2026 10 11 The one and only

October 11th, 2026

Normally I like to rhyme every line in my poems, but this one just came to me this way, so I suppose this is the way it was meant to be, and I will therefore leave it as it was given.

‘She is a Natural Woman’

She radiates the sun.
She takes my breath away long before the sunset has a chance.
The clouds in the sky hide the sun’s shame at being less radiant than she.
The sunshine sparkling off of the clear waters of a stream, learned to twinkle by copying the sparkle in her eyes.

The gold of the sun is already in her hair.
The red of the grape is in her lips.
All of the colors in nature’s palate pale when compared to her complexion.

The softness of the flower petal is there in her skin.
The petal of the rose feels rough compared to her skin.
The smell of fresh earth can’t compare to her perfume.
The freshness of a spring shower coupled with the heat of a roaring winter fire mimic her kiss.

The branches of the tree are misshapen compared to her limbs.
The flowers swaying in the breeze learned their dance watching her movements.
The warmth of the sun on a cold day is second to the warmth of her arms.
The sound of a meadowlark pales when compared to her voice.

The joy of seeing the sunrise seems shallow compared with seeing her beside me as I awaken in the morning.
The somber note of sunset is trivial compared with seeing her depart.
She is a Natural Woman and she chose to spend her life with me.
For that I am thankful.

May she rest in peace in God's arms forever more.

Amen

Brother Bill

October 10th, 2026 A few pictures from the farm.

This is a sunflower I grew one year. I estimate it was 9 feet tall.

We had some beautiful rainbows on the farm.

2026 Hard for me to imagine

October 9th, 2026

I like watching short clips about the navy even though I’m no longer in the navy.

I saw a clip about a navy recruit and I was shocked when I saw an E-1, the lowest pay grade in the navy, making $1908 on his first month in the navy. In my first month in the navy I made $70 and the navy took back $15 for tooth paste and razors and a small netted bag to hold them. When I was discharged as an E-6 I was only making $400 a month. Now a navy E-6 makes $3-4000 a month. This is mind blowing to me. I was working for a computer company for 10 years. I think I was making $1500 a month after those 10 years.

All I can say to a young man today is GO NAVY and get rich!

20261008 Sins and prayers and forgiveness

This picture was the lab crew at Litton ACD back in the 1995 era. The woman was Sharon Friedhoffen. She has since passed. The tall kid is Alex, the red shirt is yours truly and sitting is Steve Williams. We had good hard work to do and some good times along the way.

October 8th, 2026

I’ve been praying so much for my granddaughter (she is now out of the hospital, but will go back for further treatment and will live on.) I started to remember when I learned those prayers.

My mother insisted on sending me to a Catholic grade school, several blocks away from our home, while a public grade school was 30 steps away from our home. The Catholic nuns ran the school. That is where I learned the Our Father and the Hail Mary prayers. They disciplined us and we learned about sins. Now there are or were 2 kinds of sins; a venial sin, like telling mom you did your homework when you didn't do your homework. Then there was the big sin, a mortal sin, those sent you straight to hell when you died. I can’t remember what they were exactly, but I know I committed a few of them.

Lucky for me, I met the best Catholic priest there ever was or will ever will be. His name was Father Peter Walsh. A fine Irish priest. Mom always said Irish priests were the best ones. We were going to Church in Camdenton. One afternoon I stepped into the priest's house and while having a cup of coffee I started talking with him. He asked me when I had my last confession? Well I didn’t know, maybe 20 or more years ago. Father Walsh said, “Well now is a good time to start again.” Any Catholic might admit being in a dark booth confessing something really sinful is difficult. They ought to try and confess a boatload of mortal sins across a kitchen table while looking into the eyes of the priest who knows you and sees you regularly. Father Walsh absolved me of my sins that afternoon and I hadn’t commited a mortal sin since, despite the invitation of a gorgeous woman that offered me a weekly Wednesday afternoon trist. Saying no was the most difficult decision I ever made in my life. That was 52 years ago.

I’m thankful for the prayers I learned from those nuns 76 years ago.

I haven’t been to church for decades. The closest thing to church was on the hanger deck of the USS Kitty Hawk when Billy Graham had a midnight talk over a Christmas Eve of the year 1966. It seems odd to me that we were listening to a church sermon in the midnight hour of Christmas Eve, when in 7 hours later we are bombing the crap out of some target killing Vietnamese soldiers. But hey, we did it in WW2, Korea, and then Vietnam. Not to mention many more conflicts since then. Right or wrong is not for me to judge. I served my country as any sailor would and did. I’ve thought about that years later. I was on working parties loading bombs that killed people. I worked on planes that directed bombers to their targets to kill people. It is perplexing to me. I loved my work in the navy, but it involved helping kill people I would never see or know.

Life is a complex of decisions we all make for better or for worse.

Brother Bill

20261004 Slow Recovery

I felt better this morning, not good, but good enough to walk to Aldi’s and back. I was greeted by all of the young ladies who stack the shelves in the store. I smiled at all of them and returned their greetings. What started with one or two seems to have spread to all of them. It’s nice to be noticed and exchange greetings.

By the time I walked home with two fairly heavy bags of groceries, I was really tired. That’s all I did today.

I’m hoping this passes soon. It came on in a heartbeat, so I’m hoping I return to my normal in a short time. I was just corresponding with my Beautiful Sister. She had read my post with the part about feeling bad. As I wrote, I began to wonder; I was at my doctor’s for my semi-annual checkup. I relented and got a flu shot for the first time ever. The shot was painful for several days. I’m wondering if instead of preventing getting the flu, I actually got the flu. I remember the shot being massive. Maybe I was overdosed? Who knows, it could be what has hit me.

I just called my granddaughter. She is still in the hospital and it sounds like the doctors don’t yet know what the problem is. She told me she was feeling very tired.

I don’t know how to handle this. There’s nothing I can do but pray for her recovery.

October 3rd, 2026 Bad Day

This picture is how I'm feeling. It was taken on the 7th day of my hospital stay and it shows how I feel today.

October 3rd, 2026

I’m feeling puny today. I had a ride to Walmart to pick up some things and as I was walking out of the store I felt like I was going to pass out for a few seconds. I got home and thought this might be my last living day. Yes I really did feel that way. I sat down and said my prayers, I told the Lord I was ready just in case He was. Apparently He still has something He wants me to do. It’s 9 hours later and I’m just plain tired. I initially had laid down and turned on the TV. Not long after that, the TV stopped with a small rotating circle and nothing else. I thought the internet router had quit. All the respected lights showed it was working, but that’s just a trick it plays. I unplugged the power cord, waited and plugged it back in. Only one light out of the four shows it is working. I have two spare routers, but I held out pulling them from the shelf. I unplugged, waited and plugged in the router and everything was like it was brand new. I went back to my bedroom and laid down to watch some tv. The tv was fine, but there was nothing I wanted to watch. It didn’t matter because I fell asleep for over 2 hours. That didn’t help, because when I woke up there was still nothing I wanted to see. I quit the TV and I am writing this to get the grief off my chest. I’ve heard people say: “I want to get this off my chest,” all of my life. Grief or sadness is a feeling that has no weight and it's inside, not on a chest. If you fall and a piece of 4by4 lumber falls on your chest, then you can properly say, “I want to get this off my chest.”

I’m just having a bad day! I’m allowed to have that once every month. Who am I kidding? I can have a bad day whenever I want; sometimes on days that I don’t want. I’m writing this day off; I hope by tomorrow I’ll feel better and everything will be normal, whatever that is.

I’m writing this to make myself feel better. One might say, “to get this off my chest.” Even if one is incorrect to say that.

Brother Bill

October 2nd 2026 Money!

What If This Happened Every Day?

Today I was walking home from Aldi’s when I saw something shiny on the road. It was a nice new looking quarter. I picked it up and walked home as I was singing in the rain. I thought about that quarter and wondered: what if the numbers of quarters doubled every day for 1 month? The number is astounding, on the order of $268,465,456. I would be borderline wealthy.

I wonder what that feels like? What would I do? I’d write a lot of checks for friends and my one sister who deserves it. I’d hire a chauffeur to drive me where I wanted to go.I suppose I’d have to buy a big car. I’d have my chauffeur drive me to Idaho to see my friends Kevin and Kathy in Idaho and maybe see some of those Mormons. After that visit I’d have to go see David B. up in New Hampshire the north east.I’d go up to Maine to see the fall colors. I’d come back home and visit Kathy and George up in Ash Grove. And I’d see the Gunter family up the road from our old farm. I’d buy the old farm back. I’d write some checks for my friends from the Litton days. I’m reasonably sure they could use some cash as I was before the $268 million dollars came my way. My son in law, daughter and granddaughter would get checks too. I’d stop in the outskirts of Saint Louis to see Jim and Maureen. Haven’t seen them for a long time. I’d go see Ashley because I hadn’t seen her for a long time. I wonder if she’s still looking for her farm? I’d see everyone on my readers list and drop a little pre Christmas gift. I’m sure there are things or people I have forgotten to include, give me a break, I’m an old man with an overworked brain just trying to exist alone.

I’m not sure, but I’m likely going to find out I have a lot of new friends I didn’t know I had.

I’m still working on making all this money work for my friends. I haven’t decided what brand of limousine I’m going to buy. Where does one go to find a chauffeur? How much does one pay in a chauffeur’s check? Does one pay weekly, biweekly or monthly?

All of this money is a lot of work. I thought it would be easier being rich. There’s no rest for the wealthy.

261001 New Day

I remembered this today: when I had my first car, I and a friend or two would drive over to the Lambert airport in Saint Louis, Missouri. We would drive up to the outer fence of the airport runway, then park the car at the fence and lay on the hood of the car. The planes would be on final approach to land some 20 feet over our heads. It was quite invigorating! The underside of a passenger plane appears quite large.

I went through my upper body exercise training this afternoon and then moved to my peripheral neuropathy exercise. I lay down with my backside against the wall and my legs are straight up against a wall. The idea is to drain blood that stays in my feet and calves. I use that time to meditate. My legs are usually up for 4-8 minutes. Today I fell asleep and didn’t wake up for an additional 20 minutes. I lowered my legs and they tingled for several minutes before I could walk again.

The decimal number of our date today (26/10/01) is (111111101110001001) in Binary code. I thought you would want to know that.

I’m at Aldi’s early every morning. I have become so regular that the manager and staff greet me every morning. That makes me feel good to start my day.

30 days to Halloween
the creepiest night ever seen.

My daughter thinks it’s the happiest night of the year
If you saw her decorated house her message is quite clear

Kids love the decoration
And the candies are a sensation

September 30, 2026

Proud to have served.

I've been thinking lately. I'm wondering about the old folks home. I'm certainly old enough to be there, but do I want to be there? What if the place is regimented with rules I have to follow? What about food? I eat what I want, when I want here. I imagine meals there are timed, 8am breakfast, 12pm lunch, 4pm supper. That's not me. What about beer? God forbid they don't allow that. The cost of being there is in the $2000 to $3000 range per month, at that rate I'll run dry and get kicked to the curb. I looked it up and in Missouri old folks homes can toss you out, no pay, no play. I don't know if I can come and go when I want. I'll be living in a small space 300 or 500 square feet depending on a studio or a one bedroom. Here I have 750 square feet for $1045 a month. Here if they raise rent I can go somewhere else at the end of my lease. There, they can jack up the cost of living there and then what can I do, move back here? The more I think about this, the less appealing the home sounds. You mention cruise ships, if I was young enough, I'd sign up for Uncle Sam's navy in a heartbeat and travel the world once again. I'm 81 years old, but I can still take care of myself and I come and go as I please. Thanks for listening. I'm going to post this. ---------------------------------------

I paid my rent today,
That means I get to stay.

Another month in here,
To consume more packs of beer.

I walked all the way,
To Walmart and back today.

That’s my longest walk all year,
And I didn’t even buy any beer.

I bought a Hummingbird calendar for next year,
This shows I plan on living that long and being here.

---------------------------------------

“God is great,
Beer is good,
And people are crazy.”
That’s part of a Billy Currington song.

Another of his songs has these lyrics, which I admit I follow.
“I wasn’t born for digging deep holes,
I wasn’t born for climbing highline poles,
But I’m pretty good at drinking beer.”

The songs are longer than these short lyrics.
That’s all I got for today.

May God bless you today,
Brother Bill

260928 The Old Man

I’ve lived in this complex for several years now, but never saw the old man until I moved to my current abode, which is beside a well traveled street.

I saw the old man again a day ago,
He’s always on his little scooter seat traveling to wherever he needs to go to and fro.

We seem to always be going the opposite way.
And it’s always early in the day.

He’s a thin man, weathered face and hair of gray.
I often wonder how he spends his day.

Since I first saw him, I’ve always waved and greeted him as he rolled on by.
He passed by on his seat, but never said “Hi”.

This morning I was walking home and I saw him heading in my direction,
I waved and said “Good Morning” with a genuine affection.

He actually turned his head and waved back at me,
I was so stunned I nearly stepped off the sidewalk and into a tree.

One never knows what each new day may bring. -----------------------------------------

I think about where I am financially today and I realize without Joyce (who was a saver) while I was like my dad, (if there was money left over by the next payday, there must be some way to spend it.)

When we first moved here about 10 years ago, we rented an apartment for $500 a month. Now rent here is $1000 a month and more depending on where one lives in this complex.

This place is not overly expensive compared to others in the area. Without Joyce, I’d be living in some run down cracker box in a bad part of Springfield. That or some other place where you pay by the day if you want a bed by night and I’d be eating in some soup kitchen.

I was lucky to have Joyce to run the house and save the money. The only question is, was it enough? It was when we retired, but that was 20 years ago. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

“For all we know, we may never meet again.” I hope we do some time in God’s Heaven.

2026 A Merger between Good and Bad

This picture was taken from my driveway on the farm, some 31 years ago.

The good and the bad.

The good thing is, I have my daughter and son in law to visit and to help me with things. They also bring over food that saves me from cooking. I have people to talk with at the grocery store and at the beer store. This morning a woman who has given me rides home several times stopped and we had a nice chat before she had to go to the DMV. I have creature comforts in my abode. I can feed myself. I can have as much coffee or beer as I want. I’m still strong enough to move furniture around, (It’s my pastime and I enjoy it.) I sleep when and as long as I want. I seem to be sleeping more than I ever did before. I have my good memories from long ago. I can still walk and exercise and do it every day. That’s a blessing for a man my age. I converse with the LORD and the Buddha, neither of which speak back yet, but I feel their influence in my daily life. Life can be good, even at my age.
That was the good, now on to the bad.

I was doing some research yesterday about assisted living,
Different places around here that advertise care and giving.

It turns out, there are quite a lot,
Eager to help you go through all the money you’ve got.

It seems that the monthly cost is kind of steep,
The average around here is $4000 to $5000 a month, enough to make you weep.

Even with me at 81 years,
My money would be gone, and I’d be in tears.

It turns out in Missouri, the homes can as quick as a blurb,
Kick your ass to the curb.

Right or wrong I cannot say,
That’s their legal right to play.

I’m too old to live on the street,
Scraping through dumpsters for something to eat.

I’d have to have a box crate to be up high enough to see a meal and grin,
But with a long reach, I could fall in.

Life is tough living on the street,
The best of people, you do not meet.

20260925 A Hope and a Dream

My hope is for someone to push someone in the Missouri congress or a state Senator to allow the old folks to open the doors at Hampton Manor.

My dream was a weird one.

I called Hampton this morning and had a delightful talk with a robot who sounded exactly like a real woman. The robot woman was offended when I asked if I was conversing with a real woman or a robot. She told me she was a representative of the company, blatantly upset over me asking if she was a real woman. AI robots these days seem to have real human feelings.

I look into the future and all I see is robots answering wherever I make a call. All I see is robots doing jobs people did for centuries. The people are all laid off except for a few who use computers to monitor the robots and keep them busy at chores we humans once did.

We humans skimp and scrape to feed ourselves because none of us have jobs. We live on the streets because we can’t pay for our homes or apartments.
I stop now, because the rest of what I see is unbearable.

My dream last night:
I woke up to a fire alarm. I walked through my apartment, casually, looking around. I saw all the doors in my apartment and across the hall were open and the latches were all held open by duct tape so the doors would not stay closed. I was looking for something, an idea I had and had written down a day before. I opened my oven door and found there were two cookies there. I grabbed one and started to walk away. I looked across the hallway and their doors were also taped open. I waved to the neighbor. I stepped out my door and saw a maintenance man and asked if he knew what was going on? He said; he didn’t know, someone must have pulled a fire alarm. I removed the duct tape, closed my door and walked back to my bedroom, thinking I should have taken both cookies.

