The Muse is Loose

If you are not a birder you are probably thinking, "Why doesn't Allen come get it? What is his bird doing in your back yard?". Those are valid questions. It is a bit more complicated than that. The man who got his name attached to this bird is long gone. The Allen's Hummingbird is usually found along the coastline of California and Mexico. Some stray to the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. This one strayed to the backyard of the Pogues' in Rockport, Texas. It is still filling out it's summer colors. We hope it will stay awhile longer, but could leave at any time. Early Sunday morning we had three visitors come to the yard. They were from New York! Now that is what I call rare birds! They wanted to see Allen's and they were lucky enough to do so.

Driving home from Goliad Saturday, near Holiday Beach, cars were lining the highway. Out in an open field were three Whooping Cranes. I got a good pic of them. Talk about rare birds! There are less than a thousand in the world. Maybe even under five hundred.

Will the Allen's come again to our yard? Probably not. That's okay. We have provided it with it's basic need in a cold winter in South Texas. With few blooming flowers it probably could not have survived without the sugar water furnished. He won't send a "thank you" note or tell us goodbye. That does not matter for we gave a little help in time of need.

The world is almost overwhelmed with people in need; not just for a place to live, but for basics like food and water. We can help a little though many miles away. There will be no "thank you" notes from those folks. That doesn't matter. "When you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:3-4

It seemed back when I was a boy that Fort Smith, Arkansas was a long way off. We lived seven miles out in the country at a one-store place called Cavanaugh. Fort Smith was a large city of factories and a huge main street. We went to town once a month on Saturday. My father had to attend a union meeting. He worked for a glass factory back then.

There was a BIG event each year when the CATALOGUES came. There were two; Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck. Montgomery Ward actually originated the catalogue idea. Sears Roebuck would not be far behind, The Montgomery Ward catalogue in 1899 had 1036 pages! I remember these "wish books" having everything a boy could ever need or want. You could cut out a sheet in the back (or middle) to send an order. It did not arrive quickly. Things we kids might want for Christmas could be pointed out in a catalogue. You knew only one or two of them would be a reality under the tree.

Sears has survived through all the years. They dropped the Roebuck. Their catalogue system of early days is just about gone. We can order from computer items around the globe. Items can be received in a brief time span by UPS and paid for by credit card . The Sears Tower in Chicago is a reminder of these earlier times when even a car could be purchased from a Sears Roebuck Catalogue.

Today it seems the mail-order business is used mainly by the vitamin sellers competing with prescription drug companies. Some periodicals I receive hint at products of such nature that I can live almost forever by taking them. They are a little late for me. However, I do have a Catalogue that has a prescription in it for living forever. You have to take a big dose only once. It literally revitalizes every part of one's system. The most amazing thing of all is the cost. It has already been paid for, so the live- forever treatment is free! Want to order it? Check your Catalogue. You surely have one lying about somewhere. It is simply called Holy Bible. Have a great day!

I had never seen a truck like this one.It was on our busiest street in Rockport. The company logo was a new one for me. There, in giant letters across the back door was "Dale's Pale Ale". Can they take my name and call an ale after it? Sure can! Still, it doesn't seem quite right. I have been searching for years for my fifteen minutes of fame but this surely isn't it. Well, my name is out there. Now I am wondering if they really named the stuff after me. It is from Colorado and I carved my name many years ago in an Aspen tree. Maybe that is where they got it. It could be they named it after Dale Evans of Roy and Dale fame. I doubt that. Maybe it is from the "Caissons Song"....."over hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trail, as those caissons go rolling along". Naw! That is a World War I song.

Best not research your name too much. I did " Pogue" and kept coming up with a rock group in Ireland by the same name. They were hardly a group I care to be linked with.

Some names will never be smeared by the things of this world' .....like these.

I "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". (Isaiah 9:6) These are names good for an eternity of fame! They will be around long after Dale's Ale has paled. You might say, these are names that can cure what ails you.

