added a page view counter in the right margin. That way you can keep up with how many of you have dropped in on Uncle Harvey Lee. I can't tell you how excited he gets when I give him the numbers.

Hollis' funny names:
Allie Katz is on the prowl
Betty Wynns is optimistic

How Harper Started to Change

I was out fishing today with Brother Harley Hardison, the new preacher at the Harper Lake Baptist Church. Now, the one me and Bethel went to was the Harper Baptist Church. Theys different. Brother Harley has been after me to come to his church. I told him to stand in line cause they trying to get me to both them churches and Father O'Doole is working real hard to get me to come back to his church and become a full fledged Catholic.
I was just thinking how peaceful it was out on the lake. Just me and the preacher and the blue sky and gentle breeze and of course the hum of the power plant singing to us. It's peaceful but not like it used to be. That murder we had back in 1946 sorta started things going down. Back then we might drink a beer now and then and even drink something out of a brown paper bag, but now I hear about some of our young people sticking needles in they arms and taking pills along with they drink. Yeah, I think that murder was the beginning of it all.

Tomorrow: Sheriff's siren

Hollis' funny names:
Frank Lee tells it like it is
Hallie Towes' sis has bad breath (sorry)

Resolution

Hollis is gonna post early today. Something about calling that girl in Jackson tonight. Thank all y'all who looked at my stuff over the last couple of months (over 1000 views.) Makes me feel good and that's important for an old man. Now Hollis want to say a couple of things and finish his little story.

Hollis: Several visitors to the blog have lost the blog address and have contacted us through Facebook or by email to get this information. Please save blog info in your favorites or bookmarks for easy retrieval. If you have friends who might be interested ask them to visit our blog.

                     How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper (conclusion)

       In the morning, when she realized he had not come to bed, she hurried barefoot and robeless into the kitchen. She found him seated at the table, staring ahead, unaware of her arrival. In front of him there were sheets of paper, in his hand a pen. When he saw her he gently folded the paper and slipped it in his pocket.
She came to him and put her arms around his neck. He patted her arms and turned to her face and smiled.
       Later that day while tending to some brush that need to be burned, he took the papers, failed attempts to justify his yearnings, and added them to the fire, sending their message on the journey he could not take.

Hollis' funny names:
Otto Knoe is clueless
Moe Lester lives in your neighborhood

Renewed Confidence

Hollis has promised me he will finish up tomorrow. I am glad to share with him since he does all the computer stuff for me, but I want to get on with my story about the murder we had here in Harper way back when. Went fishing with Father O'Doole today. I'm telling you he really wants me to get back in his church.

                         How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper (cont.)

       One night they were sitting in the front porch swing, his arm around her shoulder, talking about nothing in particular. The moon forced its way through a low, thick cloud and the darkness around them was transformed into a world of vague colors. She reached for his hand and took it to her lap. They sat motionless in the swing, neither speaking.
       After a while, she stood and turned toward him, gazing deep into his eyes. He had not spoken his feeling for her in many years, but tonight his look and touch gave her a renewed confidence. As was their habit, she went in to bed, and left him to his adoration of the night.

Tomorrow: Resolution

Hollis' funny names:
Y. O. Ming is out west
Perry A. Waters is effervescent

Holding on to a Life

Willie and me went fishing this morning. We didn't catch nothing worth talking about. But like we always do we had a lot of fun. Gladys, Willie wife, made us some hot tamales. She puts them in real corn husks and we add a spicy green sauce that she does so good. Here's Hollis.

                              How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper (conc.)

       They lived with her parents, a situation that prompted him to solicit the help of a fellow baggage-loader who was skilled in carpentry. Together, each evening after work, the two constructed a two-room house. Within a year he and his wife moved into their new home and over the next few years she gave birth to three children.
       At first his responsibility as a father kept his mind off the road. He worked hard, got promoted to management, saved his money, and moved his family into a larger, more luxurious house. When his youngest child finished high school, the urge to move on grew stronger. He fought it, telling himself he really did love his wife.