Dreams usually don’t make good sense and this one was, I admit, a strange one.

Brother Bill

2026/09/24 All I Say Is I've Lived Another Day

I want to talk to the people at the old folks home, but they aren't home! The state is taking its time coming down to say the home is ready for the old folks today.

My hair is gone where I want it to grow,
There’s nothing I can do to make it so.
There’s a place where now my hair grows best,
In a place it never grew before, it’s on my chest!
----------------------------------------------

My shoe size was a 9, from 13 years until 77,
The arches of my feet collapsed and now my shoes are a size 11.
-----------------------------------------

I went to my doctor today for a 6 month checkup after my near death stay in the hospital. I feel pretty good.
I have to say my doctor is a stunning woman, and she takes care of me like any doctor should.
--------------------------------------

I took a walk around my block today,
I’m happy to say everything is okay.
I’m getting tired of seeing the same places,
I’d like to see some different faces.
----------------------------------------

Brother Bill

20260921 Wilson's Creek and More

I walked through the woods one day,
where in 1861 two forces fought all day.
There were cannons left in the field,
Neither side was willing to yield.
Both sides lost many men,
They rested overnight and at sunrise they went at it again.
The Union army turned and fled,
The Confederate army chased them all the way back to Saint Louis passing many who were dead.

---------------------------------------------

The world is moving away from me,
I can no longer keep up with technology.
For 47 years I worked in the technology field,
No matter the electronic problem I forced it to yield.
Retirement snared me in 2010,
It seemed pretty good back then.
16 years later doesn’t sound like a lot,
I went from 65 to 81 as my mind slowly went to pot!
I’ve kept up with my writing and I think I’m still reasonably good,
But not with technology as I should.
If I could go back in time I could make a change,
But that could make today rearrange.
The life I’ve had has not been bad,
For the adventures, and the family I’ve had, there’s no complaints for this old dad.

260920 The Last Day

This picture marked the end of an era.

From left to right, me, Ken, Doug's Guamanain girl friend, Doug, and Roy. On Guam, the greeting is Hafa Adiay for morning and evening. One of our group stayed on Guam. He is Dave and he is still alive and still one year older than me. And he sends some funny cartoons. 2 of us, me and Roy ended up on the USS Kitty Hawk and worked on the flight deck there. Ken stayed in the navy for 30 years. Doug was sent to a communication station in the Phillipines. Doug passed away several years ago. Dave is still alive and kicking. I don't know about Roy or Ken.

It all began when electronics training in Millington, Tennessee Naval Air station graduated several classes and sailors received their orders. 12 of us had orders to go to Brunswick,Georgia for further training as airborne radar operators. We all graduated and 2 were sent to a naval station in Rhode Island. The other 10 had orders to Guam and VW-1 airborne early warning squadron at Naval Air station on Guam. We followed typhoons (hurricanes) and reported to Naval Weather service in the far east.

Things were calm and laid back until 1964 when The destroyer USS Maddox was attacked by 3 north Vietnamese torpedo boats; there was little damage to the destroyer. President Lindon Johnson took offence at the incident. Johnson grabbed that as an excuse to ramp up what started as a small Marine detachment going inland and ended up with 2.7 million troops serving and 2,414 killed. That didn't begin to note the US Navy always had at least 3 aircraft carriers with hundreds of pilots and planes from the begining to the end.

Our Squadron VW 1 provided overnight radar coverage for the seventh fleet off the coast of Vietnam. That's when things picked up for us. We only had 6 planes and they got a lot of use. 2 alternated radar coverage so there was always coverage. We had to travel 1600 miles from Guam to the Phillipines and that was where we operated from. We had to fly 910 miles to get on station coverage for the 7th fleet.

This post covers one of the best times in my life and I think back about it frequently.
In San Diego, working at Burroughs Computer company put me in touch with Kevin. We worked hard, had fun and we are great friends today and for the last 40 some years.
Another great friend from the Burroughs years was Ted Morange. He passed away a short time ago.
My working years were good times. My 19 years and 6 months at Litton in Springfield, Missouri were always good. Great people to work with. Several of us still correspond through posts.

