CORONO VIRUS 9 AUGUST 2020

On the sixth of August 1945 in a blinding flash of light about 80,000 poor souls disappeared. On the ninth of August 1945 in another blinding flash of light about 40,000 poor souls disappeared, making a total of about 120,000. Here in the USA we have seen 162,833 poor souls agonize for days, weeks and even months before succumbing to the COVID-19 Virus.

Those left wing, radical Democrats are at it again. They had their Russia hoax. They had their impeachment hoax. Now they are politicizing the virus. The radical, left wingers have their new hoax, the virus. This is their new hoax. But not to worry. There are only a few people infected and many of them have already recovered. We have it completely under control.

During January, February, March and on statements like the following were often heard: “We have it totally under control. We’re going to have a very good ending for it. That I can assure you. When it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear. Its only a few people and many of them have already fully recovered. It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away. No, it’s not a pandemic. Not at all. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” We citizens were given only empty assurances - no planning or preparation and no federal action. 

The Obama administration had created a Pandemic Task Force under the National Security Agency to combat the Ebola Crisis which it was successful in controlling and confining to Africa. In 2011 Obama ridiculed Donald at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. Donald was there, having been invited by Bill O’Reilly. Even before that Donald was at war with Obama (birth certificate ring a bell?) and then this episode intensified that emotion to a fever pitch. Anything attributable to Obama had to be overturned or eliminated. So shortly after taking office the Obama created Pandemic Task Force was disbanded. Also funding to the NIH and CDC was cut. Later funds to the WHO were eliminated and the US announced that it was withdrawing from the WHO. Does it look like the US is preparing for a pandemic? Or even considering public health issues. Is Donald solely focused on political and electoral matters? Especially re-election matters?

Donald continued to downplay the threat and possible effect the virus could have in the US. He compared it to the seasonal influenza. He tweeted “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!  It will go away, it will disappear. We have it completely under control in this country.”  That was the action at the WH while many nations of the World including South Korea were testing, identifying, isolating, tracing, identifying and quarantining. This quick action enabled many countries, including South Korea, to avoid a shutdown of the economy. Donald touts his “early USA entry restrictions.” They were not early enough and were porous and ineffective. 

The more the virus spread, the more ridiculous and bizarre the statements and explanations became. “My administration is doing a great job at handing the virus. Stock market starting to look good to me. We pretty much shut it down. We have it totally under control.”  While doing essentially nothing. No plan. No preparation. Hospitals were becoming desperate for essential materials and equipment - masks, gowns, ventilators. FEMA had no stockpile. Providers were not identified.  Requests, even demands, for invoking the Defense Production Act were dismissed as ridiculous. 

Health experts world wide were stating unequivocally that masks, social distancing and hand hygiene are absolutely necessary to control the virus. South Korea and others continued with testing, identifying, isolating, tracing, identifying and quarantining. Donald refused to wear a mask and refused to advocate the essentials for controlling the virus. Some indicated that he thought wearing a mask made him look weak. Is his vanity more important than people’s lives?

When Donald finally acknowledged that the virus was a problem, he stated something like ‘no one could have imagined something like this.’ That’s Trump-Speak. I’ll translate for you. “I didn’t imagine something like this.” There have been pandemics ever since we humans began to domesticate animals and they occur ever so often. It is not a question of ‘if,’ but of when is the next one? Innumerable books have been written about the subject and many, many movies have been made about the subject. Donald’s statement illuminates his level of education and knowledge.

The base was following Donald’s lead in social media, posting ridiculous and harmful information right and left. As well they were following Donald’s lead in ridiculing the three essentials. Donald, apparently in desperation to stop the virus, send people back to work, restore the economy and get himself reelected; suggested that the drug hydorxychloroquine could be a “game changer” in treating the virus. It was and is well known that this drug is ineffective in treating viral diseases and could be deadly. It is used in the treatments of malaria and lupus. FDA, NIH, CDC and all other medical authorities emphasize that the drug should be used only under a doctor’s care, in a hospital setting or clinical trial. The drug can be dangerous otherwise. In fact deadly. Is hydroxy our plan for controlling and treating the virus?

Yes, it is absolutely true that Donald mused that household disinfectants could be taken in some way or injected  to cure the virus. Lysol and other providers of household disinfectants immediately warned the public against injecting their product in any way. He continued his statements about hydroxychloroquine.  A couple in Arizona who had a derivative of the drug on hand, took it and both were hospitalized. The husband died. For years it has been used to treat malaria and lupus under a doctor’s direction. The FDA and all medical associations clearly state that the drug should be used only under a doctor’s control, in a hospital setting or clinical trial. Nonetheless, Donald continues to advocate for the drug. Remember the 5 September 2019 Hurricane forecast? Donald had said that Hurricane Dorian posed a threat to Alabama. The NHC said it posed no threat to Alabama and showed that it did not on its map. Donald then showed an NHC map where a black marker had been used to extend the map into Alabama. Donald could not admit that he had erred in saying it posed a threat to Alabama. His ego would not permit it. Could that same ego be compelling him to admit that he is wrong about hydroxy, as he now calls it in August 2020. The full name of the drug is a bit much for Donald to be continually pronouncing. 

Even with millions infected and thousands dead, the bizarre, untrue, confusing, often contradictory statements continued to be disseminated. Regarding hydroxy: “it seems to have an impact, front line workers and doctors use it, a lot of them are taking it as a preventative.” The Tea Party organized a conspiracy touting doctor and people in white coats in front of the Supreme Court to tout hydroxy. Donald was ready to tweet and re-tween this video. He played it on a news conference  There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support an endorsement of this drug for the treatment of this virus. The suggestion that it prevents infection is ludicrous and harmful. That colossal ego won’t allow any admission of error or even the hint of it. Quite a few respected people had short tenures in this administration because they would not kiss the ring and pledge unequivocal loyalty: James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Rex Tillerson, HR McMaster, John Kelly, James Mattis, Kirstjen Nielsen, Rod Rosenstein, and John Bolton are among those on the list. Donald got rid of these respected people who have integrity, morality and honesty. Trump kept fishing until he found people who would kiss the ring and pledge loyalty. He now has Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State and Bill Barr as Attorney General. This is serious business, deadly business; but one can’t hide a smile when Mike Pence prefaces his Donald remarks on anything with something like “the nation thanks you, Mr. President, for your great leadership.” 

People across the US, but especially among Donald’s supporters, were not taking the virus seriously and adhering to the three essentials: masks, social distancing and hand hygiene. The casualties continued to mount without central leadership. Now, here in August 2020 while being fed ridiculous and bizarre information without central leadership and planning the casualties continued to mount. We have already passed the number of US Military deaths in WWI and are forecast to approach the number lost in WWII. We have already suffered more deaths to COVID than we did in the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Iraqi War, the Afghanistan War and the Revolutionary War combined. Still there doesn’t appear to be a central plan for the nation to combat, control and defeat the virus. Each governor, each mayor seems to be on his or her own. It appears that most of the Republican governors are following Donald’s lead with no shutdown, no support of the three essentials.

Donald has refused throughout the year to advocate for the three elements that are well known and proven to save lives. Masks, social distancing and hand hygiene. The millions of people who support and follow Donald with no reservation are in severe and predictable danger. With no firm and decisive leadership to combat the virus, it was left to the governors and mayors to combat the epidemic. They were often competing with each other and even with FEMA for critical supplies. It was a situation of total chaos. There is no other description for it. With over a thousand people a day dying, reelection seemed to be the focus of the national leadership. Public health and the virus seem to be secondary to political and electoral considerations. Donald continued to refuse to activate the Defense Production Act and designate firms to expedite the manufacture of the critically required medical supples and equipment.

Social distancing, masks, hand hygiene - we must get used to it. That is the necessary path on the personal level. On the national level, we must have a well organized and well documented regime of testing, identifying, isolating, tracing, identifying, quarantining. That is the well known and well documented path. It has worked in the past. It is working now - just not here in the USA. 

Even now in August 2020 the only place where testing is adequate in at the White House. You cannot enter the grounds without being tested. Anyone who is scheduled to be near Donald is tested and the result known in 15 minutes. So, Donald disparages the three critical elements while demanding them in his vicinity. He is safe in his biological cocoon. We should be testing, identifying, isolating, tracing, identifying and quarantining. This is the well know path and other nations are proving it is the correct path. We are not doing it and have no plan to implement it. That is why we with only 4 percent of the world population have 22.5 percent of the world COVID fatalities. 

There is probably no place in the world where testing, spacing and hygiene are more prevalent than in the White House. All this while Donald leads us --- I started to say leads us, but that would be completely incorrect. In order to get reelected he is ready to SEND  us back to school, back to work, back to invigorating the economy and on to the graveyard while Donald stays safe in his biological cocoon and on his way to reelection in November. He thinks. He hopes. He apparently thinks that a vigorous economy will lead to his reelection. He is thinking only in political and electoral terms. In fact, re-electoral terms. Donald dismisses as absurd the fact that he inherited an expanding economy from Obama. In spite of all Donald’s bragging about generating the economy, it’s actually Obama’s economy, not Donald’s. The GOP senate seems to be getting concerned with dear Donald and his potential impact on their re-election prospects. Remember, Number One on any Washington politician’s agenda is to either get elected or re-elected. Party is second on the agenda. Constituents are on the list, but only at a distant third due to their vote. Whatever is fourth is way, way, way down a distant fourth. You will notice I have not mentioned the nation.

Perhaps the reason there are no masks in the Oval Office is that someone might clandestinely pose the truth, as is shown in the comic. Donald now seems to have surrounded himself with people who have kissed the ring, so there doesn’t seem to be anyone there who would dare such a thing anyway. Donald must be feeling great having everyone who comes into the Oval Office, after having the 15 minute test of course, tell him what a great job he is doing. And thank him for his great leadership. 

There is ample evidence in video clips, tweets, interviews and actions that supports a belief that white supremacist views and racism are rampant in the organization, especially at the top. He and his dad were well known for housing discrimination and were brought into court over it by federal prosecutors. Donald has a well documented history of speeches, actions and court cases that are widely viewed as racist or racially charged, and his views, statements and actions regarding white supremacy and white nationalism are just as well documented. Donald’s sexual misconduct would fill a book, perhaps several. There was Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and the payoffs. He has been accused of rape, sexual harassment, and many levels of misconduct. Over 22 women are on this accusation list. 

Anyone who suggests the slightest fault will feel the full wrath of Donald. Comey would not pledge loyalty and suggested that a statement Donald made could have been better. Then he was fired with vengeance, getting the message via TV when Comey was in LA. Trump wanted to cut him loose at that point, but Deputy Director Andrew McCabe gave Comey a ride back to Washington as if he had not been fired. This infuriated Donald, and McCabe was fired one day before his retirement. Secretary of State Tillerson called Donald a moron and was fired on twitter. McMaster called him an idiot and was duly dispatched. 

Donald is imploring everyone to get back to work, get the economy going again and thereby with a vibrant economy he will be reelected. The consequences of working in unsafe conditions doesn’t appear to be of any consideration. The meat packing and chicken processing industry unfortunately discovered the hard way what would happen when working in close contact without special COVID safety considerations and precautions. Many families in those industries are in mourning.  

 With no universal guidelines and/or plan, Donald and Betsy advocate that schools should be opened completely with in-person learning and teaching. They offer no guideline or plan and no money to make the operation as safe as it can be. In fact, they both said that if the schools don’t fully reopen federal money would be withheld. Donald stated that returning to school will be safe because children are virtually immune to the virus. Therefore there is no problem with opening all the schools. As  the overall statewide COVID response was left to the governors and mayors to figure out, the school decisions regarding teaching our children is left to the local school boards, administrators and principals. 

Is that Donald finally social distancing? He says that he takes no responsibility for the chaotic and unorganized response to the pandemic. In fact, with no plan, no action, he had the audacity to say that he had a well thought out and smoothly operating plan in operation. That statement is absolutely ludicrous and ridiculous when state Governors are competing with each other and even FEMA for desperately needed supplies and equipment. There are some Evangelical leaders in this nation that are teaching in their sermons that God chose Donald to be the President of the United States. This was obviously communicated to Donald. In one of his impromptu media events, he pointed to the heavens and said “The anointed one.” From my standpoint, I think Donald was chosen alright, but by the other guy. 

The citizens of the US continually receive mixed messages that often are contradictory even to the bizarre level. Fortunately in this comic, dad, mom and the children are staying home, sheltering in place. In other strips they wear masks, social distance and wash hands. At least the comic pages are addressing the nation with consistent war-winning messages. Not so with Donald. He started off his tenure with lies. Remember the largest inauguration crowd in history? Kellyann Conway was funny in trying to explain that one with “alternative facts.” Finally, there were just too many and no one would try to explain them away. He is telling them at a rate of 23.3 per day. He is up to 19,127 in 1,226 days. There is no question that he will top 20,000. Will he top 25,000 on this term? His Press Secretaries are a source of humor. They all have lied. Kayleigh McEnany often gets two or more in one sentence. Much like Donald. I recall one day I  was listening watching Jake Tapper on CNN. Donald gave one of his impromptu news biefings as he went to the helicopter. It was about 5 minutes. Jake said that nothing he said was fully truthful and he broke it all down. Donald is a pathological lier. You can’t deny it. The evidence is there. Everyday. He has lied about guns, economy, education, elections, COVIS, crime, Russia, jobs, environment, taxes, foreign policy, health care, immigration, terrorism, trade, Ukraine. Familiar?

Donald did not want business closures, shelter-in-place, masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene. That sort of action brought the economy to a virtual halt. Donald depends on a robust economy to get reelected. Nothing will stand in his way to advocate for that robust economy. And certainly his rhetoric has been in support of that to the expense of everything else. If the US had been ready, as was South Korea and some other nations, we could have controlled the virus and saved thousands of lives. And it would not have been necessary to shut down our economy. Perhaps we could not have prevented a commensurate number of fatalities because we are such a diverse people, but thousands of lives could have been saved. Even now, on 9 August 2020, Donald is saying that the virus will disappear and that we are doing well in combating and controlling the virus. We lead the world in infections and deaths. We have no winning path to follow. Our response has been a total failure. 

The country sorely needed the commander in chief to come to the Resolute Desk and state unequivocally to the country that this virus is serious, is of pandemic level and all citizens must come to the aid of their country by sheltering in place when possible, vulnerable businesses should close, others that must remain open do so with strict safety precautions, wear masks when in public, strictly social distance when in public, and employ strict hand hygiene. Instead the three essential elements were ridiculed. Nearly every day the citizens were told that the virus would go away, we have it totally under control. All the while hospitals were overflowing, infections and deaths were escalating. 

In an effort to stem the spread of the virus, to mitigate infections and deaths, many governors and mayors closed all but essential services.  Regrettably not all however, many Republican governors heeded to the clarion call by their leader, keeping everything open and allowing large gatherings to occur without masks or social distancing. However, over much of the country, the economy was coming to a screeching halt. Donald was blaming those governors for not being prepared to control the virus, while not mentioning that it was the federal government’s responsibility to be prepared for a pandemic and that they had eliminated the Obama created Pandemic Response Team. There was no pandemic team, no plan, no leadership. Can you imagine on 7 December 1941, FDR telling Hawaii that they should have been prepared. Probably won’t happen again. We’re here to support you if it does. 

Donald doesn’t talk about saving lives and his national plan to control the virus and save lives because he doesn’t have one.  His focus is getting people back to work and getting schools open to aid in getting people back to work. The economy must be restored. Donald needs it to get reelected. Go back to work. Forget that distancing and masks stuff. It’s your personal choice, your personal freedom, your First Amendment rights. Don’t worry. We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on the China virus. 

The colossal eater, Dagwood, is not left wanting with restaurants closed or open only for delivery or take out. It is to be noted that South Korea with a plan in place for a pandemic and a team to execute that plan did not have to close their economy to control the virus. The US and South Korea both had their first COVID death on 20 January 2020. Korea immediately took action. The US did nothing because the US pandemic team had been disbanded and the office closed. The South Korean President Moon Jae-in fully and vocally supported his team, their plan and their action. They even had the top pop group come up with a catchy tune extolling the three essentials. Soon the whole country was humming the tune. The US President ridiculed the virus as little more than the seasonal flu and something that would soon just go away. Then went golfing.  

No question about it, extensive solitude can wear on you. One of the most severe penalties in a prison is solitary confinement. In this case, adhering to the three critical elements is a life-and-death matter, especially among the older population. The immune system decreases in effectiveness with older age. Therefore, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa should be considered to be in the extreme, high-risk category. This is really a life-and-death situation for them. Young people who do not adhere to the three critical elements can take the virus home to them. Remember, 40% of cases are asymptomatic.

Distressing news abounds regarding the chaotic, disorganized response to COVID - 19. And the resulting consequences are the most distressing aspect. Medical and economic lead the way, but there’s more.  Regrettably we have other news that is less distressing, but distressing nonetheless - severe, chaotic, unseasonable weather - stronger storms, more tornadoes, bigger hurricanes caused by global worming - another hoax according to Donald. Wildfires in the West are more intense and now occur all the year, not just in the Autumn ‘fire season.’ That is caused by incompetent forest management, not the drought enhancing global warming, according to Donald.

Don’t we all wish we could start over in January and that COVID would not be present? Unfortunately, here we are with millions of people infected, many with weird consequences after recovering, and over 162,833 dead. Donald continues to state that he doesn’t think he has any responsibility for the infections and deaths. In that regard he recently stated that it is what it is. Do you hear any acceptance of responsibility or remorse? 

Sheltering in place, solitude, cabin fever - it affects all of us, even the children with their nearly limitless imagination. 

Yes, anxiety and more serious consequences are a real possibility for everyone in this situation. Many people are worried about COVID and its most serious consequences and are also worried about where the next meal is coming from and that rent or mortgage payment. A large portion of the country’s work force is living pay check to pay check. This was obvious when Donald stopped the government in December 2018 because the congress would not provide funding for his beloved border wall.  Immediately there were long lines at the local food bank. Donald indicated that they were mostly Democrats anyway. Do you see concern and compassion? (The US Supreme Court recently agreed that Donald could divert funds that congress had designated for military projects to fund the WH border wall. I’m no constitutional scholar, but doesn’t that decision violate the constitution - balance of power, checks and balances? Is the Supreme Court now only a political extension of the GOP?)

Where does the nation find some hope, that there are better days ahead? Who’s to tell us that the storm is intense now with seemingly dark skies in every direction; but if we can all work together there near the horizon is a break in the clouds with blue skies, rainbows and calm seas in the distance? Let’s work together to get there. And tell us that in a convincing and believable manner?  Who is the leader that can do that in a convincing and believable manner? Do we have one? 

This is war. Casualties are high. We have lost more people in this war than in nine of the wars this country has fought.  This time our warriors on the front lines battling the enemy are not our US Military; but rather are first health care people and then are people scattered across the economic landscape. They are your family members and neighbors. 

Yes, these are some of our war time heroes in this battle. The front line is in the hospital, in the market, even in the street - and making it more difficult the enemy is armed with invisible bullets which remain lethal even when they are just laying around on any surface. 

These heroes are not looking for medals. They are just looking to stay alive while doing their war-time, peace-time essential work - and by doing so help the rest of us to stay alive, too. We must do our part, too. It is essential that we strictly adhere to the three essential actions: wear a mask, social distance, hand hygiene. It is not rocket science. It is common sense. These actions will save lives and will defeat the enemy. There is no other way to save lives and win this war. A vaccine is far in the future.

Mother’s day has come and gone. Sadly many of our moms have also come and gone due to this virus. The immune system decreases in its effectiveness with age. In addition, older people often have other ailments, too.   Therefore, older people are very vulnerable to this COVID - 19. The older you are, the more vulnerable you are. Regrettably the numbers and the statistics reflect this as the current reality. Grandma and grandpa are in the extreme, high-risk category. Don’t bring the virus home to them. Adhere to the three essential elements. Again, remember that 40% of cases are asymptomatic. 

Thankfully, cartoonists and comics can usually find a bit of humor in the direst of circumstances. With millions of people infected and thousands dead, it is difficult to find a smile anywhere in this dilemma. But, yes, early on we were scrambling around for toilet paper. Then we were desperately scrambling around for medical resources and equipment. Hospitals, cities, states  were competing with each other and with FEMA for desperately needed medical resources. We’re number one, aren’t we? Why didn’t we have all of this material that we needed? The Obama created Pandemic Task Force had been disbanded and the office closed by the current administration. Funds to the NIH and the CDC were also cut. Payments to the World Health Organization were withdrawn and the US withdrew participation in the WHO. The severity and the potential of the virus was continually down-played, even until now with millions infected and thousands dead. Planning and action was left to the governors and mayors. Even procuring the desperately needed medical equipment was left to the governors and mayors. When the federal government finally stepped in to procure equipment the task was given to a Harvard economist and a real estate broker. The effect was continued chaos as thousands died and the nation scrambled for needed medical equipment. If a manager gives a critical task to an incompetent person, that means that the manager is incompetent. Donald continues to assert that he is not responsible. 

The economic forecast is indeed bleak at this point. Millions of people are out of work and anxious that the job will still be there when the return to work is possible. Owners are just as anxious that they will be able to survive when it is possible to reopen. People are afraid to fly, afraid to eat out, afraid to enter the retailer. The importance of the intervention taken by the congress cannot be stressed enough, not only in surviving; but of emerging from the crisis, also. Unfortunately, it appears that the US does not have the leadership, organization, planning and discipline to recover and avoid a recession. 

We desperately need a hero to step in to lead us out of this mess. We have someone in that position. Here’s an evaluation of him by people who have worked with and/or for him:

Comey - flawed unethical immoral ego-driven, Pruitt - an empty vessel, Tillerson - moron, McMaster - idiot, Cohn - an idiot surrounded by clowns, Corker - adult day care, McCain - sad and half-baked, Bannon - he’s like an 11 year old child, Graham (before nomination) - race-bating xenophobic bigot, McConnell (before nomination) - unfit to serve. 

This was the period where we could have made a big difference with testing, identification, isolation, tracing, identification and quarantining. South Korea was busy doing just that during that time. What were we doing? We were suffering and dying. Our leader was  playing golf. 

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The graph below is an indication of our situation in the USA today, 9 August 2020. 

How do you think we are doing? With 4% of the world’s population we have 25% of the world’s infections and 22% of the world’s fatalities. Here in August 2020 Donald has said that we have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on the China virus. Sounds good. Do you believe it?

We have mentioned South Korea several times in this document. The graph below indicates their situation, their progress. 

If the US had acted as South Korea did, what would the result have been? Let’s prorate the two countries. The population of South Korea is 51.61 million. The population of the USA is 331 million. Therefore, the US has 6.4 times as many people as South Korea. Korea has suffered 14,598 infections and 305 deaths. Therefore 6.4 times 14,598 equals 93,427. And 6.4 times 305 equals 1952.  Therefore, if the US had done as well as South Korea in combatting and controlling the virus we would have had 93,427 infections, not over 5 million. And we would have had 1952 fatalities, not 162,833. And we would not have had to shut down our economy, just as South Korea did not have to. Our NIH and CDC is the envy of the world. Therefore, who is responsible for the 160,881 deaths  we suffered but could have saved if we had done as well as South Korea in controlling this virus? And who is responsible for our having to shut down our economy?Any ideas?

THIS IS A REBLOG FROM NASA. NO ONE DOES IT BETTER THAN NASA.

Special Celestial Events in June 2020

Earth and the Moon are in a constant dance as they orbit the Sun — and in June 2020, they’ll create two special celestial events. 

June 20: Summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere 

Earth has a slight tilt as it orbits the Sun, and June is one of two times each year when that tilt is most prominent: a solstice. At the solstices, which happen each year in June and December, Earth’s tilt is at the greatest angle with respect to the plane of its orbit, meaning that one hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, and the other hemisphere is tilted away. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 20 is the summer solstice — the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so the June solstice is the day on which the Northern Hemisphere receives the longest stretch of daylight for the year.

In both hemispheres, the Sun will rise and set at its northernmost point on the horizon. After June 20, the Sun will appear to travel south.

This view from our Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's DSCOVR satellite shows the change in Earth’s tilt between the June and December solstices.

During the June solstice, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, meaning the June solstice marks its shortest stretch of daylight for the year. June is the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice.  

June 21: Annular solar eclipse in Africa and Asia

The day after the solstice will see another special celestial event: an annular eclipse. Eclipses happen when the Moon lines up just right between the Sun and Earth, allowing it to block out part or all of the Sun’s bright face and cast a shadow on Earth. Though the Moon orbits Earth about once a month, its orbit is tilted by five degrees, so the perfect alignment that creates an eclipse is relatively rare. Often the Moon is too high or low in our sky to block out the Sun.

The June 21, 2020, eclipse is an annular eclipse visible primarily in Africa and Asia. During an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far from Earth and its apparent size is too small to entirely block out the face of the Sun, leaving a sliver of the Sun visible around the Moon’s edge during the eclipse and creating a “ring of fire” effect.

Credit: Dale Cruikshank

Outside the path of annularity, people in other parts of Africa, Asia and even some of Europe and the Pacific have a chance to see a partial solar eclipse, weather permitting. The degree of the partial eclipse depends on how close you are to the path of annularity. Locations far from the path of annularity will see only a small part of the Sun covered by the Moon, while places close to the path will see almost all of the Sun obscured.

No matter where you are, you must take safety precautions to watch the eclipse safely. There is no part of an annular eclipse during which it is safe to look directly at the Sun. You must use a proper solar filter or an indirect viewing method during all phases of the eclipse — even if only a tiny sliver of the Sun is visible around the Moon’s edge, that’s still enough to cause damage to your eyes.  

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                                                   PROLOGUE

My name is cut into the sidewalk on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I am pleased and proud to say that other members of our family can say the same. When I graduated with a degree in engineering I went to work for a defense contractor with headquarters in Orange County, California. It wasn’t by luck that I went there. I had joined the military during the war with Korea and I spent a week or so in the area on my way to Korea. I discovered the moderate summer temperatures and low humidity and vowed to return after I got my education. So, there I was. As my company was a defense contractor, there were projects all over the country as well as business with sub-contractors all over the country. Family guys viewed these required trips away from family sometimes for a week or two as a hardship. However, being single I had no such reservations; in fact I sought these trips out, especially the longer ones. That way I could take a few days of vacation going to and from the business and drive. I would take one route to the work and another route returning to the plant. I was seeing the world. A sheltered young man from Arkansas was having his horizons expanded. This was Cold War time and we were awarded the contract to design, manufacture and install an air defense system for NATO to protect the West from a hostile air attack from the Soviet Bloc. Now there were opportunities to travel to Europe. I jumped at the chance. My horizons were really expanding now. I was now in European countries as often as I was at the plant in California. Flying back and forth gave me the opportunity to take a few days enroute to and from and visit Arkansas. On these trips my home base would always be at my grandmother’s house in Hope, Arkansas; but I would always spend some time with my mother and sister and her wonderful family in the Hampton, Arkansas area. This was the life – wonderful, enjoyable, adventurous, fun with ever expanding knowledge and possibilities. After 25 years with the company I retired. My wife and I settled first in Europe, then to California, then to Colorado, then to Utah, then to Nevada where we are now. I did not forget my roots, my home, during all this time and continued to visit my Grandmother, Ruth Gunter Johnston; my mother, Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger; and my sister, Frankie Lou Weisinger Means and her family. These wonderful visits home continued until my health wouldn’t support it any more. My sister, Frankie, and I continued our connection by telephone for quite a long time. Finally we reverted to the USPS, which is where we are now. It was during these letter correspondences that we began to discuss our mother, Mary. In a letter quite a few years ago, Frankie posed the question “I wonder what made our mother so mean and hateful.” I agreed with her assessment, but said that it would take a lot of thought to reach a conclusion. Both Frankie and I agreed that we should have asked both Ruth and Mary a lot of family questions that we did not. Now all the people who know the details are gone and our memories of that time over 80 years ago are fuzzy to say the least. We would have to concentrate on that long ago period and commit to paper whenever some memory was revealed. Then we would have to analyze the information and identify scenarios that could have happened, and then with research and deduction decide the most logical and reasonable scenario that we think could have and most likely did happen. We mulled that around in our minds for several years.  Last year, 2019, Frankie and I began to put it all together on paper. That’s the following narrative, THE MARY STORY. Most of the story takes place at locations on this map. 

I want to clearly identify the principle people named in this essay. The contributors to this narrative are John Charles McLeod, Frankie Lou Weisinger Means, children of Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger and Melissa Mohon Papineau, daughter of Vivian Jane Johnston Jackson Mohon. Ruth Gunter Johnston was one of ten children of James Henry Gunter and Martha Frances William Buffington who were prosperous farmers in College Hill, Arkansas. This was a sparsely settled area devoted to farming. Many family members, including James and Martha, are buried in Shiloh Cemetery, not far from College Hill. They provided their children with a good education, including arts and culture. Ruth was an accomplished pianist. 

She was teaching at Henderson – Brown University, as it was named then, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas when she married Medical Doctor Charles Bennet Johnston of Warren, Arkansas. They married in 1909 when Ruth was 23 years old and CB was 34. They settled in Harrell, Arkansas probably where CB already had an established MD practice. In 1912 they had their first child, Mary Frances. In 1917 they had their second child, TJ. Vivian Jane was born in 1921. Probably CB began to notice the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in about 1928 or 1929 and he succumbed to the disease in November 1932.  

Alice Ann is mentioned on Page 13. Alice Ann is the first child of Frankie Lou and Allison Means. Cindy is mentioned on Page 15. Cindy is the fourth of seven children by Frankie and Allison. Ryan and Ty, also mentioned on Page 15, are Cindy’s children.  RE is first mentioned on Page 20. RE is the second husband of Vivian Jane and is the father of Melissa. Cindy and Melinda are pictured on Page 30. Melinda is the fifth child of Frankie and Allison. Frankie Lou and Allison’s seven children in order of birth are Alice Ann, Martha Kaye, Thom Allison, Margaret Lucinda, Melinda, Russell Paul, and Kevin Bradford. All except Russell are pictured on Page 32. 

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                                                                                                                                        THE MARY STORY

Let me start this off by stating what is officially recorded in my birth certificate and what we think to be true. When I was born on 21 September 1931 Frank McLeod was 40 years old and Mary was 19. Frank listed his residence as Banks and Mary listed her residence as Harrell. The doctor who completed the birth certificate was Dr. J.E. Rhine of Thornton. The birth certificate was registered by Ruth Johnston on 24 September 1931. Frank’s trade was listed as ‘ginner.’ Mary’s trade was listed as ‘housekeeper.’ The birth was listed as ‘legitimate,’ which should mean they were married at the time of my birth. 

During a summer visit to Mary and Frank Weisinger when I was in school I asked Mary if she knew where Frank McLeod was. She replied “you have waited too long for that. He is dead now.” I asked her how life was with Frank and she replied “wonderful.”

I asked her where they lived. She said “in the hotel” or maybe she said “in hotels.” I’m not clear on that point. I asked Mary didn’t he want to contact me, to see the kind of person I am? Mary replied “no contact. That was part of the agreement. He never broke it.”

I saw some pictures of Mary and me with Mary in her school graduation cap and gown. I was a toddler. I could walk. The top of my head was about up to her waist. I was maybe 2 or 3? 

These pictures  were taken at the Johnston home in Harrell, Arkansas in 1934 on the occasion of Mary’s Artesian High School graduation.                                                                             

On 21 September 1931, Ruth Johnston was 45, CB Johnston was 56, Frank McLeod was 40, Mary was 19, TJ was 14, Vivian was 10, Frank Weisinger was 19. CB Johnston died on 22 November 1932. The Great Stock Market Crash occurred on 29 October 1929. The country was in the Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed until the beginning of WWII in 1941. Mary and Frank Weisinger had their first child, Frankie Lou on 24 February 1935. 

So, on 21 September 1931, Ruth’s husband was dying, Mary was delivering John, TJ was 14 and Vivian was 10. The country was in the Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. 

Those pictures and words are the facts as we think we know them now. I will now raise rhetorical questions, make comments and do analytical research in an effort to determine what the most probable, most reasonable, most logical situation existed at that time. 

Frank was 40, Mary was 19. This fact immediately raises a line of questioning that would be entirely different, if, say, they were both 19. OK? Was Frank married? Divorced? Widowed? Single? We don’t know the answer to any of that and a yes to any one of the four possibilities raises a different set of new questions. How did Mary and Frank meet? Frank was a ginner, the operator of a cotton gin. I don’t recall a cotton gin in Harrell. However, there was a railroad with a depot in Harrell. This would have been convenient for shipping bales of cotton. I do not recall seeing cotton bales at the Harrell depot. The depot was about 150 yards from our house. I searched the Internet for cotton gin locations in Arkansas and found very minimal information. I do know for a fact that there was a gin in Hampton. At that time cotton was transported to the gin in a horse drawn wagon. It was depression time and farmers were still in the horse drawn age for both transportation and work. In 1931 trucks were not a viable alternative. Railroads were needed to transport cotton to the textile mills of the north. Therefore, Harrell could very well have been a hub for shipping cotton. Harrell is 4.7 miles from Hampton. A horse drawn wagon’s average speed is about 4 mph. Therefore, a wagon full of ginned cotton bales could be transported from Hampton to Harrell in 1.5 hours. I notice on the birth certificate that two people using two different pens entered information on the certificate. One person was Dr Rhine. The information entered by the second person is the name of the child, the trade of the father, the middle initial of the mother, the name of the Registrar (Ruth Johnston) and the date the certificate was filed. Perhaps this second person was not familiar with cotton processing and knew only that Frank worked in the cotton business. He could have been in management at the cotton gin in Hampton and traveled to the Harrell Depot to organize and supervise the shipment of the cotton bales to the customers. It could be that travel to customer locations in large cities would be part of the job. The birth certificate lists his residence as Banks, Arkansas. Did he own a home there, or did he live there with relatives (such as mother and father) when there was no cotton to be ginned? How long did Mary and Frank  live together? Were they living together during cotton harvesting season as well as winter and cotton planting season? Where did they live together? Mary told me they lived in hotels or a hotel. How old was Mary when she began living with Frank? According to the Internet the average female in the 1930s was 5’6” and 124 pounds. I remember Mary as that, not small, not tall. So, if we say 5”6” and the top of my head is at her waist in the photo; then I would be about 2’9” in the photo. According to the Internet the average height of a 2 year old boy is 2’10”. So we can say that I am about 2 years old in the photo. (From analysis later in this essay, I am most likely 2¾ years old and Mary is unmarried and pregnant with Frankie Lou in these photos.) There is the nine months of pregnancy, one to two years for nursing inasmuch as formula was not widely introduced until the 1940s. After that Mary could then return to school to graduate, which is what we see in the photo. Her age on the birth certificate is 19. According to the Internet the average age of high school juniors is 16 or 17 and seniors 17 or 18. I was born on 21 September 1931; therefore, I was conceived in January 1931. Cotton is planted in early spring, depending on the weather and is harvested in August and September in this area. Assuming that Frank and Mary met during the harvesting season at the Harrell depot, they probably met in August-September of 1930. This would most likely have been prior to Mary’s senior year in high school. They could have been together from that time through January of 1931 and Mary could have returned home visibly pregnant about June-July 1931. Where did they live during this time? Mary said that they lived in hotels or in a hotel. But where? An alternative time frame would be from August-September 1929. This would mean prior to Mary’s junior year in high school, meaning that she had two years of school to graduate and about a year and a half living with Frank. I think this scenario is less likely. So if they met in August-September of 1930, prior to Mary’s senior year in high school, she would have been most likely 17 or just barely 18. Perhaps she had just turned 18, an adult, and thought she could do as she pleased. Mary said that life with Frank was “wonderful.” She also said that there was an agreement and part of the agreement was no contact from Frank. This tells me that there was a conflict and that the resolution was more or less dictated by someone against the wishes of Mary. If both Frank and Mary were in love, why didn’t they marry and live happily every after? I conclude that Mary was in love, Frank was not. When she became visibly pregnant, he most likely sent her home to have the baby. I think Ruth threatened him with possible incarceration and dictated the terms of the “agreement.” Some of the terms being to marry Mary prior to the birth of the child and cease all contact with Mary or the child. I think he quickly agreed to these terms and went happily on his way. I also think this disappointed and in fact infuriated Mary. She probably wanted Ruth to force Frank to marry her and to live with her. Her dream of life with Frank traveling the world as she knew it was shattered. When I finally got sense enough to ask about Frank, maybe in my teen years, she quickly replied with his status, meaning that she had at least maintained knowledge of Frank all those years. 

So, what do we think we know as fact? Mary dropped out of school and left home with Frank McLeod. She returned home pregnant. She and Frank were married prior to the birth. Frank agreed not to contact Mary or the child. Mary enjoyed her life with Frank and was happy during that time. Mary returned to high school and graduated. That brief summary can be embellished in many, many ways. 

 If cotton was shipped from Harrell on the rail road to market, the bales would not have accumulated on the station platform. Therefore they would not have been obvious to me. The bales would have been stored in a rail road car on a side rail until the car was full and ready for shipment. With the depot so close to the house and with lax supervision due to Ruth’s situation, it would have been easy for Mary to go over to the depot to observe the activity. Ruth was very busy caring for a dying husband, doing all the housework, cooking the meals and therefore attention to three children would most likely have suffered somewhat. The connection between Mary and Frank at the depot could have begun with a simple question such as “where does all that cotton go?” It could have culminated with “come with me and I’ll show you the world.” Or, “take me with you.” An unattached man of that age would have been flattered to have the attention of a young, pretty girl. And we know now that there was a promiscuous element to Mary’s psyche. If this scenario, or one similar to it, was true there would have had to be a great disagreement between Mary and Ruth about leaving. Otherwise, there would have been missing person reports, or even possibilities of kidnapping. When Mary became pregnant, especially visibility pregnant, Frank most likely explained that family life was not for him and that Mary would have to return to Harrell and to Ruth’s care. If this or something similar was the case, Frank would most likely have been elated to agree to marry to give the child a legitimacy with no further contact and no further responsibility. If this scenario or something similar is true, Ruth’s responsibilities and anxieties, cited previously, would have limited her analytical parenting. Therefore, in this case there would most likely have been harsh words at the time Mary left to live unmarried with Frank and at the time she returned still unmarried with Frank’s child. This surely would have been the source of conflict between mother and daughter for the remainder of their lives, and we have evidence that there was conflict. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with diarrhea, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child, deal with Frank McLeod and through legal or other coercion convince him to legitimize the child by marrying Mary. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 25), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas (Map Pages 33, 34) to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been another point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. 

John was born in September 1931, most likely conceived in January 1931. Mary most likely returned to the Johnston household obviously pregnant in June – July 1931 time frame.  Mary was then most likely relocated to Artesian in July – August 1931 to the home of the unknown benefactor. After the birth of the baby, there is the timeline between then and the time the baby returned to the Johnston household in Harrell. After puzzling over this time line for quite some time, the most logical (at least to me) scenario I could come up with has Mary nursing me for nearly two years in Artesian living with the benefactor.  The reason I have her nursing me for nearly two years is this: The scientific study of the human biology indicates that the human body is geared to a weaning time of 2½ to 7 years. In 1931 baby food had just been invented and was not commercially available on a large scale. When it came time to integrate “baby food” with mother’s milk, the baby food was made at home. At that time meat and solid foods were considered damaging to a child’s digestive system. Also, fruits and vegetables were avoided until about age four out of fear of disease. The World Health Organization advocates at least two years of breast feeding. UNICEF also recommends this. So, in 1931 with no commercial formula and no commercial baby food, two years or more of breast feeding for newborns would most likely be normal. So, I chose nearly two years for our timeline. Inasmuch as both Frankie Lou and I have good, strong systems within our bodies – good cardio vascular systems, good immune systems, etc., I conclude that both Frankie Lou and I were most likely breast fed for about two years. And immune systems are key here because biological science indicates that a strong immune system needs prolonged breast feeding. (I think that depending on formula rather than prolonged breast feeding has created so many people with all sorts of allergies in today’s society.) Here is the time line that makes the most sense to me: 

July – August 1931 – Mary is relocated to Artesian to the care of the benefactor. 

September 1931 – John is born.

The unknown benefactor in Artesian could have been a midwife. We just don’t know, but are grateful. The Johnston Harrell household just could not accommodate the needs of Mary and John with Dr. CB in the horrible Parkinson’s disease end of life period as well as all the other responsibilities being born by Ruth at this time. 

September 1932 – John is still in the nursing phase and one year old.

Late summer 1933 – John is relocated to Harrell and to the care of Big. Perhaps this is done to allow Mary to be free to concentrate on her final year in high school in Artesian. Mary told me that I could not stop crying when they took me away. 

I wonder if this separation had any effect on my psyche that I don’t realize even now in 2020.  

September 1933 – Mary enters Artesian High School for her senior year. She meets Frank Weisinger and begins to have casual sex with him. Frank was the most handsome guy in the class. I saw a photo of the Artesian school class that Mary had. 

Frankie Lou had this photo for awhile after Mary died. There were about ten people in this photograph. 

May 1934 – Mary conceives Frankie Lou.

June 1934 – Mary and Frank graduate from high school. We have the photos of Mary in her graduation cap and gown in Harrell with John which were shown earlier in this essay. Mary is pregnant with Frankie Lou in these pictures. John would be two years and nine months old at this time. Mary would be about 21 years, 10 months old. The most logical and reasonable scenario has Mary returning to Harrell to join the Johnston household and to be the mother of John. She soon discovers that she is pregnant. She goes to the Witherington farm to find Frank and to determine if he would marry her.  

July 1934 – Mary goes to the field to notify Frank that she is pregnant. Frank’s older sister, Molly, told Frankie Lou that Frank was working in the field and Mary came there to give Frank the news. Here is the reason that I think that Mary and Frank were having casual sex. If they were in a loving relationship, making plans for the future, Mary would have waited for a more intimate moment to give her lover the good news. However, going into the field to disclose the situation, means to me that Mary has just determined that she is pregnant and is alarmed and distraught, knowing that she is in big trouble if Frank will not agree to marry her. Frank does the honorable thing and they marry and move into a little two room house across the creek from the Oscar Witherington field where he is working and where he and Mary would spend their lives working.  

February 5, 1935 – Frankie is born. Mary, Frank and Frankie Lou live in the little two room house for several years and until the four room house on Highway 167 next to the Oscar Witherington farm land is vacated. This is where Frankie Lou grew up and where I came to visit on my summer vacations. Why wasn’t John returned to the care of Mary after Mary and Frank married? This is an interesting question and I have no answer for it. I have no regrets regarding my life with Big. I have had a wonderful life. I just wonder why the situation was that I lived with Big and spent school summers with Mary, Frank and Frankie Lou? I suppose we’ll never know. 

What was life like for Mary and Frank working the Oscar Witherington 80 acre farm and living in the little four room house on Highway 167?

Both Mary and Frank worked hard making their situation as good as it could be. Mary was much more than just a good and hard farm worker. She was smart, clever, intelligent. She really had a talent as an artist which became known late in her life. Her paintings were becoming commercial quality. She never smoked or drank alcohol except for one instance that Frankie recalls.  Frankie and I can be thankful for the good health and good genes she passed on to us. What contributed to her attitude that dominated her late life? I do not recall anything negative during my pre-teen and teen summer visits with Mary, Frank and Frankie Lou. I enjoyed those visits and had fun. I know I was a burden to both of them. I recall four errors that I made and Frank just laughed them off. I carelessly contaminated a large bin of picked cotton, I nearly wrecked the tractor, I started a forest fire and I flooded a part of a cotton field. They never complained and never criticized me for my errors. They were farming and farm life in that era was very hard. Frank plowed with a mule and horses for most of the time. Tractors came into the picture late. Cotton was the money crop. Picking cotton is hard work. I tried it. They produced all they needed to subsist. They grew fruits and vegetables. Mary maintained a beautiful vegetable garden. They raised animals – chickens, pigs, cattle. They produced food for the animals. They had a small barn for animal food storage. They had a smoke house for preserving food for winter. They slaughtered animals and preserved them in the smoke house. Mary canned and preserved food for winter consumption. They cooked on a wood stove. The house had no plumbing and no electricity. Nighttime illumination was by oil lamp. Water was brought in from the nearby well for cooking and bathing. We bathed once a week. Even a pump for the well came in late. Clothes were washed in a big, black, iron pot in the back yard and hung to dry on clothes lines in the back yard. Frank’s very dirty working clothes were boiled in the pot with a very harsh soap. The pot was heated by a wood fire. The toilet was in the usual small house about 100 yards from the home. Toilet paper was a Montgomery Ward catalog. Mary gave birth to me at 19. She gave birth to Frankie at 23, four years later. There was a nine year gap and then she had Barry Lynn in 1944 who lived six months and Kenneth Wayne in 1945 who was stillborn. Frankie was told that if they had carried Barry Lynn to the doctor immediately when he got sick, that he very well could have survived his illness. Perhaps they didn’t for financial reasons. We just don’t know. The little house was a ‘shotgun house’ with four rooms – a kitchen and living room on one side of the open ‘hallway’ and two bedrooms on the other side with one bedroom actually being the enclosed back porch. Heating was from a fireplace in the living room and from the kitchen stove. Those bedrooms could be very cold even in non-winter times. This was a hard and difficult life. But as I recall during the period of my summer visits there was a very positive, friendly, wholesome atmosphere in this household that was full of work by Mary and Frank every day. Of course I was only there during my school summer vacation. Frankie Lou experienced a side of Mary and Frank, especially Mary, that I never suspected. 

Here is what she says about that surprising (to me) experience:

“During the time when I was from about 12 to 16 years old mama and daddy worked the farm all the year except the winter. During the winter daddy worked in construction and mama worked in town. Daddy would be gone all week and returned home for the weekends. I remember a man named Henderson who would come to the house and pick up mama and me and we would go to El Dorado. They would put me in a double feature movie and would return in about 4 hours. He was not from Hampton. Later on she became less secretive about seeing other men. When mama was working at the Drug Store she began to see Gerald Cook. I would wait in the truck while they would go into the bushes south of town. I remember one time we went to a dance in Harrell and mama got drunk. This was the only time that happened. It got really bad when she was working at Clanton’s Café. She would stay out all night somewhere leaving me at home alone. She was gone a lot. When daddy did not come home on the weekend, she did as she pleased and would be gone. One time there was a big snowfall and you couldn’t travel on the roads. Mama did not come home for four days. Thankfully there was butane for heating, but by the end of the four days the food was almost gone. This was scary. All this came to a point one weekend. One time daddy said that he would not be coming home on the next weekend. Mama told me she had to go to Hope to see about Big who was very sick. But daddy did come home and wanted to know where mama was. I told him what mama had told me. He had me call Hope to find out. They said that Big was OK and they had not seen mama. Daddy beat me really bad thinking that I was lying to cover up for mama. My friend Mary Lou Means called me and I told her about the beating. She had her brother, Allison, come and get me. I stayed with Mary Lou then. The police came to investigate, but I didn’t press charges. Mama did not try to see me or to get in touch with me. Allison asked me to marry him and we married in 1951. We moved to Warren where he was employed as a surveyor. We had a good marriage and he provided well for us. Mama or daddy didn’t contact me. I don’t know why mama thought she was so much above the Means but she did. By then we had a baby girl who was Alice Ann. This was in May of 1952. Finally I went to see them and we got along for awhile. Then daddy got sick and he lived for about a year. During the time he was sick and especially near the end, I helped as much as I could. Mama was so hateful and bitter and after daddy died she told me she hated me. I asked her why and she said she didn’t know why, that she just did. I just let it go and still went to see her and drive her places. She told some terrible lies to people that I learned about after she had passed away. Daddy never said a word to me about what he did to me. And to this day I still have a dream about it. I thought he told mama he beat me but she said he did not. I’ve never got over it. I am sorry to say that I do not look back with love for my parents. It has been a hard thing to live with. It seems I was not wanted and you were not either.” 

Now that I know the story, I vaguely recall a couple of hints to this activity that I experienced during my summer visits:

One summer I looked in the magazine rack that was in the living room and was shocked and astounded to find several magazines with naked people in social situations. I was so stunned that I quickly put them back into the rack and never said anything about it. Thinking about it now, probably they were nudist colony magazines. 

Another time on one of my summer visits, we had all just retired for bed and sleeping. Mary said in a voice loud enough for everyone in or near the little house to hear “Oh, Frank!! Your hand is so cold!”

The indiscretion by Mary is a real shocker to me. I never imagined such a thing was going on. And I am really surprised, shocked and dismayed that Frank abused Frankie Lou. I always thought Frank was a very hard worker but an equally gentle person. Maybe Frank was just discovering that Mary was unfaithful and that he was losing her. That sort of thing can drive a loving husband to irrational actions that are out of character and reason. His resort to violence, even out of anger and despair, is deplorable. And against his own child!

Late in my high school years I came to the farm for my summer vacation and Frankie was not there. Mary tried to explain why Frankie was absent. She had a story about a skating rink in Hampton where kids gathered after school. Mary said that she told Frankie not to go there and not to mix with the older boys. She said that Allison Means was one of the older boys who frequented the place. We know now that Mary did not know at that time about Frank’s abuse of Frankie causing Frankie to leave home. Mary just told me that Frankie ran away with Allison, a boy 10 years older than Frankie. Mary ran away from home with a man who was 21 years older than she was. Frankie was born on 5 February 1935. She and Allison married on 3 June 1951. Frankie was 16 at that time. Eleven months later on 2 May 1952 they had their first child, Alice Ann. 

After Frankie left home and married Allison, Mary and Frank continued to work the Witherington farm for quite a while. At this time Frank knew that Mary had not been faithful. Whether Mary continued with her infidelity or had a change of heart is not known. Finally growing cotton on an 80 acre farm was insufficient as a principal cash crop. As I recall, TJ helped Frank get a job in construction with Brown & Root in Texas. Mary also worked in town in the winter. The next significant event was the death of Mr. Oscar Witherington, the owner of the farm and all the property associated with it. It is not known if he had a will, but it is known that Frank received the 80 acre farm, the little house on the highway and all its associated buildings. Thomas, Frank’s brother, received the Oscar vehicles and some money.  Oscar’s wife, Clara, received the big house on the hill and half the big barn and the associated property . She sold her interests  and moved to Hampton to live with her sister. Finally Frank and Mary gave up farming as a livelihood. Frank took a job at Calion Lumber Co. and Mary began to work in Hampton. They also began to raise cattle as another income. This life style continued until Frank began to suffer severe head aches. After suffering for quite a while, he finally was diagnosed with a brain tumor. There was surgery to remove it, but it was malignant and Frank was given six months to a year to live. Mary kept this information from Frank and he thought that he would recover. I did not agree with that decision but did not violate it. It was about one year later that the cancer returned as hundreds of mini tumors throughout his brain. As he lay terminal in the little house by the highway he remarked to me “John, I thought I was going to get well,” and fell into a coma from which he never recovered. 

