LONLINESS

LONLINESS.....A COIN WITH TWO SIDES...A BITTER-SWEET PILL....A BLESSING IN DISGUISE....AN INVITATION......LONLINESS CAN STRIKE ANYONE AT ANY TIME AND ANYWHERE......IT CAN STRIKE WHEN SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE....IT CAN STRIKE IN THE MIDST OF FESTIVITY.....WHAT IS LONLINESS?  IT IS AN AWARENESS THAT YOU HAVE NOT YET FOUND THAT WHICH YOU ARE REALLY LOOKING FOR.....IT IS AN INVITATION TO SIT DOWN AND REFLECT...IT IS AS IF A CHALK BOARD FILLED WITH YOUR HOPES HAS SUDDENLY BEEN ERASED.  MAYBE, THAT IS GOOD, MAYBE YOU HAVE BEEN BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE....MAYBE YOUR BLANK CHALK BOARD IS READY FOR YOU TO WRITE SOMETHING ON IT......MAKE IT A HABIT TO KEEP A DIARY OF YOUR THOUGHTS.  RECORD YOUR MEMORIES...WRITE..WRITE  WRITE...ALSO, PAINT PICTURES....PAINT WHAT YOU FEEL....NEVER MIND CRITICAL ACCLAIM...WRITE..PAINT..WRITE..PAINT.....YOU CARRY WAY TOO MUCH WEIGHT...JUST LET IT GO IN WRITING AND PAINTING....IF YOU DESIRE TO BE IN REALLY BAD TROUBLE..JUST IMAGINE YOURSELF SO DISTRACTED BY NOISE...THAT YOU NEVER CAME TO KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU TICK....YOU NEVER LET IT ALL OUT...YOU JUST COVER OVER YOUR PAIN WITH MINDLESS DISTRACTIONS....YES..SILENCE...NO PARTY....NO NOISE..JUST THE SILENCE OF SELF ALONE WITH SELF...TAKES SOME GETTING USED TO, BUT YOU WILL FIND IT, I PROMISE....GOD BLESS...BOB

SANTA ANA WINDS

WHEN I WAS A BOY GROWING UP IN GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA, I DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN WEATHER AND HOW IT AFFECTED ME.  BACK IN THE 1950'S, LOS ANGELES HAD A TERRIBLE SMOG PROBLEM...FAR WORSE THAN IT IS TODAY,  BACK THEN, THE SMOG KILLED PEOPLE.  IT WAS LIKE BEING IN A CLOSED CONTAINER....THE SUN, JUST A SMOKY ORANGE BALL IN THE SKY, AT NIGHT, NO STARS SEEN, NO OUTLINES OF MOUNTAINS NOR HILLS SEEN...NO BREEZE...JUST A HEAVY CHEMICAL ATMOSPHERE... ALL NATURE GROANED.....I REMEMBER ONE NIGHT, IN PARTICULAR.  I WAS IN MY BEDROOM DOING MY HOME WORK AND HEARD A SOUND....A LITTLE SOUND, AND I WENT OUTSIDE.  SANTA ANA SWEEPING THE SKY...THE SULPHER SMELL REPLACED BY FRESH AIR.....THE VEDURDO HILLS ETCHED IN BLACK AGAINST A STARRY SKY,,,THE BIG DEODAR NEXT DOOR, SINGING SOFTLY IN THE WIND..AVOCADO TREE LEAVES RATTLING...BIG GUST NOW..MAMMA'S WIND CHIMES ON BACK PORCH TINKLED IN JOY....A DOOR IN GARAGE BANGED SHUT...IT WAS LIKE TAKING A BATH..FILTHS GONE...THE LAND WAS BEING BATHED....SILVER MOON....SUCH A NICE TREAT FOR ME,,AND THE WHOLE WORLD, IT SEEMED....B

STRANGE SENSATION

SUMMER, 1952....5 AM SLEEPING SOUNDLY UNTIL A NEIGHBOR'S DOG STARTED HOWLING..(YES, IT IS TRUE)...L.A. WAS MOSTLY ASLEEP.....IT WAS A SEVEN POINTER AND IT'S AUTHOR WAS A RELITIVELY MINOR FAULT NAMED THE WHITE WOLF FAULT NEAR BAKERSFIELD...  MINOR AS IT WAS, IT KNOCKED OIL STORAGE TANKS OFF OF THEIR FOUNDATIONS AND PRETTY MUCH DESTROYED TEHACHIPI....BUILDINGS SWAYED IN DOWNTOWN L.A. AND MY BED ON COASTERS, ROLLED AROUND A BIT.  THE TWO CYLINDRICAL DOOR CHIMES BANGED TOGETHER.  I HEARD THE ALARMS GOING OFF IN MONTROSE STORES DUE TO BROKEN WINDOWS...  THE THING THAT KEPT MOST OF US ON EDGE WERE THE AFTERS  NOT EXACTLY PUPPIES FOR SURE.. THE BIGGY KNOCKED ARM OFF OF A RECORD THAT WAS BEING PLAYED OVER L.A. RADIO.....THE NAME OF THE SONG WAS "STRANGE SENSATION"       B.

FORGOTTEN THINGS IN GLENDALE

LONG AGO....BROTHETON'S FARM HOUSE RESTAURANT...A HOME ON CENTRAL (I THINK) THAT WAS MADE INTO A RESTAURANT.  THE CERAMIC OR PLASTER BIG WHITE DOG THAT SAT ON SIDEWALK OUTSIDE OF A MUSIC STORE ON BRAND.    THE UNDERGROUND RESTROOM ON WEST SIDE OF BRAND...A RECTANGULAR OPENING IN SIDEWALK WITH STAIRS LEADING DOWN TO RESTROOM.  KEN'S PET SHOP ON 700 BLOCK OF GLENDALE BLVD..NEAR FISH KING AND LONG'S MKT.    HAMMILS MALT SHOP NEAR OLD ENGLISH CLEANERS AT CORNER OF MONTEREY RD AND GLENDALE.  RICE'S HOBBY SHOP (JUST SOUTH OF OLD ENGLISH CLEANERS.  THE GALEMORE APTS..A SIX STORY STRUCTURE ON WEST SIDE OF GLENDALE BLVD    ACROSS FROM CHARLES MUSIC STORE WHICH WAS SOUTH OF OLD ENGLISH CLEANERS..THE FRONT DOOR HAD A LARGE GLASS IN IT AND THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL PAINTING IN LOBBY WHICH YOU COULD SEE THROUGH GLASS PANE IN DOOR.  THE HEADLINER RESTAURANT AT MOUNTAIN AND GLENDALE....NEWSPAPERS WERE USED AS WALL PAPER...JUST OVER THE LINE INTO BURBANK ON SAN FERNANDO ROAD,,ANDREWS AND EVANS USED CARS...ACTUALLY, THEY WERE HOT RODS...NEAT STUFF.  LAMEREAUX AND MILNE MOTORCYCLES (NO ONE YET SEEMS TO REMEMBER THEM.)  BEHRENS HOSPITAL IN HILLS JUST NORTHEAST OF G.H.S. THE OLD YMCA IN GLENDALE WHERE I TOOK SWIMMING LESSONS..THE POOL STILL THERE (I THINK) BUT MUCH IMPROVED NEW POOL JUST NEXT DOOR.  THE OLD POOL WAS SUB GROUND LEVEL AND HAD SMALL WINDOWS AT TOP WHICH OPENED TO AN ALLEY.  ONE WINDOW WAS BROKEN OUT AND THE BOYS SWAM NUDE.  I TOLD PATSY BAIRD ABOUT THAT, BUT DON'T KNOW IF SHE WENT TO SEE FOR HERSELF.  HELLO, PATSY BAIRD OF 916 MONTEREY RD.  WE LIVED THERE FROM 1950 TO 1951....I THINK THAT WAS A CAUSEY AND RHODES THING.....I WENT TO RICHARDSON D WHITE ELEM SCHOOL FOR SIXTH GRADE AND FRANCIS WEYLAND PARSONS WAS MY VERY EXCELLENT TEACHER.  MISS BRINN WAS PRINCIPAL   I WAS IN A PLAY THAT YEAR CALLED "AUNT DRUSILLA'S GARDEN...AND HAD ONE LINE...."I AM GOING TO BE A JOCKEY AND WIN HORSE RACES"    (I NEVER DID !)   GREAT DAYS, I WRODE MY NEW SCHWINN MY DAD BOUGHT FOR ME AT MATTHEW'S BIKE SHOP WHICH WAS SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN HAMMILS MALT SHOP AND CHARLE'S MUSIC.  ONE DAY, TOM PULFER AND I WERE THROWING A BASEBALL BACK AND FORTH IN THE PKNG LOT AT 916 MONTERREY RD., AND I THREW A HARD BALL WHICH WAS TOO HIGH, AND I BROKE THE WINDSHIELD OUT OF A CAR THAT WAS PARKED BEHIND JACK'S AUTOMATIC LAUNDRY.....WHICH WAS JUST SOUTH OF A TWO STORY BIG BLDG AND I THINK IT WAS A DRAUGHN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AS I HEARD TYPEWRITERS CLACKING INSIDE.....NOW....REPEAT..WHAT DID I SAY ?    B

A MEMORY OF DAD

SOMETIMES, MY DAD FELT SO STRONGLY ABOUT SOMETHING, HE DRAMATIZED HIS FEELINGS.  ONE TIME HE TRIED HIS HAND AT MAKING A CAKE.  WHY, I DONT KNOW.  AFTER THE CAKE CAME OUT OF THE OVEN AND COOLED, HE CUT A PIECE TO SAMPLE. HE WAS SO DISGUSTED WITH IT, HE GOT A SHOVEL AND BURIED IT THE BACK YARD. 

HAUNTED? SOME SAY INDEED !