They are almost extinct now, these privacy booths for making and receiving phone calls. They were first located outside telephone offices. That was more than a century ago. Phone booths began to appear in fine hotels and eating establishments. They would move outside on the sidewalks and at filling stations. They changed from wooden boxes to glass ones. Finally, the booths disappeared and only a phone was there, making it almost impossible to hear from, on a busy street.

To you who are more mature, you will remember the phone booth was an interesting place. It would rarely have a telephone book in it, or there would be one, but visitors had torn out the page or pages they were interested in. That would usually be the page you needed. There would be a lot of numbers available, however, written on any space that would accept a pen or pencil. Sometimes a name would accompany the phone number. Phone booths were NEVER clean! They reeked of stale tobacco smoke. There were no phone booth attendants. Another thing one could always expect; it would be occupied when you needed it! That person would talk on and on, in spite of you edging closer and closer to the door. Sometimes there might be three or four persons lined up outside the booth. Finally, the yakker inside would open the door and say something like, "Well, I am going to have to hang up. These people are about to throw me out of the booth!".

Back in 1969 college students began a contest to see how many people they could cram in a booth. I don't know what the record was. Do you?

The initial purpose for a phone booth was privacy. One didn't want to share what he or she was saying with the rest of the world. It was also a quieter place so the conversation could be heard. Today, it is all different. With no booth surrounding them, some folks simply yell in that little plastic box from China so they can be heard all the way to it's place of origin. They discuss any subject without regard to the folks who are around them, and HAVE to listen. Do you wonder sometimes if there really is another person on the line? The talker you are hearing never stops long enough for anyone else to answer.

I have a solution. Portable phone booths. Pop-up booths if you please. Locate them in all public places. When an inevitable conversation begins in a waiting room between two hearing challenged persons (me being one) this little booth is activated by the louder sound and a voice begins to drone...."In the booth please! In the booth please!". Another possible answer is to say to the yakker, after a reasonable amount of time, "Excuse me, but since I am having to listen to this conversation, let me speak to Gertrude for a moment." Take the cell from that person and say, "Gertrude, would you mind calling back this evening. This conversation is getting nowhere."...and hang up.

These little added conveniences, and now necessities in life, called cell phones can really be irritating when mis-used. They aren't giving them at baby showers yet, but maybe when a kid starts to first grade? Have you forgotten and left yours on in church? Has it made it's little musical voice be heard? Does it get everyone's attention around you? What if it is God calling? Have a nice day!

We know of the war against the Taliban and Ben Laden, but there is a hot war raging close to we Texans, even spilling over into our streets. It is the drug war, or wars, being fought among those who value the lucrative trails that bring the dope across our borders. In today's (Saturday) Caller-Times the Department of Public Safety is advising spring breakers to avoid Mexican border cities because there is so much violence there. A State Department Web site also lists a travel alert concerning Mexico. Ciudad Juarez is the city across from El Paso. Juarez has been the most dangerous of all border cities. The drug cartels and corrupt police are fighting over the control of the trade in cocaine, heroin and marijuana. In the past year over 2,000 people have been murdered in Juarez! The citizens are frightened to go into the streets after dark. The President of Mexico has ordered 9,200 soldiers and federal officers into the city.

Over in Nuevo Laredo there is also violence. It reaches from there to Reynosa across from McAllen, Texas, and extends to other border cities. Last Tuesday a warning was issued in Nuevo Laredo of an ongoing gun battle taking place near the Zoo. US citizens were urged to take shelter and follow precautions until the fighting subsides.

So what is the solution? A wall? More Border Patrol? Legalization of these deadly drugs? Stricter law enforcement backed by the courts? Capitol punishment for major offenders? Close our eyes and hope it will go away? Stricter penalties for those who purchase these drugs in the US? Even if I had the answer no one would listen to it, but everyone needs to be aware of the increasing dangers. We have drug battles almost every day in Corpus Christi between rival gangs. They often take innocent lives.