After Frank died Mary continued to live alone in the little house for several years. Frankie Lou and I exchanged a lot of letters over many months trying to jog our memories about these events, most of which happened about seventy years ago. Here is part of a letter I wrote to Frankie in this regard:

‘I have some questions concerning the situation during and after the time we were young and Mary and Frank were living in the little house on the highway. How is it that Mary and Frank ended up with the 80 acre farm and property that we had always lived in and half of the big barn at Mr. Oscar’s place? It seems that Mr. Oscar’s house and half his big barn and the property it was all on went to someone, and the rest went to Mary and Frank. Was it in the Oscar will? Or was Frank a relative of Mr. Oscar and the land and property went to Frank in that way? The division of the property must have been contentious because as I recall there was a line or fence down the center of Mr. Oscar’s barn meaning that half the barn went to Frank and half went to other family members. Do you know or recall anything about that?’

And here is part of Frankie’s reply to that letter.

‘You asked about Uncle Oscar. There is a story there. He had an affair with daddy’s mother and she got pregnant with daddy and then Uncle Tom. Her husband, Onnye Weisinger finally caught on and left her. So daddy and Uncle Tom were really Witheringtons instead of Weisingers. It was a well kept secret. I did not know it until after daddy passed away. More on this saga later.’

Frankie wrote the continuation of the Witherington – Weisinger saga over several letters. I paraphrase Frankie’s information and combine the several letters into this one paragraph.  Frankie provided the information in her letters to me in 2020. It also repeats previously included information. 

‘Oscar Witherington was a gentleman farmer, meaning he was the owner of the land and he had other people work the land and derive a profit from it. His wife was named Clara. They lived in what was a big house in those days on top of the hill with a big barn adjoining. Onnye and Margaret Lucinda Weisinger lived in the area. We know now that the Weisinger family consisted of the Father and Mother and the children, Bernice, Gladys, Lucille, Mollie, Frank and Thomas. We now know that Margaret gave birth to Frank and Thomas, but Oscar was the father. Onnye discovered Margaret’s indiscretion and left her. It is not known if Clara knew about the indiscretion. Margaret died when Frank was about nine years old. Mollie and Jim Grant, who did not have children of their own, then raised Frank and Thomas. This could have been with the assistance of Oscar and Clara. Oscar and Clara did not have any children. There is much we don’t know here, but we do know that as an adult Frank was working on the Witherington farm and most likely still living with Mollie and Jim. Mary came to the field where Frank was working to inform Frank that she was pregnant (with Frankie Lou). Frank did the honorable thing and they married. At first they lived in a small two room house across the creek from the Oscar farm where Mary delivered Frankie Lou. They eventually moved into the little four room house on the highway bordering the Witherington property when it became available and were the principal workers/managers of the Witherington property. When Oscar died the 80 acre farm and the little four room house and associated buildings went to Frank and Mary. Clara had the big house on the hill and half of the Oscar barn, which she sold and went to Hampton to live with her sister. Thomas and his wife, Dorothy, received the Oscar vehicles and some money. Cotton lost its value as a subsistence crop and both Frank and Mary began other work. Frank began to complain of severe headaches and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. There was surgery, but the tumor was malignant and Frank was given six months to a year to live. In about one year Frank’s brain became riddled with hundreds of mini-tumors and he died at the age of 58. Mary continued to live alone in the little house on the highway for many years. Finally Frank’s half-sister, Dorothy, convinced Mary to move into the Cove Apartments in Hampton. She was living there when she died of a stroke on 31 July 2000 at age 88.

Cindy, Frankie’s daughter, lived in the house with Ryan and Ty for a short time, but the deterioration in the house became so severe that repair was unfeasible and they moved out leaving the little house vacant. The repair and expansion of Highway 167 spelled doom for the little house and its associated buildings. All buildings near the highway like that had to be eliminated. So, finally it and all the buildings associated with it were destroyed. Now there doesn’t seem to be a trace of the joys and sorrows, sadness and happiness, and difficult lives lived in the little house by the highway.’

I don’t know when it started, but Mary developed a very serious negative attitude about most everything later in her life. She could find something negative to say about most everyone and everything. There was a contrary side to her nature which we noted first in this narrative when she didn’t go to Mary Lou Means’ house to discuss Frankie Lou’s situation. She sent the police over there. She never went herself. I encountered a similar contrary attitude, not as serious as this, but certainly contrary. I was just out of high school, one semester in college, when I joined the Air Force and went to the Korean War. This was my first time away from home. I was lonesome and homesick. I wrote Mary weekly with my news and at first asking, then pleading for her to answer with her news. This went on for quite a while and finally I wrote that if I didn’t hear from her I would conclude that she didn’t want to correspond and that I would stop writing. She didn’t write, so I stopped writing. She did not write to me, but wrote to the base commander and complained that I was not writing my mother and got me in a lot of trouble. Also, after graduating from college and traveling the world, I would often send Mary a postcard with my news and return address hoping to hear from her; but I never did. I don’t recall a negative attitude from Mary when I was visiting on my summer vacations. However after I relocated to the US from living in Europe for many years, I would take a trip back to Texas, Arkansas and Kansas every year including an open ended stay with her in her little house on Highway 167 and it was then when this attitude really manifested itself. The visit would be very enjoyable for both of us for several days, but soon she would begin to say negative and derogatory things about people we knew and some I didn’t know. This would also include news events and even news trivia. She would most often start off with Allison, Frankie’s husband. She never had anything positive to say about Allison and would not accept anything positive about him. I reminded her about the time she was in the contested and rotting Oscar barn and fell through the rotted upstairs floor onto the ground below. Allison found her and got her to the hospital. She would not give him credit for helping her, perhaps saving her life. She just said, “well, I would have finally got out.” Mary had some very good friends, Betty Jo (Stringfellow) and Rodney, who lived in a little prefabricated house nearby. For many of my summer visits we enjoyed an evening or two with Betty Jo and Rodney chatting around the kitchen table. It was fun. Finally she gave her thoughts on them directly to Betty Jo rather than behind the back to me – that was the end of that friendship. During my visits, finally her derogatory remarks would get around to me. I would listen to what she had to say and the next day I would be on my way.

Again, I never noticed this attitude when I was a youngster on my summer school vacations with her, Frank and Frankie. There was an emotional conflict between Mary and her mother, Ruth,  that lasted their entire lives probably beginning with Mary’s runaway from home in 1930. There is clear evidence that this conflict existed, but it was from Mary toward Big. Big never indicated anything other than love and care for her daughter, Mary. The first time I became aware of this conflict was after we (Ruth, TJ, Vivian and me) had relocated from Harrell to Hope and a new life for all of us. Mary, Frank and Frankie lived on the farm.

It was a Sunday morning. Ruth, Vivian, TJ and I were living in the Hope house. Ruth was very active in her church, Garrett Memorial Baptist. Ruth played the piano during the service and taught a Sunday School Class. It would be an inconvenience for many people for her not to attend Sunday service. Ruth, Vivian and I attended that Sunday. TJ was not around on that Sunday for some reason. The front door of the house was always left unlocked in those days. We returned home from church services and on the front door was a note. As I recall Ruth uttered a mournful statement and sobbed a bit. We went inside. Later I asked Vivian what had happened. Vivian said that Mary and Frank were coming to visit that Sunday and when Ruth was not there to meet them, they wrote an unpleasant note and left. Vivian also said that they knew Ruth was very active in her church. Vivian also said that they could have and should have just went in, made coffee or something and waited for services to end. Later on, maybe next day, I asked Ruth why we didn’t call Mary and ask why they didn’t wait. Ruth replied something like “ Ooooh! She has a temper!!” I never experienced in person Mary’s temper. Maybe she had it only for Ruth.

Big was in the nursing home in Hampton. I was visiting from Europe. 

There had been a very big disagreement between Vivian, Mary and TJ. I had always thought that it was over the ownership and disposition of the Hope house. However, now that we have been thinking and contemplating about all of this stuff, I think there was more to it than that. Anyway, Ruth was no longer able to take care of herself after suffering the second stroke. So for someone legally to take care of her and her finances, she had to be declared incompetent by the court. The court put Vivian in charge of her finances and put Mary in charge of the person (Ruth). Mary moved her out of the Hope nursing home where she had her church people often visiting her as well as her brothers and sisters and their children. When I heard about the move, I thought it was a mistake, but I had no say in the matter and besides it was done when I heard about it. Mary and I were sitting in her flower shop in Hampton, waiting for closing time with Big in the nursing home. Mary said to me “I told Big ‘you have ruled the roost for these many years. Now you are going to do like somebody else says.’”

On another visit, I found Big without her dentures. I asked Mary about it. She said that Big wasn’t careful with them and they probably were carried out when the sheets were changed. That didn’t sound very likely to me, but I didn’t contradict her. I said “Let’s get in touch with the dentist who made those dentures. He surely has the mold for the dentures and can make another set.”

I asked what a normal set of dentures would cost and gave Mary a check for that amount with the request that she get those dentures for Big. When I was there about a year later I noticed that Big had no dentures. I asked Mary about it. She said “well I didn’t get them. She would have just lost them like the others.” She had the check in her purse and handed it to me. I told Mary “you cash that check and use it to get Big whatever she needs to be more comfortable.”

On another visit, Mary and I were in her flower shop waiting on closing time. Mary was behind the counter. I was sitting on a stool on the customer’s side of the counter. Mary said to me “I told Big that you told me that she taught you not to love me.” The statement hurled me off the stool. I shouted “That’s impossible!! Such a thought has never entered my mind!! That’s a lie!!” Mary drew back her hand to slap me, but didn’t follow through. She just said “well, it’s your word against mine.” I said that I was going over to the nursing home. Mary said that they wouldn’t let me in because it was past visiting time. I said that I would get in and I did. Big was still awake. I tried, in an indirect way, to communicate to Big what had happened. All she said was “She’s my daughter and I love her.” That night Mary had her vehicle and I had mine. I drove to the little house on the highway, collected my things and went on my way. I continued to visit, of course; but that was all that I could take on that visit. 

MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY

At one point in our family narrative, the Harrell property was owned by me, Vivian and Mary. This came to be in the following way. Big had a stroke which put her in a nursing home in Hope (briefly discussed on Page 18). In order to take care of Big and Big’s property she had to be declared incompetent by the court and people designated by the court to take care of all that. There was contention regarding the real and legal ownership of the Hope house and this created severe animosity between TJ, Vivian and Mary – especially between TJ and Vivian. The court put Vivian in charge of the estate and Mary in charge of the person. TJ had paid for the house. The house deed was in Ruth’s name. The court declared that the house was part of Ruth’s estate. Vivian put the house up for sale to pay Ruth’s bills. TJ bought it because that was where he was living, effectively paying for it twice. That is at least one of the contentious points. The Harrell property was by law owned equally by the three children. TJ gave his one third title to me, saying that he did not want to have any further dealings with Vivian. We took turns paying the property taxes due each year, Vivian, Mary and me. One year Mary announced that she no longer would pay her share. Neither Vivian nor I could convince Mary that someone had to pay the taxes or we could lose the property. Finally, Mary gave her one third share to me. So, at that point I owned two thirds and Vivian one third. Events occurred that caused Vivian to want to sell the Harrell house. TJ agreed. We asked him even though he had no legal say in the matter. Mary was vehemently opposed to selling. We offered to give the house to Mary if she would live in it, but she ridiculed the offer and continued vehement opposition to selling. Logic, reason and circumstances would not budge her. Vivian and I owned, so we sold the house and the lot the house was on, retaining the remainder of the property. This was a very contentious point between Vivian and Mary. I wanted to sell all of the property. We had what I thought was a decent offer. However, completely closing the Harrell chapter of her life was too much for Vivian and we retained the remaining property. After the sale was complete in Harrell, Vivian and I got a cool drink at a fast food place there in Harrell and sat on a bench in the shade nearby. Vivian began talking about Mary and suddenly she began to cry and just could not stop. Finally the emotion was overcome and we returned to Hope. I think reflecting on all the difficulties she had had with Mary and the emotion of selling her childhood home just overwhelmed her. 

Some years later, Mary told me on one of my visits that the USPS had inquired about purchasing the lot on Main Street on which Dr CB’s office had stood. At that point RE was the one third owner, so I contacted RE to see if he would agree to selling. He thought we should keep the entire package together to obtain the best price. So I gave a negative reply to the USPS. 

Later Mary criticized and ridiculed me for not selling. She said that she thought it would be nice to sell with the stipulation of placing a plaque or notice of some sort that Dr. C. B. Johnston’s medical office had been on that site. I said “You should have said something at the time. I think that’s a great idea. I’ll contact USPS immediately.” She said that it was too late now. She was right. It was too late. They had all the land that they needed. 

Finally after paying the taxes all those years on the property, RE and I decided to sell. We had great difficulty finding a buyer, but finally did and sold. Regretfully we did not even get enough to cover the property tax and insurance payments that we had made and a survey of the property which the buyer required. When Mary heard about the sale, she demanded one third share in the sale. I told her the sale did not begin to cover the taxes and other expenses that we had paid over the years. She still insisted on a one third payment. So, I gave her a bill for the taxes and insurance she didn’t pay and one third of the survey cost and told her that when I received her check for that I would send her a one third share of the sale. She wrote me a really nasty letter following that. I replied that if she had something positive to say, I would reply, but that I was not going to reply to any correspondence of that nature. I also asked Frankie to relay the message to her in person. I never heard from her again and never saw her again. 

Mary and Vivian traveled together to the site for the wedding of Melissa and Bill. After getting there and helping in the wedding preparation, Mary refused to attend the wedding ceremony. This behavior is bizarre and it distressed Vivian. Melissa recalls Mary complaining about Bill’s ‘bachelor party’ prior to the wedding and a dish Melissa prepared. This shows pettiness as well as contrariness. 

RE was upset with Mary for coming to visit Vivian only once when Vivian was terminal with cancer. Surely RE thought this was not proper conduct for a loving sister. I would speculate that this supports the theory that their relationship had become strained. Could the sister’s alienation stem from Mary’s treatment of their mother after the court’s decision to name Mary as the “guardian of the person?” At this stage of Mary’s life she could always find something negative to say about anyone and everyone and nearly everything, as well. 

The Gunter family wanted to bury Big in Shilo Cemetary at Lamartine, Arkansas where the mother, father are buried. They said they had a plot for Big, putting the family in a row. Mary buried Big in Dickerson Cemetery near Harrell, Arkansas beside her husband, CB. I was there at the cemetery once with Vivian and Mary when we noticed a mistake with the date on one of the headstones. It was decided to leave it as it was. Both Vivian and Mary seemed satisfied and in agreement with this location for Big. 

CONCLUSIONS

Melissa: She was probably a negative person, ready to take offense at anything or anyone. She was probably more cooperative and likeable with non-family people. It is suspected that she had at least major depression recurring. She most likely had a mental illness. 

Frankie Lou: She was hateful and bitter. She told me that she hated me. She told many lies about me that I discovered only after she died. 

John: I would agree with hateful and bitter and add mean. She was definitely hateful and mean to her mother in the nursing home as if seeking revenge. 

FURTHER COMMENTS

While Big was in the Hampton nursing home I tried several times to comment to Big about negative comments and negative actions Mary (the court appointed guardian) had made or taken regarding Big, but Big always cut me short with the simple phrase “She is my daughter and I love her.” I never actually realized and accepted the fact that this wonderful, loving, compassionate woman was tormented by her own daughter in those final times. This makes me so very sad. Big accepted and accomplished without complaint the extremely difficult task of care giving in the final stages of both her husband and her mother. For her to have to endure what she did in her own final stages is a tremendous injustice. One I cannot forgive or forget now that I have thought the entire situation out. I fault myself for not recognizing the situation when it was active and at least trying to do something, although it would have been difficult with Mary having legal guardianship. Did CB and Ruth have big plans for Mary? She was the first born. Ruth’s mother was named Martha Frances. Ruth named her first daughter Mary Frances. So she was Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger.

Did Mary have redeeming qualities? She was smart, clever, intelligent. She really had a talent as an artist. Her paintings were becoming commercial quality. She never smoked or drank alcohol except for one time which Frankie recalls. Frankie and I can be thankful for the good health and good genes she passed on to us. What contributed to her attitude that dominated her late life? I do not recall anything negative during my pre-teen and teen summer visits with Mary, Frank and Frankie. I enjoyed those visits and had fun. I know I was a burden to both of them. I made errors and mistakes that required extra work by them, but they never complained and never criticized me for my faults. They were farming and especially in that period, farming was a hard and difficult life.  

There is no question that Mary could be a very difficult person late in her life, ostensibly after Frank and Frankie were gone leaving her alone in the little house by the highway. But as I  previously said, I recall during the period of my summer visits there was a very positive, friendly, wholesome atmosphere in the household that was full of hard and difficult work by Mary and Frank every day. 

After both Frank and Frankie Lou were gone and Mary had time to contemplate, rather than being thankful for the wonderful family that she had through Frankie Lou, did she ponder what life could have been if she had not fled the hell in the Johnston household back around 1930? Of course both Frankie Lou and I (and a lot of other people) are glad that it transpired as it did, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. But did she ever think about what life could have been for her if she had pitched in and worked with Big in that household rather than fleeing with Frank McLeod? Surely she did. And what could that have been? In 1939 she and the rest of the family would have been on their way to Hope where many new avenues could have opened up. Would medical school for Mary have been one of the avenues? She was the oldest and that usually meant the greatest opportunity. Could she have become a doctor? Was that what Dr. CB and Prof. Ruth envisioned for her? Vivian did become a registered nurse and had a very successful career. TJ became a saw filer which was the top sawmill technical job. Yes, surely she did contemplate this sort of thing. Did this possible sort of contemplation affect her mentality? What about her promiscuity? Seeking some undefined, illusive happiness? We’ll never know. A lot of this essay is purely speculation. I do not hold any animosity or hate for my dear mother. I see her as a tragic figure, tragic in her own making. Of course, I cannot forget or forgive her for what she did to Big, but I do not hate her for it. I am just so sad and disappointed that it happened. I am also sad and disappointed that Mary could never bring herself to reconcile with Frankie Lou. Mary told Frankie Lou that she hated her. What a terrible statement. Mary also hated her brother, TJ. Part of this could stem from the very contentious situation between Mary, Vivian and TJ revolving around the Big incompetence hearing. On another occasion, I don’t recall the situation, but I do recall TJ’s remarking to Mary “….if you knew how to keep your pants on.” That remark infuriated Mary. Mary also hated Frank’s sisters, probably because they knew too much about her. I seemed to get along with her better than any other member of the family although we had our contentious moments and our relationship did not end well. I recall one time Mary and I were in the field between the Oscar barn and Mary’s house, Mary gave a grand sweep of her arm and said “Some day all this will be yours.” I replied “I don’t want it. Give it to Frankie Lou.” She was stunned and shocked. It showed on her face. As I recall, at her death, she did not have a will and had my name as beneficiary on some of the estate and the rest of it was divided between Frankie and me by law. I signed all my interests over to Frankie. So, finally that loop was closed back to Frankie. I felt that she had earned it. She had lived right there at the Lion’s mouth all those years. So, in the end, it did come back to my dear, little sister, Frankie Lou. Yes, she earned it. Our dear mother, Mary, did suffer. Life on that farm with Frank was extremely difficult. Surely far from what she envisioned for herself before running away with Frank McLeod. I suppose another way it could be said is that Mary suffered so that we could prosper. 

John and Mary in the little house by the highway, Mary in later life, Ruth as a young person.

 The Johnston Family home in Harrell, Arkansas as it is today. Note the blue and white ‘Johnston Avenue’ street sign. 

The Johnston Family home in Harrell, Arkansas as it was in the 1935 to 1939 period. Note the disrepair of the front steps leading onto the porch. This appears to be from years of neglect, attesting to the family financial situation in that period. This is significant. With labor cheap and available, still funds could not be committed to this repair. Times were indeed dire in the Johnston household. The people in the photo are Ruth, Vivian and John. The woman with the hat is unknown.

This is the Johnston family home in Hope, Arkansas. The family moved here in 1939 from Harrell with the aid of Ruth’s brothers. This was then the home of Ruth until she was placed in a Hope nursing home after having her first stroke. She was subsequently moved to a nursing home in Hampton, Arkansas where she died at the age of 93. This continued to be the ‘family’ home until the death of TJ in 1983. 

In the top left photo are Ruth, Vivian, Melissa and Ruth Ann in the front yard of the Hope house after returning home from church. In the top right photo are Ruth, Ruth Ann and John inside the Hope house. In the bottom left photo are Mary, Vivian, Ruth and Melissa in Vivian’s home in Emmet, Arkansas. In the bottom right is John taking a bath in the front yard of the Harrell house about 1933. Yes, in those days everyone took a bath in a tub like that, only not in the front yard. Frankie Lou, John, Mary and Frank, in that order, took a bath in a tub like that in the kitchen of the little house on the highway, all in the same water! Yes. Water had to be brought in from the well and heated on the kitchen stove. No plumbing or electricity at that time in that house. 

Mary was 87 years old, to be 88 on 7 September 2000. She was returning to her apartment in Hampton early in the evening of 9 July 2000 when she suffered a cerebral thrombosis near her front door where she fell striking her head on the concrete sidewalk, injuring her head but not fracturing her skull. She bled profusely from the wound. She lay there undiscovered until about five the next morning. She was rushed to the hospital where she was experiencing paralysis on the right side, had a blank stare in her eyes, could not talk, did not recognize anyone or anything. I do not know when she regained consciousness, but she was conscious at the hospital, but unresponsive. She did not require life support systems, other than the round-the-clock personal care. There was swelling of the brain, but no surgery was done to relieve the swelling. She did take nourishment in the form of food similar to baby food that was spoon-fed to her. She required help with elimination. After a few days she sometimes would slightly move her head to one side (only one side) in response to sound or speech from that side and would sometimes slightly squeeze one’s finger on request. 

The type of stroke that Mary had was a cerebral thrombosis where a clot, or thrombosis, forms in the artery of the brain blocking the blood flow to a portion of the brain. A stroke of this type sometimes begins with a sudden loss of consciousness. This is probably what happened to Mary and she fell to the sidewalk like a rag doll. Probably the head struck the sidewalk in this situation with a whip-like force, making the contact the most severe possible. In the case of a stroke if emergency aid is administered in the first thirty minutes to one hour and if the stroke is not too severe, a high degree of recovery is achieved in about 90% of cases. Otherwise the recovery rate is very low. It is necessary to administer clot breaking drugs and blood thinners in those crucial early minutes to restore blood flow to the deprived brain area. Of course Mary’s treatment was about 9 to 10 hours after the fact and the trauma to her brain was extensive and severe.

The true extent of damage to Mary’s brain is unknown to me and family; but it is known that brain swelling occurred, she was partially paralyzed, she had to be hand fed and helped with elimination, but she was capable of breathing without support. She was not connected to any life support machines. Her level of responsiveness was very low. 

On 18 July, after nine days in the hospital at El Dorado, Mary was moved to the nursing home in Hampton. She continued therapy which was begun in the hospital. The brain may have begun to recover some of its alertness and responsiveness. Also this “recovery” could have been only wishful thinking on the part of the family and care-givers. No clinical repeatable tests and analysis over time to measure this were attempted. It was thought that she would sometimes give a slight smile, a slight curve of the corner of the mouth to something that was said in the room. She also continued to sometimes turn her head in one direction toward sound or speech from that direction, and also continued to sometimes slightly squeeze a finger on request. However, she continued to have to be spoon fed and helped with elimination. 

On Sunday afternoon 31 July 2000 Mary’s lungs filled with fluid and she could not breath. This was a pulmonary edema. The Funeral was on Wednesday 2 August 2000. She is buried in Pickett Cemetery in Calhoun County not far from the little house on the highway with Frank and the two infants. 

Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger, 7 September 1912 – 31 July 2000, is buried with her husband, Frank W. Weisinger, 5 November 1912 – 7 February 1979, in Pickett Cemetery near Hampton, Arkansas. Their two infant boys are also buried there; Barry Lynn, 9 October 1943 – 9 April 1944, and Kenneth Wayne, 27 August 1945, stillborn. The cemetery is located 7 miles south of Hampton, West of Highway 167 at the junction of Roads 146 and 27. Antioch Church is nearby. 

This is a photograph of many of the family members on the occasion of the 90th birthday of Ruth (Big). The photo is taken in Big’s family home in Hope. From the left: Ruth, Vivian, Mary, Kristie in front of Vivian & Mary, TJ, Melissa, Cindy, Melinda, Frankie Lou, Ruth Ann, Amy in front of Ruth Ann. Melissa and Ruth Ann are the daughters of Vivian. Frankie Lou is Mary’s daughter. Cindy and Melinda are Frankie Lou’s daughters. Kristie and Amy are Ruth Ann’s daughters.

 Some of the Means Family is celebrating a Special Occasion with Mary. Pictured left to right standing are: Tory Walker, Jimmy Wilson, Shannon Means, Melinda Means Wilson, Frankie Lou Means, Alice Ann Means Hicks, Ashleigh Ann Means, Winkie Temple, Margaret Cindy Means Franklin, Kevin Bee Means, Terri Johnson Means. Pictured left to right kneeling or sitting are: Kaye Means Hurst, Derrick Means, Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger, Andy Jo Hurst, Bradley Cole Means, Thom Means.  

This is the Johnston family home in Hope, Arkansas. The family moved here in 1939 with the aid of Ruth’s brothers. This was then the home of Ruth until she was placed in a Hope nursing home after having her first stroke. She was subsequently moved to a nursing home in Hampton, Arkansas where she died at the age of 93. This continued to be the ‘family’ home until the death of TJ in 1983.