I USED TO BE A SECURITY GUARD, AND ONE OF MY POSTS WAS THE 320 S. BOSTON BLDG DOWNTOWN.  IT USED TO BE THE NAT'L BANK OF TULSA BLDG AND IS THE ONE I SPOKE OF IN ANOTHER STORY AS LOOKING LIKE A SYRINGE POKING UP INTO THE SKY.  AT ONE TIME, TULSA WAS CALLED THE OIL CAPITOL OF THE WORLD..THAT WAS BECAUSE OVER 300 INDEPENDANT OIL COMPANIES HAS THEIR HEADQUARTERS HERE.  THE OLD HOTEL TULSA (NOW TORN DOWN) WAS THE PLACE WHERE OIL DEALS WERE SIGNED WITH A HANDSHAKE.  THE LOBBY WHERE I WORKED WAS CAVERNOUS WITH MARBLE EVERY WHERE. I SAT AT A DESK.IN LOBBYALONE, PULLING GRAVEYARD SHIFT.  WHAT A TERM! IT WAS MOSTLY EMPTY DURING THOSE HOURS..I SAY MOSTLY.  I HAD BEEN WARNED...NOT APPRISED..THAT THE BUILDING WAS HAUNTED.  IN FACT, MANY GUARDS WOULD NOT WORK THERE.  EVERY SEVERAL HOURS, I WOULD PATROL EVERY FLOOR.....22 OF THEM. NOT A SOUL, NOT A SOUND.  ONE TIME, I SMELLED PIPE SMOKE IN THE HALL..QUITE A FEW TIMES, I HEARD A DOOR SLAM.  ONE NIGHT I WAS DOZING IN MY CHAIR...A NO NO...AND A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM CAUSED ME TO JUMP OUT OF MY CHAIR.  IT CAME FROM ABOVE SOMEWHERE..SO, I GOT ON THE ELEVATOR AND WALKED FLOOR TWO...NOTHING..SAME FOR  3.  I CALLED MY SUPERVISOR AND HE TOLD ME TO CALL POLICE.  I LET THEM IN AND TOLD THEM WHAT I HEARD.  THEY BEGAN THEIR INVESTIGATION.....THEY FOUND THE SOURCE, ONE OFFICE HAD A FEW EMPLOYEES WHO WERE SHOOTING A SCENE FOR A PRIVATE MOVIE AND THE SCENE REQUIRED A LADY TO SCREAM BLOODY MURDER.  THEY THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY..NOT ME. I WAS TOLD THAT DURING THE CRASH OF 29, A FEW LEAPED TO THEIR DEATHS FROM THAT BLDG.  I FINALLY RESIGNED THAT POSITION.....TOO LONELY AND JUST TOO WEIRD OF A FEELING THERE.    B

LIKE FRAMES FROM A MOVIE

SATURDAY MORNING AND I FEEL SORROW THIS A.M.  IT IS ONLY TEMPORARY...MY DEAR WIFE GOT UP, HAD HER COFFEE, AND WENT BACK TO SLEEP IN EASY CHAIR.  I JUST SAT THERE AND LOOKED AT HER.  THE THOUGHTS OF SAYING GOOD BYE FLOODED MY MIND.  I PRAY ALOT AND HAVE BEGGED GOD TO TAKE US BOTH TOGETHER.  THE PAIN WOULD BE UN-SURVIVABLE OTHER WISE.  IT IS A HELP TO ME RIGHT NOW TO CHAT WITH YOU, OH UNSEEEN AND UNKNOWN PERSON WHERE EVER YOU ARE. BUT I KNOW ONE THING...YOU HAD BIRTHDAY PARTIES, CHRISTMAS AROUND THE TREE...LITTLE FRIENDS IN SCHOOL...ALL ALONG THE WAY.  SOMETIMES YOU CRIED AND IT SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD THEN....I HAVE MANY MEMORIES OF MY PARENTS THAT SEEM LIKE A MOVIE FRAME..THE FILM JUST STOPPED AND I WAS GAZING AT ONE STILLED FRAME.  ONE SUCH FRAME IS OF MY FATHER BURSTING INTO SONG WHILE HE AND I WERE ON A DRIVE UP BIG TUJUNGA CANYON IN THE MID 50'S.  THE SETTING SUN WAS SHINING ON HIS FACE AND HE JUST STARTED SINGING.  IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO KNOW WHAT THAT SONG WAS.  ONE NIGHT DAD, MOM, AND I WERE DRIVING HOME AND IT STARTED TO RAIN. I REMEMBER SEEING THE FIRST SMALL DROPS ON WINDSHIELD, AND MY DAD SAID "THERE IS THE RAIN THE WEATHERMAN PROPHESIED"  SOMETIMES NOW, WHEN IT STARTS TO RAIN AND WE ARE DRIVING I WILL REPEAT...."THERE IS THE RAIN THE WEATHERMAN PROPHESIED"  HELEN OFTEN ASKS  "WHY DO YOU SAY THAT SO OFTEN WHEN IT RAINS?"  I GUESS SOMEDAY I WILL HAVE TO TELL HER.....HAVE A GOOD DAY, FRIEND OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. GOD LOVES YOU. B

MY MEMORIAL TO SPECIAL GLENDALE PEOPLE

AS I HAVE STATED, I WRITE TO DOCUMENT CERTAIN THINGS, KNOWING FEW, IF ANY WILL READ. THAT IS OK.  IT IS NICE TO BE REMEMBERED.  DURING MEMORIAL DAY, I VISIT A CERTAIN GRAVE YARD,,,,MANY FLOWERS ON MANY GRAVES TESTIFY TO THOSE WHO REMEMBERED, YET, AND SORROWFULLY, MANY GRAVES SO BARREN....THEIR STONES SUNKEN INTO GROUND..WEATHER WORN,,,FORGOTTEN.  I WISH TO MENTION A FEW NAMES, BUT NOT ALL.  THESE WERE A PART OF MY LIFE, AND THAT MAKES THEM PRETTY SPECIAL.  THESE NAMES ARE NOT IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, BUT YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE.     LESTER S BRANN....NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR ON ROSEMARY, WHO WAS KIND TO ME. HE GAVE ME A CRAFTSMAN TOOL CHEST SET AND A ROCK HUNTER'S HAMMER...THANK'S LES..LOVE YOU.  MRS ANNA ROSS AND CLEMTINE PRESTON, WHO WERE MY PIANO TEACHERS....HOW PATIENT YOU WERE..AND, YOU WERE BOTH BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.....MY PEDIATRICAN IN 40'S, DR. HARRIET B. FARNHAM...DIED IN 1950....THANK YOU FOR CARING FOR ME.   HOWARD KENT, MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER.  THANK YOU FOR BOOK YOU GAVE TO ME, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN....ALL, I SAY ALL, OF MY TEACHERS IN GUSD....ALL OF THEM GREAT IN THEIR OWN RIGHT....J.J HAMILTON WHO WAS MY GLENDALE NEWS PRESS DELIVERY SUPERVISOR.  JJ, SOMETIMES WHEN YOU STOPPED AT MY HOME ON ROSEMARY AND HONKED FOUR TIMES, I KNEW YOU WANTED TO TELL ME SOMETHING, IN MY SELFISHNESS, I LOOKED THROUGH FRONT WINDOW UNTIL YOU GAVE UP AND DROVE AWAY, I REMEMBER YOUR WHITE 47 FORD.....MARSHALL KENT NEIBERT...MY SCHOOL CHUM FOR MANY YEARS,,,,SUCH A GOOD FRIEND.   THIS IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE END, BUT I AM GETTING SLEEPY...DO THANK THOSE WHO HAVE TOUCHED YOU...DO NOT FORGET THEM,,NO, NOT EVER......BOB FISHBACK

JE-RE-CO..CLUB

TULSA....MY STORY ,,",WALK IN THE PARK IS TRUE" EXCEPT FOR ENDING....MOST  FUTURE STORIES WILL BE BUILT AROUNT TULSA, BECAUSE SO MANY MEMORIBLTHINGS HAPPENED THERE, , THE 200 BLOCK, OF SOUTH FRISCO......WEST OF DOWNTOWN, WAS A TREE SHADED STREET WITH OLD WHITE HOUSES, WHICH HAD MOSTLY BEEN CONVERTED TO DUPLEXES.  MOST OF THE RENTERS WERE WIDOWS.  THEY COULD BE SEEN TENDING THEIR FLOWERS DURING THE DAY, BUT FINDING REFUGE FROM THE HEAT AFTER ABOUT 10 A.M.  OBVIOUSLY, I AM SPEAKING OF SUMMER AS THAT IS WHEN WE WOULD VACATION THERE. AT THE CORNER OF THIRD AND FRISCO...ON SW CORNER, THERE WAS A WINDOWLESS BRICK BUILDING THAT WAS A NIGHT CLUB..THE JERICO CLUB.  OKLAHOMA BECAME A LEGAL LIQUOR STORE STATE IN 1959.  BEFORE THEN, HARD LIQUOR WAS BOOT-LEGGED IN.  NO PROBLEM!  WHEN I VISITED THERE, I USUALLY WENT TO SIT ON FRONT PORCH SWING TO OBSERVE VERY LATE NIGHT ACTIVITIES.  AS A YOUTH, IT WAS FRIGHTENING, AND I OFTEN RETREATED INTO THE SAFETY OF INSIDE...FIGHTS WERE THE RULE, AND THESE FIGHTS OFTEN ENVOLVED FEMALES..DRUNK AS A SKUNK...FOUL LANGUAGE...BREAKING OF BOTTLES, YELLING, HITTING, CLAWING,  ETC.  IN RETRO, THE POLICE MUST HAVE BEEN PAYED OFF TO STAY AWAY.  ACROSS THE STREET WAS A VERY LEGIT BUSINESS...A SKELLY GAS STATION.  A SMALL BUILDING FOR OFFICE AND THEN A GARAGE WHERE LUBES AND WASH JOBS WERE DONE. THE FACADES WERE WHITE STUCCO WITH BLUE TILE ROOFS.  THE TULSA SKYLINE HAD A CAPTIVATING QUALITY TO IT..THREE OR FOUR MAJOR BUILDINGS IN HEIGHT, AND THE FURTHER YOU WENT FROM THESE, THE SHORTER THE BUILDINGS GOT.  SO, FROM A DISTANCE, THE DOWNTOWN SEEMED LAYERED..THE NATIONAL BANK OF TULSA WAS KING OF THE HILL IN THOSE DAYS,,,,,TWENTY TWO STORIES AT 400 FEET TALL..IT DID COMMAND ATTENTION.  SUCH A GENIOUS DESIGN.  IN FACT, I WONDER IF THE ARCHITECT REALLY KNEW THE IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE,      HARD TO DESCRIBE..IN A WAY, LIKE A GREAT HYPO NEEDLE POKING THE SKY.  A SLENDER AND CONICAL DOME TOPPED IT OUT AND A NUMBER OF SPOT LIGHTS PLAYED ON THIS DOME...15 SECOND INTERVALS...THE DOME WAS GREEN, THEN ORANGE, THEN WHITE.  IN 1949, TV CAME TO TULSA, AND THE CHANNEL SIX TRANSMITTING TOWER WAS PLACED ON TOP OF THIS DOME.   SO, THE HYPO NEEDLE WAS COMPLETE.  DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THIS TOWER, A WORKMAN DROPPED A WRENCH AND IT FELL TO THE GROUND. BOUNCED ACROSS THE STREET, STRUCK A WOMAN IN THE HEAD...AND KILLED HER.  I SPOKE OF AUNT NORA AND UNCLE LEM WHO LIVED IN BACK....NONIE, AS WE CALLED HER, WAS A VERY SHORT PERSON WHO WAS STOOPED.  SHE ROLLED HER GREY HAIR INTO A BUN ON THE BACK OF HER HEAD.  THERE WAS A LOOSE FOLD OF SKIN THAT RAN FROM HER CHIN TO HER THROAT.  I USED TO CALL IT HER WADDLE.  SHE BAKED THE MOST DELICIOUS LEMON PIES WITH THICK FROSTING ...ON TOP.  A SWIRLED EGGY TOPPING WITH LITTLE RIDGES OF BROWN FROM OVEN BAKING.  THERE WAS A PECULIAR FEEL TO NIGHT TIME.  JUST AS THE SUN HAD POURED ITS HEAT INTO THE EARTH AND HUMANS ALIKE, SO THE NIGHT SEEMED A PAY BACK TIME...I SHOULD SAY A RELEASE FROM TENSIONS AND WEARINESS OF THE DAY...MOST PEOPLE WERE DAMMED TIRED AND THEY SOUGHT THEIR SOLACE IN HOMES AND SOME IN BEER BARS...I REMEMBER THAT ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THIRD ST, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF THREE OR FOUR STORY APT BUILDINGS..RED BRICK .  EACH HALL HAD A VENTILLATING FAN AT END OF HALL, AND I COULD SEE THEM TURNING VIA THE DIM LIGHTED HALLS.  IT WAS REST TIME...LIVES RESTLESSLY THRASHING ON HOT SHEETS, TRYING TO FIND A COOL SPOT....AND THE RADIO...NOTES AT NIGHT ON KVOO.  A CARPET RIDE INTO THE BECKONING ARMS,,,,PROVIDED BY A MAN ALONE IN HIS STUDIO.....THE DISK JOCKEY....POOL HALLS WITH THEIR REGULARS...THE 3/2 BEER  BARS WITH THEIR REGULARS...THE NIGHT PEOPLE..THE CABBIES, THE POLICE..THE HOSPITAL NIGHT NURSES....IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON.  THE SUN WAS HAVIN ITS WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD....ONLY TO RISE AGAIN IN TULSA....SOME WOULD GO HOME FROM NIGHT JOBS AND SLEEP, OTHERS WOULD RISE FOR DAY WORK.....THE LIGHT ON THE DOME WAS TURNED OFF,,,,AND...THE DISC JOCKY BID EVERY ONE A GOOD BYE....B

A WALK IN THE PARK WITH SUZIE Q

SUMMER, 1949..TULSA, OKLAHOMA..VISITING FROM GLENDALE...GRANDMA AND MIMMI HOUSE..216 S. FRISCO. ANOTHER VISITOR NEXT DOOR.....SUSIE...ALSO VISITING HER GRANMAMA...MY AGE...CUTE..RED HAIR..FRECKLES.  OUR BEDROOM WINDOWS SIX FEET APART...I GOT UNDRESSED IN MY BEDROOM NIGHT BEFORE..LEFT MY LIGHT ON..SUSIE TURNED HERS OFF..PARTED CURTAINS..LAY ON HER BED NEXT TO WINDOW AND WATCHED ME....NEXT DAY, SHE INVITED ME TO GO GET CHERRY POPSICKLES..WE DID..SHE TOLD ME SHE SAW ME NIGHT BEFORE...EXPRESSED GREAT INTEREST IN BOYS... DOWN THERE.  APPARANTLY, SHE NEVER KNEW NOR SAW...HOT DAY AS ALWAYS..SO HOT THE KATY DIDS FIRING UP EARLY WITH THEIR CHEREEEE...CHEREEE COMPLAINTS.  SHE ASKED ME WHO LIVED IN THAT SECLUDED HOUSE IN BACK OF US.  I TOLD HER IT WAS MY AUNT NORA AND UNCLE LEMUEL MAUZY...I THEN TOLD HER ABOUT THEIR UPSTAIRS...THE STAIRS TO UP THERE TOOK OFF FROM THE KITCHEN AND WENT UP...I LOVED GOING UP THERE BECAUSE IT WAS SO...STRANGE UP THERE.  ENTIRE LENGTHS OF WALLS HAD A CLOTHES HANGING RACK AND ALL OF AUNTIES LONG DRESSES HUNG THERE.  I WAS ALWAYS SEEING SOMETHING MOVE OUT OF THE SIDE OF MY EYES, BUT WHEN I TURNED, NOTHING WAS THERE.  SUSIE LOVED ALL OF THIS AND BEGGED ME TO TAKE HER THERE.  WE WALKED TO THE SCREEN DOOR ON BACK PORCH..THE SCREENS ALL AROUND THE PORCH WERE COVERED WITH MORNING GLORY VINES, SO THE LIGHT COMING IN GAVE A GREEN CAST TO THE ROOM.  WE TIPTOED IN..THROUGH THE KITCHEN AND LOOKED DOWN THE HALL...AUNIE AND UNCLE LEM FAST ASLEEP.  WE TIPTOED TO THE DOOR TO UPSTAIRS, UNLATCHED IT AND CREPT UP...IT WAS SO TERRIBLY HOT UP THERE...WE STOPPED AT TOP OF STAIRS.  SHE GAZED AT ALL OF NORAH'S OLD DRESSES AND WITH A GIGGLE, SAID SHE WANTED TO TRY ONE ON AS THER WAS A TALL DUSTY MIRROR IN THE CORNER.  I WATCHED AS SHE.....PULLED DOWN HER SHORTS AND WAS BEGINNING TO TAKE HER TOP OFF.  CURIOSITY AND ALARM BOTH CAME TO ME...REALLY..AFTER SHE PUT ON ONE OF THE DRESSES, WE BOTH LAUGHED AT OURSELVES IN THE MIRROR.  SHE WANTED ME TO TRY ON UNCLE LEMS SUITS.....I WAS SO HOT....LET'S GO TO THE PARK SUSIE...I DON'T LIIKE IT HERE...NO NO NO SHE SAID...HER LIPS WERE STILL CHERRY RED FROM THE POPCICKLE...CHILDHOOD INNOSENSE IN PEVERSE...HER EYES WERE SO EMBRIONIC..SHE HELPED ME IN MY SHYNESS AND PUT HER HAND UPON THE WAIST BAND...PULLING GENTLY, THEY BEGAN TO SLIDE DOWNWARD, EXSPOSING MY LEGS....AND THEN, WE WENT TO PARK AND WALKED......SORRY...B

U.S.66 IN ARIZONA

THE OLD MOTHER ROAD..TWO LANE...THE MOVIE "CARS" HAS A PART IN IT ABOUT RADIATOR SPRINGS...A ONCE VIBRANT LITTLE TOWN ON 66 THAT THE INTERSTATE BYPASSED....YOU SHOULD SEE THAT MOVIE.  NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA HAS A PECULIAR FEEL TO IT.  AN ANCIENT LAND WITH PETRIFIED FOREST, ANCIENT VOLCANOES, CLIFFS WITH ANCIENT WRITINGS, AND OF ALL PLACES, A METEORITE LANDED THERE .  HUGE CRATER.  AND OF COURSE THE SUMMER CLOUDBURSTS...THEY CAME, FLOODED, AND DISAPPEARED ABOUT AS FAST AS THEY CAME.  BACK THEN, THE HIGHWAY DEPT PLACED LITTLE WHITE CROSSES BESIDE THE ROAD TO INDICATE A FATALITY HAD HAPPENED THERE.  SOMETIMES THERE WAS A GROUP OF FIVE OR SIX CROSSES.  THESE BOTHERED ME CONSIDERABLY.  WHAT DO I DO?  DO I JUST NOTE CROSSES WITH NO ATTENDANT THOUGHTS THAT THESE WERE HUMAN BEINGS SEEKING PLEASURE...A VACATION ..;LONG DESERVED.  CERTAINLY THERE WERE CHILDREN IN THESE CROSSES.  IT MADE ME ANGRY THAT LIFE CAN BE SO BRUTAL. ANGER CAN PRODUCE CYNICISM,,,AN EXPRESSION OF THE ABSURDITY OF SUCH AN UN-NECESSARY HORROR.  AND SO I WONDERED IF THOSE DEAR PERSONS HAD A WONDERFUL BREAKFAST IN ORDER TO GET THEIR DAY OFF TO A GOOD START. OH, WHAT A TRIP IT WAS....ANGER, YOU SEE..AND IT IS SOO UGLY. THAT PART OF ARIZONA IS STRANGE IN ANOTHER WAY,  AT DAY BREAK, ITS AS IF THE SPIRIT OF SLEEP COMES IN FOR A VISIT.  YOU CAN GET SO SLEEPY THERE AT FIRST LIGHT.  A REALLY STRANGE AND HAUNTING LAND.   THE B

WHY YOU SHOULD ADMIRE.....

THE SEQUOYAH TREES..THEY HAVE STOOD THERE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS WITH NO CELL PHONE...THE B

216 Frisco part 2

1949...I WAS TEN, AND ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO VISIBLE MANIFESTATIONS OF PUBERTY, THERE WERE LITTLE RUMBLINGS INSIDE OF THINGS TO COME.  EMOTIONS ATTENDED JUST ABOUT EVERY THING I SAW.  THE YEAR BEFORE, DAD BOUGHT A BRAND NEW 1948 PONTIAC SILVER STREAK TWO DOOR SEDAN.  BLACK WITH WHITE WALL TIRES.  IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CAR.  IN THE CENTER OF THE STEERING WHEEL WAS A DISC WHICH WAS THE HORN.  IT HAD AN EMBLEM OF AN INDIAN CHIEF WITH HEAD DRESS.  LOTS OF REAL CHROME.  WE  TOOK OUR SUMMER TRIP IN THAT CAR. MOM AND DAD IN FRONT..ME IN THE BACK....I WAS ONERY, I GUESS, AND WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH PROFANITY AND SHOCK APPEAL.  IN ONE TOWN, I THREW A PIECE OF PAPER OUT THE WINDOW ON WHICH I HAD WRITTEN.."DAMN..HELL, SHIT" OF COURSE, WE CROSSED THE MOJAVE DESERT WHICH WAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF IN ALL THE DIRE WARNINGS IN ORDER TO SELL "DESERT WATER BAGS"..ICE...AND RADIATOR BACK FLUSHES.  MANY BILL BOARDS...."WARNING, 300 MILES OF DESERT AHEAD"  PLUS SKULL AND CROSS BONES.  WE DID STOP IN BARSTOW AND FILLED UP. A CAR WAS GETTING A BACK FLUSH.  TO ME, THE GRILL WORKS HAD EXPRESSIONS RANGING FROM SMILE TO PAIN....DEPENDING UPON HOW THE CHROME WAS SHAPED...I SAW A CAR BACKED INTO A STALL...THE GRILL WAS GRIMACING....STEAM AND WATER GOING EVERY WHERE.  I ACTUALLY WAS CONCERNED AND HOPE THE CAR WOULD BE OK. IT WAS THE MECHANICAL VERSION OF A COLONIC IRRIGATION.  ONE THING I REMEMBER SO WELL, WE STOPPED AT A MOM AND POP MOTEL IN TUCUMCARI, AND WHAT A WONDERFUL THING.  A LARGE CIRCULAR LAWN AREA WITH CHAIRS AND TABLE.  IT WAS DARK AND A DIM LIGHT FROM OFFICE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO READ MAGAZINES WHICH WERE ON THE TABLES.  I THUMBED THROUGH A POST AND CAME UPON A PICTURE OF A MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL..ABOUT MY AGE.  SHE WAS LOOKING RIGHT INTO MY EYES,,AND...I LONGED FOR HER.  THERE WAS A STRANGE WORD BENEATH HER FACE...EPILIPSY....I SOUNDED IT OUT..WHAT WAS IT.....I SO LOVED HER...TULSA WAS A THREE DAY TRIP.  DAY ONE TOOK US TO FLAGSTAFF, DAY TWO TO TUCUMCARI OR MAYBE AMARILLO, DAY THREE ON IN.  TULSA WAS THE MOST EXCITING TOWN TO DRIVE INTO BACK THEN.  THEY HAD ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE SKYLINES ANYWHERE.  NOT DUE TO TOWERING SKY SCRAPERS, BUT A NUMER OF TALL BUILDINGS THAT HAD CERTAIN SHAPES THAT GRABBED YOU.  NOTHING LIKE TURNING THAT FINAK CORNER ONTO FRISCO....THE END OF A HOT DAY..MANY OLD FOLKS SITTING IN PORCH SWINGS..THE LAST PINK FLUSH ON SKYLINE...THE KATY DIDS (SP?) WERE STARTING THEIR ODE TO THE NIGHT..."CHERREEEE...CHERREEE"   LOT'S OF HUGS FROM GRANDMA AND MIMI....SO WONDERFUL..SO VERY WONDERFUL.....I DID SPEAK OF THE VERY.....UHHH. CUTE AND PRECOCIOUS GIRL NEDXT DOOR...SHE WAS ALSO VISITING HER GRANDMOTHER...REALLY..DISCRETION PUTS LIMITS....WE DID WALK TO JERRY SMITH'S SIDE WALK GROCERY AND GOT STRAWBERRY POPCICLES THE NEXT DAY.   SHE DID SAY..." I LIKE YOU..I SAW YOU LAST NIGHT....I DIDNT KNOW BOYS LOOKED LIKE THAT....AND SHE ASKED ........(THESE DAYS, ONE MUST BE CAREFUL WHAT THEY WRITE..IT IS A PERVERSE AGE AND COMMENTS CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR OTHER THAN MEANT TO BE)  SO LET ME PULL THE CURTAIN OF CHARITY OVER THE REST OF THIS PARTICULAR.  LOTS LOTS MORE RE 216....THE STORY IS NOT OVER YET...THE B.

216 S. FRISCO....TULSA

A LITTLE BACKGROUND.....BERTHA FISHBACK WAS MARRIED AT 16 YRS OF AGE TO A JOHN FISHBACK.  MY FATHER TOLD ME HE WAS CONSIDERED "A CATCH" IN THE SMALL TOWN OF VINITA, OKLAHOMA.  JOHN WAS A FLOP AT BUSINESS AND WHEN HE WAS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ANOTHER MAN, THAT OTHER MAN EMBEZZELLED ALLOT OF MONEY FROM THE BUSINESS.  JOHN THREW IN THE TOWELL.  EVENTUALLY, THE FAMILY MOVED TO TULSA IN 1922.  JOHN FOUND A JOB WITH THE TULSA WORLD PAPER,  SOMETHING HAPPENED AND HE WAS EVENTUALLY  LET GO.  JOHN'S MENTAL HEALTH DETERIORATED AND HE WOUND UP AT EASTERN STATE HOSPITAL WHICH WAS A MENTAL INSTITUTION.  MY FATHER TOLD ME MANY YEARS LATER THAT HE VISITED HIS FATHER THERE, AND JOHN WAS IN  HIS ROOM AND WAS IMAGINING HIMSELF AS UMPIRE AT A GAME....MY DAD SAID HE WENT OUTSIDE AND "WEPT BITTERLY". MY DAD'S SISTER, MILDRED, CAME DOWN WITH POLIO WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT THREE AND REMEMBERED TO ME THE LAST TIME SHE WALKED. SHE WAS WALKING DOWN A ROAD AND JUST FELL, NEVER TO GET UP AGAIN.  SHE RECOVERED FROM THE DISEASE, BUT IT LEFT HER CRIPPLED AND ONE SHOULDER SHRIVELED.  BERTHA, DAD, AND MILDRED MOVED TO TULSA AND RENTED A SMALL HOUSE NEAR DOWNTOWN.  GRANDMA MADE SOME MONEY SCRUBBING WALLS AND THE LIKE.  DAD QUIT HIGH SCHOOL IN ORDER TO WORK TO HELP SUPPORT THE FAMILY.  BYE THE WAY, THEY LIVED NEXT DOOR TO A FAMILY NAMED LORANTZ AND THE BOY'S NAME WAS PAUL LORANTZ.  HE USED TO COME OVER TO THE FISHBACK HOUSE TO VISIT.  PAUL LORANTZ BECAME KNOWN LATER AS PAUL HARVEY OF PAUL HARVEY NEWS.  YEARS AGO I WROTE MR HARVEY AT HIS OFFICE IN CHICAGO AND ASKED IF HE REMEMBERED MY FATHER AND MY AUNT MILDRED.  HE RESPONDED SAYING HE SURELY DID REMEMBER THEM AND THAT MY LETTER BROUGHT BACK BITTER SWEET MEMORIES OF TULSA.....PAUL'S FATHER WAS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY AS A TULSA POLICE OFFICER.  I JUMP WAY AHEAD NOW AS THE TITLE IS 216 S FRISCO.   MY AUNT HAD MAJOR SURGERY TO FUSE HER BACK AND WAS FITTED WITH BRACES SO SHE COULD WALK. HER BRACES WERE LOCKED SO KNEES COULD NOT BEND, SHE WALKED BY SWINGING ONE LEG ATA TIME FOREWARD AND USED CRUTCHES TO KEEP THE PROCESS UP.  SHE WENT TO SCHOOL AND LEARNED WATCH  REPAIRING AND BECAME ONE OF THE BEST WATCH PEOPLE IN TULSA,  SHE FOUND A JOB AT TICK OF TIME ON 4TH ST DOWNTOWN.  SHE HAD A REAL FOLLOWING, THE POOR AND THE RICH BROUGHT THEIR WATCHES TO HER.  SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL LADY....FACE LIKE AN ANGEL.  EVEN CLEO EPPS BROUGHT HER WATCH TO MILLIE....CLEO WAS A MAJOR BOOT LEG QUEEN HERE DURING PROHIBITION.  MUCH LATER, THEY FOUND HER BODY AT THE BOTTOM OF A WELL. MILDRED EARNED THE MONEY AND GRANDMA MANAGED THE HOUSE.  216 S FRISCO WAS A VERY MODEST DUPLEX....ALL THE ROOMS RAN FROM FRONT TO BACK...THE LIVING ROOM. THE DINING ROOM. THE KITCHEN, ONE BEDROOM, AND THEN ONE MORE LITTLE BED ROOM WITH BATH NEXT TO IT.  EVERY DAY FOR MANY DECADES, GRANDMA GOT MILDRED READY FOR WORK AND READY FOR BED.  BRACES UNLACED AND REMOVED....LACES ENTIRE LENGTH OF BOTH LEGS....FOR DECADES..EVERY DAY.  AFTER GRANDMA DIED, I GOT HER BIBLE AND I FOUND A VERSE SHE HAD UNDERLINED AND HAD WRITTEN "MY VERSE" BESIDE IT....."THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER"     MILDRED WENT TO WORK VIA CAB...I CAN STILL HEAR HER SAY  "MOM, HERE'S MY CAB".  THE TRIP FROM BACK DOOR TO ALLEY WAS A LABORIOUS JOURNEY OF JOCKYING HERSELF OVER ABOUT 70 FEET OF LAWN TO THE GATE ON THE ALLEY.  SAME THING COMING HOME.   GRANDMA WAS A GENIOUS AT MANAGING THE SMALL SALARY MILDRED GOT.  THEY BOUGHT ALL NEW FURNITURE IN 1947. THERE WERE ABOUT FIVE DUPLEXES NEXT TO EACH OTHER ON FRISCO.  THE STREET WAS TREE LINED AND THE BOUGHS MET EACH OTHER OVER THE MIDDLE...THE OLD FOLKS WHO LIVED THERE MADE THE MOST OF THERE SITUATION AND YOU COULD SEE OLD LADIES IN THEIR STRAW HATS WATERING THEIR IRIS BEFORE IT GOT TOO HOT.  AND HOT IT DID GET...NO A.C. BUT A SEARS WINDOW FAN IN BATHROOM WINDOW PULLED HOT AIR IN  WHICH THEY GOT USED TO.  I WILL SPEND MOST OF MY REMAINING WRITING TIME WRITING ABOUT 216 AND I NEED TO BREAK IT UP. HOWEVER, IN 1949, WE VISITED 216 FROM GLENDALE, AND THERE WAS A CUTE....GIRL VISITING MRS BROWN NEXT DOOR. HER BEDROOM WAS RIGHT ACROSS FROM  MINE.  PROBABLY SIX FEET BETWEEN WINDOWS WITH A MOSSY BRICK WALK BETWEEN.  ONE NIGHT I STRIPPED NAKED AND GOT INTO P.J'S IN MY LITTLE BEDROOM..LIGHT ON,  I TURNED THE LIGHT OUT  AND HEARD,,"GOOD NIGHT BOBBY"  THE GIRL HAD HER HEAD PROPPED BETWEEN HER HANDS...CURTAINS PARTED...AND I SAID.....GOOD NIGHT.....AND SPENT THE NIGHT WONDERING...MUCH MORE TO COME ON ALL OF THIS...THE B.