Tomorrow: Fighting Old Urges

Hollis' funny names:
Justin Case is a handyman
Seymour Butts is a voyeur

Settling Down

I guess y'all can tell it takes Hollis a lot longer to tell a story than it take me to. He's a good boy and as you can see he writes down what I tell him to, even this. Maybe his words are prettier than mine you'll have to judge that. Here he goes.

                      How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper (cont.)

       Six months later he remained in the employment of the Illinois Central Railroad, loading baggage on and off passenger trains. In a town named Harper, located almost halfway between Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, he took up citizenship. He met a girl. In her he felt some of the same fascination he had experienced on the road. One night, being particularly vulnerable to the effect of the stars, he told her he loved her and could not live without her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Perhaps she saw no better opportunity or maybe she too was driven by the stars. She said yes. They were married within two weeks.

Tomorrow: Holding on to a Life

Hollis' funny names:
Crystal Ball knows all about you
Mona Anasquilla has an Italian lover

Hobo Camps

                            How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper (cont.)

       Around campfires late into the night the men shared tales of big cities and open spaces, of strangers who had befriended them and family members left behind, of lonely nights and rip-roaring adventures. Their stories accompanied by cricket songs took on the measure of poetry and sent him to sleep having dreamed sufficiently for the night.
       During his sixth year out, for some reason, perhaps to see first hand places he had heard about, he began to plan his travels. Discipline crept into his life. At first he resisted and gave up on some plans, so he could stay longer with certain comrades, but gradually he fell into a pattern of scheduling his time and setting priorities. Somewhere in the transformation he took a real job--not working a few hours a day for a meal or a piece of clothing, but duty with set hours and responsibilities. He promised himself he would stay only until he made enough to finance his next adventure.

Tomorrow: Settling Down

Hollis' funny names:
Dan Druff is unsightly
Linda Hand is helpful

Hollis Submits a Story

That boy Hollis wants to study to be a writer in college. He has writ this little tale about how my grandfather came to Harper and what made him settle here. He says he will present it in several posts.
I'll turn it over to him now.

                            How Grandfather Whitmire Came to Stay in Harper

       The urge to break free came during summer vacation after he had completed the eighth grade. Each night, he found it harder to come in from the fields surrounding his house, often lying on his back fully awake, learning from the various skies. As September approached he sensed a destiny that lay beyond the confines of home. The night before the first day of the new school year, he labored over a farewell letter, finally giving up on explanations and settling for a two-word promise, “I’ll write.”

       From the beginning he used the rails, hopping trains with unknown destinations, always glad to

arrive where they took him. He spent countless nights in hobo camps sleeping under whatever sky nature offered, often cold and hungry, but always thankful for the freedom he had chosen. Many mornings he awoke confused and bewildered by his solitude, longing for old friends or family, only to shrug it off while gathering his things for a quick departure.

Tomorrow: Hobo Camps

Hollis' Funny Names:

Alice and Wanda Land live in a fantasy world.

Eric Tyle is disfunctional.

Wilkie and Betty Faye

I guess you can tell how much I like Wilkie and Betty Faye too. Wilkie is a good carpenter-electrician-plumber-mechanic-plower-mason. You'd have a hard time finding something that Wilkie can't do well. And he works full time at the filling station. And Betty Faye. Me and Betty Faye grew up together and she is just like a cousin or something to me. We went to school together. She finished high school I think and I went to the seven and a half grade. She was a great basketball player. Once she scored more'n a dozen points in the district playoff game. We woulda won cause Betty Faye captured the ball and headed for the enemy goal. She passed everybody on the other team, bouncing all around them and was gliding right up to the goal where she was about to make one of her famous lay ups, when she tripped over a root. She said she thought she woulda scored a lot more, but the wind was up that day and affected her long shots. She is a good canner too. Ever summer she puts up string beans, tomatoes, corn relish, and my favorite blackberry jam. Yep. Them's good people. Both of 'em.

Hollis' funny names:
Stan Byerman is a Tammy Wynette fan.
Eileen Dover is accommodating.

Wilkie Strikes Back

The story didn't end with Wilkie getting well and all that. The next winter on a particularly cold night Dr. Biltwright called Wilkie up. Now I don't know if I told y'all but Wilkie was real good at plumbing too. And Dr. Biltwright had a plumbing problem. They was out at his house on the river and it had only one bathroom and the water closet was real stopped up. They was out there because they had just had their house painted and Mrs. Dr. Biltwright couldn't abide the smell of the new paint. Well, Wilkie told him--don't y'all get ahead of me now--just to drops a couple of aspirin in it and call him in the morning if it warn't unstopped. People tell me they read that same story in Reader's Digest. Well I did too. But I read it several years after it happened to Wilkie. I'll tell a little more about Wilkie and Betty Faye Whitmire tomorrow.

Hollis: One of my little fun things is to think up funny names and how they relate to the person bearing that name. Each night I plan to send a couple your way. Some are easy to figure out. Others require a little thought.
Bill Board is a show off.
Amanda Love is still looking.

Doctor talks to Wilkie

I could tell right off things warn't any too good by the way that city doctor looked when he walked in. He looked like he had just sucked a dozen lemons. Betty Faye was sitting there knitting or something. The doctor walked over to Wilkie, who was gray as grandma's hair. The doctor took Wilkie's hand and looked into his yellow eyes. He said Mr. Whitmire do you want a preacher or a priest? Betty Faye commenced to crying. I mean bawling. Wilkie sat up in the bed. Hush up, Betty Faye, I'll handle this he said. Look here Doctor What-ever-your-name-is, I don't want no preacher and I don't want no priest. I don't want to go to heaven and I don't want to go to hell. I want to go back to Harper, Mississippi. The doctor turned to Betty Faye and said I think he's gonna be alright.
And he was. Wilkie is over at the filling station right now, healthy as ever. If you come to Harper you can see him and he'll tell you. But don't be planning to stay too long. Like I said before we got enough here as it is.
Now that ain't the end of the story. Tomorrow I'll tell about Wilkie and old Doctor Biltwright.

Wilkie Whitmire in the Hospital

Hollis is back. I am so glad that he made it home safely.
Now, I'll tell y'all about my cousin Wilkie Whitmire's stay in a big New Orleans hospital. It all began one night way back--I reckon around 1958 or 9. Wilkie got a real bad stomach ache and told his wife, Betty Faye Whitmire, that he thought he was going to die from the pain. She called old Doctor Biltwright--not the young one, the young one is a grindacologist. And as you know Wilkie didn't have none of the right parts to see him. Old Doctor Biltwright told Wilkie to take a couple of aspirins and call him in the morning. That warn't good advice, cause the next morning Wilkie was on the early train to New Orleans and got checked in to this big hospital. They said he had a busted appendix. I looked it up in the library in a book with pictures and seen it was a little biddy thing hooked on to the bottom part of the entrails. They said it warn't good for nothing but to catch watermelon seeds or fish bones--things that would just pass through anyway, don't you know. Well, I don't believe there is nothing that ain't got a purpose. Just look at this. If Wilkie wadn't in that hospital bed in New Orleans, he would have been back in Harper and could have got hit by a truck or struck by lightning if we had had a storm which we didn't, but you know what I mean. I was sitting right there when this big city doctor come in. Tomorrow I'll tell you what he said about how bad Wilkie was.

Hollis: Had a wonderful weekend on Saint Simon Island. Things with Amanda are still iffy. But at least there is hope.

Hollis' Trip

Hollis, as y'all know is visiting over in Georgia. He called me--and just happened to catch me home--to tell me about the wonderdful beach and good food he was having on St. Simons Island. I think he is more excited about being back with his girl than anything else. I love it when young peoples get along. It makes life so much easier. I got along real well with all my wives. Y'all know how crazy I was for Bethel. And Mary Kate was as true as a saw line. Even Trixie and me got alone real good. It's just that she got along real good
with a lot of men. Hollis will be back Monday and we'll start on Wilkie Whitmire and the New Orleans hospital scene.

Hollis: Uncle Harvey gave me instruction on what to write when I phoned him this afternoon. There will be more tomorrow. Things are going real well with Amanda and me. Just got to make sure I don't slip up before Monday.