The Johnston family home in Harrell, Arkansas as it was in the 1935 - 1939 period. Note the disrepair of the front steps leading onto the porch. This appears to be from years of neglect, attesting to the family financial situation in that period. This is significant. With labor cheap and available, still funds could not be committed to this repair. Times were indeed dire in the Johnston household. The people in the photo are Ruth, Vivian and John. The woman in the hat is unknown.

The principle contributors to this narrative are Melissa Mohon Papineau, John Charles McLeod and Frankie Lou Weisinger Means. Melissa now lives with her husband, William Edward Papineau, in Wichita, Kansas. John lives with his wife, Tamiko Tagusari, in Reno, Nevada. Frankie Lou lives with her son, Thom Means, in the family home in Woodberry, Arkansas. Here is the final resting place of the principle people named in this narrative. 

Ruth Gunter Johnston, 31 December 1886 - 12 April 1980, is buried next to her husband, Charles Bennet Johnston, 12 November 1875 - 22 November 1932, in Dickinson Cemetery near Harrell, Arkansas. The cemetery is located 2 1/2 miles East from Harrell on Highway 278, then North 2 miles on Road 38. Pleasant Grove Church is nearby. 

TJ Johnston retired from sawmill work in 1982 at age 65. He was living in the Hope house at 707 East Division Street. He had always done most of the work around the house and very seldom hired outside help. The rain gutters in the house required cleaning. TJ failed to accept that he was now elderly and with less coordination, balance and strength. He undertook this task, one he had always done himself. He fell from the roof, injuring himself and was confined to the hospital. He chose not to go to the care of our family doctor, Dr. Jim McKinsey, in the Branch General Hospital where Vivian was the Chief of Nurses; but went to another hospital instead. Vivian commented that he would not receive optimum care in the facility that he chose. While confined in the hospital he suffered a heart attack and died, ten months after retiring. He had been a smoker for most of his life. While the fall did result in severe injury, surely it was demon tobacco that took his life. 

Vivian was the Chief of Nurses at Branch General Hospital. In addition to her administration tasks, she also worked in the cancer ward of the hospital. She developed a chronic cough. Dr. McKinsey, who she worked with there, kept urging her to check out the cough. Finally she made a chest X-ray. She told me “when I saw those X-rays I knew I was looking at my death warrant.” She had lung cancer. She had been a smoker most of her life and was a smoker then. She had surgery but all the cancer could not be removed. She was given six months to a year to live. In about a year the cancer returned. It was demon tobacco taking another life. 

 I, John McLeod, also smoked as a youngster as most people did in those days. I smoked for about ten years and finally became disgusted with the filthy habit. This was before we knew that tobacco could and most likely would kill you if you used it. Ridding myself of the demon tobacco was the most difficult thing I did in my life. I attribute a heart attack I suffered in 1999 to the demon tobacco. Today I continue life with high risk from cardio vascular disease. I wrote a blog about the demon tobacco. Create a hyperlink on your computer with the following address, click on it, and you can read the blog. If you are reading this on a computer connected to the Internet, that is a hyperlink. Just click on it.     https://JohnArk.Tumblr.com/tagged/tobacco

                                     MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

From the left: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

In this narrative we have briefly stated that Big cared for her dying husband in difficult circumstance in Harrell in the early 1930s and later cared for her dying mother in her home in Hope. The comments about Big’s caring for her mother, Martha Frances, are on Pages 4 and 6 of this narrative. I observed this and was amazed at Big’s skill, patience, compassion and strength both physically and mentally in dealing with what I observed as a very difficult person and difficult situation. I was just a kid at the time, but I was mature enough to recognize an extraordinary life and death event unfolding in that room and appreciate what I was seeing. But even more extraordinary and astounding as well is how deplorable conditions, devastating events, surprising and disappointing betrayals around the final two years of the life of her husband, Dr. Charles Bennett Johnston (CB), were met with such extraordinary determination, loyalty, skill, organization, perseverance, compassion, dedication, endurance, improvisation, stamina, grit, moxie – need I go on? This was indeed an extraordinary situation confronted and overcome by a more than equally extraordinary person. I want to add to what has been said about this in this narrative on Pages 2, 21, 22 and 23. 

 Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility.  And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 25), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created. 

The Johnston household in Harrell continued with little money and scant hope for a better future. Even in very limited circumstances, Ruth never lost her sense of humor. A story she obviously told Vivian and which Vivian told me involved a hefty eater among the lunch time railroad men. Finally Ruth informed the gentleman that she was going to have to increase his meal price to thirty cents. He replied “Oh, Mrs. Johnston, I wish you wouldn’t do that. I have enough trouble now eating twenty five cents worth.”  So in 1934 the Johnston household continued with its meager resources supporting Ruth, TJ, Vivian and John. This was the situation for the next four years. Then in the 1938 – 39 time frame Ruth’s brothers came to her rescue. They were prospering in the sawmill business in Hope, Arkansas. They invited the family to move to Hope and offered TJ an important job in the sawmill. The Johnston household world was transformed. The move to Hope, new situation and a change of life. The family income secured and hope for the future. Ruth happily joining her brothers and sisters with bright and unlimited prospects for her children and me. Mary was left with her prospects and situation that she had created. 

         THE FAMILY NARRATIVE BY MELISSA, FRANKIE & JOHN

            TOLD IN EMAILS AND LETTERS DURING 2019 & 2020 

This is the font and color used for John’s emails and comments.

This is the font and color used for Melissa’s emails. 

This is the font and color used for Frankie’s letters. 

THIS IS THE FONT AND COLOR FOR OTHER ENTRIES. 

The social content in all correspondence has been deleted for the most part, leaving only the family narrative information. The principal people in this essay are Melissa Mohon Papineau, Frankie Lou Weisinger Means, John McLeod, Ruth Gunter Johnston (Big), Charles Bennet Johnston (CB), Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger (Mary), Vivian Jane Johnston Jackson Mohon (Vivian), T.J. Johnston (TJ), R. E. Mohon (RE), Frank McLeod, Frank Weisinger. Mary, TJ and Vivian are Big and CB’s children. Melissa is Vivian’s daughter, Frankie and John are Mary’s children. 

ON 2 MARCH 2019 JOHN WROTE THIS:  I recently had a remark by Frankie in one of her letters that Hampton was just drying up as a town. Not many businesses, that sort of decay. I replied that I think we have to expect that of our small towns - just becoming more or less residential communities. With good roads, good cars, cheap gas it is no big deal to drive to a nearby larger town for more choice and cheaper prices. Knowing what we can see with Google Maps, I decided to "drive" around Hampton and see for myself. Oh, my. She is certainly correct. I looked around a lot. Mary and Frank's little house on Highway 167 is gone. So is the Stringfellow house. In fact in that area, I didn't see any residences close to the highway. Then in Hampton I found very few places of business. Mary's old flower shop is gone. The movie theater is gone - probably long gone. The hardware - general store is gone, again probably long gone. I captured a few photos and sent them to Frankie telling her what I recognized as missing. Then I decided to "drive around Harrell" a bit. I was surprised that Big's house is still there. It is changed a bit - it now has a car port and the front porch is changed. The town people tribute Dr. C.B. and Ruth by naming the street that runs in front of their house as Johnston Avenue. Nice gesture. I captured a photo of the house and attach it to this email. I was responding to a facebook post by Annie (Melissa’s daughter) and posted a photo of the house to her, telling her this is where her grandmother, her grandmother's sister and grandmother's brother grew up and where her great grandmother and husband lived. The photo of the house in 2020 is on Page 23 of this narrative and the house in 1935 on Page 25. You know I lived in that house for my first seven or eight years and have very, very few memories of those times. That is a small house. Of course CB died shortly after I was born. I don't remember him at all. And Mary went to another area to have the child (me) and to finish high school. Then in that little house were Big, TJ, Vivian and me. And before me there was Big, CB, Mary, TJ and Vivian all in that little house. Well, it worked, obviously. Strange that I don't have hardly any memories of that time. It seems my memories mostly began after we relocated to Hope. I do recall my first day at school in Harrell. Big took me over to the school and put me in the class with my teacher. I didn't know anything and no one explained anything to me. So, we had some school. About midmorning, we had recess. We all went outside. I thought it was over. I went home and began playing in the yard. Someone from the school came over to tell Big that I was 'missing.' Well, Big gave me a whipping and sent me back to the school with the guy. Then the teacher gave me another whipping. Corporal punishment was the norm then. Of course I didn't think I did anything wrong. Someone should have explained the day's routine to me and they didn't. I suppose that's why I recall it. Another point I remember is when Big would not let me go to sleep until I knew the multiplication tables to 12. I vaguely recall a neighbor girl, pretty, who would come over and played with me. I don't recall any neighbor boys. I had neighbor boys to play with in Hope and I recall many of those times as good times. And around high school time there were girls, too.  My time in Hope is another story.  ON 5 MARCH MELISSA WROTE THIS:

Thanks for the family history.  So Mary got pregnant in high school? Bet that was traumatic for everyone. Do you know anymore abt that?  And while C.B. was ill.   Ruthann and I were speculating that Big’s brothers bought the house for her in Hope? She did not sell her Harrell house for many years. What do you think?  Boy, Big was pretty rough on you.  Yep, hate that idea of hit then talk.  Enjoyed the email.  Thanks. If you can remember anymore I would love to hear it.  ON 8 MARCH JOHN WROTE THIS: 

Yes, I can give you more information on your two questions. I say information, because my recollection of the house and of Mary's situation are both formulated by years of observation, speculation and conclusions. I never had the good sense to ask good, specific questions to Big or Mary. Too bad. Give me some time. More of my conclusions will come to mind when I concentrate on one specific thing. I'll try to respond next week. I do not think Big was rough on me. I look back on it as good parenting. Just a different era with different norms. We, as a society, learn and progress. My love for Big was true, deep, unconditional and forever. I could not have asked for better parenting.  ON 9 MARCH JOHN WROTE THIS:

I copy a part of your email of 5 March and will answer part of it. 

Ruthann and I were speculating that Big’s brothers bought the house for her in Hope? She did not sell her Harrell house for many years. What do you think?  This subject has a lot of information associated with it and one answer will raise many more questions, but I will not hesitate to give you my conclusion. First recognize Big's situation at the time. Her husband was dead. She had no income. She was making ends meet by cooking meals and serving them in her home which was across the railroad tracks from the depot for the railroad workers. She had four kids to care for - me, Vivian, T.J. and Mary in another town in high school. I knew where it was once, but can't remember now. Maybe I will remember it later. It was depression times - 1931 and after. C.B. died on 22 November 1932. I was born 21 September 1931. Ruth was in dire circumstances. And was until I was 7 or 8 years old. Her brothers, who were originally farmers and grew up on a farm, were prospering in the sawmill business. It was not surprising that they wanted to help her. In fact it would have been surprising if they hadn't. They invited her to move to Hope. They offered T.J. a job in the sawmill at Hope. He became the saw filer, a prestigious and top technical job in the sawmill. I don't know how he learned the profession. They may have sent him to school, to another mill to learn, maybe had an expert come in and teach him. I don't know. But that's what he became. One of the few higher paying jobs in the mill. They must have waited for TJ to finish high school in about 1939 and I would be about 8 at that time. I know for a fact that the house was bought for Big and us and the money was repaid to the brothers. Anyway, Big could not have financed that house, no matter what it cost, because she had no job, no income, no savings probably. No NINJA loans in those days like we recently had that nearly brought down the world financial system. You had to prove to the bank that you could repay the loan. I don't know if the brothers as a whole group financed the house for her, or if Warren who lived next door, did it on his own. Probably all the brothers, but Warren accepted from Big the monthly payments for the house. Now where did the money for those monthly payments for the house come from? Big was renting apartments in the house for 7 or 8 dollars a week. Most of the time it was just two apartments - upstairs. For a short period she rented one downstairs. She had a small income from the house in Harrell, but that wasn't much. Later Vivian told me that the rent from that house barely covered the insurance and taxes. The rent was so cheap because Big did not want to sell and someone needed to live in the house to make the insurance reasonable and to maintain the house. The renter agreed to maintain the house, do necessary repairs, etc in leu of a reasonable rent. I do recall that Big did pay for putting a new roof on the house, but other than that the renters handled it all. So what was Big's income? $30 a week? $120 a month? The household was Big, Vivian, TJ and me.  

So, I conclude that most of the resources for maintaining the household and for paying off the house to the brothers came from TJ's salary at the mill. So, with fact and observation I conclude the following: The brothers financed the house, TJ paid for it, the title was in Big's name. A photo of the Hope house is on Page 24 of this narrative.               The second question: "Big did not sell her house (in Harrell) for many years. What do you think?" Big never sold the house. When the house was sold I owned two thirds of the property in Harrell and Vivian owned one third. Vivian wanted to sell and I agreed. I had little emotional connection to the house. My contention was that anything has its greatest value when it is in the hands of people who value it. The people who had lived in that house for all those years, albeit at cheap rent, valued it and wanted to buy it. TJ agreed with us, although he didn't have any final say. Mary did not agree and argued strongly against selling. But Vivian and I were the owners, so we sold. This was a very contentious point between Vivian and Mary. I recall that after the sale had been completed, sale registered at the court house, etc. Vivian and I got a cool drink at a fast food place there in Harrell and sat on a bench in the shade nearby. Vivian began talking about Mary and suddenly she began to cry and just could not stop. Finally the emotion was overcome and we returned to Hope. I think the difficulty she had with Mary and the emotion of closing that chapter of her life just overwhelmed her.  So, you see, answers to questions often raise new questions? Am I right? I'll get to the Mary in high school part of your email questions soon.  ON 11 MARCH JOHN WROTE THIS:

Another point, and an important point, has come to my mind regarding Big's situation after CB's death in 1932. There must have been life insurance on CB. Life insurance was a big thing in those days. Salesmen traveled door to door selling it. This would have most likely been Big's main resource (supplemented by her cooking for the railroad men) between CB's death in 1932 and the move to Hope and TJ's job at the mill. ON 12 MARCH MELISSA WROTE THIS: 

Very interesting information. Yes, Big was amazing to have survived and taken care of so many people. She spent most of her life alone without a spouse.  That is sad for her. She really had determination. Also, she took care of her mother and Henry.  Do you think that fit into the plan for moving to Hope? Also, was Warren the leader of the brothers? And, Aunt Irma (Warren’s wife) did not seem social with Big at all. What do you think? Mostly I remember her being mad for our playing under the magnolia tree in her front yard.  Wonder why mom was so insistent abt selling the Harrell house? Do you have any memory of why she was crying abt Mary? I know dad was upset with Mary because she did not visit much (once) when mom was very ill and dying.   I just remembered that I wrote Big a letter each week I was away at college. Thought that was what you were supposed to do. Guess following your lead.   Do you know anything abt CB’ s personality.?

Hope you do not mind talking about this. It is very interesting to me.  Perhaps it helps me understand myself.

ON 13 MARCH JOHN WROTE THIS:

My dear Melissa, I'm so proud of you for expanding Big's world while you were at the U. Her world was so small and so very often so very difficult. That gesture, that compassion, that love is bigger than you can ever imagine. I know you don't need me to say anything - good deeds are their own reward - but, anyway, I'm so proud of you. OK, let's continue the story. I still hold Mary's high school days in the thought process. You're right. The Henry situation had to have been part of the plan, part of the agreement to move to Hope. Wiley, the oldest, stayed with the farm and he probably agreed to take care of mom, Martha Frances, and Henry went to Big. I do not recall living in Hope without Henry in his rocking chair there beside the window reading the Hope Star newspaper. That is, of course, until he died and when he died it was suddenly. Probably a stroke or heart attack. There was no prolonged illness. My first recollection of Martha was of her in the bed. I never saw her out of that bed in the same room with Henry in the rocker. I don’t know what put her in the bed-ridden condition or how or why Big was given the responsibility of 24/7 nursing. I think her time there was measured in years, not weeks or months. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. Maybe Wiley and his wife didn't want the 24/7 nursing task and they gave it to Big. She should have been in the hospital or nursing home. Maybe there were no nursing homes then. Maybe there was no insurance and they didn't want to pay the hospital or nursing home expense. I don't know. Maybe she was in the hospital and diagnosed as terminal with only a few weeks to live. I just don't know. A real nurse came in once in a while to give a shot or check on something. Other than that it was all on Big. The bath, the toilet - it was all done in that bed. And Big slept in that same room with Martha. And Martha was a very, very difficult person. Big never complained, never lost her patience. Wow. What a task.  Warren was the second child - Wiley the first. He was much older than Alfred. So, he was the senior. I don't know about leader. Warren took the house payments. When there was help needed for Henry and later for Henry or Martha it was Alfred who came over. I never saw Warren in that house. You are absolutely correct about Irma and sociability. I never saw her in our house either. And I don't recall Big's ever going over to their house, either. For any reason or occasion. I do recall once Big met Warren in the yard between our two houses. I asked what that was about, and Big said she was making the house payment.  I don't think Vivian was insistent about selling the Harrell house. I think the people who were living/renting the place pressed the issue. I think they wanted to own their own home and it would be that one or some other one. Vivian didn't want the difficult task of finding another responsible renter. So, we sold them the house and the complete lot the house was on. We retained the rest of the Harrell property which was most of downtown Harrell. At that time we had an offer for the rest of the property and I wanted to sell it, too. However, it was just too much for Vivian to completely close the Harrell chapter and she would not agree to sell. Unfortunate, because after many years of paying the property tax, RE and I finally sold the property and did not even get enough to cover the property tax payments we had made.  Regarding Vivian and Mary: Mary was often quite contrary - in fact maybe she was contrary more often than not. She could find something bad to say about almost anyone or anything. I don't know what was said between the two of them, but Mary was very, very vocal about the selling of that house. We even offered to let her take over ownership and live in it, but she blew her top at the offer. TJ had given me ownership of his third of the property because he didn't want to have any more dealings with Vivian. Vivian, Mary and I had been paying the taxes on the property - each person paying for one year, another person the next year, etc. One year Mary announced that she was not going to pay taxes on the property any more. Neither Vivian nor I could convince Mary that someone had to pay the taxes or we could lose the property. Finally, Mary gave her one-third ownership to me. That's how I came to be a two-thirds owner in the property. When RE and I finally sold the Harrell land, Mary heard about it and demanded her one-third share in the sale. I told her that the price didn't even cover the tax payments we had made. She still insisted. So, I gave her a bill for the taxes she didn't pay and told her that when I received her check for the delinquent taxes, I would send her the one-third share of the sale. She wrote me a really nasty letter following that. I replied that if she had something positive to say, I would reply, but that I was not going to reply to any correspondence like that. I also asked Frankie to tell her that directly. I never heard from her again and never saw her again. After I relocated to the US from living in Europe for many years, I would take a trip back to Arkansas every year including an open-ended stay with her in her little house on Highway 167. It would not take long before she would begin to say negative and derogatory things about people that we both knew and some I didn't know. She most often would start off with Allison, Frankie's husband. This would go on for several days, sometimes a week or so. Finally, she would get around to me. I would listen to what she had to say and the next day I would be on my way. I never encountered this attitude from Mary when I was a youngster spending summers with her, Frank and Frankie Lou. However, I did observe that Mary was antagonistic toward Big during this time and this continued until Big's death. She had very good friends in Betty Joe (Stringfellow) and Rodney, who lived in a little prefabricated house nearby. For many visits we enjoyed an evening or two with Betty Joe and Rodney chatting around the kitchen table. It was fun. Finally she gave Betty Joe her thoughts on Betty Joe directly rather than behind the back to me - that was the end of that friendship. Yes, Mary was difficult to deal with. I never encountered this attitude from Mary during the many years I spent summers with her, Frank and Frankie Lou.  There is more to it than that. There was a great animosity between Mary and Big. It was from Mary toward Big, not from Big to Mary. Mary once told me about a very horrible thing she said to Big when Big was in the Hampton nursing home. The next conversation I had with Big I very indirectly brought the conversation to the link Big had with Mary. Big would not entertain anything negative and said "She is my daughter. I love her." Mary was quite intelligent and clever. How did she become like this? How and why did her relationship with her mother form? I think it all began back there in Harrell with Mary in high school and her getting pregnant with me. Well, I'm still thinking about all of that. Too bad that I didn't have sense enough to ask about all of that when Mary and I were sitting around the table in her little house on HWY 167.  Oh, my. So much of this stuff is so sad. Just thinking about it brings tears. I suppose that is one reason I have not thought all of this stuff out. It is difficult, but I think it is good to bring focus to those times and events.  Well, that's all for today. ON 15 MARCH MELISSA WROTE THIS:

Well, thanks for the nice comments about my letter writing.  Really you started it.  Don’t think anyone had a comment about it. Think I grew up in a benign vacuum.  Boy you were born into some difficult circumstances and no fault of your own. Really totally innocent.  Do we know whether Mary was difficult or contrary as a child or just due to these circumstances? And, Martha.  Was she just a difficult person? Or was this an old age phenomenon. Interesting.  Big really had to put up with difficult people.  Wonder if C.B. was difficult? Just thinking.   Don’t forget telling the family stories helps the feelings go away and keeps them from getting locked in our bodies.  So, I hope this helps in the long run. ON 21 MARCH JOHN WROTE THIS: 

CONTINUING OUR STORY. I'm still pondering Mary's high school situation. As you stated "this must have been traumatic for everyone." I think it was not only traumatic but was the basis for the Big - Mary relationship for the rest of their lives, probably with some impact on me that I don't realize. Unfortunately I don't really know anything about that. I am disappointed, even angry, with myself for not having sense enough to get both Big's and Mary's perspective on this very significant and important event in the life of the family. We will never know what happened. All the people who know this are gone. I think we will have to commit to paper all the bits and pieces of information that we know or think we know and that we think are relevant to this event. Then analyze this information together with your professional knowledge to identify the possible scenarios that could have happened. Then mull it all around for awhile and possible arrive at the scenario of what most likely happened. I have already begun the process of writing down the bits and pieces of information that I think might be relevant to this study. In the meantime, I will comment on some of the points and questions you have previously posed and that I have left open. Was Martha a difficult person? Or just old age phenomenon? I can only speculate on this. I do know that she was difficult in that bed while dependent on Big for everything. She may have been a very independent person and was just disgusted with the situation life had presented her rather than being thankful for the help in enduring that situation. She married James Henry Gunter in 1877 and he died in 1898. They had ten children, so she was pregnant for most of her married life. All the kids had two names except Ruth and Henry. Ruth was the third girl. There is a book in the bible called Ruth. Was Martha a religious person? I know that Big was, even devout. I tried to be religious, too. Even joined Big's church, Garrett Memorial. I don't recall if I was baptized or not. Probably was. In the end I had to admit to myself that I didn't believe it. I don't rule out the existence of God. I just think that I don't have enough information to understand it all. Certainly I don't believe any of it the way the Christians do. OK. Back to Martha. Maybe she wanted to die in her own bed in her own house in College Hill and maybe Wiley and Bennie who lived there then didn't want to take on the 24/7 job of caring for her. And she was moved to Big's house. We can only speculate.  You previously posed Was CB difficult? What was CB's personality? Big was teaching school at Henderson College, I think in Arkadelphia, when she married CB. (She sent me to Henderson after high school graduation. I was elected freshman college president. But, I dropped out after the first semester and joined the Air Force and went to Korea.) How did they meet? Was this an arranged marriage? Could have been. Not uncommon then. I don't think CB was a romantic person. I saw a picture of him. He was fat. Big stomach. That physique impressed me so much I didn't notice if he was handsome or not. I asked Big when we were in Hope if she had known romantic love. She answered quickly "no." This makes me sad. A life without romantic love. How awful. I think CB was set in his ways, confident in his own decisions, maybe arrogant in his own decisions. I don't think his practice in Harrell was very profitable. I recall Big’s commenting about payment with produce and animals. It was depression times. Some of his medical friends encouraged him to move his practice to El Dorado where they were doing well. El Dorado was an oil town. He refused. He sought work with the US Corps of Engineers. He applied to be their retained doctor and was accepted. This was with work on the locks and dams on the Ouachita River. Even with his apparently meager income he did raise three children and owned his home which was better than most at that time and owned most of the downtown property in Harrell.  OK. Until next time. ON 29 MARCH MELISSA WROTE THIS: 

I just finished reading a short biography of Frida Khalo..  I enjoyed reading about her life. Quite tragic. She was married to Diego Rivera, famous Mexican muralist and painter.  Now, C.B. looked like Diego.  Not a good comparison. Very unusual to be fat like that during that time. C.B. had sisters in Harrell too.  One was disabled, Boosie?  I have some postcards that were sent to her. Do you have any memories of her? I also have a letter of recommendation from the Corp of engineers for C.B.    Agreed that the pregnancy was the core issue between Big and Mary.  The anxiety and fear had to be super bad during that time because of C.B. being ill.  Maybe this was Mary’s escape from the family, although ill advised.  Wonder why Big and Henry only got one name? Baby/child fatigue? I would be cranky too if I had that many children.  Women in those times were machines plus had to work hard. Terrible. Yes, I wish we had someone to ask about all of this.  Wish I had asked a long time ago.  Maybe we can piece together some of it. ON 3 APRIL JOHN WROTE THIS:

I have read about Frida and Diego. Quite a couple and story. I saw a mural by Rivera somewhere. I don't remember where - maybe San Francisco or New York. Could even have been in Mexico City. Just can't nail that memory down. I do recall how he worked communism into the mural that I saw. I looked on the Internet for a photo of him to refresh my memory. Diego was much fatter than CB. As I recall, CB was stout with a protruding stomach. I only know him from the photograph. Yes, unusual in those days. I suppose that's why it struck such a cord with me. Now that you mention it, I do recall Boosie. My only memory of her is that she was always in the wheel chair. Time was always spent with her, not me, of course. I was too young to know what was going on then. I don't recall her being in Harrell. I thought the Johnstons were in Warren and we went there to visit them sometimes - even after we moved to Hope. Of course my memory could be of our going from Hope to Harrell to visit the Johnstons living there with an occasional visit to other Johnston family members in Warren. Memory very shaky here. What is the address on the Boosie postcard? That should answer that ambiguity. A few years ago Jim Gunter asked me for any information I had about the family for his family tree effort. I gave him what I could collect and even made my own 'book-tree.' I think I sent you a copy. Anyway after I sent him what I knew and could collect, he asked me to try to get information about CB. I think through some of Frankie Lou's kids, I gained a Johnston address in Warren. I wrote several letters but could not obtain any information from the person I was corresponding with and finally gave up. After that I received a letter from Frankie telling me that Jim had come to the area looking for information on CB. As far as I know he never collected anything either.  I'll hold on to my 'information' and speculation regarding Mary for awhile longer. I have written to Frankie Lou to see if she remembers anything. This Mary-John-Big saga could take some time. I have to ponder it. I never thought about it with the intensity we are giving it now. 