LAWMAKERS

I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE RE LAWS IN VARIOUS U.S. STATES THAT STILL ARE IN FORCE:     IT IS ILLEGAL TO IMPERSONATE A MEMBER OF THE CLERGY........IT IS ILLEGAL TO OPEN AN UMBRELLA ON THE STREET FOR FEAR OF SPOOKING HORSES.....PUTTING SALT ON RAILROAD TRACKS CARRIES THE DEATH PENALTY.....IT IS ILLEGAL TO FLIP BOOGERS INTO THE WIND.....IT IS ILLEGAL TO CARRY AN ICE CREAM CONE IN YOUR REAR POCKET AT ANY TIME.....AND STILL, WE HAVE LAWMAKERS, THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE CALLED....ALL OVER THE PLACE..EVERYWHERE.....WE NEED A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD...HAVE SOME FREEDOM...THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND, THIS LAND IS MY LAND..FROM THE REDWOOD FOREST TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND...THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR.....BOOGER FLICKERS, UMBRELLA OPENERS...AND SALTY DOGS....AMEN..HEY, WAKE UP AND DO SOMETHIN.....THE B

HUGGY BOY AND HUNTER HANCOCK

BACK IN THE 50'S, TWO DJ'S CHANGED L.A. RADIO FOREVER.  THESE TWO BROUGHT ROCK AND ROLL AND RHYTHM AND BLUES TO OUR EARS. HUNTER WAS ON IN THE DAY AND DICK HUGG (HUGGY BOY AT NIGHT)   HUGGY BOY WAS WHITE, BUT HAD A HUGE BLACK FOLLOWING BECAUSE HE DUG AND PLAYED THEIR MUSIC.  AS A RESULT, THE WHITE POPULATION ALSO DUG THEIR MUSIC AND BOUGHT THEIR MUSIC.  I DUG UT BIG TIME AND SPENT ALLOT OF PAPER ROUTE MONEY AT GRAYSON'S TUNE TOWN IN MONTROSE.  THAT WAS WHEN VAL AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE RAN THE STORE AND THEIR SON, ABOUT 12, ALSO MANNED THE COUNTER.  YOU COULD BUY A 78 RPM RECORD FOR ONE DOLLAR.  HUNTER HAD A PROMOTIONAL WITH HANCOCK GAS STATIONS AND IT WAS CALLED "LUCKY MILEAGE. IF YOUR ODOMETER READ WITHIN A MILE OR TWO OF WHEN HE ANNOUNCED LUCKY MILEAGE..YOU GOT 15 GALLONS OF FREE GASOLENE.  MIND YOU, GAS WAS ABOUT 25 CENTS/GAL THEN.  I PARKED AROUND THE CORNER FROM A STATION, SPEEDOMETER IN HAND (I REMOVED IT) AND DIALED IN THE MILEAGE HUNTER SAID OVER THE RADIO.  I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM HANCOCK THANKING ME FOR PLAYING LUCKY MILEAGE AND A VOUCHER FOR 15 GAL OF GASOLENE.  MY SPEEDOMETER NEVER WORKED AFTER THAN AND I SHOULD HAVE ASKED HANCOCK TO PAY FOR HAVING IT FIXED.  KIDDING OF COURSE.  I SAW LITTLE STEVIE WONDER AT THE GLENDALE CIVIC....JUST A BOY THEN...ANYWAY, THESE TWO MEN PLAYED A GREAT ROLE IN L.A. RADIO AND THE PROMOTION OF A NEW SOUND....ROCK AND ROLL. I AM TRYING MY HAND AT FACEBOOK, WHICH I DON;T DIG AT ALL.  TWO AND THREE WORDS AND MAYBE A PIC.  THAT IS NOT ME.  I WILL GET ON THE BAD SIDE OF THEM ANYWAY....THERE WAS A SQUIB ABOUT A BOBCAT ROAMING CRESCENTA AND PLEASE PLEASE PUT YOUR PETS AWAY.  I SENT A SQUIB REMINDING THEM BOBCATS NEED TO EAT TOO!!!  I AM GOING TO TRY TO FIND THE COMBINATION TO YOUR LOCK...ONLY ONE COMMENT SO FAR, BUT I AM WORKING ON IT.....THANKS FOR READING, MY FRIEND.  THE B.

ODE TO THE GARDENER

THE MORN FLEW AWAY, LIKE A BIRD ON THE WING; THE CLOCK TOWER CHIMES TWELVE, THE DOOR BELL RINGS....WHAT ?...THE MORN HAS GONE, IT FAST FLEW AWAY; SUN FALLS FROM ITS THRONE .....ANOTHER DAY.  MY DAY IS GONE BUT LEFT IN ITS WAKE, THE FRUIT OF LABOR.....WITH HOE AND RAKE. ......THE B

CURE FOR HICCUPS

I TRIED THIS AND IT WORKS; DON'T ASK ME HOW.  TAKE A TEASPOON OF SUGAR AND SWALLOW.....GONE ! B

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

SUMMER, 1958..LEAVING BOISE ON MY MOTORCYCLE....SKY GETTING BLACK...LIGHTNING STARTING RANGE FIRES..SMOKE..RAIN...GAS STATION WITH THREE SHACKS FOR RENT....YOU ARE ON ! MY SHACK WAS JUST FINE WITH ME.  THERE WAS A COUCH, THERE WAS A SHOWER. THERE WAS A BED.  STORM WINDING DOWN....SMALL RADIO...BAD RECEPTION SO I FASTENED AERIAL WIRE TO BIG TOE....GREAT RECEPTION...I TOOK EVERY THING OFF AND STRETCHED MY LEGS OUT ONTO BLOND WOOD COFFEE TABLE WITH THE TWO BIG DECALS..LUCKY STRIKE AND PALL MALL.  I WAS SO TIRED AND...SWEATY.  THE SIGN  ON WALL SAID:  USE WATER SPARINGLY, IT WAS PUMPED SIXTY FEET UP.   THE WATER WAS HOT AND I TOOK THE WATER TABLE DOWN ANOTHER SIXTY FEET.  NEXT DAY....ON THE ROAD AGAIN....I FOUND THAT MY DUFFEL BAG BEHIND ME WAS A WONDERFUL BACK REST.  THERE WAS A THUMB SCREW ON MY THROTTLE AND SO, I FASTENED MY THROTTLE TO ABOUT 70 MPH AND LEANED BACK AND STEERED WITH MY FEET.  AN EASY CHAIR SAILING DOWN THE HIGH WAY AND DREW LOTS OT ATTENTION (WHICH I DIDN'T MIND)....FRONT TIRE BLEW AND BIKE NOW IN ON COMING LANE....CARS PULLING OFF ROAD...I RECALL ONE FACE THROUGH WINDSHIELD..STARK TERROR.  I GOT IT STOPPED AND IT WAS QUIET..ALL CARS STOPPED...I PUSHED MY BIKE OFF THE ROAD..TREMBLING LIKE A 7 POINT EARTHQUAKE....OH GOD, OH GOD..SO THAT IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOOK DEATH IN THE FACE....OH GOD...THANK YOU.....TO LEAVE ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I DID MAKE IT TO YELLOWSTONE...WITH NEW FRONT TIRE..AND I SAW A NAT;L FOREST SERVICE SIGN"  TARGHEE NAT'L FOREST"  I BEGAN TO SAY TARGHEE OVER AND OVER AND IT SOUNDED SO FUNNY TO ME....I GOT THE GIGGLES.......B