Journal September 19th, 2026

Things that were often said by kids when I was a very young boy: John and Mary sitting in a tree, K i s s i n g, First comes love, Then comes marriage, Then comes Mary with a baby carriage. ---------------------------

On a sidewalk this one was said; Step on crack, break your mother’s back. ------------------------------------

Back then, every grownup smoked and a brand that was popular was Lucky Strike. The reason why Lucky’s were popular was because in WW2 the army supplied cigarettes to soldiers. Often the empty packs were tossed on the sidewalk. The first one to get there would step on the empty pack and yell; “Lucky Strike no strikes back” as they punched you in the arm. -----------------------------------

Two houses down from ours there was a house that was set way back at the far edge of the 100 foot lot that every lot in the neighborhood had. They had a long driveway with a fence that ran from the sidewalk back to the house. The fence had grape vines from the sidewalk to the house. I made good use of those grapes when they were ripe. I always ate my fill. ---------------------------------

Two houses up from my house there was another house all the way back the alley way. From the house to the sidewalk there was an orchard that had wonderful apples and peaches. The homeowners did not like kids pinching their fruits. They even had a stone wall along the sidewalk to keep people out. A little 5 foot wall never stopped me. I had my fill of what they grew. They never used or sold their crops, but when they saw me enjoying their crops, they would come out and yell at me. ---------------------------------

Next door to us there was a split level house. The people who bought it were an old couple and they lived on the ground level side while their married daughter and family lived on the upper side. The elders had a small house built at the back side of the lot. They rented that house for extra income. The house had a divorced woman who was very attractive. In the heat of summer she would walk around the house in just a bra and panties. The ladies of the neighborhood were not happy about that. It didn’t bother me at all. She had a son and a daughter. The son had a motor scooter and that annoyed my parents because he rode close to our house. The daughter’s name was Betty, last name Tate. She was about 14 years old and had developed a large upper torso. I was infatuated with her. The girls of the neighborhood all got together and sat on the steps on the house next door. Betty was there so I would be close by. That annoyed them so they would shoosh me away. They eventually moved away. The house was left in a mess and the front door was locked, but from my back fence I could reach around and unlatch a split door which the top was easy to swing around and be in the house. It gave me time to poke around an empty house. Left there was a collection of MAD Magazines. I loved them. My mother did not appreciate them at all, so I lost my literary treasures. --------------------------------------

Brother Bill

260901 Eyes Open

I was looking for something in my archive of posts when I ran accross this below. It was written January 6th, 2002. I've been looking at this and wondering who may have written this. It just came to me as I sit here. It was written by my nephew Patrick's girlfriend at that time.

I think it's some of the best writing I've ever seen. I think any man who received a piece like this would be glowing after reading it.

Hi Bill...
I did manage to write a little something. Please keep in mind, i'm a little rusty, for I haven't written anything in quite a long time. Let me know what you think.

Jess 020106

Eyes Open

I wasn't looking when I met you
and I couldn't see where I was going once I knew you.

Everything bloomed and radiated happiness.
I was amazed at how well we complimented each other, how happy we were together.

Yet, as they always do, things changed.
I didn't realize the distance would be so damaging, so difficult to deal with.

I tried, with all that I am,
to make it all bearable, for both of us.
You knew how I felt, what I needed,
that the little things
were monstrously important to me.

Yet every time,
you did enough to pacify,
than you pushed it aside,
filed it away as non-important,
each time, breaking my heart a little more.

This last time,
with your refusal to give your comfort and support,
broke the string my heart was hanging on with.

There are so many things you could have done, still could do,
but it would take a lot of hard work and persistence.

Things that,
when applied to a relationship,
are foreign to you.

I wasn't looking when I met you,
and I couldn't see where I was going once I knew you.

Thank you for teaching me to keep my eyes open.

2609 A blues Song

I don’t remember how this came to be, but I said to someone that the lyrics in a blues song we were talking about were not so good. He said to me that I shouldn’t complain over a song’s lyrics because I couldn’t write lyrics for a song. I drove home and wrote this song in 15 minutes and sent it back to him.

July 16, 2001

‘Ma woman done lef me’

Woke up dis mornin’
Feelin’ kinda bad
Ma woman done gone away
She da best wom’n I eva had.