ON 3 MAY JOHN WROTE THIS:

Well, back to the family narrative, sort of. I'm still waiting on a reply from Frankie Lou. I hope I have not injured an old nerve or opened an old wound thought to have been closed and healed. In the meantime, perhaps you could comment on a couple of things about Mary. We do have RE's comments about Mary's non-visits during Vivian's terminal time. You went on a trip to Spain with Mary, didn't you? Do you have any memories of that trip that might address her character? I think Vivian told me about something strange with Mary regarding your marriage to Bill. As I recall Vivian said that she and Mary traveled together to the wedding site and after getting there and helping to get everything prepared, Mary refused to attend the wedding. Do you recall anything about that? What about the address on the Boosie postcard? If it is Harrell, that would help to explain why CB continued his practice in Harrell rather than moving to El Dorado where he could have had a larger and more profitable practice in the oil town. 

ON 8 MAY MELISSA WROTE THIS:

No specific recall on the trip to Spain. That is true she did not come to the wedding ceremony. She stayed in the motel room. I have nice memories of that day, so it did not affect me. I think she was upset over Bill‘s old friends being rowdy the night before. At least that is what I think. I wonder if mom was mad at her over this. This would have been disappointing to her mostly.  Wonder if that is why she did not visit? They may have had words. As I recall aunt Mary complained about what I cooked one evening.  Think she was a very negative person and ready to take offense at anything. She was probably more cooperative and likable with other people, i.e. not family. Suspect she had at the very least major depression recurring. Do u know anything abt circumstances with your father and her marriage to Frank? Found those postcards addressed to Versa, Ruth-Boosie, Wid.  Boosie was in a sanatorium 1910 or so near Little Rock. Cards addressed to Harrell, Summerville, Little Rock.  Take a look. Will be in next email.  Were these people all siblings? Still does not answer question of why they stayed in Harrell. This is all so interesting-like a mystery.  ON 13 MAY JOHN WROTE THIS: I have received the letter from Frankie that I was waiting on and it was a stunner. Apparently just resurrecting memories of these old times stunned Frankie, too. Maybe somewhat traumatized her. This really uncovered a side of Mary that I could never have imagined, and didn’t. Yes, I was stunned. Absolutely shocked. Here is what Frankie wrote:

During the time when I was from about 12 to 16 years old mama and daddy worked the farm all the year except the winter. During the winter daddy worked in construction and mama worked in town. Daddy would be gone all week and returned home for the weekends. I remember a man named Henderson who would come to the house and pick up mama and me and we would go to El Dorado. They would put me in a double feature movie and would return in about 4 hours. He was not from Hampton. Later on she became less secretive about seeing other men. When mama was working at the Drug Store she began to see Gerald Cook. I would wait in the truck while they would go into the bushes south of town. I remember one time we went to a dance in Harrell and mama got drunk. This was the only time that happened. It got really bad when she was working at Clanton’s Café. She would stay out all night somewhere leaving me at home alone. She was gone a lot. When daddy did not come home on the weekend, she did as she pleased and would be gone. One time there was a big snowfall and you couldn’t travel on the roads. Mama did not come home for four days. Thankfully there was butane for heating, but by the end of the four days the food was almost gone. This was scary. 

All this came to a point one weekend. One time daddy said that he would not be coming home on the next weekend. Mama told me she had to go to Hope to see about Big who was very sick. But daddy did come home and wanted to know where mama was. I told him what mama had told me. He had me call Hope to find out. They said that Big was OK and they had not seen mama. Daddy beat me really bad thinking that I was lying to cover up for mama. My friend Mary Lou Means called me and I told her about the beating. She had her brother, Allison, come and get me. I stayed with Mary Lou then. The police came to investigate, but I didn’t press charges. Mama did not try to see me or to get in touch with me. Allison asked me to marry him and we married in 1951. We moved to Warren where he was employed as a surveyor. We had a good marriage and he provided well for us. Mama or daddy didn’t contact me. I don’t know why mama thought she was so much above the Means but she did. By then we had a baby girl who was Alice Ann. This was in May of 1952. Finally I went to see them and we got along for awhile. Then daddy got sick and he lived for about a year. During the time he was sick and especially near the end, I helped as much as I could. Mama was so hateful and bitter and after daddy died she told me she hated me. I asked her why and she said she didn’t know why, that she just did. I just let it go and still went to see her and drive her places. She told some terrible lies to people that I learned about after she had passed away.  She never had good things to say about me or my children. Daddy never said a word to me about what he did to me. And to this day I still have a dream about it. I thought he told mama he beat me but she said he did not. I’ve never got over it. I am sorry to say that I do not look back with love for my parents. It has been a hard thing to live with. It seems I was not wanted and you were not either.

Now back to comments by John: This news from Frankie is certainly a shocker – absolutely astounding, stunning. Of course this was not going on during the farm planting, growing, harvesting season and when I was there during the summer holidays. It was only during the winter. Deep in my memory are two instances that could hint to this promiscuous behavior that I observed in my summer visits. One time I looked in the magazine rack that was in the living room of the little house on the highway. I was shocked and astounded to find several magazines with naked people in social situations. I was so stunned that I quickly put them back in the rack and never said anything about it. Thinking about it now, I suppose the magazines must have showed scenes in a nudist colony. Another time on one of my summer visits as a youngster, we had just retired for bed and sleeping. Mary said in a voice loud enough for everyone in or near the little house to hear “Oh, Frank!! Your hand is so cold.” I’ll write some comments about these absolutely shocking and stunning revelations. Frankie was married at 16. She was born on 24 Feb 1935. She was married on 3 June 1951. Alice Ann was born on 2 May 1952, 11 months after they were married. The indiscretion by Mary is a real shocker to me. I never imagined such a thing was going on. And I am really surprised, shocked and disappointed that Frank abused Frankie. I recall four instances when I was visiting in the summer where I made a huge careless error and he just laughed it off – I carelessly contaminated a large bin of picked cotton, I nearly wrecked the tractor, I started a forest fire and I flooded a part of a cotton field. So my experience with Frank was that he was a hard worker but a gentle person. Maybe Frank was just discovering that Mary was unfaithful and that he was losing her. That sort of thing can drive a loving husband to irrational actions that are out of character and reason. His resort to violence even out of anger and despair is deplorable! And against his own child!! I had been spending every summer vacation from school with Frank, Mary and Frankie Lou. Late in my high school years I came to the farm and Frankie was not there. Mary tried to explain why Frankie was absent. She had a story about a skating rink in Hampton where kids gathered after school. Mary said that she told Frankie not to go there and not to mix with the older boys. She said Allison Means was one of the boys who frequented the place. From what we know now, Mary did not know of Frank’s abuse of Frankie causing Frankie to leave home. Mary just told me that Frankie ran away with Allison, a boy 10 years older that Frankie. (Mary ran away from home with a man who was 21 years older than she was.)  

I recall that when I joined the military I was writing weekly to Mary and each time pleading with her to answer with her news. This went on for quite a while and finally I wrote that if I didn’t hear from her I would conclude that she did not want to correspond and that I would stop writing. So, she didn’t write and I stopped. She did not write me, but wrote the base commander and complained that I was not writing my mother and got me in a lot of trouble. So, sending the police over to Woodberry without going first herself is right in character for Mary.

Our thoughts and comments forming this Family Narrative got me to thinking about Mary. So I have begun another narrative centered on Mary. I’ll call it the Mary Story. I will incorporate part of the Mary Story here in the Family Narrative.

I WILL COPY THAT INFORMATION HERE:

Let me start this off by stating what I know for a fact. When I was born on 21 September 1931 Frank McLeod was 40 years old and Mary was 19. Frank listed his residence as Banks and Mary listed her residence as Harrell. The doctor who completed the birth certificate was Dr. J.E. Rhine of Thornton. The birth certificate was registered by Ruth Johnston on 24 September 1931. Frank’s trade was listed as ‘ginner.’ Mary’s trade was listed as ‘housekeeper.’ The birth was listed as ‘legitimate,’ which means they were married at the time of my birth. 

During a summer visit to Mary and Frank Weisinger when I was in school I asked Mary if she knew where Frank McLeod was. She replied “you have waited too long for that. He is dead now.” I asked her how life was with Frank and she replied “wonderful.” I asked her where they lived. She said “in the hotel” or maybe she said “in hotels.” I’m not clear on that point. I asked Mary didn’t he want to contact me, to see the kind of person I am? Mary replied “no contact. That was part of the agreement. He never broke it.” I saw some pictures of Mary and me with Mary in her school graduation cap and gown. I was a toddler. I could walk. The top of my head was about up to her waist. I was maybe 2 or 3? 

These pictures were taken at the Johnston home in Harrell, Arkansas in 1934 on the occasion of Mary’s Artesian High School graduation.   

  On 21 September 1931, Ruth Johnston was 45, CB Johnston was 56, Frank McLeod was 40, Mary was 19, TJ was 14, Vivian was 10, Frank Weisinger was 19. CB Johnston died on 22 November 1932. The Great Stock Market Crash occurred on 29 October 1929. The country was in the Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed until the beginning of WWII in 1941. Mary and Frank Weisinger had their first child on 24 February 1935. 

So, on 21 September 1931, Ruth’s husband was dying, Mary was delivering John, TJ was 14 and Vivian was 10. The country was in the Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed.  THE MARY STORY SEGMENT END.

JOHN CONTINUES WRITING:

In our correspondence Frankie describes Mary as hateful and bitter. I would agree and add mean to that list. I think Boosie in Harrell was a significant part of the decision for CB to maintain his practice in Harrell. Of course, if Harrell, on the RR with a passenger and freight depot, had grown it would have been a wise decision. Ruth and CB owned much of the land of downtown Harrell. Unfortunately, the town went in the other direction. The population was 254 at the 2010 census.  

ON 28 MAY JOHN WROTE THIS:

Sunday was the big Memorial Day celebration and Monday was the official day of remembrance. As I recall it was called 'Decoration Day' by Big and the family in those days. We went to Shilo Cemetery at Lamartine, Arkansas, as I recall. It's where all the old Gunters are buried - her parents and all her brothers and sisters. At least I think that's the case. I don't recall much about it except that there was a huge outdoor table or tables put together with a colossal spread of food. I suppose it was an organized pot-luck spread. Lots and lots of wonderful food. I remember that. I think there was a church there at that time, but I am not 

sure about that. 

ON 3 JUNE MELISSA WROTE THIS: Have questions about family information  What is a ginner? Wow, that age difference 40 to Mary’s 19. Do we know anything abt that relationship? Don’t you think that is unusual? Any relatives on that side? How did Mary get herself in that relationship? Could Frank have been abusive when he drank. Did he have an alcohol problem? What do you think about Mary going out? Other men? I never knew any of that.   Mary turned on all these people at some point.  Friends or family. You were not alone in this. She had to have a mental illness.  Wish we knew more about childhood with big and C.B.  Was the Means family up standing in the community? Was she lowering herself?  There are so many missing pieces.   ON 4 JUNE JOHN WROTE THIS:                          A ginner is a person who operates a cotton gin machine. Yes, 40 to 19. That is very significant. What is your situation speculation if it were 19 to 19? Entirely different, right? You ask if we know anything about that relationship. I only know this: (During a summer visit to Mary and Frank Weisinger when I was in school I asked Mary if she knew where Frank McLeod was. She replied “you have waited too long for that. He is dead now.” I asked her how life was with Frank and she replied “wonderful.” I asked her where they lived. She said “in the hotel” or maybe she said “in hotels.” I’m not clear on that point. I asked Mary ‘didn’t he want to contact me, to see the kind of person I am?’ Mary replied “no contact. That was part of the agreement. He never broke it.” I did try to find some McLeods in Banks, but never made any contact. So I know nothing from that side. You asked 'how did Mary get herself in that relationship?' We'll just have to speculate on that from the few facts that we do know. As I said, I'll write an essay about the situation based on the few facts that we do know and what Frankie and I can recall and which I will call The Mary Story. 

For now, I will continue and comment on some of the points that have been raised. Frank as a violent person was certainly a surprise to me. I'm thinking that he just went completely out of control thinking that his wife was leaving him. Yes, he had a drinking problem, but he wasn't a violent drunk in my experience. He could not hold his whisky. He and Lewis (a black boy who worked on the farm) would go into town on Saturday with the week’s raw cotton, get money for it I suppose, Frank would get a few drinks, come home, and get sick from the alcohol. I saw him on several occasions laying on the front porch and leaning over the edge regurgitating. There was no alcohol kept in the house as far as I know, so he only drank on the Saturday that he carried the cotton to the cotton gin. That’s my experience. Yes, Mary's having multiple boy friends is a shocker. I never knew it and never suspected it. Yes, poor Mary could find something negative to say about everyone and everything. Surely she had some happy times, but she must have had a very unhappy side of her mentality to contend with also. Yes, I sorely wish we knew more. I am so disappointed in myself for not asking both Big and Mary about that situation.

Mary could have thought she was better than the Means family. She probably thought that about most people. She definitely did not like Allison. She never had anything nice to say about him and when I brought up positive attributes she dismissed them. I recall one time after the farm property had been divided including the Oscar barn. The barn, obviously in ownership contention, had a fence or dividing partition down the middle of the barn. It was abandoned for use and was rotting. Mary fell through the rotting upper floor onto the ground below and could not move. Allison found her and got her to the hospital. When I brought this to her attention she just said “I would have eventually gotten out,” refusing to credit Allison for helping her and possibly saving her life.

ON 5 JUNE JOHN WROTE THIS:                                   I laughed with a mental Oh My! Was this a normal reaction? Regardless, that was my reaction when I read the latest revelation from Frankie Lou. And my conclusion, now knowing Mary’s activity, and after reading Frankie’s latest letter is that the Harrell – Hampton area must have been a hot bed of promiscuous activity. I replied to Frankie’s previous letter and asked her some new questions. Some of my letter was as follows:

 ‘I have some questions concerning the situation during and after the time we were young and Mary and Frank were living in the little house on the highway. How is it that Mary and Frank ended up with the 80 acre farm and property that we had always lived in and half of the big barn at Mr. Oscar’s place? It seems that Mr. Oscar’s house and half his big barn and the property it was all on went to someone, and the rest went to Mary and Frank. Was it in the Oscar will? Or was Frank a relative of Mr. Oscar and the land and property went to Frank in that way? The division of the property must have been contentious because as I recall there was a line or fence down the center of Mr. Oscar’s barn meaning that half the barn went to Frank and half went to other family members. Do you know or recall anything about that?’

And here is part of Frankie’s reply to that letter.

You asked about Uncle Oscar. There is a story there. He had an affair with daddy’s mother and she got pregnant with daddy and then Uncle Tom. Her husband, Onnye Weisinger finally caught on and left her. So daddy and Uncle Tom were really Witheringtons instead of Weisingers. It was a well kept secret. I did not know it until after daddy passed away. More on this saga later.

I will include more about this when I know more about it. 

ON 5 JUNE MELISSA WROTE:

Agree. Amazing. I had no clue about any of this. And Aunt Mary.

What a name Onnye!

Like a novel.  

ON THE NEXT TIME JOHN WROTE:

I queried Frankie in my next correspondence to her about the name “Onnye.” She didn’t have any more information on the name. However, I found on the Internet that Onnye is a Norwegian man’s name used in days gone by, not popular now. So that should answer that. Frankie and I have some open questions. I’m waiting on her answers.   

On 28 July Melissa wrote:

Brad has the old radio from Bigs.  Remember in the sitting room.  It is a Philco made in 1937.  Brad looked it up.  Cost $100.  wonder when it was bought?  Do you know when they moved to Hope?  I am betting Uncle TJ bought it.  Also, I thought that TJ wanted to be a doctor.  Did he go to school/college for a semester?  He certainly had his bitterness—maybe over that? You know I have no evidence for these thoughts, but grew up thinking about this.  Wonder why he never married? We found letters from a girlfriend when mom cleaned out the house.  So, he was not entirely faithful to Nell.  Interesting don’t you think?

ON 1 AUGUST JOHN WROTE:

Yes, I remember that radio console well. I saw it several years ago in Brad's facebook post of his Christmas tree. It was observable in the tree photo and I commented on it. You verified that it was the Big radio. You open a lot of questions in that paragraph of your email. I'll have to think about all the points you raise. As I recall the TJ - Nell, Moxely - Big situation resulted in severe consequences. I'll have to think about all of that. Let the old grey cells find their way to long dormant memories.

ON 7 AUGUST JOHN WROTE:

I have a very subtle, intermittent problem with the computer that I use for the Internet and so far I have not been able to solve it. So let me touch base while it is functioning. My comments here are in relation to your email of 28 July. However, I will comment on TJ – Nell – Big after I have had more time to think about that. I was born in 1931. I most likely attended at least first grade in Harrell. I would be 7 entering 2nd grade. Therefore, it would seem that the earliest time for the move would be 31 + 7 = 38. I suspect the move waited on TJ to graduate from high school, not connected to my schooling. But it seems most logical to me that the move to Hope was in 1938 or 1939. If the radio was manufactured in 1937 it could still be a new item in the store in 1938 or 1939. And I would think that this was a luxury item, too. They had a car soon after the move also. As I recall it was a four door, black Chevrolet sedan. However, researching Chevies in that time frame, most of the black Chevies were 2 door, not many 4 doors were made. So, very likely my memory does not serve me well in this instance. Could be 2 or 4, most likely 2, but my memory says 4. As I recall it was a 1937. So in 1938 it could still be a new car. Or even new in early 1939. As I recall we moved at Christmas time, whatever year it was. A new Chevrolet sedan cost about $700 then. TJ's salary would be the major source of income for the family. In those early days there was a lot of work being done on the Hope house. New wall paper in most of the rooms and new cabinets in the kitchen. As I recall Mr. Minor, who was the store manager/bookkeeper for the mill was supervising all that work and that made me think that the work was being done with workers from the mill. Could be mistaken, of course. But that's what I thought at the time. Remember, I was just a kid though. Could be Mr. Minor supervising other workers. I don't recall hearing TJ talking about medical school. But he and I did not have a good rapport. Seldom did we engage in good conversation. I do not recall his going to college for a semester or his discussing college. Yes, he was troubled at the end. I don't know if it was bitterness or just the disagreement over something that happened around the time Big was declared incompetent. Whatever it was it was mostly between Vivian and TJ with Mary apparently aware but not vigorously involved. OK, I'll continue to think about TJ - Nell - Big and will get back to you on that when I recall something. 

ON 18 AUGUST JOHN WROTE:

Hello my dear Melissa

Here I am back on the Family Narrative Continued. I will start off by copying your comments from your last email.

Brad has the old radio from Bigs.  Remember in the sitting room.  It is a Philco made in 1937.  Brad looked it up.  Cost $100.  Wonder when it was bought?  Do you know when they moved to Hope?  I am betting Uncle TJ bought it.  Also, I thought that TJ wanted to be a doctor.  Did he go to school/college for a semester?  He certainly had his bitterness—maybe over that? You know I have no evidence for these thoughts, but grew up thinking about this.  Wonder why he never married? We found letters from a girlfriend when mom cleaned out the house.  So, he was not entirely faithful to Nell.  Interesting don’t you think?

In my last comments, I said that I thought the move was in 1938 or 1939, definitely not in 1937. If we say 1938 that means I spent only one year in school in Harrell. Possible. If we say 1939, that would mean I went to first and second grade in Harrell. Now, after thinking more about the time of the move, it may not have been at Christmas; but it definitely was winter. I vaguely remember at our move into new and unfamiliar surroundings that we were around a fire place keeping warm and we were in the home of Warren Gunter. There were some fabulous toys around that Bill and WH Jr. were playing with. I have no other information regarding that.

Also maybe TJ did want to be a doctor. It would be logical for him to follow in his father's footsteps. Lots of children do that. It's just that I never heard him talk about it. But as I said, TJ and I did not have a good rapport. Maybe you heard Vivian say that he wanted to be a doctor. What do you think? I never heard anyone, Big or her kids, mention school/college for TJ for a semester or any post high school education for TJ. I had the feeling that he preceded us in the move from Harrell to Hope and immediately went to work in the sawmill.

Yes, I can verify that TJ was not faithful to Nell. He told me about a girl in Texarkana and although we did not discuss anything intimate, I am absolutely certain there was intimacy between the two of them. I never liked to discuss intimacy, other people's or my own. I always thought, and still do, that the intimacy between two individuals is very private and for the two individuals involved only. So, I never pressed the conversation on that subject, just listened to what he wanted to say. 

I have some unpleasant thoughts regarding the relationship between TJ and Nell, and involving Big. One time TJ and Nell invited me to come along on one of their dates. As I recall we were going to Texarkana for some event. Nell drove in TJ's car and I was in the back seat. I do not recall anything about the event. It is very difficult to express my thoughts about this situation; therefore I will resort to a metaphor or analogy. Envision a very small dog eager for the master's attention and affection. Can you see the little dog at the feet of the master with his tail wagging, looking up at the master. The master looks away. The tail wagging does not stop, but slows significantly. The master's gaze moves in this direction, not down, but in this direction. The wagging increases significantly. The little dog pants slightly. The master looks down. The wagging intensifies into a blur. The master reaches down and touches the little dog's head. The little dog barks in joy and leaps off the floor.

Got the picture? That's what I saw from the back seat of the car. Quite frankly for a grown man to conduct himself in such a manner was absolutely disgusting to me. TJ invited me a couple of other times, but I declined each time and he never again invited me. Which makes me question the intimacy between TJ and Nell. If there was any, it was completely controlled by Nell. Was their association platonic? Probably not, but it would not surprise me if that was the case. Definitely TJ's sexual appetite was not satisfied by Nell, and TJ was not the promiscuous type. Certainly Big thought there was intimacy. And I am convinced that that was a big problem for her. We know that she was a devout Christian. Unmarried or marital infidelity sex is a sin. It is clearly written in the bible. The penalty, written in the bible, is death by stoning. One day Big spoke to me briefly about TJ and Nell, not with the words I'm using, but quite reserved, and only to express that she did not approve of the relationship the way it was or appeared to be. She ended the brief comments by saying "I don't see why they don't get married." I came to think that Big's intense dislike of this situation carried over to the entire Moxley family. Or maybe there was some other reason for her dislike of the Moxley family. I don't know. I just know that's the way it was. Vivian also told me that Big disliked the Moxleys. I hesitate to use the word hate, especially to use the word to describe an emotion in the mind of Big. However, I do think that it applies here.

As I recall TJ was working for Uncle Frank in Texas and a house was built for Nell and TJ there, but when it was time to "sign the contract" Nell said that she was not going to leave home (her family home near our house in Hope). I come to the memory of one of the Moxely family passing away, I think it was Mr. Moxley. There are two salient points here. One, Big is a devout Christian. Love thy neighbor as thy self. Have compassion for your fellow man. Turn the cheek. Do not judge others. Forgive those who sin against you. Renounce vengeance. Then there is Point Two: Big hates Nell and the Moxelys. She can't help it. What she sees with Nell and TJ and condoned by the Moxley family is abhorrent to her. Her Christian faith compels her to take flowers to the Moxely home. I can see her leave the house with the flowers, walking fast and determined, in the direction of the Moxely house which is not more than five minutes away. 

I don't know the time line or have any way of establishing it, but I think that Big had her first stroke shortly after this event which was very, traumatic for her. Huge conflict. I feel her agony. I sense it. 

OK, let's think a bit about TJ's bitterness. 

I stopped to get something to drink and in the process found that I am tired. It's been a busy day for me today. Saturday, 17 August 2019 at about 9:30 PM. I'll try to get back on this tomorrow.

Sunday afternoon, 18 August 2019, another busy day, but I'll write a bit on this.