THE CLOSEST I EVER CAME TO BEING KILLED

I REVERT BACK TO MY MOTORCYCLE TRIP IN AUG OF 58. THAT SUMMER CHANGED ME IN MANY WAYS.  I WAS LEAVING BOISE AND HEADING TOWARDS YELLOWSTONE.  THE SKY WAS BLACK AND LIGHTNING STRIKING WHICH STARTED A NUMBER OF RANGE FIRES.  THEN, THE RAIN.  I DID NOT DRIVE IN RAIN AND A GAS STATION WITH A NUMBER OF SMALL SHACKS ...'''' PLACES TO SHOWER AND SLEEP.  I STOPPED AND RENTED A SHACK.  IT WAS SMALL, BUT ADEQUATE.  I SWITCHED THE WIRES ON MY BIKE SO NO ONE COULD STEAL IT.  (I FORGOT THAT THE NEXT MORNING AND FRETTED AS TO WHY MY BIKE WOULD NOT START.)   IT WAS DARK, AND I TOOK OFF MY BOOTS AND ABOUT EVERY THING ELSE...AND STRETCHED OUT MY LEGS ON A BLOND WOOD COFFEE TABLE, WHICH HAD TWO BIG DECALS ON IT....LUCKY STRIKES AND PALL MALLS.  THERE WAS A SMALL TABLE MODEL RADIO AND I TURNED IT ON.   THE RECEPTION WAS FUZZY SO I TOOK THE FIVE FEET OF SKINNY AERIAL WIRE AND RAN IT TO MY BIG TOE.  EXCELLENT RECEPTION.  I LISTENED TO KGEM, BOISE....I HEARD LITTLE STAR"BY THE ELEGANTS, 26 MILES BY SOMEBODY,  AND THE TUNES OF THE DAY..GREAT YEAR FOR MUSIC.  THERE WAS A SIGN ON BATHROOM WALL..."THIS WATER WAS PUMPED SIXTY FEET UP, USE WATER SPARINGLY.  I WAS SO DIRTY, I SENT THE WATER TABLE DOWN ANOTHER SIXTY FEET. AS I INDICATED, I SPENT TWENTY MINUTES TRYING TO START THE BIKE....THEN....IT STARTED VIA FIXING THE WIRES BACK.  ON THE ROAD AGAIN. I HAD TIED MY DUFFEL BAG ON THE BACK AND I FOUND THAT I COULD LEAN BACK ON IT AND STEER WITH MY FEET!  I HAD A THUMB SCREW ON THROTTLE AND I FASTENED IT DOWN AT ABOUT 70 MPH.  SO, I WAS IN AN EASY CHAIR SHOOTING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND CAUGHT LOTS OF ATTENTION. THEN....THEN...THEN..THE FRONT TIRE BLEW.  THE BIKE INSTANTLY CROSSED INTO THE ONCOMING LANE AND I WAS SCRAMBLING TO GET MY HANDS ON THE BARS AND MY FEET ON THE PEGS.  OH MY GOD.....CARS PULLED OFF THE ROAD AND I RECALL LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF AN ONCOMING CAR AND THE HORROR ON THE DRIVERS FACE.  I GOT IT STOPPED, AND TRAFFIC (NOT MUCH) HAD COME TO A STOP IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.  I PUSHED THE BIKE OFF THE ROAD AND PARKED IT UNDER A BIG TREE,  I WAS SHAKING LIKE A 7 POINT QUAKE..OH GOD...OH GOD..SO THAT IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO APPROACH DEATH.  NOT BEING OUTWARDLY RELIGIOUS, I GOT ON MY KNEES AND THANKED GOD FOR SAVING MY LIFE.  I WANT TO LEAVE THIS SERIOUS PART WITH SOMETHING LIGHTER....I DID MAKE IT TO YELLOWSTONE, AND I SAW A U.S. FOREST SIGN THAT SAID "TARGHEE NAT'L FOREST"  I STARTED SAYING TARGHEE OUT LOUD AND IT SOUNDED SO FUNNY, I GOT THE GIGGLES...B

MY "NO" CAUSED FIVE PEOPLE TO DIE

CHRISTMAS DAY, 1955 IT WAS ALMOST HOT IN L.A. SANTA ANAS WERE BLOWING.  MY DAD AND I DECIDED TO GO UP ANGELES CREST JUST FOR A RIDE.  WE HAD GONE QUITE AWAYS UP AND WE CAME UPON SOME ROCKS ON HIGHWAY THAT HAD FALLEN FROM THE WIND....SOME OF THE ROCKS WERE BIG. MY DAD WANTED TO STOP AND PITCH THEM OVER THE SIDE AND I DISCOURAGED HIM FROM DOING SO.  WE WENT UP A FEW MORE MILES...STOPPED AND TOOK IN THE SCENERY.  ON WAY BACK DOWN, WE SAW A NUMBER OF CARS PULLED OFF AND PEOPLE WERE LOOKING DOWN INTO THE DROP OFF.  WE ALSO PULLED OVER DUE TO CURIOSITY.  THERE WAS A BUICK ON ITS TOP AT THE BOTTOM OF CANYON AND ONE BODY OF A MAN WAS BESIDE CAR, SPREAD EAGLED ON A ROCK .  CHRISTMAS PRESENTS DOTTED THE PATH DOWN.  FIVE ELDERLY PEOPLE DIED THAT DAY.  THAT SPOT WAS EXACTLY THE SPOT WHERE THE ROCKS WERE..THE ONES I DID NOT WANT TO PICK UP.  I WAS INDIRECTLY  RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF FIVE PEOPLE ON......CHRISTMAS DAY.  I STILL CARRY THAT WEIGHT....B

THE DOWNSIDE OF MEMORY

IN THE 8TH GRADE, I HURT SOMEBODY...THERE WAS A GIRL WHOSE NAME WAS BONNIE WILLIAMS WHO WENT TO CLARK JR HIGH. SHE WAS SO CUTE, SHE SCARED ME. ONE NIGHT I JUST HAD TO BE CLOSE TO HER HOME, AND SO I RODE UP TO VERDUGO CITY WHERE SHE LIVED.  MY HEART WAS POUNDING.  I STOPPED NEAR CRIPPEN MORTUARY..GETTING TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.  AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT, BONNIE WAS OUT ON THE SIDE WALK AND SHE SAW ME........BOB.....SHE CAME RUNNING TO ME.  I WAS IN PANIC.....DEFENSE MECHANISM.....I SAID....."I BET YOU THINK I CAME UP HERE TO SEE YOU."  SHE WAS CRUSHED, HUNG HER HEAD, AND SAID "NO"  SHE THEN WALKED AWAY AND I NEVER SAW HER AGAIN.  DAYS LATER I ASKED MISS HALL(VP) OF CLARK WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO BONNIE WILLIAMS AND SHE SAID  "YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO"   THERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF JIMMY DURANTE AND HIS TROUPE STOPPING IN CALABASH, NORTH CAROLINA FOR DINNER.  A CHARMING WAITRESS WAITED ON THEM AND JIMMY WAS SMITTEN WITH HER.  HE NEVER KNEW HER NAME, BUT IN REMEMBRANCE HE CLOSED HIS SHOW WITH "GOOD NIGHT MISS CALABASH, WHERE EVER YOU ARE" MOST PEOPLE NEVER KNEW WHY HE DID THAT.  SO, IN LIKE MANNER....GOOD NIGHT BONNIE WILLIAMS, WHERE EVER YOU ARE...YES, I CAME UP TO SEE YOU...SORRY........B

DEATH WAS IN THE AIR THAT DAY

THAT DAY IN AUGUST OF 1958....I WAS AT THE END OF THE THIRD DAY ON MY MOTORCYCLE TRIP AROUND THE COUNTRY. I WAS 19 AND HAD JUST QUIT MY JOB SO I COULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE. MY WALLET WAS WELL STOCKED WITH CASH AND I WAS ON MY 56 TRIUMPH 650 CC....NO FERRING, ONLY GOGGLES.  I WAS IN BEAUTIFUL DUNSMUIR, CA AND WHAT A RELIEF FROM RED BLUFF WHERE IT WAS 110.  GREEN, COOL, LOVELY, AND I STAYED THERE......DAY FOUR DAWNED CRISP AND CLEAR.  SUN JUST RISING AND PAINTING THE TOPS OF THE PINES WITH ORANGE LIGHT WHILE THE FOREST FLOOR WAS UNUSUALLY DARK AND STILL ASLEEP.  OFF TO THE EAST WAS MT SHASTA...SNOW CAPPED,, POKING ITS HEAD INTO THE BLUE LIKE A VANILLA ICE CREAM CONE.  I HAD ONLY BEEN ON THE ROAD....FOR ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES AND I SAW A MAROON FORD ON ITS TOP IN ONCOMING LANE.  A HIGHWAY PATROLMAN WAS THERE AND STANDING BESIDE WRECK....WAITING.  I PULLED OVER NOT KNOWING WHAT I WOULD SEE.  HE WAS QUICK TO NOTE I HAD A 1956 TAG AND IT WAS 1958.   I HAD PAPERS THAT IT WAS OK AND LEGAL.  HE LOOKED AT THEM AND SAID  "GOOD AS GOLD"  IT WAS THEN THAT I SAW HER....A PART OF HER...HER CALVES WERE TOGETHER..POKING INTO VIEW FROM UNDERNEITH THE HOOD.  THE REST OF HER WAS HIDDEN.  THERE WAS A GASH IN ONE CALF, BUT ONLY A HINT OF ISSUE OF BLOOD...HER HEART STOPPED BEFORE SHE BLED MUCH...KILLED INSTANTLY.  IT WAS SHOCKING TO ME, BUT OLD HAT FOR THE OFFICER; HE HAD SEEN THIS SORT OF THING MANY TIMES.  THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY PECULIAR ABOUT THE WRECK; THE CAR WAS PERFECTLY ALLIGNED IN THE LANE, NO APPARENT DAMAGE TO SIDES NOR FRONT OR BACK.  A SUITCASE LAY ON ROAD BESIDE DRIVER'S DOOR; ALL WINDOWS CLOSED.  IT APPEARED THAT THE CAR NEITHER ROLLED  NOR WENT END OVER END.  I REGRET THAT I DID NOT ASK OFFICER ABOUT THESE STRANGE THINGS.  I LOOKED UP AT MT SHASTA...SO SERENE AND A CHILL CAME OVER ME.  I WENT ON...THROUGH WEED CA AND ON UP TO CRATER LAKE, OREGON.  A LITTLE BEFORE CRATER LAKE, I STOPPED TO LOOK DOWN ON A VALLEY OF GREEN GRASS.  THE GRASS FLOWED IN WAVES WITH THE WIND. IT WAS SO MESMORIZING, I STAYED THERE FOR AWHILE.  I WENT ON UP TO THE PARK HEADQUARTERS  AND PARKED MY BIKE.  THERE WAS A TRAIL LEADING DOWN TO WATER'S  EDGE AND I STARTED DOWN. AN OLDER WOMAN WAS COMING UP AND SHE SAID "THE ONLY THING THEY DON'T TELL YOU IS DON'T DO IT"   I DID IT. I CAME TO WATER'S EDGE AND JUST LOOKED.  WIZARD ISLAND WAS NEAR THIS SPOT.  I DID SOMETHING THAT SOME OF US HAVE DONE. I PICKED UP A ROCK, WHISPERED MY NAME TO IT AND THREW IT AS HARD AS I COULD.  IT SAILED OUT AND OUT AND MADE A LITTLE SPLASH AS IT FOUND A NEW HOME...FOREVER.  I KNOW THAT ROCK IS STILL DOWN THERE.  REMEMBER THIS ABOUT ME; I AM THE KING OF "SO WHAT."   I LEFT CRATER LAKE AND HEADED BACK TO MAIN HIGHWAY....DESTINATION BEND.  ON THE MAIN ROAD, I NOTICED A PICKUP TOWING A BOAT AND IT WAS COMING UP ON ME AT HIGH RATE  OF SPEED.  SOMETHING IN ME TOLD ME THIS GUY IS UP TO NO GOOD.  I STEPPED MY SPEED UP TO 70, HE STEPPED HIS SPEED UP,  I BENT DOWN TO REDUCE DRAG AND STILL HE WAS CLOSING FAST,   THEN, I SAW IN MY REAR VIEW MIRROR THAT THE TRUCK LOST CONTROL AND WAS OFF THE ROAD.  DUST FLYING, TRAILOR JACK-KNIFING...I NEVER STOPPED. I STOPPED IN BEND FOR SUPPER.  I NOTICED A SIGN SAYING "OREGONIAN SOLD HERE"  THINKING IT WAS A SPECIAL DISH, I ORDERED THE "OREGONIAN"....AND THEY BROUGHT ME A NEWS PAPER.  I STAYED AT THE THREE SISTERS MOTEL..WONDERING IF ONE OF THE SISTERS MIGHT VISIT ME.  THEN I FOUND THE THREE SISTERS WERE THREE MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE OF TOWN.  I DIDN;T SLEEP WELL...I COULD NOT SHAKE THOUGHTS OF THAT WOMAN,,,WHO WAS SHE..WHERE WAS SHE GOING...WHAT HAPPENED.  NO DOUBT HER CAR WAS NOW RESTING IN A SALVAGE YARD..THE ODOMETER STILL READING THE LAST MILE OF HER LIFE...NO SOUNDS THERE, JUST THE WIND RATTLING THINGS AROUND.  NEXT OF KIN PROBABLY NOTIFIED AND SERVICE BEING PLANNED.  MT SHASTA STILL THERE...THAT WAS THE MOST SOBERING DAY OF MY LIFE, AND I THANK MY GOD THAT I AM STILL ALIVE.....B