We all know the ultimate answer lies in changed hearts and lives. That can and does happen. Those caught up in this war can be rescued by the Lord. It is not an easy rescue, and even poses dangers to the rescuers.

Be aware this war is close and it is violent and dangerous.

These are hard and difficult words to hear. As I talked with this gentle giant of a man in his wheelchair, a silent tear coursed his face. This former sheriff and civic leader had heard them. It meant he could not walk again. Three knee operations behind him. There could not be another. "Nothing more they can do.", he said.

You will hear these words, perhaps, or someone will hear them about you. They are reminders of man's limitations in regards to our lives and health. None in the medical profession claim to be miracle workers. Some can do amazing things, no doubt. Lives are saved each day by talented and dedicated medical professionals.....but.... sometimes we have to hear, "There's nothing more we can do." What do we do then? What we do is usually built on what we were doing before then. Faith is something we seek to live by and grow in our lives. It is best to practice it before the shattering times come. As we prepare for a lot of other eventualities tied to life, we should prepare ourselves for whatever is heading our way with a strong and God-anchored faith.

The old sheriff I talked with has that. His tears were not of hopelessness or despair. They were the kind we all shed in moments like that. It's okay and natural to do so. This man was sharing his condition, not in a tavern, but in a gathering of people for worship in a nursing home. Others had already heard words like he had. They were still looking to the Lord in faith. When "there is nothing more they can do" there is something more we can do. Trust.

Does it seem here in Rockport the wind is stronger than it's ever been? Well, remember it is March. Each year it seems the wind is stronger and the winter tides go out farther, and the winter crowds are bigger and the cold winds are colder..... and.....our memories are kind to us and allow us to forget things and see each new day and month and year differently.

I have noticed through our years here that the wind will be with us until July 5. Maybe longer. But I don't know that is accurate. Anyway, without it the summers would be miserable. With a breezy southeast-wind and a nice shade, summer days can be comfortable. Spring is nearly here. The wind is a fact of sea coast life. Hang on to your hat. Forget about your hair. Let her blow!

One of my readers, (bless her!) researched the phone booth packing craze. I believe a college in South Africa set the record with twenty five. Americans had a much tougher time. Too many Big Macs maybe. It was also a craze in the late fifties instead of the late sixties. Hey, nobody's perfect! Anyway, I like cell phones best. Did you ever make a long distance call and think you had enough money to talk a bit...and you didn't? The operator rudely interrupted and you either clinked in the money or got cut off. I don't miss that.

You may wake up in a fog Wednesday morning. I mean a real fog. Be careful if driving. Tomorrow I will write more and inform you of family happenings. We are going to be away for several days starting Thursday. I know you can hardly wait to hear. I am rather anxious to read it also.

This is all so personal. If you aren't too interested, that's okay. But a lot is happening with us and our family right now.

Tomorrow, Ann and I leave for Dallas. Ann's niece's beautiful daughter, Elle Warren, is getting married Saturday evening in the chapel of First Methodist Church in Dallas. I have been asked to perform the ceremony. That will be special for us all!

Friday, James and Laura Duprie fly out of Austin for Germany and then on to Namibia, Africa, to visit with friends they made while in Rockport. These folks operate a hunting and animal photo preserve. It is a trip of a lifetime for them. James' brother-in-law and sister made the round-trip tickets possible. They will be staying with their friends and touring this ancient land.

In the meantime....there are THREE children, Dempsey, Emily, and Calvin! They have to have some guidance and food, etc. James' parents and Laura's parents are splitting the sixteen days of caring for the kids. That will be fun.

Finally.....James resigned his position Tuesday at Goliad ISD. He was told they were cutting back some positions and the last hired would be the first to go. He was the last hired! In the meantime their Head Coach, AD is supposed to be moving to another job. James is applying for his position. He has been promised an interview before the school board. He was told he would have to "dazzle" the board in order to get the job. This will all happen after spring break and their African trip.