The only thing that I know for sure is that after Big's incompetence hearing there was a lot of animosity between TJ and Vivian. TJ definitely felt that he had been wronged by Vivian. The impression that I got from Vivian was that she thought that she had done nothing wrong. I also got the impression that Vivian had some fear that TJ might become violent in his anger. I never got the impression from TJ that he ever considered violence. Regrettably I never discussed the subject with either of them. I recall one day TJ said there was going to be a family meeting and he wanted me to come with him. At this point the court directed incompetence decision for Big was settled. Vivian named controller of the estate, Mary named controller of the person. There were five of us in the room, perhaps a judge's chambers or a lawyer's conference room - I don't know. There was me, TJ, Vivian, Mary and either a judge or a lawyer. Mary was quiet the whole time. I don't recall her saying anything during the entire meeting. TJ and Vivian were across the table from each other and immediately TJ began verbally attacking Vivian. Vivian responded aggressively, giving as good (or bad) as she got. The moderator (judge or lawyer) had some documents and some written points to decide. He and I began to discuss them (without input from TJ, Vivian or Mary) and to make a decision on the points in question. Finally the judge and I had discussed everything and had decided everything, all the while with TJ and Vivian exchanging negative comments and with quiet Mary sitting there. The three family members signed the documents and we departed. Outside TJ said to me "I guess you think I'm a terrible fellow." I said "no, I'm just disappointed that there is so much animosity between you and Vivian. You started it in there. Why?" TJ said "I thought it probably was my last opportunity to get at Vivian." Unfortunately I was concentrating on the business at hand which was all I could manage and did not pay much attention to the words between TJ and Vivian except to note that they were hostile.

Without really thinking it out, I had always thought that the disagreement between them was regarding Big's house. TJ had to have paid for the house, repaying the Gunter brothers. That was the only real family income. It was in Big's name. Apparently at the Big incompetence hearing, Big's ownership of the house was established as part of her estate. TJ was living in the house at the time. Big was in a Hope nursing home, apparently being paid for by TJ. So, inasmuch as Vivian was now by court order in charge of Big's estate, the finances, she would place the house on the market to pay Big's nursing home bills. So for TJ to continue to live in the house, he would have to buy it from Vivian, or from Big's estate, which he did. Thereby essentially paying for the house twice. Big's house was always home base for me. When I was in school in Hope growing up, when I was in the military, when I was going to college, when I was working in industry, when I retired. I always came home to Big's house. There was only one exception. I think it was after Vivian was gone and before Janie. RE invited me to stay with him in Emmet. I did and really enjoyed it. RE was a good cook. He would not let me cook anything. We would sit in the car port in the cool of the evening and as dusk approached watch the chickens come up and fly into the tree there to roost for the night. There were lots of birds chirping and flying around. The only cardinal I ever saw was present on most evenings. Anyway, except for that one time, I always stayed at the Hope house on my visits home. One evening I was sitting in "Henry's room" in Big's house with the woman TJ had hired to house sit for him while he was working weekdays in Texas for Uncle Frank. Nell marched into the room and sat down facing me. She did not knock at the front door which was unlocked in those days. Without addressing either one of us she launched into a tirade directed at me accusing me of taking sides in the dispute and abandoning the person who had always provided my livelihood. I listened to what she had to say without comment. She got up and marched out. The house sitter said something like "wow, how did you control yourself?" One comment she made stuck with me, something like "now, he had to pay for the house twice." This means to me that TJ talked a lot with Nell about this situation and it bothered him to the point that Nell felt that she had to support him and to attack someone in his behalf and I was the only one convenient. Of course, I never knew and don't know now, the details of all this and therefore could not through logic or reason 'choose a side.' To me it was just very, very sad to see a brother and sister, both of whom I loved, feel such animosity for each other. Anyway, that's mostly why I always thought the house was at the focal point of the controversy. Now, I'm not so sure. It definitely was a significant point, probably the most significant, but after thinking intently about all this, I'm thinking that there had to be more to it. From my own experience, I have lost money through carelessness, poor judgment, been outsmarted, through fraud, bank failure and each time I was strongly mentally disturbed by it; but with time the disturbance waned and finally never thought about again. But in TJ's case, I think he never reconciled with Vivian. Therefore, I wonder if there wasn't more to it than the house.

At the beginning of this dialogue, you questioned TJ's bitterness and what might have caused it. What do you think now? Did Vivian ever discuss her relationship with TJ in those final times with you? 

I do recall that she commented briefly to me about the Big incompetence hearing where she was named controller of the estate and Mary controller of the person. I recall that she said something like "the judge said the deed of the house is in Ruth's name which means she is the owner of the house. Does anyone have any objections to this?" Vivian said that no one said anything, so the judge declared Ruth the owner of the house and the house part of her estate. Vivian did not say who was present at the competence hearing, but you would think all three children would be there. So, if TJ was there and he didn't speak up, he only has himself to blame for the "loss" of the house. If he wasn't there, why didn't Vivian or Mary speak up? They were both aware that TJ paid for the house and provided livelihood for both Vivian and me for a significant portion of our lives. And he paid for Vivian's registered nurse training at Warner Brown Hospital in El Dorado. So, why didn't someone speak up? The judge offered an opportunity. If TJ wasn't there, why not? Surely he wasn't banned from the hearing for some reason. 

What are your thoughts and comments about all of this?

Well, I have exhausted myself here. 

ON 21 AUGUST MELISSA WROTE:

Thinking about livelihood-Big made some money from renters and I assume she collected some social security at some point.  I don’t know if mom worked at all. Don’t remember hearing about that.  Could she have paid TJ back when she started working? 

Yes, I think his bitterness was deeper than the last fight.  He was also mad at the Gunters too. Maybe mad because he got a bad hand in life. He did not join the army for WWII which is interesting. Interesting to think about what people chose and did not chose.

Thanks for the continuing discussion of family history. 

I have been thinking when Big moved to Hope. It had to be 1939. Mom graduated from Harrell high school and that should have been 1921+18=1939.  Don’t you think?

ON 21 AUGUST MELISSA WROTE:

As I was saying....

So I guess you were in the second grade then. Moving in the winter time rather than when school was out?

Did not know that TJ paid for moms education. Are you sure about this? Of course how else could she have paid for this! Warner Brown nursing school. Makes sense to me then why TJ thought he was the boss. You know of course he did not like dad at all.  Probably mad about moms first marriage. Do you know anything about that? I know he drank and mom left him after having Ruth Ann. 

Poor TJ.  I don’t think anyone got along with him. I thought you had a better relationship with him. I know when mom was cleaning bigs house she gave furniture to Nell. Does that mean that she and Mary inherited the house from him. I suppose that they originally needed money for Big’s nursing home payment and so TJ paid them. Did he leave a will?  I was in graduate school so I knew little about this fight. I do remember mom being very upset.  

Yes, I think Big was mad at TJ about Nell.  Maybe she saw her mistreating him.  We all want people to stand up for themselves.  

I did not know that Mary was mistreating Big in nursing home.  Wonder if mom knew this?

So many questions and some unpleasant memories too. 

Thanks for thinking through this with me. 

ON 27 AUGUST JOHN WROTE:

You are right. Moving in the winter time rather than when school was out just doesn’t make sense. I may have a solution that includes that memory. It is interesting how a new question or a new thought can activate long dormant memories, isn’t it? Now I have three independent memories that may coincide relative to the move from Harrell to Hope. Two we discussed previously but did not relate them to each other. The third is a new one. One: we have the memory of a new and unfamiliar place, fabulous toys, cold – fireplace for warmth. Two: we have renovations going on in the Hope house. New wall paper in most rooms and new cabinets in the kitchen. Three: New. I definitely remember Irma driving Bill, Jr. and me to school at Brookwood school. Now let me see if I can connect the three memories into a reasonable and logical scenario. I think that we agree that the move most likely was in 1939. That would mean that Vivian completed high school in Harrell and I completed second grade in Harrell in June 1939. Then during the summer of 1939 the planning and preparation for the move took place. A renter was found for the Harrell house and a house was identified in Hope for Ruth’s family. Ruth & family moved out in August and a renting family moved into the Harrell house. Unfortunately the Hope house was not ready for occupancy. So, Ruth and family moved into Warren’s house until the Hope house was ready for occupancy. The refurbishment of the house dragged on way past schedule and the move from Warren’s house to the Hope house was not made until after Christmas. Work was continuing in the Hope house when Ruth and family finally moved in. Probably Irma was completely worn out with Ruth’s family invading her tranquility for four months. This could contribute to the apparent ill feelings between Irma and Ruth. If this scenario is true, then I think it would show that Warren was the leader of the Gunter boys in Hope. He probably committed the family to helping his sister who was in dire need and when the Hope house was not ready for occupancy, he made the plan work by offering his own house perhaps against Irma’s wishes. 

Mostly speculation. What do you think? Reasonable and logical? 

ON 28 AUGUST MELISSA WROTE:

Yes that makes sense and is probable. I wonder too if that explains the Irma situation. Do you think Big was close to Warren? Maybe.  Do u know whether Warren was the oldest? Must have felt like going to a rich house with all of those toys. 

Surprised that Big’s house was fixed up for her. That was good. You have an amazing memory. I am so glad we had time to talk about this. 

ON 1 SEPTEMBER JOHN WROTE:

OK. I am back to writing on the Family Narrative. I have been thinking about all the points you raised and the comments you made in your 3-emails-in-1-day message sent on 21 August which I printed out and have been referencing in my idle moments. But let me comment first on your most recent message of 28 August. Yes, I think that explains the Irma situation. Yes, I think Big and Warren were close. I think Warren initiated the move and made the new life happen for Ruth and her family. I never considered that about Warren before, but now I am convinced that is the case. No, Warren was not the oldest. He was the second. Wiley, who stayed with the farm at College Hill, was the oldest. The order was Wiley Ezra, Warren Hartsfield, Lizzie Fellows, Cora Belle, Annie Louise, Ruth, James Alfred, John Ross, Henry and Frank Pierce. 

OK. Now to your previous extensive comments. I think that we have established that the move from Harrell to Hope was most likely in 1939. No, I did not know that TJ did not like RE. In fact I thought they got along OK. You know that TJ recommended and sponsored RE into the Masonic Order, didn’t you? First you had to have a member recommend you, then you had to have a member sponsor you. TJ did both for RE. They were both proud to be Masons. I know very little about Charles Jackson. I met him and went hunting with him. I liked him. I thought he was a nice guy. I think Vivian met him while in nurses training at Warner Brown. I was surprised when they divorced. I asked Vivian why. She said that he was an alcoholic and she could not continue to live with him. I didn’t understand that at the time, but I do now. Surely after all the books and movies on the subject, we all know that life with an alcoholic who will not admit it is hell. With my current knowledge, I think she did the right thing. I believe RuthAnn after many years finally made contact with Charles and went to visit him in the El Dorado area. I think he was married with family. I don’t recall RuthAnn saying anything about the alcoholism, but once you are under the spell you never get out. You just learn to control the urge and live with it. Ask Ruth Ann what she knows about this. 

Yes, TJ is somewhat of a tragic figure. I really regret that he and Vivian apparently never reconciled. I also regret that I didn’t have sense enough to ask both of them what the argument was. 

TJ did not have a will. He told me he was going to give everything to Frankie Lou. He did not mention Nell when he said this but I took it to exclude Vivian and Mary because of the argument. He also told this to Frankie Lou. After he died Frankie mentioned it to me. I told her I would ask Mary about that. Mary said “Well, she got the car.” There were two cars. One nice one and one well worn that TJ used to come and go from work. That’s the one Frankie got. I don’t know what happened to the nice one. I suggested to Frankie that she should not get involved with this, that she would eventually get Mary’s half of what ever there was. One day Mary and I were in the field near the Oscar barn and Mary gave a wide sweep of her hand and said “Someday all this will be yours.” I said “I don’t want it. Give it to Frankie Lou.” She was stunned and shocked which clearly showed on her face. You will recall that Mary told Frankie that she hated her. Well, when Mary died she did not have a will but she had my name as beneficiary on some of her estate and the rest of it was divided between Frankie and me by law. I signed all my interests over to Frankie, so finally that loop was closed back to Frankie. I felt that she had earned it. She had lived right there at the Lion’s mouth all those years. Well, anyway, back to TJ. He did not have a will, so everything went to the next of kin – his two sisters, excluding Nell. I vaguely remember being in what could have been a conference room with Vivian and a legal person, probably the lawyer who was helping Vivian with the escrow of the assets. There was a box of papers and documents. It could have been the contents of a safe deposit box. The lawyer said “here is a CD for twenty thousand made out to Nell Moxley.” Vivian said “let her have it.” He said “you don’t have to.” Vivian repeated “Let’s let her have it.” So it’s not surprising that Vivian passed to Nell the items that she wanted. I was there and was asked what I wanted. I only took Big’s bible. I was traveling at the time and really could not accept anything. As I recall you took the Noritake china that I had sent to Big from Japan. 

Regarding Big’s assets and income which we discussed in detail before, you are correct that there was some income from the government. I recall TJ and Vivian trying to get Social Security for Big when she was sixty-five but were unsuccessful because she had never paid in. Social Security was created by FDR in 1935, so CB never paid in either. I think they got legal help and finally got something. I recall their saying that it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. It may have been SSI which was available then and which is needs based for the aged, blind or disabled. I don’t recall if Vivian worked between high school and nurses training, but most likely she did. I know that Big always found a job for me in idle times. So, surely she did for Vivian too. Yes, although I never heard the subject discussed, I’m sure that Vivian paid TJ back for the nurses training costs. When I graduated from the UofA and was prepared to relocate to California I was short of cash, so I asked TJ for a loan of $1000 for the relocation. Soon after I settled in California I received a letter from Vivian telling me that I should pay the loan back as soon as possible. This letter was surely written from her own experience. Yes, TJ did not go to war in WWII. He was deferred by the Gunters as being essential to the war effort. He was one of their key workers. He remarked to me that he took some criticism from people with serving family members and he didn’t like the situation. 

Well, I think that completes my comments on your points made in your emails of 21 August 2019. I’ll close the Family Narrative books for today, Sunday 1 September 2019. 

ON 9 SEPTEMBER MELISSA WROTE:

Yes it is too bad it ended that way for mom, Mary and TJ.  

I was thinking about the furniture in Bigs house.  Do you know where the piano came from? It was a Victorian baby grand square ebony piano? I think Mary took it after Bigs death.  Wonder where it is now?  

Also, was the house set up for renters when the house was bought?  I am guessing yes.  

ON 12 SEPTEMBER JOHN WROTE:

In response to your email, the house must have been set up for renting at the same time it was set up for occupancy. As I recall there were renters present at the start and for a long time. At the beginning there was one two-room apartment downstairs, and two two-room apartments upstairs. Vivian and RE lived in one of the upstairs 2 room "apartments" until they got their own house there in Hope. Most of the time there were only the two two-room upstairs apartments. I don't know anything about the piano except that I took lessons and practiced on it. Big played it from time to time, probably practicing what she planned to play at the next Sunday service. I don't recall seeing it in Mary's little house on the highway. That was a very small house and I don't think Mary played any musical instrument. 

ON 23 SEPTEMBER JOHN WROTE:

A point was raised about Big’s quilts. As I recall you and Ruth Ann had the choice of them when Big’s personal possessions were divided. I do vaguely remember Big and a group of women working on quilts in the room where Henry sat in his chair by the window reading the newspaper (Hope Star). I do recall that Big collected and saved scraps for quilting. It is possible that Mary took some of the material. I don’t know anymore about any of it. 

ON 20 JANUARY 2020 JOHN WROTE:

I have been editing the Family Narrative and the Mary Story and in doing so have been searching my archives for any information pertaining to that. I found a photo of the front of the Harrell house. I don't know for sure who the people pictured are, but I'm sure that that is the Harrell house. Could the people in front be Big, Vivian and me? The photo must have been taken between about 1935 and 1939. The photo is significant because of the state of disrepair of the house. Look at the state of the steps going onto the porch. That is old deterioration - several years of neglect. This speaks to the financial state of the Johnston household at the time. The photo is on Page 25 of this narrative.  

ON 22 JANUARY 2020 MELISSA WROTE:

Yes it looks like you and mom and big. Who else? I have never seen that picture. And the state of disrepair. The house in Hope would have looked wonderful. 

I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I had several disagreements with TJ in my high school years. He was very opinionated, biased and prejudiced and aggressive. I remember thinking I did not like this so I avoided him and really did not talk to him again. It is amazing to me that I never discussed this with mom. The things we did not talk about. 

ON 26 JANUARY 2020 JOHN WROTE:

Yes, (regarding the Harrell house photo which is on Page 25) I'm sure that the Hope house would have looked great although it required lots of repair before it was ready for occupancy - and even after it. Repair went on with our living in there. I think that that photo of the Harrell house tells us a lot. The disrepair is very significant. That disrepair has been there for a long time. Ruth did not have the money to repair it. Labor, albeit mostly untrained, would have been available and cheap. Little money and little hope for the future. Then the move to Hope - the new situation would have been a change of life for all of us. Family income secured and hope for the future. And Big happily (surely) joining her brothers and sisters. 

I'm attaching a photo to this email that you have seen before. It is on Page 10 of this narrative. It is of Mary and me on the occasion of her graduation from Artesian High School. I told you in my last email that I have been busy editing the Family Narrative and the Mary Story. Both Frankie Lou and I are convinced that in this photo, Mary is unmarried and pregnant with Frankie Lou.

ON 29 JANUARY 2020 MELISSA WROTE: 

Wow unmarried with Frankie Lou?  So how old was she when she had you. 2 unmarried pregnancies. Was she about 18 in this picture? This had to be a scandal. Right?

ON 1 FEBRUARY 2020 JOHN WROTE: 

Yes, unmarried and pregnant with Frankie Lou. I’m convinced of it. She was 19 years, 14 days old when she delivered me. I place her age in that picture at about 21 years, 10 months old. I’m also convinced that she did not know that she was pregnant in this picture. All she knew was that she had had casual sex with Frank Weisinger during the senior high school year in Artesian, Arkansas. I’m also convinced that she had graduated and returned to Harrell to live with the family and be my mother. Then it was discovered that she was pregnant and was told to go see if Frank would marry her. He agreed and they moved into a little two room house near the Oscar Witherington property that she and Frank would spend a lifetime working. I’m convinced that this is the way it was. It just makes sense and any other scenarios have great faults. 

ON 11 FEBRUARY 2020 MELISSA WROTE: 

Wow that is amazing about Mary. Pregnant again and not married. Amazing she returned to high school after having you.  Do u suppose that she was shamed by the family and society? And wonder how this affected mom and TJ? Do you think TJ was an angry person at that time? I don’t think TJ was in favor of mom marrying dad. You know we have no idea about the personality of our grandfather.  He was smart and accomplished, but what else?

ON 13 FEBRUARY 2020 JOHN WROTE: 

Regarding Mary - I don't see how shame could not have figured in the equation regarding that activity, especially at that time. There was really a lot of stigma associated with promiscuousness and infidelity at that time. There was even stigma associated with divorce in those times. However, I think that the desperate situation and turmoil in the Johnston household with CB dying in horrible and desperate conditions and Big having to control and organize the entire family life would have dictated that Mary be relocated to Artesian in the home of an unknown benefactor to deliver the child and finish high school. Taking care of Mary and the child would have been just too much for Big in that desperate situation. The situation as it unfolded would have overwhelmed a lesser person. I think Vivian and TJ must have had very negative thoughts about Mary and her leaving home at the time CB was dying and Big needing to have all hands on deck. And then when she got pregnant again unmarried, they must have thought Mary was completely without redemption. I think Big planned and arranged for Mary to get her high school degree knowing that life without it would be extremely difficult. And I think in that planning, Big thought that after high school graduation Mary would return to Harrell to rejoin the family and then all together, without CB, they would proceed as a family. Of course when Mary discovered that she was pregnant, she had to try to get Frank to marry her which he did and that dictated Mary's future. I don't recall TJ being an angry person. I do recall his thinking that he was the master of the family. And he had reason for this attitude. He was the 'breadwinner' for all of us at that crucial time. And he was in his teens then, just out of high school. This is the second time you have mentioned that you thought TJ was not in favor of the RE - Vivian marriage. You must have heard either Vivian or TJ or both talking about this. I don't recall TJ ever saying anything negative about RE, but now that I have thought more about this I do vaguely recall TJ speaking despairingly about the Mohon family. I did hear from both TJ and RE that TJ recommended and sponsored RE for membership in the Masonic Order. You had to be recommended and sponsored to become a Mason. Both RE and TJ were proud of their memberships. So, I thought that they got along all right. Maybe, TJ mellowed after he got to know RE. Yes, you're right, we do not know anything about CB - just that he was a medical doctor and obviously did the best with what he had in his situation.

Frankie wrote the continuation of the Witherington – Weisinger saga over several letters. I paraphrase Frankie’s information and combine the several letters into this one paragraph.  Frankie provided the information in her letters to me in 2020. Here it is.

Oscar Witherington was a gentleman farmer, meaning he was the owner of the land and he had other people work the land and derive a profit from it. His wife was named Clara. They lived in what was a big house in those days on top of the hill with a big barn adjoining. Onnye and Margaret Lucinda Weisinger lived in the area. We know now that the Weisinger family consisted of the Father and Mother and the children, Frank, Thomas, Mollie, Gladys, Lucille and Bernice. We now know that Margaret gave birth to Frank and Tom, but Oscar was the father. Onnye discovered Margaret’s indiscretion and left her. It is not known if Clara knew about the indiscretion. Oscar and Clara did not have any children. Margaret died when Frank was about nine years old. Mollie (Frank’s older sister) and Jim Grant, who did not have children of their own, then raised Frank and Thomas. This could have been with the assistance of Oscar and Clara. There is much we don’t know here, but we do know that as an adult Frank was working on the Witherington farm and most likely still living with Mollie and Jim. Mary came to the field where Frank was working to inform Frank that she was pregnant (with Frankie Lou). Frank did the honorable thing and they married. At first they lived in a small two room house across the creek from the Oscar farm. They eventually moved into the little four room house on the highway bordering the Witherington property when it became available and were the principal workers/managers of the Witherington property. When Oscar died the 80 acre farm and the little four room house and associated buildings went to Frank and Mary. Clara had the big house on the hill and half of the Oscar barn, which she sold and went to Hampton to live with her sister. Thomas received the Oscar vehicles and some money. Cotton lost its value as a subsistence crop and both Frank and Mary began other work. Frank began to complain of severe headaches and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Frank died of the tumor at age 58. Mary continued to live in the little house on the highway for many years, but finally moved into a small apartment in Hampton. She was living there when she died of a stroke on 31 July 2000 at age 88.  

This is the Big  - CB home in Harrell as it is today, January 2020. Note the street sign on the left – JOHNSTON AVE. 

 This is the Johnston family home in Hope, Arkansas. The family moved here in 1939 from Harrell with the aid of Ruth’s brothers. This was then the home of Ruth until she was placed in a Hope nursing home after having her first stroke. She was subsequently moved to a nursing home in Hampton, Arkansas where she died at the age of 93. This continued to be the ‘family’ home until the death of TJ in 1983.  

The Johnston Family home in Harrell, Arkansas as it was in the 1935 to 1939 period. Note the disrepair of the front steps leading onto the porch. This appears to be from years of neglect, attesting to the family financial situation in that period. This is significant. With labor cheap and available, still funds could not be committed to this repair. Times were indeed dire in the Johnston household. The people in the photo are Ruth, Vivian and John. The woman with the hat is unknown.  

The principal contributors to this narrative are Melissa Sue Mohon Papineau, John Charles McLeod and Frankie Lou Weisinger Means. Melissa now lives with her husband, William Edward Papineau, in Wichita, Kansas. John lives with this wife, Tamiko Tagusari, in Reno, Nevada. Frankie Lou lives with her son, Thom Means, in the family home in Woodberry, Arkansas. Here is the final resting place of the principal people named in this narrative.

  Ruth Gunter Johnston, 31 December 1886 – 12 April 1980, is buried next to her husband, Charles Bennet Johnston, 12 November 1875 – 22 November 1932, in Dickinson Cemetery near Harrell, Arkansas. The cemetery is located 2½ miles East from Harrell on Highway 278, then North 2 miles on Road 38. Pleasant Grove Church is nearby. 

Vivian Jane Johnston Jackson Mohon, 4 January 1921 -  21 September 1984, is buried in Snell Cemetery near Emmet, Arkansas. The ashes of her husband, R. E. Mohon, (8 September 1921 – 11 January 2017) rest to eternity with Vivian at that location. The cemetery is located in the outskirts of Emmet, southeast on Road 14 then left on Battle Estate Road.

Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger, 7 September 1912 – 31 July 2000, is buried with her husband, Frank W. Weisinger, 5 November 1912 – 7 February 1979, in Pickett Cemetery near Hampton, Arkansas. Their two infant boys are also buried there; Barry Lynn, 1943 – 1944, and Kenneth Wayne, 1945. The cemetery is located 7 miles south of Hampton, West of Highway 167 at the junction of Roads 146 and 27. Antioch Church is nearby. 

 TJ Johnston, 21 June 1917 – 23 April 1983, is buried in Memory Gardens Cemetery at 403 South Main Street in Hope, Arkansas. His long time girlfriend, Eva Nell Moxley, 8 February 1918 – 13 November 2004, is also buried there.                                                                        

  TJ Johnston retired from sawmill work in 1982 at age 65. He was living in the Hope house at 707 East Division Street. He had always done most of the work around the house and very seldom hired outside help. The rain gutters in the house required cleaning. TJ failed to accept that he was now elderly and with less coordination, balance and strength. He undertook this task, one he had always done himself. He fell from the roof, injuring himself and was confined to the hospital. He chose not to go to the care of our family doctor, Dr. Jim McKinsey, in the Branch General Hospital where Vivian was the Chief of Nurses; but went to another hospital instead. Vivian commented that he would not receive optimum care in the facility that he chose. While confined in the hospital he suffered a heart attack and died, ten months after retiring. He had been a smoker for most of his life. While the fall did result in severe injury, surely it was demon tobacco that took his life. 