Australia

I reckon some of you know Oprah is taking her whole audience to Australia. They call it the land down under. But I don't think so. From all the picture I seen they seem to be doing right well. That brings something to mind. Hollis tells me people in Germany, Brazil, and other countries have been reading my stuff. I am grateful. But what I can't figure out is why nobody from England or Australia has tuned in.
I thing they speak a kind of English there, I mean enough to understand me. If any of y'all know anybody in them places plant a bug in their ear and tell them about me and Harper. I'd be much obliged.

Hollis: Sorry this post is late. I am in Atlanta tonight. Amanda, my ex-girl,friend, and her parents took me out to dinner at this fancy restaurant. We leave tomorrow for Saint Simons Island.

Future Posts

I reckon it'd be a good time to tell y'all what I want to talk about in the next few weeks. Hollis is gonna take a trip, so I don't want to get started on anything real big right now. Maybe next I'll tell about going to New Orleans a few years back. That was when my cousin Wilkie Whitmire was in the hospital down there. And I want to tell you about my niece's big Christmas party last year. I hope y'all like all them stories.
I guess you can tell from what I told y'all so far, I ain't normal. I mean ordinary. Like, and I hate to tell this, I watch Oprah. Almost every day. Trixie got me started. Her big dream was to go to Chicago and see Oprah in person. Oprah is from Mississippi you know. And I listen to opera music. I don't understand much about it, but it was always playing in the front room in our house. My daddy. When he was a young man he worked in New Orleans and lived with an Italian family. Hollis can tell you the name of them opera writers whose music I listen to. Now I listen to that other opera too, the grand ole one. My mamma. It was always playing in the kitchen. So when I stood in the middle of the house it was quite a sound.

Hollis: I have been invited, by my ex-girlfriend, to spend the weekend with her on Saint Simons Island, Ga. Her parents have a house there. Right on the Atlantic Ocean. I am picking her up in Jackson and we are driving to Atlanta where she is from. The next morning the two of us will go to Saint Simons. This may be a big break for me. Keep your fingers crossed.
I am taking my laptop and notes from Uncle Harvey Lee, but I may not be posting as regularly as I usually do. Please check every day. I will do my best.

Wilmer the Druggist

Way back in the Depression we had an outstanding citizen in Harper. His name was Wilmer Harris and he was our town druggist. Now this was toward the end of Wilmer's drug store days and he was about as frail as anybody you'd ever want to meet. He wore a sweater even on hot summer days and was a chain smoker. People said that his ashes in the mixtures he made up made them stronger and more able to cure you. Wilmer had a son, Wilmer Jr. But everybody around Harper just called him Harris. They pronounced it "Hairs." He was one fine baseball player, but he had to go off to war and as far as I know never played no more. But we'll have to save him for later. Now, we want to look at his daddy, Wilmer Sr. One story about Wilmer that comes to mind was when Eva Lou Wardlaw come by to see him about the kind of magazines in his store. She told him the Lord had come to her in a dream and had sent her to get him to stop keeping certain magazines. He asked her which ones and she said the crime ones and the love ones, mainly, but she warn't too sure about some of the others either. Now this is what I liked about Wilmer. He told Eva Lou that she was probably right, but he hadn't been blessed with no dream and would like for her
to meet the magazine man at the store every Wednesday morning and she could pick out what books he should send back. Eva Lou left in a huff saying the Lord hadn't ask her to do that. She was only supposed to tell him to keep the right stuff on his shelves. I don't think Wilmer lived too long after that, but I'm glad he was around long enough to set Eva Lou right before she started messing around with my funny books.

From Hollis: They used to call comic books funny books.

Catfish Caught

Like I said sometimes luck just comes knocking at your door or floating on the lake, as the case may be. Well that ole catfish pulled that boat and Millwood and grandpa right over to the shallow part of the lake and Millwood took the notion to jump on it and ride it down like a rodeo bull. And he did and that fish commenced to bucking and rolling and dipping, but Millwood hung on some how, so it's been told. Grandpa was having trouble keeping the boat afloat, but he managed to give one heck of a slam with one of the oars to the head of the catfish. We never knew if the fish just give out or the blow was in some real delicate area or whatever, but the fish rolled over on it's back and Millwood and grandpa towed it to the homeside of the lake and beached it. Word is it fed more'n half the town.
I don't think we got any catfish in the lake now and nobody ever knew where that one come from, because
to the best of anybody's knowledge it was the one and only catfish ever caught in Harper Lake.