PACIFIC ELECTRIC STREET CARS

"MOTHERS WITH THEIR BABES ASLEEP, ROCKIN TO THE GENTLE BEAT, THE RHYTHM OF THE RAILS IS ALL THEY FEEL.  CHANGING FONTS !   I THANK GOD WHERE I GREW UP AND WHEN.  THE STREET CARS RAN DOWN THE MIDDLE OF GLENOAKS, AND FOR SIX YEARS, MY DEAR FATHER RODE THEM TO THE SUBWAY TERMINAL BLDG WHERE HE WORKED FOR AMERADA PETROLEUM AS AN ACCOUNTANT.  HE WAS A GREAT MAN.  IT WAS SO SAFE THEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO RIDE THE CARS BY MYSELF.  SOMETIMES ONLY TO BRAND..SOMETIMES DOWN TO THE SUBWAY TERMINAL.  THAT TRIP HAD A SCARY HIGH TRESTLE BRIDGE DOWN NEAR RIVERSIDE DRIVE, AND I CLOSED MY EYES WHEN WE WENT OVER IT...ON DOWN PAST ECHO PARK AND THERE IT WAS...THIS BLACK...HOLE IN THE SIDE OF A HILL,,,A TUNNEL OF ONE MILE IN LENGTH.  THE ONLY THING YOU COULD SEE WERE THE ALCOVES ON SIDE WITH A LONELY LIGHT BULB FLASHING BYE.  THEN, THE DARKNESS CHANGED TO A SOMEWHAT DIM LIGHT OF THE PLACE OF DEPARTURE.  THE TWO TRACKS BRANCHED OUT INTO FOUR TRACKS AND THAT IS WHERE THE CAR STOPPED.  GOING BACK HOME WAS THE SAME THING IN REVERSE....I LIKED TO SIT UP FRONT SO I COULD WATCH THE LITTLE GLASS BOX WITH METAL WHEEL THAT TURNED AND TURNED WITH A CLICKING SOUND. THAT WAS WHERE WE THREW OUR COINS.  OH..THE TRESTLE AGAIN...EYES CLOSED...THE SEATS WERE AN OLIVE DRAB WITH WORMY BLACK LINES FOR DECORATION.  SOMETIMES I FELL ASLEEP..BUT MY EARS WERE TUNED AND PRETTY SOON...."GRAYNOLD", THE DRIVER SAID.  OK, BOB, TIME TO PULL THE CORD AND SAY GOOD BYE.....B   THANK YOU...PLS TELL OTHERS IF YOU THINK THEY WOULD LIKE MY STORIES (TRUE AT THAT)

BIG MAC AND OLD SPARKY

BIG MAC IS THE NICK OF THE McALESTER, OKLAHOMA STATE PRISON AND OLD SPARKY IS THE ELECTRIC CHAIR.  MY MOTHER GREW UP THERE AND TOLD ME WHEN THEY ELECTRICUTED SOMEONE, THE LIGHTS ALL OVER TOWN DIMMED.  MY MATERNAL GRAND PARENTS, FRED AND JENNY SWANSON LIVED THERE FOR MOST OF THEIR LIVES.  THEY RAISED FOUR CHILDREN, MAE, RUTH, RAY, AND MY MOTHER, EDITH.  EVERY SUMMER, WE MADE THE TRIP FROM GLENDALE TO MCALESTER AND ON TO TULSA WHERE MY PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER AND AUNT MILDRED LIVED.  MY DAD GOT TWO WEEKS AND WE MADE GOOD USE OF IT.  I AM FORTUNATE IN HAVING TRAVELLED THE MOTHER ROAD....US 66 WHEN IT WAS TWO LANE, WENT THROUGH EVERY TOWN AND MOM AND POP MOTELS WERE THE RULE.  FRED SWANSON HAD A SMALL DAIRY FARM AND MY MOTHER HELPED DELIVER THE MILK.  MY MOM TOLD OF TIMES WHEN THEY SLEPT IN BACK YARD AND DALLAS, ONE OF THE COWS, WAS MAKING FUNNY NOISES, SO MOM THREW A ROCK AT HER AND SHE SHUT UP.THE HOME WAS ORIGINALLY PUT TOGETHER BY JOINING SEVERAL HOUSES TOGETHER.  OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR THERE WAS A HUGE OAK AND I RECALL HEARING THE WINTER WIND SIGH THROUGH THE BARE LIMBS WHEN WE MADE AN EMERGENCY TRIP BACK DUE TO MAE'S DEATH,  MY MOM ONCE TOLD ME THAT HER BROTHER, RAY, NAILED A HORSESHOE ON THAT TREE WHEN HE WAS JUST A KID.  I VISITED MCA ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO AND FOUND THE OLD HOME.  A MAN WAS WORKING IN THE YARD, SO I STOPPED AND INTRODUCED MYSELF AND TOLD HIM MY STORY.  I MENTIONED THE HORSESHOE STORY AND ASKED IF HE HAD EVER SEEN A HORSE SHOE NAILED TO THE TREE.  HE TOLD ME HE HAD LIVED THERE FOR YEARS AND HAD NEVER SEEN A HORSE SHOE. THE OLD TREE WAS STILL THERE AND I ASKED IF I COULD GO BACK AND LOOK FOR IT.  HE SEEMED CURIOUS AND INVITED ME BACK.  WE LOOKED AND LOOKED FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND THEN I LOOKED UP HIGH, AND THERE IT WAS. HE WAS AMAZED HE HAD NEVER SEEN IT. HE ASKED IF I WANTED IT AND I SURE DID. HE BROUGHT A LADDER AND I CLIMBED ABOUT TEN FEET UP AND PRIED IT OFF.  THAT SHOE HAD BEEN THERE FOR AT LEAST SEVENTY YEARS, I HAVE IT NOW AND IT IS NAILED TO OUR WALL OVER FRONT DOOR.ORIGINAL NAILS TO BOOT.  THE OLD BARN HAD LONG BEEN TORN DOWN, BUT I SURE REMEMBER THOSE CHILDHOOD VISITS LONG AGO.  ALTHOUGH THE DAIRY HAD BEEN DISCONTINUED FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE THAT, YET, THERE WAS A FAINT ODOR OF MANURE AND HAY.  IT WAS LIKE A GREAT SHIP OF SOME KIND..SPIDER WEBS, SHAFTS OF LIGHT COMING IN THROUGH  THE CRACKS....A MOANING AS THE OLD DOOR CREEKED ON ITS RUSTY HINGES.  TINY DUST PARTICLES FLOATED AROUND AND WHEN THEY CAME INTO A LIGHT SHAFT, THEY EXPLODED WITH A MOMENTERY DOT OF LIGHT...AND THEN WENT OUT AS THEY WANDERED ON.  IN THOSE DAYS, POLK STREET WAS STILL DIRT.  AND WHEN THE MCALESTER ROCKETS PLAYED AT THE STADIUM JUST DOWN POLK, WATER TRUCKS MOVED UP AND DOWN POLK SPRAYING THE DIRT TO HOLD DOWN THE DUST, MOST ALWAYS A BAND OF LITTLE URCHINS WOULD BE DANCING AROUND IN THE SPRAY FROM THE TRUCK.  I SLEPT IN THE SMALL ROOM AT REAR OF HOUSE ANDE COULD LOOK OUT OVER THE LAWN AND SEE THE BARN IN THE MOONLIGHT....THE YARD TWINKLED WITH FIRE FLIES AND IT WAS PURE MAGIC.  SOMETIMES A DISTANT THUNDER STORM WOULD BE FLICKERING LIKE A JAPANESE LANTERN....AND PEOPLE WONDER WHY I MISS THE PAST ! GUESS WHAT......"I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, IF ONLY IN MY DREAMS."  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING MY STORIES.  BOB

THE HITLER TAKE OFF

 SAW THIS VIDEO AND IT WAS HILLARIOUS.  THIS WAS A VERY PROFESSIONAL WORK..GREAT ACTING AND SET.  FROM WHAT I GOT, IT WAS A PROPOSAL FOR BIKERS BEING MADE MORE COMFORTIBLE GOING TO MONTROSE.  MAYBE I MISSED SOMETHING.  EVIDENTLY THERE ACTUALLY ARE PLANS TO ACCOMODATE BIKERS THERE.  MY OPINION IS THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THIS PLAN.  MONTROSE IS BUSY ENOUGH...TRAFFIC AND PARKING PLACES A COMMODITY.  LET BIKERS PARK SOMEWHERE OFF THE MAIN STRIP AND WALK.  THIS WOULD GIVE THEIR BUTTS A REST.  I DID NOT SEE ALL OF VIDEO, SO MY IMPRESSION MIGHT BE BOGUS...B

CIRCLES ?