Vivian was the Chief of Nurses at Branch General Hospital. In addition to her administration tasks, she also worked in the cancer ward of the hospital. She developed a chronic cough. Dr. McKinsey, who she worked with there, kept urging her to check out the cough. Finally she made a chest X-ray. She told me “when I saw those X-rays I knew I was looking at my death warrant.” She had lung cancer. She had been a smoker most of her life and was a smoker then. She had surgery but all the cancer could not be removed. She was given six months to a year to live. In about a year the cancer returned. It was demon tobacco taking another life. 

I, John McLeod, also smoked as a youngster as most people did in those days. I smoked for about ten years and finally became disgusted with the filthy habit. This was before we knew that tobacco could and most likely would kill you if you used it. Ridding myself of the demon tobacco was the most difficult thing I did in my life. I attribute a heart attack I suffered in 1999 to the demon tobacco. Today I continue life with high risk from cardio vascular disease. I wrote a blog about the demon tobacco. Create a hyperlink on your computer with the following address, click on it, and you can read the blog. If you are reading this on a computer connected to the Internet, that is a hyperlink. Just click on it.     https://JohnArk.Tumblr.com/tagged/tobacco

This is a photograph of many of the family members on the occasion of the 90th birthday of Ruth (Big) taken in the family residence in Hope.

From the left: Ruth, Vivian, Mary, Kristie in front of Vivian & Mary, TJ, Melissa, Cindy, Melinda, Frankie Lou, RuthAnn, Amy in front of RuthAnn. 

Melissa and RuthAnn are the daughters of Vivian.

Frankie Lou is Mary’s daughter. I (not pictured) am Mary’s son. 

Cindy and Melinda are Frankie Lou’s daughters.

Kristie and Amy are RuthAnn’s daughters. 

Some of the Means Family is celebrating a Special Occasion with Mary. Pictured left to right standing are: Tory Walker, Jimmy Wilson, Shannon Means, Melinda Means Wilson, Frankie Lou Means, Alice Ann Means Hicks, Ashleigh Ann Means, Winkie Temple, Margaret Cindy Means Franklin, Kevin Bee Means, Terri Johnson Means. Pictured left to right kneeling or sitting are: Kaye Means Hurst, Derrick Means, Mary Frances Johnston McLeod Weisinger, Andy Jo Hurst, Bradley Cole Means, Thom Means.  

MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

 FROM LEFT: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

In this narrative we have briefly stated that Big cared for her dying husband in difficult circumstance in Harrell in the early 1930s and later cared for her dying mother in her home in Hope. The comments about Big’s caring for her mother, Martha Frances, are on Pages 4 and 6 of this narrative. I observed this and was amazed at Big’s skill, patience, compassion and strength both physically and mentally in dealing with what I observed as a very difficult person and difficult situation. I was just a kid at the time, but I was mature enough to recognize an extraordinary life and death event unfolding in that room and appreciate what I was seeing. But even more extraordinary and astounding as well is how deplorable conditions, devastating events, surprising and disappointing betrayals around the final two years of the life of her husband, Dr. Charles Bennett Johnston (CB), were met with such extraordinary determination, loyalty, skill, organization, perseverance, compassion, dedication, endurance, improvisation, stamina, grit, moxie – need I go on? This was indeed an extraordinary situation confronted and overcome by a more than equally extraordinary person. I want to add to what has been said about this in this narrative on Pages 2, 21, 22 and 23. 

 Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility.  And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 25), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas (Map Page 33) to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created. 

The Johnston household in Harrell continued with little money and scant hope for a better future. Even in very limited circumstances, Ruth never lost her sense of humor. A story she obviously told Vivian and which Vivian told me involved a hefty eater among the lunch time railroad men. Finally Ruth informed the gentleman that she was going to have to increase his meal price to thirty cents. He replied “Oh, Mrs. Johnston, I wish you wouldn’t do that. I have enough trouble now eating twenty five cents worth.”  So in 1934 the Johnston household continued with its meager resources supporting Ruth, TJ, Vivian and John. This was the situation for the next four years. Then in the 1938 – 39 time frame Ruth’s brothers came to her rescue. They were prospering in the sawmill business in Hope, Arkansas. They invited the family to move to Hope and offered TJ an important job in the sawmill. The Johnston household world was transformed. The move to Hope, new situation and a change of life. The family income secured and hope for the future. Ruth happily joining her brothers and sisters with bright and unlimited prospects for her children and me. Mary was left with her prospects and situation that she had created. 

TJ Johnston retired from  sawmill work in 1982 at age 65. He was living in the Hope house at 707 East Division Street. He had always done most of the work around the house and very seldom hired outside help. The rain gutters in the house required cleaning. TJ failed to accept that he was now elderly and with less coordination, balance and strength. He undertook this task, one he had always done himself. He fell from the roof, injuring himself and was confined to the hospital. He chose not to go to the care of our family doctor, Dr. Jim McKinsey, in the Branch General Hospital where Vivian was the Chief of Nurses; but went to another hospital instead. Vivian commented that he would not receive optimum care in the facility that he chose. While confined in the hospital he suffered a heart attack and died, ten months after retiring. He had been a smoker for most of his life. While the fall did result in severe injury, surely it was demon tobacco that took his life. 

Vivian was the Chief of Nurses at Branch General Hospital. In addition to her administration tasks, she also worked in the cancer ward of the hospital. She developed a chronic cough. Dr. McKinsey, who she worked with there, kept urging her to check out the cough. Finally she made a chest X-ray. She told me “when I saw those X-rays I knew I was looking at my death warrant.” She had lung cancer. She had been a smoker most of her life and was a smoker then. She had surgery but all the cancer could not be removed. She was given six months to a year to live. In about a year the cancer returned. It was demon tobacco taking another life. 

 I, John McLeod, also smoked as a youngster as most people did in those days. I smoked for about ten years and finally became disgusted with the filthy habit. This was before we knew that tobacco could and most likely would kill you if you used it. Ridding myself of the demon tobacco was the most difficult thing I did in my life. I attribute a heart attack I suffered in 1999 to the demon tobacco. Today I continue life with high risk from cardio vascular disease. I wrote a blog about the demon tobacco. Create a hyperlink on your computer with the following address, click on it, and you can read the blog. If you are reading this on a computer connected to the Internet, that is a hyperlink. Just click on it.     https://JohnArk.Tumblr.com/tagged/tobacco

                                    MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

From the left: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

In this narrative we have briefly stated that Big cared for her dying husband in difficult circumstance in Harrell in the early 1930s and later cared for her dying mother in her home in Hope. The comments about Big’s caring for her mother, Martha Frances, are on Pages 4 and 6 of this narrative. I observed this and was amazed at Big’s skill, patience, compassion and strength both physically and mentally in dealing with what I observed as a very difficult person and difficult situation. I was just a kid at the time, but I was mature enough to recognize an extraordinary life and death event unfolding in that room and appreciate what I was seeing. But even more extraordinary and astounding as well is how deplorable conditions, devastating events, surprising and disappointing betrayals around the final two years of the life of her husband, Dr. Charles Bennett Johnston (CB), were met with such extraordinary determination, loyalty, skill, organization, perseverance, compassion, dedication, endurance, improvisation, stamina, grit, moxie – need I go on? This was indeed an extraordinary situation confronted and overcome by a more than equally extraordinary person. I want to add to what has been said about this in this narrative on Pages 2, 21, 22 and 23. 

 Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility.  And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 23), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created. 

The Johnston household in Harrell continued with little money and scant hope for a better future. Even in very limited circumstances, Ruth never lost her sense of humor. A story she obviously told Vivian and which Vivian told me involved a hefty eater among the lunch time railroad men. Finally Ruth informed the gentleman that she was going to have to increase his meal price to thirty cents. He replied “Oh, Mrs. Johnston, I wish you wouldn’t do that. I have enough trouble now eating twenty five cents worth.”  So in 1934 the Johnston household continued with its meager resources supporting Ruth, TJ, Vivian and John. This was the situation for the next four years. Then in the 1938 – 39 time frame Ruth’s brothers came to her rescue. They were prospering in the sawmill business in Hope, Arkansas. They invited the family to move to Hope and offered TJ an important job in the sawmill. The Johnston household world was transformed. The move to Hope, new situation and a change of life. The family income secured and hope for the future. Ruth happily joining her brothers and sisters with bright and unlimited prospects for her children and me. Mary was left with her prospects and situation that she had created. 

THIS STORY BEGINS WITH YANG PREGNANT AND EXPECTING ON 29 JULY 2019.

On 16 June Aram wrote:

Yang and I are both doing well. Yang is 33 weeks along, and our home is starting to feel a bit more child friendly. The crib, car seat, clothes, and diaper pail have all arrived and has been put together.

Next weekend we continue our classes at Stanford’s training school to learn more about infant care, and hopefully will still have one more relaxing holiday weekend (nearby in Santa Cruz) before the little one is here.

Aram

21 July Paul wrote: Aram and Yang are expecting a one-week delay of the birth because this is probable for 1st time Moms.

On 27 July 2019 John wrote:

Hi Aram and Yang So, our little lady will not make her grand appearance for all the world to see in July 2019, but rather in August 2019. Is there a day of most probable expectation? You know what I mean, even if I can't say it. It is said that male members of the family become somewhat confused near the day of expectation. I hope you don't fall into that category, Aram, and I can't even imagine that you do. Men, until recently, were not allowed in the birthing room. Now they are encouraged to be there at the mother's side. Will you be there, Aram? What are your plans? What about cigars? Do we have enough sense to abandon this tradition? OK, I know you guys are fully prepared and ready for the big day. The rest of us are in Stand-By Mode with plenty of anticipation and maybe some anxiety. Love you John and Tami

On 28 July Aram wrote: Hi John!

We’re awaiting patiently the babies arrival; tomorrow is her official due date but according to the hospital, 80% of new mothers deliver afterwards.

Starting tomorrow I’ll be working from home until the day arrives, which gives us a chance to spend the last few care free hours together :) But truthfully, we’re both awaiting the day now and looking forward to it.

No cigars or any other plans, but I do plan to be there. Typically new mother’s spend two nights at the hospital, so depending how Yang feels, we might have our friends stop by on the second day. But the plan is to just play everything by ear!

Hope all is well, Aram

On 1 August 2019 John wrote:

Hi Aram, Yang and BabyK I talked to Paul on the phone yesterday and he told me that we remain in Anticipation Mode for the time being. I recall your informing me via email that the doctors told you that it very well could be later than anticipated. And that's the case. So, I suppose there is little if any concern about this. If I recall correctly, Paul said that your (Aram) birth did not go exactly as planned. I think there was a matter of Paul's allowing the battery to run down in the car which was to be used to carry Pirjo to the hospital. You arrived earlier than anticipated. Another point was that there were 13 medical people in the delivery team and Pirjo knew all of them - she had worked in that hospital. There have been a lot of jokes about the father around the birth date. I don't have a specific joke for you, but I do have a photo. This is John, Francine and Michael on the birth date. Aram, you met all of them on Paul's 75th birthday celebration in NYC. Does John look worn out to you? OK, we remain in stand by mode. Love, John and Tami

On 3 August 2019 Aram wrote: Hi John and Tami!

In just a short while, we’re going to head to the hospital, and hopefully meet Lilja soon.

This morning Yang’s water broke around 6 am. A quick call to the hospital, and they asked us to come in around 8 to 9 after we’d had a chance to shower, have breakfast, and just get ourselves up and about. We arrived just after 8, and a few tests later it was confirmed that yes, the water broke, and no, there wasn’t yet any meconium (i.e. poop).

Because of that, they suggested we could enjoy the sunny day and go about our business. Labor might start, but if it didn’t, we should be back in 24 hours to ensure no infection. Since we didn’t really think we’d be able to sleep tonight, and it’s no fun to wake up at 5 am, we elected to head in after dinner tonight. We’re not sure yet of the plan, but we assume they’re likely to start to induce Yang.

So we enjoyed a nice, lazy Saturday in the city. Some slow walks, a nice lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, ice cream and socializing with my old roommate who was visiting from Germany, and shortly a slice of pizza at one of our favorite restaurants. Oh, and a lottery ticket – just in case :)

Yang is doing super well –– no complains –– and ever ready to do her part. I feel remarkably calm; in some ways this feels calm and orderly.

We’ll let you know as soon as we know how things go!

Love, Aram + Yang

On 4 August, 6:59 PM Aram wrote: Will write more later, but Yang and Lilja are both good. Long day, resulting in a c-section, but are in good health and spirits.

Born 5:11 pm, August 4th, 2019, 7 lbs 5. Love from us all!

On 4 August 2019, 8:48 PM John wrote: YAAAHUUUU!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! Seven - five. That's exactly the average weight of a newborn according to Mrs. Internet. Thank you for the news and the photo. Love you - John & Tami

On 5 August 2019 John wrote: Hi Aram, Yang and Lilja You wrote "long day, resulting in a C-Section." We take this to mean that most of yesterday was spent with unsuccessful induced labor. Also that inasmuch as we were a week past the anticipated delivery date it was decided then to resort to Plan - C. Is that the way it went? Anytime surgery is involved, whether minor or major, there are concerns. And there is the recovery and healing from the incision. We know that Yang is in good health, as are both of you, and we anticipate that her good health will carry her through this complication. Just passed 'one day old' a short time ago. Wishing a speedy recovery for Yang. John and Tami

On 6 August Aram wrote: Hi John,

Yang had to endure three different methods of delivery on Sunday: after we were admitted on Saturday evening and inducers users, by 5 am she started to experience a lot of pain. She bore through it for two hours, and when nitrous oxide didn’t help, we switched to the stronger fentinel.

At that point they did an exam and found her to be 6.5 cm open, so very close. With the pain increasing, we switched to an epidural that worked well and by 1.30 pm she was fully dilated.

Lilja wasn’t in the best position, so we waited an hour hoping gravity would help.

Active delivery started 2.30 pm, and after two hours of pushing, Lilja was starting to struggle. Her heart beat jumped after the contractions, so they were worried she needed to be delivery soon.

Complicating things was Yang developed a fever and infection.

They tried the vacuum to see if she might be able to still be delivered naturally, but no luck — so c-section was the best way. I was able to be in the room, and it was relatively short.

Yang’s infection means Lilja is still in the nursery/nicu and not with us. By tomorrow, we will know if she has any symptoms.

Yang was moved the first night to a floor better equipped to handle her monitoring, but by yesterday afternoon returned to the delivery floor. Antibiotics are still being used, but she has made incredible progress. 2 pm yesterday was intense swelling, and general immobility. By 8 pm she was able to walk to the nursery.

Today she is doing much better, and only having the IV intermittently. Breastfeeding attempts have started.

Our hope is tomorrow Lilja can return to our recovery room, and that we might be able to go home by Thursday. However, if Lilja has an infection, we will need to readjust.

On 6 August John wrote: WOW! OH, MY!! Thank you very much, Aram, for your detailed report. Oh, my. We can be so very thankful that Yang has taken such good care of her health all these years. She needed that good health for this. So glad that she is recovering quickly. This again speaks to her good health and her taking good care of her body. The indications are that we are on the down side of a very difficult situation. We are so proud of Yang. Her physical and mental strength carried the day. Thank you for the photos. Love and hugs to all three of you!! John and Tami

On 7 August John wrote: Another day in recovery. We hope all is progressing in a normal manner. We are so thankful that the rules have changed and that you were able to be at Yang's side all the way. We know that it was a great comfort for her. Hopeful that Thursday will be a homeward bound day. John and Tami

On 7 August Aram wrote: Lilja joined us today after lunch in the recovery room. Some minor monitoring but she will likely have a clean bill of health tomorrow :)

Yang is doing better, still recovering, and still on antibiotics. They need to give IVs tonight and probably tomorrow, so it looks like we might be able to go home on Friday, assuming everything with Yang is positive.

Lilja has started doing baby 👶 things. Peeing, feeding, crying but it feels good.

Thanks for the continued positive messages, they help us through the day! Aram

On 8 August John wrote: Thank you for your message yesterday. Great to see Lilja An doing all the things she is supposed to. And we hope Yang will be able to travel tomorrow, Friday. Isn't it amazing that even with the best, even meticulous, planning and preparation things don't always go as they should? Good health was our backup here and we are thankful for it. Thanks for the news and the Great Photos! We hope you are well enough to travel tomorrow. All the best. Love you John & Tami

On 9 August John wrote:

10:24 PM, PT, 9 August 2019. We hope you guys are tired from a day of relocating from the hospital to home base, getting settled at home and preparing for bed. This would mean that every thing with Yang is positive and that she has been cleared to completely take over as Mom and that Lilja An is ready for home care. Night One with the family at home. It actually is Night One, Day One of a new life for you guys. New adventures, new joys, new surprises. Good night, sleep well.

Love - John & Tami

On 10 August Aram wrote:

Hi John + Tami,

Yes! Yang and Lilja were discharged yesterday from the hospital, and around 3.30 pm we made the short 3-5 minute drive back home.

Lilja got a tour of the apartment, where she would be sleeping, and then promptly relieved herself – which in this case – was what we had been waiting for.

Our first night home was relatively restful. I had a chance to pick up Yang’s meds, some Chinese food, and some small treats for the evening. Yang’s got a lot more energy today, and we even completed our next milestone: taking a short walk to Noe Valley’s town square with Lilja – which is an approx. 1 mile walk round trip.

This time last week, we were finishing up a meal at one of our favorite Pizza places adjacent to the hospital and getting ready for the adventure. Now a week later, we’re healthy, at home, and in just a few moments, I’ll go ahead and start putting together a small pasta and salad dinner.

Love, Aram

THE TIME NOW IS 5:11 PM PT, 11 AUGUST 2019. THE END OF WEEK ONE, LILJA AN.

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE ATTACHED TO THIS DIALOGUE.

Photos left to right: Lilja 4 August, Day One, Yang & Lilja 6 August, Lilja 6 August Yang & Lilja 7 August, Lilja 7 August Yang & Lilja 10 August, Lilja 10 August

I have just finished reading James Comey’s book, A Higher Loyalty. There are quite a few points I gleaned from this book. First, Comey makes it clear to the reader that he is a man of great integrity and unimpeachable character. Soon the book introduced the era of USA torture, murder and illegal, secret prisons. Back when it was going on with Cheney – Bush and we knew about it, I looked into who could have created a legal opinion justifying this activity. I couldn’t find any info along this line. Evil is evil. You can’t justify evil by saying “it’s not as evil as it could have been, or as evil as it was before or we needed it as a matter of national security.” Torture is illegal. It is immoral. It is in violation of USA law and the Geneva Accord, which we signed. There is no way it can be justified or legalized. After it was all over and Cheney - Bush were gone, some low-level names began to become known – Comey’s name never came up. Now, by his own admission, we know he was right in the thick of it. Integrity? Character? He participated in “legalizing” it. I put him right in there with Cheney – Bush. Another now prominent figure is in the thick of this by his own indirect admission. That is the now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was Bush’s Legal Secretary during this time. This meant that all documents to and from the White House passed through him and many of the WH documents were created by him. He bragged under oath to the congress during his confirmation hearings that he was with President Bush this whole time and “went everywhere with President Bush.” So Kavanaugh was at the center of this illegal activity. It is no wonder that both former President Bush and Trump quickly invoked executive privilege when an attempt was made to acquire the about 102,000 documents in Kavanaugh’s ‘Bush file.’ The information in these documents would surely negatively expose all three of them - Bush, Cheney and Kavanaugh. Also, regarding Kavanaugh, I believe Christine Blasey Ford. In response to the accusations against him, Kavanaugh launched into an angry, aggressive, vitriolic, chaotic, tantrum brimming with rambling sarcasm, scorn and conspiracy theories. This appalling partisan rebuttal to the accusations brought by Ford was disgusting. Certainly not the conduct and temperament you would expect from a Justice of the Supreme Court. Incidentally, I also believed Anita Hill in the confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas. The Thomas rebuttal to Hill’s testimony is eerily similar to the Kavanaugh diatribe. Thomas had Senator Orin Hatch’s angry, aggressive support. Kavanaugh had Senator Lindsey Graham’s angry aggressive support. I can’t help but wonder if the Thomas case was a template for the Kavanaugh case. Neither Kavanaugh nor Thomas should be on the Supreme Court. A supreme court judge should be above reproach in all things in addition to being a judicial intellect.                     OK. Back to this book. Judging from his book, Comey holds most politicians in very low regard. Hillary among them, and further than that I think he is and was prejudiced against Hillary. He was involved in the Clinton ‘Whitewater’ investigations. He was involved with Kenneth Starr in his Clinton investigations. No convictions after years of hard work. He prosecuted Marc Rich, oil trader and big Clinton donor, and after years of work, convicted him of tax evasion and trading with Iran. Rich fled to Switzerland and was given safe haven. Later Comey and a team went to Switzerland thinking to bring Rich back to the USA. That fizzled. And just before Bill Clinton’s second term ended, Bill pardoned Rich. Comey then investigated the Clintons’ and Mar Rich’s ex-wife for a potential illegal contribution to the Clinton Library. Again after lots of work, no criminal liability was found. Years and years and years of hard work on Clinton related potential prosecutions, resulting in nothing – absolutely nothing. When Hillary was NY Senator and Comey was US Attorney for the Southern District in NY, Hillary refused to meet him. With this background, and there is even more that I don’t mention, I definitely feel that Comey was and is prejudiced against Hillary Clinton. Now I come to the salient point in all this ‘Clinton – Comey’ dialog. Comey states that on 6 July 2015, he received a referral from “the inspector general of the intelligence community” regarding Secretary Clinton’s possible mishandling of classified information while using her personal email system. Is there some reason why Comey doesn’t state in the book “referral from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, Jim Clapper?” He mentions the agency and person like this later on in the book. Was this referral really from Jim Clapper, of from some GOP political faction? Anyway, four days later, on 10 July 2015 a criminal investigation was opened. This entire investigation, another year plus, of Comey investigating Clinton matters, is quite interesting with lots of very interesting points. I’ll make only one. In one email that was made public the dialog on the page appeared like this:

According to the media the FBI said this indicated that the material was classified as c for confidential. I would interpret this as item c of items a, b and c in that document. I have seen a lot of confidential material and that is not the way confidential material is identified. Anyway, I fast forward. On 1 November 2015 during the campaigning for president (Comey I), Comey disclosed to the media that Hillary was under investigation regarding possible misuse of classified information. It is not written in the FBI mission statement, but it is unwritten policy that the FBI will make no announcements or statements during an election that could in any way influence the election. This quickly became one of the main topics of debate, if it wasn’t already. Although the FBI knew their conclusion in May, they waited until 5 July 2016 (Comey II), four months before the election, to disclose that the one year investigation found nothing illegal. However, the intense political rhetoric on the topic continued. On 28 October 2016 (Comey III), 11 days before Election Day, Comey announced that he was reopening the “Clinton email investigation.”  Political rhetoric exploded. On Sunday, 6 November 2016, with the election on Tuesday, 8 November 2016, Comey announced that he was closing the investigation, again, and for a final time, this time. For Comey, this was another year and a half investigating the Clintons and no conviction. However, I think that this time he delivered a blow to the Clintons that far surpassed any result that he could have achieved through the courts. He deprived Hillary of the office of President of the United States. I think he knew this as he did it. I think he believes that his actions tilted the scale for Trump. Hillary says that she thinks that. I also think Trump thinks that. Then why did Trump fire him? Trump thought Comey knowingly tipped the scale in his favor, that Comey was ‘one of the team.’ Observe how Trump actively tried to pull Comey closer into the ‘inner circle’ with several one on one meetings and a personal one on one dinner. That first meeting that Comey had with Trump in NY’s Trump Tower was very interesting. Trump really looked like he thought Comey was “one of the team.” Perhaps Comey knew at that time that a Trump presidency was a disaster, not worth getting the satisfaction of finally getting to whack the Clintons. However, I think that after Comey met Trump and personally discovered without question the type of person he had helped to put into the White House, he realized what a blunder it was. Trump demanded loyalty. Comey could not play the game, and in fact criticized Trump in front of Reince Priebus in the Oval Office on 8 February 2017. That was the end for Comey. Trump then ‘fired with malice’ the Director in such a way as to humiliate him. Comey got the news via TV when he was delivering a speech in LA. Trump intended to cut him loose with no security and no secure transport back to Washington. Andrew McCabe was elevated to Director with the firing and he authorized security and secure transport back to Washington – just as if Comey was still Director. This infuriated Trump and McCabe was soon out the door as well. And with more malice than with Comey. Trump fired McCabe on the day before he was to retire. Don’t cross Trump in any way or there will be dire consequences. The ego demands it. Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of State, remarked in a conference at the Pentagon that Trump was a moron. He learned of his dismissal on TV, as did Comey. He was replaced by Mike Pompeo, a guy who apparently has kissed the ring. H.R. McMaster, former NSA Director, remarked in a private dinner that Trump was an idiot. He was replaced by John Bolton, another guy who apparently has kissed the ring. Anyway, it is now obvious that only those who stroke his ego and never, never ever criticize him in any way will remain long in the inner circle. 

On Page 213 in the book, the first mention of the Steele Report appeared in a conference with President Obama on 5 January 2017. I say ‘appeared’ because here is the way it was presented. Clapper explained to Obama that here was an unusual matter that needed to be brought to Mr. Trump’s attention: additional material – what would become commonly called “the Steele dossier” – that contained a variety of allegations about Trump.