Hollis recommends: Harvey Lee has a cousin in Atlanta. He is in a creative writing class and two of his fellow writers have recently published books, as the sycamore grows by Jennie Miller Helderman and Redeeming the Wounded by B. Bruce Cook. It would be nice if you would find out more about these books.

Catfish (cont.)

Me and Father O'Doole was fishing in Harper Lake just this morning. We been friends since my second wife liked for me to take her to mass, that's what they call church, every Sunday. After she got hit by a  streetcar in New Orleans and died, I still went to mass right regular, but I never was a full-fledged Catholic.
I mean I never learned all the different names they had for things or went to confession--something you supposed to do often if you are Catholic. But I really enjoy the company of Father O'Doole.
But I gotta get back to grandpa and Millwood. They was chasing down a big ole fish when they seen it was a catfish. Every so often they would get close enought for Millwood to hit it on the head with an oar.
But nothing seemed to slow it down any. You know how luck somehow gets in the middle of things. Well it did this day, because grandpa had run short on fishing line and had some his daddy had left that was for deep sea fishing. Him and Millwood had been laughing at it because it looked so big and funny on the pole. But anything smaller and that catfish would have broken it, don't you know.
Can you smell that? Dorothy is cooking country fried steak over at the cafe. I think I'll have to finish up tomorrow. Ain't nobody makes country fried steak like Dorothy.

More About the Catfish

Everything was peaceful on the lake when grandpa felt a pull on his line. Well, it was more than a pull it was an outright yank. Grandpa grabbed hold of his pole with both hands and yelled out so loud he woke Millwood up. Millwood and his wife had moved to town about ten years before all this happened and that was alright back then. They needed the people. But now we got more'n 600 citizens and that's enough. The other day I was sitting whittling, minding my own business when this stranger come up and started asking questions about the town. And then he asked if I had lived here all my life. You know what I told him? I said not yet. He thought that was kinda funny, but I warn't trying to be funny. I just don't like it when people ask stupid questions. Then he asked me what people were like around her. I threw it right back to him. I asked what people were like where he lived. He told me they was awful and he was trying to get away from there. And I told him they were exactly the same here. He kinda huffed off, but I didn't care. Yeah, back when Millwood come over here that was alright. Oh, Millwood and grandpa. They both knew there was a big, I mean real big, fish on the line. Grandpa yelled out, his pole was gonna break and that's when Millwood took things into his own hands.

Hollis: I'll try to finish tomorrow. It's not as easy as you might think.

Catfish (cont.)

Now the way it was told to me, Millwood was rowing and grandpa was getting all the lines and bait and stuff together. On the other side of the lake warn't no houses or nothing, just trees. Now over there we got doctors and lawyers. One of them lawyers sued a big drug company and won about forty million dollars for himself. My cousin May Margaret was in on that deal and she told me all she got was a check for forty-two dollars. Anyway, they got to the middle of the lake and had to stop for a cool drink. They always drank a little beer when they was in the middle of the lake because both my grandmother and Millwood's wife was teetotalers. They attended different churches together but that didn't matter cause they all was against drinking. I used to take a drink now and then, but now I don't. You see it's my idea of the right thing. Ain't got no woman riding me about it. Now let's see where was I. Oh, yeah. Grandfather and Millwood got to the spot they was looking for and put they lines out and was both just sitting there riding out the blessings of the day and that's when all heck broke loose.

Hollis: continued tomorrow. Now reading: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

Grandfather and the Forty Pound Catfish

It was years ago when my grandfather caught a big fish right here in Harper Lake. Now, grandpa and his friend Millwood Tucker was up early that morning and went down to the lake which was right behind grandpa's house. He built that house back in eighteen hundred something when he come here from up north. He took a job with the Illinois Central Railroad as a call boy. A call boy, who was usually a boy, would get on his bicycle and ride over to an engineer's house when he was due to go out on a run. Usually it was real soon for him to go. Yep, grandpa was a call boy.
Now, Millwood and was down at the lake getting their boat ready to go out and catch some supper. Millwood. Millwood Tucker. He was from over around Natchez on the Mississippi River somewheres so you can just guess he was expert at all kinds of fishing. And he and my grandpa took that boat right out in the middle of the water. Now, the town of Harper runs all around the lake now, but back then it warn't too many people. But most was real characters. We still got a bunch of characters in Harper. But not as many as they got in that town in the next county. The one that used to have a railroad shops. Once I heard a fellow say that all that town needed to qualify as an asylum was to have a ten foot wall built around it. I disagree. I thin the wall should be at least twenty feet.