I would say that is a bit of family news. We will be in Goliad some and then here in Rockport. I will BLOG from time to time. Breathe a prayer for James and Laura. They really do not want to move. They like Goliad and their church and the kids like school. Pray for their safety as they travel half-way around the world.

The tires are still hot and my legs are still stiff but we are finally back home after a seven day trip to Dallas and Goliad. We brought the three Duprie children, Dempsey, Emily, and little Calvin who has an ear infection and perhaps mono! Dempsey also has mono. I thought mono was the kissing disease but since Calvin is not quite three he certainly didn't get it in the usual way.

We will have the kids here until Friday afternoon, and then have a couple of days break. The wedding was something else! I will take another BLOG for it. Hello? Anyone out there?

Dr. Robert Edwards, Emily Duprie, and Myself caught an early ferry to Port Aransas this morning to check out spring birds. It was a good day. Emily saw and called her first Palm Warbler, a little bird wearing a brown "hat". We also saw the beautiful Prothonary, Black and White, Black-Throated Green, and Northern Parula. Those were for starters. If you aren't in to birds they don't mean much, but if you can find pictures of them you will know what was so special about them.

We saw other "birds" of a different feather flocking together. They were the ones on spring break. O, we didn't go to the beach, heaven forbid. We saw a lot of families enjoying spring break. It was nothing out of the ordinary. The crowds were way above normal and ferry waits were long, depending on the time and direction. We played it safe and had little delay. Spring is almost upon us. In just three more days it will be here. I don't love to spring forward but I love the spring.

You knew it was coming. The East and Northeast has been hit by incredible amounts of snow. Now, that snow is beginning to melt and fill all the rivulets and streams. The overflowing streams are running into small rivers. Those overfilled rivers are running into major outlets, and the worst is happening. River Towns will be flooded. Farmlands will be under water for weeks and even months. Good soil will flow downstream to the Gulf or where ever. This is nothing new. Weather events are the stories of our lives. Some events can be avoided by living on higher ground. Other events like tornadic winds and lightning strikes are unpredictable. Throw an earthquake or hurricane into the mix and we realize that life has it's hazards. James in his gospel gave some sage advice: "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you OUGHT TO SAY, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." " James 4:13-15.

I heard it a lot growing up. Sometimes in partial jest, but with an element of seriousness. "The Lord willing I will..........." As I grow older it is no longer in jest that I say it. I realize that time and MY time is in the hands of my loving God. Weather is somewhat predictable. Life, however, is totally unpredictable. We are in His Hands.

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.
I wonder where the birdies is?
They say the bird is on the wing.
Ain't that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird!

This crazy little poem you may have heard has no claimed author. That is no wonder. Some tried to tie it to Ogden Nash but with no luck. It simply belongs in that a-non-e-mus family.

Spring has sprung! The grass can hardly find it's way up through my dollarweeds. We are wondering about the birds. Did someone tip them off about snow in Dallas, Texas? Six inches of snow in my home city of Fort Smith, Arkansas? Ain't THAT ABSURD?

Well, the weather prognosticators are having a head-scratching time. Blame it on global colding, or La Nino, or El Nina or La De Da. Weather is here to stay whether we like it or not. Our snow-birds (winter Texans) are also confused. They don't know whether to fly or lay low. It looks like a lot of them are staying around. Who really wants to head back to snow banks taller than houses!

Personally, I like most weather surprises. I don't really care that much about being told what tomorrow is going to be like to the degree. It is kinda' fun to be surprised by a beautiful calm day when winds of thirty knots were forecast. (How much is a knot?)

Spring has sprung. The grass is dead.
I wish that I had stayed in bed.
Snow in Dallas, that is absurd.
Strangest weather I ever heard.

Be a-non-e-mus

The sound was similar to what I heard years ago stationed with an armored division in Europe. A creaking of metal tracks that power a big machine is an eerie sound anytime, but especially at night if one happens to be sleeping on the ground. I wasn't sleeping on the ground when I heard it. I was in the living room of our Rockport home. The sound was coming from our little one block sanctuary in front of the house, protecting us from the sounds of highway 35. I knew it was a bulldozer. Now there are little "roads" running about in the place where deer had made their homes for many years. It is the place where cardinals came when they tanked up at our feeders. Those woods were where our hummingbirds wintered and then brought their young over for sugar water.

It is called progress. That's what some call it. I have a different name. What will go in that destroyed refuge is anybody's guess. It is valuable property so had to start making some money for the bank that owned it. One less block of sanctuary. One more block of paving and parking and "progress". In a few years few will remember the way it was. If I am living I will remember.

Thankfully, the city bought an expensive piece of land between the old Wal Mart and the new one. If developed properly it will be a lasting haven for birds and people. Please don't blacktop it all, or tear out every little bush and tree! Please!

I now have a home where no buffalo roam.
Where no deer and antelope play.
Where seldom is heard
The calls of a bird,
Only sounds of the traffic all day.

Home, home on the coast
Where now only fishermen play.
But you must have a boat
For your lure or a float
The shorelines are private they say.

"Remember Goliad!". It was a cry that rang out across a land that would become Texas. It was as significant to those who fought for Texas Independence as "Remember The Alamo!".

Three hundred forty- two men were massacred on that Palm Sunday in 1836. They had been captured in a battle at Coleto Creek under Colonel Fannin. The men were marched to La Bahia in Goliad. Orders came from the virtual dictator of Mexico, General Santa Anna, that all prisoners would be executed. Fannin had negotiated a peace settlement at surrender. The men all thought they were going to be released. They were marched out of the mission and fort, (Which still stands) in three different groups. About a half mile or so from the mission the killing began. The men were ordered to kneel,which they refused to do. They were shot point blank. A few were missed and ran for the river. Cavalry chased them and bayoneted or lanced the ones they could. Some did make an escape. Colonel Fannin was at the mission/fort. They saved him for last so he could hear the awful, murderous fire. He requested that he not be shot in the face, and that he be given a Christian burial. He was shot in the face and his body burned.

I walked the grounds near this fort this week. The history of those days permeated the entire area. It was moving. This Saturday and Sunday the events will be re-enacted as best possible. It will be the twenty-fifth year such an event has been staged. It is the only one of it's kind in Texas.

The price of freedom is often costly. There are a thousand "Goliads" and "Alamos" around the world. They are in places with names like Iwo Jima and Bataan; Normandy and Verdun. The list is too long to quote here. For Texans, and those who enjoy the state, GOLIAD is a place never to be forgotten in our history. It happened on a Palm Sunday.

I am writing this BEFORE the fact. Later this afternoon the Baylor Men play the number #1 Duke team for the right to play in college's Final Four. It is Baylor's biggest game since 1950 when they were National Champions with Jackie Robinson and teammates. Robinson was also a youth preacher in those days and quite an inspiration for younger guys like myself back then. That is not all....tomorrow evening the Baylor women will also be playing to make it to the Final Four in the women's division. They will be playing the team from.....where else... Duke University!

I am not predicting the winners. I can only say, "Put up your dukes!". Baylor will take them on with the likes of 7-foot, 280 pound center, Josh Lomers, and 6-foot-10, 240 pound forward, Ekpe Udoh for the guys. The Lady Bears will have Brittney Griner, 6 foot 8 inch center playing for them. She scored an unheard of 27 points against top-ranked Tennessee. Brittney also had ten blocks of shots. The Baylor coach called her a "phenom". Earlier in the year, in the heat of battle, she punched a Texas Tech player in the nose and was suspended for two games. It was a real set-back for her, for she isn't that kind of girl. She had been pushed and stepped on too many times. Now she is back on her game.

Baylor's program really needs these good things happening. They have had more than enough of the other in recent years. Soon we shall see if the show goes on or ends in Houston and Memphis.

They didn't know that the town of Fulton had displayed a nativity scene for years. Someone must have tattled because now the ACLU is suing the town of Fulton about it. Nothing new there. These folks are the watchdogs of our nation. Like many other watchdogs, they don't always know who to bite, or even why. So.... they bite anyone.

As a young bicyclist and paper boy I hated dogs. They caused me many a wreck as I kicked in vain at their snapping jaws. I had torn jeans and even a wound or two from watchdogs that took off after everyone. They hated postmen even more than paperboys.They saw everyone as a threat of some kind.

I guess we should organize and march and protest and scream obcenities at whoever or whatever. I don't think I will do that. Instead, this Christmas season, the Lord willing, I will display a Nativity scene on my front lawn. Jesus won't be in a sleigh and the Wisemen won't be Mickey and Minnie and Pluto. It will be a real Christmas Nativity scene.

You see, we don't do that much anymore. Santa and Disney have taken over. We did get the stores attention, and some backed off of Happy Holidays in place of Merry Christmas. Why don't we set aside this coming December all the Rudolph scenes and portray the real one? Let's not leave it to our town or city to do it for us.

To be honest, I can't even remember the Nativity Scene in Fulton, and it is eight blocks away from our house. More people will see it this year...thanks to the guys and gals of ACLU who didn't have a clu what attention they might bring, not to themselves, but to a simple scene of Christmas in a small South Texas town.

Each day we live has decisions for us. What will I wear? What are we going to eat? Where are we going for Easter? Who should I invite? Should I have surgery or not? WHOA! That is pretty big! Can I leap from an airplane on my seventy-eighth birthday? What about a trip around the world in a small sailboat? Could I swim from Rockport to San Jose Island?

Some of those are really big decisions! They are great risk takers. They could be life changers and even life enders! They call for some serious thought and planning and prayer.

Jesus was a risk taker. Since He had taken on human form and characteristics, while still God the Son, he risked losing it all by allowing Himself to die. He had never died before! He had always lived. Now, he was going to die. What IF this plan of sacrifice for sin didn't work? What if God could not bring His own Son back to life? After all, it had never been done before!

He took the risk, with complete trust in His Father........and it all worked! It happened! He was able to win the battle over death, hell, and the grave. You can be sure that Satan tried all the tricks he knew to cause it not to work.....but it did.

Without His victory, through the Father, on Easter, our situation would be hopeless and we could only be pitied for being so gullible.

Every day has it's decision-making. Some are menial and others are huge. The biggest of all is a one-time one: To invest our lives in belief and trust and followship of the Risen Christ. If you haven't taken that route I encourage you to HOOK UP! STAND IN THE DOOR! JUMP! GERONIMO!!!

It was a song of my youth days, sung (or spoken) by Phil Harris. He was also known for "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette". Today I am singing the first song mentioned; "Woodman, Spare That Tree".

I am not a tree hugger. Wood products are necessary and trees are grown to be cut down just like chickens are grown to be fried. My brother-in-law, Hershel, is a tree grower. His family has been raising trees for market for generations. They almost have them named! They point out the ones to be taken and ones to be left. It is a well-run business. Trees are replaced when others are taken.

Today, across the street, is another matter. Brush and trees are coming down to be replaced with bricks and concrete. This little one-block "forest" housed a small herd of deer. Cardinals, Hummingbirds, Mockingbirds, and critters galore hung out over there. They are gone, or soon will be. So what's the big deal? The big deal is that each time another block is taken we move toward being something else as a city. While this is happening there are empty, cleared lots where Wal Mart and HEB and other businesses once located. Paving is in place. Trees are gone. What about those spots?

I know. I understand a bit about the property making money and the buyers making money from plans already laid. We have a city tree ordinance. I called today to make sure someone is at least looking in to what is going to be knocked down. Nuff said. Think I will sing.

Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough;
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot;
There, woodman, let it stand;
The ax shall harm it not.....

Woodman, forebear thy stroke!
Cut not it's earthbound ties;
O spare that aged oak
Now towering to the skies

Rumble, rumble, crunch, crack, rumble..... so much for that!