THE TWITTER STYLE SEEMINGLY HAS TWO CATEGORES; FOLLOW AND FOLLOWER.    IF FOLLOWERS FOLLOW FOLLOWERS, WOULDNT EVERYBODY BE GOING IN CIRCLES ? B

TIME LAPSE IN REVERSE

SUPPOSE WE COULD  STAND AT, SAY, HONOLULU AND OCEAN VIEW AND TAKE A TRIP BACK VIA A RAPID SUCCESSION OF FIVE SECOND VIEWS AND EACH VIEW WOULD GO BACK 500 YRS.  FIVE SECONDS WOULD BE LONG ENOUGH TO OBSERVE.  LETS DO THIS FOR SEVERAL HOURS SO AT THE END WE WOULD BE STANDING THERE MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.  HERE IS WHAT WE WOULD NOTICE MOST:  THE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTS WOULD SINK INTO THE EARTH. THE SAN GABRIELS ARE GROWING AT A RAPID RATE GEOLOGICALLY SPEAKING.  THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE IS MOVING SOUTH WEST WHILE THE PACIFIC PLATE IS MOVING NORTHWEST,  THE SAN ANDREAS IS THE BORDER OF EACH PLATE AND IS SUBJECT TO NOT ONLY A SLIDE BY EACH OTHER ASPECT, BUT A HEAD ON COLLISION ASPECT.  THE SAN  GABRIELS AS WELL AS MANY OTHER RANGES ARE THE MATERIAL THRUST UPWARD BY THE COLLISION ASPECT.  I DO NOT THINK I AM EMOTIONALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO GO BACK ONE MILLION YEARS IN ONE TAKE...JUST TOO BIZARRE...A HOT, HUMID FOREST OF DRIPPING TREES, AND DINOSAURS....BUT WHAT WOULD FINISH ME OFF WOULD BE  TO SEE THE SHOPPING BAG STORE AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED......B.

A FATEFUL BIKE RIDE

HI..THANK YOU FOR READING....THIS HAPPENED IN 1947 AND IT WAS A SUNDAY.  I ZIPPED OUT DRIVE ON MY BIKE AND HEADED SOUTH TO THE ALLEY THAT RAN BEHIND A NUMBER OF SMALL BUSINESSES ON SAN FERNANDO ROAD.  ONE OF THESE WAS A SMALL MKT/FRUIT STAND.  THERE WAS A LOADING DOCK WITH A RAMP LEADING UP.  I RODE MY BIKE UP THE RAMP AND CIRCLED AROUND ON THE DOCK.  THEN, I APPROACHED THE RAMP JUST A LITTLE TOO FAST AND PLUNGED HEAD FIRST ONTO THE GROUND BELOW  (ABOUT A SIX FOOT FALL,,,HEAD FIRST)  A LADY HAPPENED TO BE LOOKING OUT HER WINDOW FROM A HOUSE ACROSS THE ALLEY AND WHEN I DID NOT GET UP, SHE CAME TO ME.  I REMEMBER COMING TO AND EVERYTHING WAS FUZZY AND SPINNING...I WAS OUT FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES.  THE FALL HAD BROKEN OFF SEVERAL UPPER FRONT TEETH AND MY UPPER LIP WAS LACERATED AND BLEEDING.  SHE MANAGED TO GET MY ADDRESS FROM ME AND SHE DROVE OVER AND TOLD MY FATHER, WHO THEN DROVE OVER TO ME.  THE NEXT THING I BARELY REMEMBER WAS HIS CARRYING ME INTO HOUSE AND PUTTING ME ON MY BED.  I WENT IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.  A DR MADE A HOUSE CALL, AND I GUESS HE DID NOT THINK I NEEDED TO GO TO HOSPITAL.  I SPENT THE REST OF DAY AND NIGHT IN BED.  I LOOKED INTO MIRROR AND SAW A GHASTLY IMAGE,UPPER LIP SWOLLEN AND NO TEETH.  THROUGH ALL THIS I MET A WOMAN DENTIST AT THE NW CORNER OF GRANDVIEW AND GLENOAKS...DR MELKONIAN. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DARK HAIRED LADY.  AFTER LIP HAD RETURNED TO NORMAL, SHE MADE A REMOVABLE BRIDGE AND I WORE THAT FOR MANY YEARS, UNTIL I HAD A BETTER METAL ONE MADE.  ANOTHER EXAMPLE HOW EXPENSIVE KIDS CAN BE.  WOW, I OWE SOO MUCH TO MOM AND DAD.  WHEN I SEE THEM AGAIN IN HEAVEN, I AM GOING TO SPEND ETERNITY THANKING THEM FOR ALL THEY DID FOR ME.  I MISS THEM SO MUCH....THANKS FOR READING....AND WATCH WHERE YOU RIDE !!!  B.

OH, HOW I WISH...

MY THIRD GRADE TEACHER...A MISS CHURCH, WAS A LITTLE ON THE HARSH SIDE.  ONE TIME, I GOT A POOR GRADE ON A TEST AND I CRIED.  SHE SAID "I WOULD CRY TOO"  ONE DAY, MY FANTASY WAS WORKING OVER TIME AND I CONFIDED TO A CLASS MATE THAT I WAS GOING AROUND THE WORLD IN A JET PLANE.  DURING CLASS, THIS PERSON TOLD MISS CHURCH THAT "BOB FISHBACK WAS GOING AROUND THE WORLD IN A JET PLANE"  AHH. JUST WHAT SHE NEEDED....LIKE A SHARK SENSING BLOOD AND CIRCLING FOR THE KILL, SHE BEGAN HER INTERROGATION.  "WHAT KIND OF PLANE?  WHO IS THE PILOT?"  ETC   I FINALLY CAVED IN AND SAID "I WAS JUST KIDDING"  SHE SAID "THAT ISN'T KIDDING, IT IS LYING...AND ON AND ON....SHE DROVE ME TO TEARS..AGAIN.  SOOOO, HERE IS MY FANTASY.  I AM IN MY 3RD GRADE BODY BUT HAVE MY CURRENT SKILLS IN DEFENDING MYSELF...AND SO I RESPOND TO THE BARRAGE:   "MISS CHURCH, MY PRIVATE LIFE IS JUST THAT..PRIVATE...YOU THINK I AM LYING, DID YOU CONSIDER THE PERSON WHO TOLD YOU WHAT I SAID MIGHT ALSO BE LYING?  YOU ARE NOT BEING PAID TO DELVE INTO PERSONAL MATTERS NOR ARE YOU PAID TO SUPPLANT MY PARENT'S ROLE AS TEACHING VALUES.  THIS IS NOT THIRD GRADE CURRICULUM, SO I SUGGEST YOU RETURN TO DOING WHAT YOU ARE PAID TO DO,"  CAN YOU SEE HOW GOOD THIS THOUGHT FEELS TO ME...EVEN NOW.....B.

CHILDHOOD ROMANCE

HELLO....THIS IS BOB (MY PROBLEM)  I WRITE IN CAPS DUE TO POOR VISION.  IN A WAY,AND LOOKING BACK, I THINK THAT CHILDHOOD ROMANCES HAVE AN INTENSITY AND A CERTAIN FLAVOR THAT SURPASSES ANY ADULT EXPERIENCE. THE FIRST FLUSH OF 'LIKING A CERTAIN PERSON"  IT IS FLUSHED WITH THE MYSTERY OF A NEW AWAKENING.  THERE IS EXTREME UN-CERTAINTY AS HOW TO DEVELOPE AND PROCEED WITH THIS NEW DESIRE.  I HAD INTENSE FEELING TOWARDS TWIN GIRLS IN MY GRADE SCHOOL CLASSES.  ARLEENE AND ADRIENNE.  THEY WERE EXACT COPIES OF EACH OTHER, AND TO 'LOVE' ONE WAS TO LOVE THE OTHER.  THEY NEVER KNEW I LIKED THEM ALLOT. I WAS SIMPLY AFRAID TO SAY ANYTHING.  I WAS BLESSED WITH HAVING AN EXTERIOR DOOR TO MY BEDROOM.  THIS MEANT THAN WHEN MOM AND DAD WENT TO BED AND...AND HAD FALLEN ASLEEP, I WAS FREE TO DRESS AND EXIT THE HOUSE AND HEAD FOR MY BICYCLE.  I  CALLED THEM SECRET MISSIONS.  BACK THEN, GLENOAKS WAS DESTITUTE OF ANY AUTOMOBILES FROM MID-NIGHT ON.  IT WAS SO QUIET...ONLY A CRICKET NOW AND THEN.  I RODE UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS TO 525 SPENCER WHERE THE TWINS WERE.  I PARKED MY BIKE ACROSS STREET AND JUST GAZED AT THAT HOUSE....BIG GABLES AND VERY COMPACT.  THE TWINS WERE ASLEEP AND HAD NO IDEA THAT I WAS SO IN LOVE WITH THEM.  THEY DID NOT KNOW I WAS WATCHING OVER THEM.  MARILYN OTTO AND TAMARA O'KEEFE ALSO LIVED ON THAT BLOCK, AND I LOVED THEM TOO, BUT I LOVED THE TWINS MORE.  I LOVED RIDING DOWN THE DARK ALLEY BEHIND THE UNITS ALONG GLENOAKS.  MANY SHADOWS AND FINGERS OF DIM LIGHT.  ON FOGGY NIGHTS, THE POWER LINES CRACKLED.  I HAD A LITTLE FRIEND WHO LIVED IN A WINDOW ON SECOND FLOOR OF APT ON NW CORNER OF NORTON AND GLENOAKS.  I WENT UP TO SEE HIM SOMETIMES.  HE WAS A LITTLE GREEN GLASS MAN NAMED WIZARD WICK, AND HIS LITTLE HAT WAS AJAR TO ALLOW THE AROMA OF HIS PERSON TO FRESHEN THE AIR.  FEELINGS CAN BE VERY STRONG IN CHILDREN....WE WERE NOT COATED OVER WITH THE CALLOUS OF FAMILIARTY..EVERY THING NEW, MYSTERIOUS, AND SOMETIMES SCARY.  IT WAS PURE MAGIC, TO BE ABLE TO SEE THINGS AS IF A FAIRY HAD TOUCHED EVERY THING WITH SPARKLING LIGHT.....DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?    TELL ME.......BOB