Hollis: More tomorrow.       Now reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
          

Hollis Speaks

Uncle Harvey Lee has completed his first month of blogging. He is giddy over the number of viewers that visited his blog. He has asked me to ask those on FaceBook to look for his page. You can find it by searching for Harvey Lee Whitmire. He would love to have you as a friend. Also he asked me to prompt you to recommend his posts to any of your friends who may want to keep up with things going on in our little town.
Over the past week, Uncle Harvey Lee has been retelling the story of his grandfather and the forty pound catfish he caught many year ago. I must warn you that Uncle Harvey Lee has the kind of memory that is too good. When he comes across a name, place, or event in the telling of his story, he will stop and tell all about it. Consequently, it takes him a while to tell a fairly simple story. Tomorrow you will see what I mean.

Phone Calls from Trixie

Well like I said warn't no more than a year fore Trixie started calling me. She said she made a mistake and wanted to come back to Harper. I told her it warn't a good idea cause even if I could dig way down deep in my heart and forgive her, the folks of Harper ain't gonna be that easy. She kept calling for many months and then she quit. Ain't heard from her since.
Now when I look back on it, my religion was always taken from what my wives did. Like with Bethel I was a real good Baptist and with Mary Kate I was a right regular Catholic and with Trixie I went to all them tent meetings and revivals. Now I'm just a plain Christian. It makes me sad to go into a church. I'm working on it and one day I expect I'll end up back at the Harper Baptist Church, but now I spend a lot of time sitting by the lake. I read Bible verses there and sing hymns kinda low like. There ain't no place to find  the glory of the Lord like sitting by Harper Lake with a soft breeze wiping across your face. Soaking up the sun or appreciating the rain accompanied by the soft hum of the power plant.

Hollis now reading: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

My Life Without Trixie

I don't know if y'all ever felt like this, but I just couldn't decide if I missed Trixie or not. Most of me was kinda happy she warn't around no more, but a little piece of me missed her. Missed her pretty eyes and her pretty hair. She had this big mole on her nose, but you kinda got used to that. Well now that mole was wandering all over Texas with that tent preacher. I made myself think about all the things about Trixie that just got under my skin. Things I never would have considered when she was with me. Like how she warn't even really named Trixie. She was really Norma Faye. Guess I shouldn't make too much of her name change since I was really named Lee Harvey Whitmire. But after November 1963 I changed that. Trixie didn't really have blonde hair, just bottles of stuff to turn it.  And she was always needing new clothes. Well since she rededicated her life to that tent preacher, he would have to use some of his collections on her.  She hadn't been gone more'n a year or so when she started calling me telling me how she had made a mistake and wanted to come back. Tomorrow I'll tell you what I told her.

What Trixie Had to Say

I can't say I didn't expect something was going on between Trixie and that tent preacher. She kept getting us to move closer down front and didn't pay no attention to me when I asked her if she was comfortable and all. Then on the second night he was preaching she went down and rededicated her life to the service of the Lord. And she did that every night he was here. One the last night, after the service, she come to me all teary eyed and told me how wonderful I was and how lucky she was to live with me the last few years.
But she said she needed to expand her life and that didn't include living in Harper. She said she would always love me in her special way. She saw how hard it hit me and offered to give me comfort in the bedroom one last time. And I said no. Puts me in mind of ole Mitchell Wardlaw who when offered a drink would say he didn't mind if he would take that drink. He had turned down one once and was sorry ever since. Well I don't know if I have been sorry or not because that warn't the last I seen of Trixie.

Note from Hollis: Sorry I didn't get last night's post in. My ex-girlfriend called and asked me to escort her to a dance. I'm very glad I accepted.