Look out da winda, fell on da chair back
woman done lef wit my big red Cadillac.

Ma woman done lef me
She da best woman I eva had
She took ma shoes and ma Cadillac
I’m fraid da woman gone bad.

If I don’t fin dat woman I be singin da St. Louie blues
Don’t know how I gonna fin her
cause da woman done took my shoes

Woman don lef me an ma big ole lonely bed
Ma whiskey bottle empty
An da dog an been fed.

I’d go look for da woman in Memphis
But I gotta somet’n ta dred
Da man I done shot dere
He still listed as dead!

Dat Big Mama she older dan dirt.
But when she see a man she done want’n
Big Mama she know how ta flirt.

She drink a mans whiskey
She share a mans bed
Den she take da mans Cadillac
Afta she clack him in da head.

Da whiskey done lef me blind
Da blow ta ma head done made me a cripple
If it weren’t fer da feel a da bottle
I wount know it were da ripple.

I’m looking for da woman
I’m on da southbound train
Done tryin ta change ma image
So I don end up in da Memphis jail again

Hope I don end up in da Memphis jail again
Don wanna die old an wrinkled
In da company a all dose bad men.

Ma woman done lef me
She da best woman I eva had
She took ma shoes and ma Cadillac
I’m fraid da woman gone bad.

Well that’s my first and original Blues song. I wrote it in about fifteen minutes after reading the enclosed rules for a Blues song. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did composing it. If this should get into the hands of a recording company, I sure hope I’m not dead in the Memphis jail when it happens.

I wish you love and hope and peace in your lives tonight and tomorrow.

Bill

260830 Out of Luck

This old man ran out of enough money to pay the rent and was evicted!

I grabbed my backpack, loaded it with food I had left and headed out.

I was walking along when I saw a sign that said: “Ethel’s cat house.” I thought a cat might be a good companion on my travels. It turned out that there were no cats there, just a lot of women with not enough clothes on to stay warm.

I left there and headed toward a wooded area to find a place to sleep. What I found was two big men who robbed me. They took the last $40 I had and all of my food. The next morning I woke up sore but okay.

I started walking down a street when I saw an old woman weeding her flower bed. She looked at me and said that if I finished the weeding in the front and her back yard, she would give me $10. I said okay and I finished weeding front and back. I knocked on her back door. She came to the door and asked what I was doing in her back yard? She picked up her phone and said she was calling the police if I didn’t leave now. I walked away from her home, thinking when a man is down on his luck, people want to beat him like a dog.

I walked down an alley and a man there said:”Hey you want to make $20? I said: “Hell Yes.” He gave me a bag and told me where to take it and then bring him back $100. I walked to an apartment and knocked on the door. A big man opened the door. I handed him the bag and said:”$100 please.” The man said ok and reached into his back pocket, pulled out a badge and said I was under arrest. He spun me around and put handcuffs on my wrists. Another policeman took me to jail, processed me and put me in a cell. Things were looking grim, but at least I got a meal. I hadn't eaten in a day and a half.

In the morning I went before a judge. She saw that I had no priors on record. I told her I was an old man with no home and no money and did what I did to feed myself. She released me and told me where I could get a free meal.

I went to a soup kitchen and had breakfast. I picked up my tray, walked to the scullery and handed it to a man working there. He mentioned the kitchen always needed help. He directed me to a woman who ran the kitchen and scullery. I told her I had experience working scullery and cooking for large groups when I was in the navy.

I told her I had done both jobs on Guam and at Pearl Harbor. That experience finally paid off. She hired me and I was back to working a grill as I did 61 years ago in the navy.

260828 On The Way Home

The first part of this post came to me as I walked home from the Aldi's store this morning.I had to finish the rest of it this afternoon.

A woman’s looks can be deceiving.
Leaving a man forever grieving.

A woman’s heart will tell you more.
Of what a man has in store.

One never knows what a wedding will bring.
Many happy years or many tears that sting.

A man’s looks may be deceiving.
Leaving a woman’s heart forever grieving.

The door can swing either way.
It can happen any day.

A marriage isn’t like a brand new super highway.
It’s more like a country road with a few bumps along the way.

Then along comes that fateful day.
When one of the spouses passes away.

That brings grief beyond repair.
I know it’s true, because I’m there.