A Very Tiny Miscommunication

Me and Dorothy don't have a lot of problems communicating. Today, however, we did have a little bump in our good relationship. Dorothy, as she put it, reminded me of a three parties she has signed us up to attend. Now she could have reminded me that she was going to these parties by herself and I would have understood the use of the word remind. I never knew I was included. I admit I heard her talk a lot about these festivities but since most of her talk centered around getting to see improvements to a friend's house and the gifts she was bringing I thought all these things were for ladies only. That, of course, would have suited me just fine. Now all I need to find out is what to wear and I'll be all set to do my part as her escort.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

Coming soon: More Tales of Harper (an ebook on Amazon)

Break In, Break Out

Silas Barngo runs a hardware store in downtown Harper. Unfortunately, his store has been broken into several times over the last few years. Silas is also a snake lover. He hunts 'em down and collects and sells the venom to some medical group down in Louisiana. I reckon it was natural for him to come up with the idea of turning a snake loose in the store after closing each night. He put a big sign on the front window that said: Drop In Tonight and Visit My Ten Foot Rattlesnake. The problem was finding and recapturing the snake every morning, so Silas decided he would only put the snake out one night a week and give any miscreant a chance to play Russian roulette. A couple of nights ago there was a break in. Either the crook could not read or decided to take a chance. It was the wrong night. While the entry into the shop was neat and well-ordered, the breakout was hurried and messy. There was glass and blood all over the sidewalk in front of the store. They caught the evil doer when he admitted himself into the Harper Hospital ER with a hundred tiny wounds all over his body. He was not sure if they were all caused by the glass, there was a chance that some of them may have been from snakebite. It turns out the reptile that Silas had left out that night was a large king snake that could not have hurt the villain. Seems the fellow didn't know anymore about snakes than he knew about robbing people.

Coming soon: More Tales of Harper (an ebook on Amazon)

Harper Bee Christmas Parade

The Harper Bee, our five day a week newspaper, sponsors a Christmas parade every year and today was the day. Santa Claus (this year Cletus VanVanderham) arrived on a caboose at the end of a railroad train and was met by a firetruck from the Harper Volunteer Fire Department. He stood on the back of the vehicle while it traveled down Harper Lake Road toward the two block downtown section. Children were dismissed from school and lined the streets waiting for Santa to pass by. As he went by he threw little candy canes to their waiting hands. Right in front of Brickley's Five and Dime he jumped off the truck and went inside where a throne-like chair was waiting. Children queued up waiting for an opportunity to sit on Santa's lap and plead for toys. I overheard one little boy ask for a new Apple computer. Santa asked him if it would be his first computer and he said no, but I would be his first Apple and Johnny S. kept bragging so much about his Apple and how great it was it was impossible for his to sleep good at night because he wanted one like Johnny so much. Things have changed a lot since I was a boy.

Commercials

I'm of two minds about commercials. The sponsors of TV programs are basically paying for us to watch the program free of charge. Yet, many are irritating and often infuriating. The sad thing is--and this is just my opinion--the ones that are most effective are the ones people hate the most. That may be because the cool, easy flowing ads slip by our consciousness. Many people who watch the easy-going ones don't remember who the sponsor actually is. Back in the first days of TV and the TV commercial we had no convenient way to escape nettling ads. By the time we got up and walked to the TV to change channels the spot was over, particularly if we had to rotate the rooftop antenna in the direction of the new channel. Today, we can simply push a button or two and move on. Unfortunately, many times when we do change stations there is another commercial waiting for us.

Coming soon: More Tales of Harper (an ebook on Amazon)

The Plague (Hollis)

The Plague by Albert Camus
Oran, Algeria during 1940's
Dr. Rieux - narrator, fighting plague
Dr. Rieux's wife - away in sanatarium
Tarrou - philosopher caught in quarantine, assists Rieux
Grand - Elder civil servant, wannabe writer
Rambert - journalist trying to escape city to be with lover in Paris
Cottard - paranoid resident with criminal past, failed suicide at beginning
Father Paneloux - preaches epidemic is punishment from God
rats, rats, rats - absurdism - mind set of those not yet affected - changes in philosophy - return to life after plague

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

Go For Broke

Yesterday there were two football games where "go for broke" decisions were made. Both games came down to a decision where going into overtime would have given an opportunity for a win. I am not saying the coaches made the wrong decision because the result of their call could have been a win right then and there. But it did not work out that way for either team. It got me thinking about how many times in my life I had to make a choice and decided to push ahead. Most times a little more planning would have give a better result. In real life most of us have the time to think things over and it's our fidgety nature that makes us jump. In a football game there is not that luxury. These coaches have to make a split second decision. I reckon in football and life the best we can hope for is an ability to live (and learn) with the result of our decisions. That may be a larger indicator of success.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

Spitting Image

They got this thing on the interweb that they call a social network. People put a lot of pictures on it and they can be seen all over the world. Rufus McBall got into a lot of trouble with his wife and her family because of a picture somebody posted last year. It was the spitting image of Rufus right down to the side of his hair he puts the part in. The man was pictured with one of those drinks with an umbrella and he was standing between two beautiful women in dresses like they wear in those South Seas movies. I am sure it wasn't Rufus but most people who saw it were sure it was. Those who did not see it but were told about it were even more certain. Rufus' wife, Idele, was infuriated. She threatened to leave him and take him to the cleaners in the divorce settlement. Rufus was stunned. He told me, "I ain't even a member of that network and don't have no idea how to put a picture on it. And I ain't never had no drink with no umbrella. All I ever drink comes out of a long neck bottle." Don't worry, friends, things worked out all right for Rufus and tomorrow I'll tell how it all came about.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle