Today is March 20,2002, Since I finished my last pages, Joan and I have celebrated our 19th anniversary, and I have celebrated my 58th birthday.
As exciting as all of the above sounds; nothing compares to the feeling that I experienced each time I, again, became a Great Grandfather! Unfortunately, I had one bird hatch on March 15,2002 and 2 babies hatch on March 17,2002. The first year that I bred pigeons, "Peep" was hatched on my birthday, March 16, 1999. She was the little Blue Bar that I suspect was gunned down by a dove hunter on my first ever 100 mile race!
One other wonderful thing has happened since I since I last worked on this site! I asked Kohn Jones if I could get "Stubby" and his little bride back along with "Miss Repeep" and her husband. Kohn said that it would not be a problem, particularly since he could not get any of my birds interested in breeding anyway.
Last week, Kohn brought the four birds to the Pharmacy, as we had discussed the night before. I took a training basket to work with me, and he simply transferred them into my basket. Homing Pigeons are intelligent creatures; no matter what I have thought in the past! As soon as the four birds were placed into my training basket and my truck, they immediately began to show an interest in mating! The sound of my voice was obviously a factor, and the familiarity of the basket and the truck apparently immediately triggered the response; "We are going HOME!"
I checked on the birds 50 to 100 times that day, and each time that I went out to the truck, the cocks began driving the hens! They were ready to go all day long, and as soon as we arrived late that afternoon, they selected the nesting boxes that they wanted, and they should have eggs in the next few days. I now have five babies, and I am expecting a couple of more in a day or two.
I have definitely decided not to participate in Old Bird Races, but I think that I will be able to compete when Young Bird Racing Season arrives. I am well aware of the risks that I am taking, but that is what life is all about! If we knew how things would turn out before we acted, that would eliminate all of the surprises and disappointments.
David Kauffman called me this afternoon, and he decided to put me on 1mg of Coumadin for the time being. I have a nostril that has been the source of a paradoxical nosebleed for the past twenty or so years, and I need to go to an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist to, hopefully, have that problem fixed. My Carotid Arteries looked very good, and the numbers are definitely in good shape. However, after I get my nose fixed, Dr. Kauffman is referring me to a Cardiovascular Surgeon in Little Rock for further evaluation. If all of this can be accomplished before Young Bird Racing Season, then I will be very well pleased indeed!
I have had several people send me emails and sign my Guestbook over the past couple of weeks, and that has prompted me to think of other events and issues that I would like to revisit.
Tad Blevins signed my Guestbook, and that triggered a cascade of memories! Tad is a true gentleman, and I have always been one of his personal admirers! Tad owned and operated Blevins Motor Company in Franklin, Louisiana for ten or more years, and I usually purchased his "Shop Truck" each year. Tad has always been a very fair and honest businessman, and it was, indeed, a pleasure to be fortunate enough to make vehicle purchases from him. This was truly a symbiotic relationship as it helped Tad, it helped the local economy, and it helped me!
Tad was the oldest son of Albert and Mary Frances Blevins. He had one brother, Blake, who died at an early age. His father was a small aircraft pilot, and one day he went up for an afternoon flight, but never returned. It is surmised that he crashed into the marsh, the bay, or the Atchafalaya Basin.
Albert Blevins owned and operated the Ford Dealership prior to his death, and Tad carried on the tradition after his death. The Blevins family lived in the house on Main Street in Franklin, Louisiana where my mother lived when she was growing up, a generation earlier.
My daddy worked for Tad's father as a salesman during the years that I was growing up in Franklin, Louisiana.
Tad and I have always enjoyed a cordial relationship, but one that was divided by class! By that, I mean that Tad was raised in a wealthy family, and I was raised in a very impoverished family. This made it difficult for me to ever want to get very close to people with money.
My opinion, for what it is worth, is that Tad has suffered from the juxta position; he just wanted to be accepted as a plain and simple man, but society would not allow that to happen.
It was Tad Blevins who came to my pharmacy to ask me to consider serving on an Advisory Board for First Commercial Bank. Tad was a stockholder in the bank, and he was also a member of the "Real" Board of Directors. The Advisory Board was to consist of a body of fairly successful young professionals and businessmen in the bank's service area. I was quite flattered by the appointment, and I began another facet of my adult life.
The "Advisory Board" was a real flop, and eventually it was phased out of the business. The bank had hoped to capitalize on the relationship it had with each of us, and the thinking was that it would generate new business and thus justify its existence. Well, it did not turn out that way, and we were eventually abolished!
However, each spring the bank would allow us to go to New Orleans for a week to attend the Louisiana Bankers Association Convention. Hey, what a perk, and we eagerly took advantage of the opportunity! The "Real Board" and the "Advisory Board" splintered into two very distinct groups; the "Real Board" did not want to associate with the vagabond group it had created! This suited us just fine, and we ate and drank and lived like Romans for a week each year of the Boards existence!
It was nothing for the two groups to get together one night each year and spend $10,000.00 for one meal! Each of us probably was responsible for at least that much more! It was a real shame when the party was finally over!
We always stayed at the Hilton located at the foot of Canal Street, and it is definitely the only time in my life that I was one of the "Big Spenders!" It is too bad that Cissi enjoyed all of the conventions with the exception of our last one; Joan was fortunate enough to get in on that one!
I think it was the convention in 1981 when I came down with a severe case of "Disco Fever!" Whenever I traveled away from home, I almost always suffered from constipation for two or three days. Our entire group, wives included, went up to the "Rainforest" at the top of the Hilton. The Hilton was quite famous for its ""Rainforest," and young people from the city frequented the lounge to show off their dancing skills! There was dancing, sound effects, smoke rising from the perimeter of the dance floor, etc. The entire thing was quite professional and we enjoyed the place as though we were right at home! You might remember my suffering from constipation on my trip down to Venice, Louisiana when I was working for Kerr McGee! This is when I drank down the 30cc of Castor Oil and barely made it to the bathroom!
Well, this particular year, several couples in our group were dancing on the crowded floor when it happened! I had been eating and drinking everything available, and it was on this crowded floor that I began to "Break Wind!" At first the aroma was confined to a small area, but over time the entire dance floor became permeated with the stench of three days of rich food and beer, etc. As I was dancing among my friends and the city folks, I suddenly realized that I was the only one left on the entire floor! The smoke that was being released from the perimeter of the dance floor carried the aroma throughout the crowd! People were bailing out as though the place had been "Gassed", and masks were unavailable since this was totally an impromptu and, apparently, a very unusual happening! My Ex was quite pissed off at me, and I hastily retreated to the room! I was so "Full of Shit" that I think I had to flush four times as "Frank Diarrhea" finally ended the performance!
I went back out to the dance floor after taking a crap, but to my astonishment, no one would dance with me! What a bunch of losers, they could not stand to have a little extraordinary fun!
In 1982 I went to the convention as a bachelor, and I did not have much fun! However, in 1983 Joan went with me, but I was not allowed to go up to the Lounge at the top of the Hilton! This marked the end of that era; the party was really over this time; no more free lunches for me!
This was the year that we went to Antoine's for supper one night. On our way to the restaurant, we encountered the sight of a man apparently having a heart attack in one of the restaurants in the French Quarter. An ambulance was parked on the narrow street, and the man was being bagged and loaded onto a stretcher. As people will often do, a small crowd had gathered around out of curiosity, and we were among the onlookers. A New Orleans Policeman was on horseback waiting for the crew to load the stretcher into the ambulance. As they got the man and the stretcher near the street, the Policeman suddenly decided that more room was need for him to be loaded into the ambulance. He whipped the horse, without even looking, and the animal suddenly darted around in a semi circular manner. Joan was very close to the horse, and if I had not been quick enough to grab her and pull her out of the way, the horse would have cut her feet completely off! I don't like New Orleans Policemen, I never did, and I never will!
| Reflections, page 1 |
Reflections, page 2 |
Reflections, page 3 |
Reflections, page 4 |
| Reflections, page 5 |
Reflections, page 6 |
Reflections, page 7 |
Reflections, page 8 |
| Reflections, page 9 |
Reflections, page 10 |
Reflections, page 11 |
Reflections, page 12 |
| Reflections, page 13 |
Reflections, page 14 |
Reflections, page 15 |