Steele said that he shared his information with the FBI in the summer and fall of 2016, well before the election. Steele came to believe that the FBI was concentrating resources on the Clinton/email matter and giving little if any attention to his information and in fact that people in the FBI were blocking an investigation of the material rather than pursuing an investigation. He thought they were influenced by Rudy Giuliani, a Trump advisor at the time. At any point there was no real investigation of the material in the report. Comey certainly didn’t deal with this “dossier” with the same zeal he used on the “Clinton referral.” Comey continues in his book The material had been assembled by an individual considered reliable, a former allied intelligence officer, but had not been fully validated. The material included some wild stuff. Among that stuff were unconfirmed allegations that the president-elect had been engaged in unusual sexual activities with prostitutes in Russia while on a trip to Moscow in 2013, activities that at one point involved prostitutes urinating on a hotel bed in the presidential suite of the Ritz-Carlton that the Obamas had used while on a visit there. Another allegation was that these activities were filmed by Russian intelligence for the possible purpose of blackmail against the president-elect. 

Many people will think that this is just too weird, too preposterous to be factual. Regrettably, I think this is just the kind of crude, obscene, perverted, vindictive activity that Trump would initiate. On 30 April 2011 Obama had ridiculed Trump at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. Trump has boycotted the event since then. Trump’s ego will allow no limits to his vindictiveness, even in a petty way. I also think that is why he is so determined to unravel anything and everything that he can that Obama accomplished as President. If the Ritz-Carlton event really happened, we can be certain that Putin has a video of it. Putin political opponents and former KGB agents verify that recording prominent foreigners in Russia is standard procedure for Putin. Just in case it can be useful at some time.  

Back to the Steele Report, Jim Comey was assigned by James Clapper to present the material in the Steele Report to Trump in one of their one on ones. Trump really seems to like these one on ones. Trump took it all in with denials, of course, thinking that Comey was on the team. The ‘on the team’ status began to unravel with a one on one private dinner at the White House on 27 January 2017. Trump wanted Comey to commit to personal and FBI loyalty to him. Comey was well aware at this time who the man he was dealing with really is. The dinner consumes eight pages in the book and clearly reveals Comey’s opinion of Donald Trump. Comey said that there wasn’t a dinner conversation, not a lecture either, just Trump rambling, often repeating lies that he had told and that were proven as such. Trump said that he needed loyalty, that he expected loyalty. Comey said that he wasn’t on anybody’s side politically and could not be counted on in the traditional political sense. At one point Trump brought up what he called the “golden showers thing” (if he called it that, then he was certainly not naïve regarding this activity) and said that it bothered him if there was even a one percent chance that Melania thought it was true. Doesn’t this Trump statement tell us something? Trump’s “on the team” view of Comey certainly dimmed at this dinner. Then it was completely extinguished with Comey’s critical remark to Trump in the Oval Office on 8 February 2017. 

Comey states in the Epilogue to the book: Donald Trump’s presidency threatens much of what is good in this nation. We all bear responsibility for the deeply flawed choices put before voters during the 2016 election (note, he includes Clinton here), and our country is paying a high price: this president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven, and about personal loyalty. We are fortunate some ethical leaders have chosen to serve and to stay at senior levels of government, but they cannot prevent all the damage from the forest fire that is the Trump presidency. Their task is to try to contain it. 

There is something else in Comey’s book that is unrelated to the 2016 election and Donald Trump that is interesting and merits contemplation. That is the contrast between Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby and David Petraeus. Martha Stewart was suspected of insider trading. The FBI could not prove that, but did convict her of lying to the FBI. She was sentenced to five months in federal prison in Alderson, West Virginia which she served. Scooter Libby was Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff. Cheney – Bush were quite busy fabricating WMD information to support an illegal invasion of Iraq: in violation of the UN Charter and in violation of USA law. There were phony centrifuge claims, yellow cake in Niger, etc. They sent Joe Wilson to Niger; but he would not play along and reported there was no attempt by Iraq to buy nuclear material and that in fact Niger had none. The CIA (Valerie Plame) disputed the centrifuge fabrications. This surely infuriated Cheney and surely he disclosed (or ordered the disclosure) of Valerie as a covert CIA agent. This would accurately reflect his vindictive, revengeful nature. Disclosing the identity of a covert agent is a criminal offense.  Joe and Valerie were married and this ended both careers. Obviously Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby fell on his sword for Cheney. After a three year investigation, Libby was convicted of lying to federal investigators, perjury and obstruction of justice. George Bush commuted his sentence and Trump pardoned him. And incidentally Cheney-Bush had Colin Powel go before the UN to “make the case for war” with Iraq with all the WMD material they had fabricated. Everyone who was observing the facts knew this was not flawed intelligence, but rather fabricated information. The USA media went along with it. The European media disputed all the claims almost immediately. In the USA only the AP, Reuters and the UN Atomic Energy Commission stuck to the facts which indicated that Iraq had no WMDs, was not trying to acquire them, and the entire country was in a shambles due to the sanctions. Now to David Petraeus of military fame in Iraq. He became Director of the CIA after Iraq and Afghanistan and it was in that role when he disclosed top secret information to his girlfriend and even allowed her to photograph some of it. He then lied repeatedly to the FBI about all of it. He was given a plea agreement. He admitted guilt and agreed to a $40,000 fine and probation for two years. Stewart – Libby – Petraeus, all guilty of lying to the FBI and two of them of much more. Only Stewart goes to prison. What’s the difference here? Along this train of thought, Oliver North could also be included. 

Comey commented in his book about the size of Trumps hands. In this case this is certainly a crude, naughty, profane statement. 

However, here in the Trump era this sort of commentary seems to be widely accepted. Rude, crude humor previously was confined to private conversations even that which is subtle. Now, thanks to The Donald, it seems to be the norm in all levels of media. Remember, this began on national TV during the campaign debates. Now we see it in a best seller book. 

CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY (CTE)

This is the medical term for brain damage caused by repeated head trauma. There’s plenty about it in the news today because of its association with professional football and the NFL. This is a devastating disease. The symptoms include memory loss, poor judgement, altered speech, depression, dementia, etc. Several high profile former NFL players have committed suicide apparently with it and because of it. The fact that we know about it and what it does and what it causes is troubling enough, but that is not why I began this blog. There is another aspect of this terrible ailment that is very troubling to me. The public consciousness was awakened by the players bringing lawsuits against the NFL and stipulating in their wills that when they died their brains would be donated to medical science. It is now clear that the NFL knew about this before the players recognized it and began to  take action. In 1994 the NFL created the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee (MTBIC) to study the effects of concussions and the injury to NFL players. The data collected by the league from 1996 - 2001 seemed to minimize and obfuscate the danger of head trauma. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) did a study of retired NFL players and concluded that there is significant risk of neurological disorders in retired NFL players. The MTBIC contradicted this study and other investigations of this sort. In 2003 the MTBIC began to publish “study” results that stated there were no long term negative health consequences associated with head trauma sustained by NFL players. The league also asserted that returning to play after a concussion did not involve any risk. More and more studies were published that directly contradicted the NFL’s MTBIC “studies” and reports. However, the NFL did not waver in their efforts to discredit and discourage investigations of this nature. In 2002 the SHTF. Dr. Bennet Omalu examined the brain of former Pittsburg Steeler Mike Webster. Mike died of a heart attack at age 50 following unusual and unexplained behavior after retirement. In Mike’s brain, Dr. Omalu discovered a new disease which he called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). He published in Neurosurgery in July 2005. The NFL’s reaction was to demand that the article be retracted. Dr. Omalu responded with a second paper on the subject. Dr. Ira Casson, co-chair of MTBIC, denied in a televised interview that there was any link between head injuries sustained playing in the NFL and long-term brain damage. Dr. Omalu and colleagues founded the Brain Injury Research Institute (BIRI). In 2012 they began an autopsy of Junior Seau, former NFL linebacker. Seau committed suicide, shooting himself in the chest to preserve his brain which he donated to the BIRI. However, Seau’s son revoked permission after he was contacted by the NFL denouncing Omalu’s qualifications, motivation and ethics. The NFL commissioner appeared before Congress and was much less than forthcoming. Does this sound familiar? How about the path the tobacco industry took, even appearing before Congress and denying any connection between their product and the death of 7 million people worldwide every year? Would it surprise you that the legal representation of the NFL has ties to the tobacco industry legal defense? Finally in November 2009, an NFL spokesperson, Greg Aiello, publicly said “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussions can lead to long term problems.” Does it  take hundreds of scientific studies and papers to convince people that getting hit in the head is unhealthy? Apparently so when the product is a $14 billion to $25 billion business. We can’t have anything affecting our bottom line, even the misery and death of people, can we? The NFL employs thousands of people and is expected to net $14 billion this year. The real economic impact comes in the thousands of ancillary business that surround the NFL. All the way down to the cost of the pizza you order to eat while watching the game on TV while wearing the jersey of your favorite player and team. Yes, this is big business. Huge business. It’s not going anywhere. We have seen many significant changes, all improvements in my mind, but much more has to be done to make the game safer. How about when a player is removed from the game after suffering a concussion, the player who caused the concussion also has to leave the game and lose his pay for that game? A lot of attention has been given to protecting pass receivers which is good, but we need some protection for the running backs also. Now a runner is not protected. Even Iron Head Heyward did not have an iron head. He died at 39 from a brain tumor. I saw an interview of Tony Dorsett, former running back of the Dallas Cowboys. He is suffering with CTE. He said that some days he cannot remember the names of his children. At the end of the interview he was asked if, knowing what he knows now, would he do it the same way again? After some thought, he said “Yes, I’d still do it the same way.” Bo Jackson, another former NFL running back, said that if he knew about CTE as a young man he would not have played football and that there was no way that he would let his children play the game. Of course, he was a pro baseball player, too. We are going to have football. There is no question about that. So how do we protect those who are most vulnerable? Football in this country starts at six years old. Do they need to be protected from head trauma? Yes, even more so than the NFL players. How about flag football until high school? They could still learn the fundamentals of the game but in a safer environment.  Certainly something needs to be done in this aspect of the game. Thankfully this knowledge and emphasis on safety in the NFL has  trickled down to the college level. It was here that I became active regarding football and head trauma. I had been living in Europe and had been away from football, both college and pro for many years. When I relocated to the US and began to watch football again, I was astonished at how violent the game had become. Or was it always that way and I had just accepted it as it was without question? Then my memory began to click in. I recalled the play of the defensive backs of the Oakland Raiders. There was Jack Tatum and several other defensive backs the Raiders had between 1970 - 80 who would knock a defenseless receiver unconscious and laugh and high five when they got to the sidelines. There is the infamous Tatum hit on Darryl Stingley of New England in a preseason game where the pass was too high and incomplete but Tatum drilled him anyway, causing a spinal injury paralyzing Stingley from the chest down. Is that football? Well, it was then. There was no flag on the play and no consequences for Tatum. Thankfully there is a penalty and a fine for that kind of play today. But we still see it. We have to eliminate that vicious play that borders on criminality. The college players tried to emulate what they saw the pros doing. Time and time again I saw defensive backs spearing defenseless receivers, usually with a head to head blow, to dislodge the ball. I’m sure the defensive backs thought ‘that’s the way the pros do it. That’s the way to do it.’ And the thing that really angered me was a broadcaster saying “that’s just football. There should be no penalty on that play.” Kirk Herbstreit was the announcer I heard most often with that comment. Finally I had had enough. I fired off a letter to Herbstreit saying something like “Kirk, when you see the player being carried off the field on a stretcher, run down on the field and tell him ‘that’s just football, son.’ And then run into the stands and tell his parents ‘that’s just football.’” And I asked him ‘is that the way you teach your kids to play football?’ I never got a reply from Herbstreit, even though I sent several letters with a similar message each time. Perhaps it was because I called him a hoodlum broadcaster because of his comments. He could have been part of the solution to the problem, but no, he was as big a part of the problem as the vicious hitters on the field. He could have condemned that kind of play rather than glorifying it. It pains me to see him still broadcasting and every time I see him I think ‘Herbstreit, hoodlum boadcaster.’ I didn’t limit myself to letters to Herbstreit. I also sent letters to coaches whose teams I saw playing like that. The coaches may be teaching it, maybe not, I don’t know that. But if they allow it, they condone it and it reflects negatively on them and on the school. I also sent letters to those college presidents telling them that that type of play reflects on them, on the school and on the students at the school. On the field those players represent the coach, the school president, the students, the school itself. I also called the coaches and the school presidents hoodlums for not stopping that type of play. A couple of schools I singled out were Auburn and Oklahoma. Coach Gene Chizik and defensive coordinator Ted Roof and President Jay Gogue. Chizik was fired at Auburn but I think his record had more to do with that than his allowing or coaching this style of play. Chizik had two players on his 2010 - 11 team that were known as the two dirtiest players in the SEC. They were not only vicious but in the scrum would bite, hit, kick, spit, twist the helmet of the other player - just real hooliganism. Chizik’s Ted Roof was asked about the play of these two guys and he sheepishly lowered his chin and said meekly ‘well, it is a contact sport.’ Yes, it is a contact sport. But it is blocking and tackling. Not intimidating and maiming. Yes, I also wrote to Oklahoma and called Coach Bob Stoops and President David Boren hoodlums. No, I didn’t receive a reply from anyone. Not that I was expecting one. It pains me to see Chizik on TV as a commentator on the SEC network. Hoodlum Herbstreit, hoodlum Chizik. Incidentally early in his coaching career, Chizik had a player die of a brain aneurysm from a hit to the head in practice. And he still allowed that type of play at Auburn. Researchers at Boston University announced in July 2017 that they had detected evidence of CTE in 110 of 111 donated brains of former NFL players. Do we need any more evidence? Something has to be done about this now. NOW! Changes to the rules can help. We can write to the rules committees saying that we support changes to the rules to make the game safer. Maybe even offer your suggested rule change. Ray Anderson, the AD at Arizona State is president of the NCAA Football Competition Committee. Rich McKay, the president of the Atlanta Falcons is the Chairman of the NFL Competition Committee. 

Image Source - Getty Images, Debbi Smirnoff.

The NFL’s lying to its players and fans and the public about head trauma is just the tip of the prevarication iceberg. How about US Gymnastics and Michigan State University concealing the sexual abuse of Dr. Larry Nassar? How about Penn State’s concealing the sexual abuse of Jerry Sandusky? How about the Catholic Church’s concealment of sexual abuse by priests? The Peace Corps concealing abuse of its volunteers? The UN concealing rape by UN soldiers? The entertainment industry turning a blind eye to sexual misconduct in the work place? How about multiple US Presidents lying about Vietnam and Southeast Asia? How about George Bush and Dick Cheney lying about Iraq? How about the US auto industry concealing deaths relating to unsafe cars (Ralph Nadar)? How about the city of Flynt Michigan and the lead in its water? How about the pharmaceutical industry lying about opioids for profit while putting the public at risk? The sugar industry buried evidence of sucrose’s link to health problems. How about the savings & load crisis where 296 institutions failed? How about the financial crisis of 2007-08 involving banks, insurance and real estate? The military lying about friendly fire incidents, the police lying about deadly force incidents? And we can’t forget about Tobacco. It still kills 400, 000 people in the US every year. Only now surely everyone knows that using tobacco can and most likely will lead to a very unpleasant death. Congress could mandate a more direct and colorful warning on every package, but they don’t. Do you know why not? Oh, my!  Is mom the only one we can trust?

Dave and I were living and working as engineers in West Germany in Europe. The time was in the 1960s. The USSR had a firm grip on Eastern Europe. The Iron Curtain with double electric fences enclosing a mine field ran from Northern Norway down through central Europe and out to the Eastern border of Turkey. This border was patrolled by the military with NATO on one side and the 

Warsaw Pact on the other side this entire distance. Our company was awarded a contract to design, manufacture and install an air defense system that would enable NATO to defend the West from an air attack from the East. Dave and I were working on this system. We had read the book 1984 and the book Animal Farm by George Orwell which was written in the mid 1940s. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the Gulag Archipelago was to come in 1970 and verify the vision of Orwell. During the time Orwell was writing his books, the West was in league with Stalin and Russia against Nazi Germany. Orwell had difficulty getting Animal Farm published for that reason. After publication, Orwell suggested as the title for the French publication “Union des républiques socialistes animales” which abbreviates to URSA, the latin word for “bear,” a symbol of Russia. He was convinced of the evil totalitarianism of Stalin and Russia. Orwell was a democratic socialist, not a disillusioned communist. Anyway, Dave and I had an insatiable desire to take a good look behind the Iron Curtain ourselves with our own eyes. As much as we could determine, we wanted to know about living in Communism. Inasmuch as Dave was of Polish ancestry and we were also students of WWII history, we decided that it would be interesting to go to Poland. We found that we would have to obtain a visa for this trip and to do so we would have to submit a very detailed itinerary along with several other pages of information as well as our passports to the Polish Military Mission (PMM) in Berlin. OK, we submitted all that. We were planning a two week trip. We had already traveled through East Germany to Berlin, so we knew the drill for traveling behind the Iron Curtain. On those trips to Berlin at the border crossing between West and East Germany (Iron Curtain) we were told by the US military not to stop and not to venture off the main road – to drive nonstop and directly to Berlin. We were told that if we had car trouble to put the hood up and wait with the car, that the US military that patrolled the road, maintaining access to Berlin, would find us. When we discussed driving in Poland, we received similar instructions except that there would be no US military to assist us. Drive point to point according to the submitted itinerary and in case of car trouble wait with the car for the military to arrive. On that drive through East Germany to Berlin we observed small villages from the Autobahn. Off the highway the roads were not paved and we saw animals being used for farming, no tractors and few cars in those small towns. We really saw how primitive the society was. It was with stark contrast to us in the West. OK, our plan would be to drive through East Germany to Berlin on the first day. On the second day we would drive directly from Berlin to Warsaw (350 miles).

We would spend four days in Warsaw. One day to drive from Warsaw south to Kraków (200 miles). Five days in Kraków. One day to drive from Kraków back to Berlin (400 miles). We made all the arrangements. The last required item was the visa in our passports which the PMM in Berlin had. Our main objective was to witness life behind the Iron Curtain, but we certainly had some tourist objectives in mind, also. Frederic Chopin was one of our favorite composers. He was born in Warsaw and lived there for 20 years before moving to Paris for the last 19 years of his life. We wanted to visit the Chopin Museum there and his family home which is just outside of Warsaw.

He supported himself in Paris by composing, performing, and teaching piano. He died in Paris in 1849 at 39 probably of TB. Chopin’s Polonaise Opus 53 was and is one of our favorite compositions. A polonaise is a Polish national dance, with its own typical rhythm. Chopin took the polonaise form and made it more complex and sophisticated. You can find Horowitz and Rubinstein recordings of Opus 53 on UTube, but I offer a link to young Natalie Schwamova’s recording. Her nearly seven minute performance is interesting, delightful and enjoyable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPPbk3Xa-8g

We considered visiting Malbork Castle in the north near the old city of Gdańsk,

but we just didn’t have the time. We planned to go south from Warsaw to Krakow and visit the Wawel Royal Castle and several other sites in the area

including the Nazi Concentration Camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. We were 

also very interested to see the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow.

Of course we would take the usual  tour of the Polish cities of Warsaw and

Krakow, both of which have very interesting and historic town squares which 

you see in these two photos. We kept telephoning about the visas every so often. Finally with about two weeks before our trip was to begin we were informed by the PMM that they had no record of our passports or our visa applications. We immediately contacted the US Embassy in Bonn, the then capitol of West Germany. They told us that the Eastern Block frequently did that hoping to obtain a passport that they could use for clandestine purposes. The Embassy issued us temporary passports and told us they would eventually recover those passports. OK, the end of our plan for Poland. We still wanted to travel behind the Iron Curtain. The Embassy told us that travel to Czechoslovakia or Hungary would be less restricted and involved. We decided on a trip to Prague, capitol of Czechoslovakia. In this case we could not enter the country from Germany, but would have to enter from Austria, an unaligned country at that time. We could return to West Germany directly from Czechoslovakia. So we set our itinerary as driving from Germany through Regensburg and Passau to Lenz, Austria (lower left corner of the map below); then north into Czechoslovakia and on via Tábor to Prague. 

We would spend four days in Prague, then drive west to Karlovy Vary, a very famous hot springs resort. We would spend two days there and then drive west and exit Czechoslovakia near Cheb into West Germany. A visa was required as well as an itinerary, but not as detailed as the Poles. All completed without incident. The Czechoslovakians were very helpful in planning our trip. OK, we were all set without difficulty this time. We would spend the first night of our trip in Passau, the German city at the confluence of the Inn and Danube Rivers. It’s

easy to see which is the Blue Danube, isn’t it? From there we would drive in Dave’s Porsche east through Austria to Linz, then north into Czechoslovakia through Tabor and on to Prague. The first day of our trip was rainy, but even with the weather; the 200 mile trip should put us in Prague for lunch. At the border the Austrians cautioned us against venturing off the main road. On the Czech side most of the people we saw were armed, giving us some ominous thoughts. They asked where we were going and how long we were going to be in country. Then they took our passports and went inside. After a long wait, they returned our passports and waved us through. The road was paved, but it was just two lanes and beveled to shed water and snow. We were in the countryside, not a building in sight and we had not encountered another vehicle after crossing the border. We were coasting along at slow speed for us when our little car just slipped off the wet road and into the ditch. Our efforts only carried us further into the ditch. We were going to have to have a tractor or vehicle of some sort to pull us back onto the road. Is this how we are going to spend the first day of our trip – standing on the side of the road hoping for someone to come by and help us? No cell phones in those days. Hours passed. The rain was intermittent. Not a single vehicle came by. Then we saw two guys in the distance way down the road walking toward us. Hopefully they can help us. But how do we communicate? Dave spoke a little German, but that was all we had other than English. As the two guys approached us they were laughing and talking and judging by their clothing surely they were farmers. We thought that even if they don’t have a tractor, maybe they have a horse that can pull us out of the ditch. As it turned out we did not have to worry about communicating. It was pretty obvious what we needed. Without any effort to communicate, one guy took the front bumper and one the rear bumper. The two guys began to bounce the little Porsche up and down and bounced it right back onto the roadway. The four of us all laughed, spoke in our own languages, shook hands and they continued down the road continuing to laugh and talk. Doesn’t this indicate that most divisions in this world are strictly political? But, oh my! Were we grateful!! They knew it. We knew it. One of those circumstances of life – help needed – help provided – pass it on. Were any of the four of us thinking about democracy or communism? We stood next to the car and watched them as they continued. They looked back a couple of times – we waved – they waved back. OK, we were back on our way. It was well after lunch now and it was raining again as we drove into Ceske Budejovice. This was a fair sized town. There were very few people moving about. We stopped at two restaurants that bordered the road, but they were closed. In Europe the restaurants are only open during meal time and we had clearly missed that. Dave wanted to drive around in the town and try to find one open. I didn’t, recalling that we had been cautioned against driving off the main road, just drive from destination to destination according to our itinerary, and I though it would be futile anyway. We agreed then to drive on to our hotel in Prague. The landscape we were driving through was either farmland or forests. No villages or homes visible from the road. No work being done in the fields, either. Of course it was a rainy day. Another significant aspect was the absence of cars – it was rare to see one. Not many trucks either. No billboards or any advertizing anywhere. We passed through Tabor in the rain. This was just a village and very few people were moving about. It continued to be farmland and forests all the way to the outskirts of Prague, the capitol. There we began to see evidence of industry – big buildings, trucks, still very, very few cars. The lack of cars was surprising to us because we knew that Czechoslovakia was one of the few Eastern Bloc countries that manufactured automobiles. We were to learn later that a Czech citizen had to have a special government certificate of “Outstanding National Merit” to buy a car and even then it was a one to two year wait. Most of the Czech cars were exported to other Eastern Bloc countries. In Hungary a citizen could only buy a used car. And all of the Eastern Bloc vehicles were of poor quality. As we drove through the city we saw very few people moving about, very few vehicles and the streets were dimly lit. It was dark and after the evening mealtime when we finally pulled up in front of the Grand Hotel Jalta. It was on a huge open square, Wenceslas Square.

We parked in front of the hotel and there were only a few cars in this huge square. We went inside, registered, gave up our passports and told them our situation. The receptionist told us that the restaurant was closed, but that there was still someone in the kitchen. They would prepare us something to eat if we were not too particular. We went up to our rooms while they prepared a meal. Both Dave and I were amazed at the old world quality of each room – they appeared to be furnished with antiques, but first class. I thought that these were two of the rooms that they always gave foreigners and that surely they were completely equipped with hidden cameras and microphones. Both rooms had a balcony looking out into the square. We went down to the restaurant and had a nice meal. It was a meat dish and three veggies all on a plate with bread and wine, as I recall. OK, our first day behind the Iron Curtain of Communism was certainly not dull. I didn’t have any difficulty going to sleep. I woke up and looked into the square. Only a few people walking briskly, apparently on the way to work. I noticed in the street a single line of tracks in the dust made by the few vehicles that passed this way. Wow, this is the capitol and very little traffic. Then as I looked nearly straight down, I saw a crowd around our car! Oh, my, even with traffic that sparse someone had run into our car! I called to Dave and we rushed down. There was quite a crowd around the car, but we were able to squeeze through. The car was OK, not a scratch. The people were just taking a good look at the little red Porsche. We went back into the hotel and asked the Concierge if we should move the car. He said “no they won’t harm it. They just want to look at it. There are two Porches in Czechoslovakia today. One is driven by the Swiss Ambassador and the other one is yours.” We went into the restaurant for breakfast. We sat down, and I thought ‘how are we going to order? Will they have an English menu?’ The door to the kitchen opened and a waiter came out holding a large tray balanced on one hand. Two stemmed glasses were on the tray. The waiter came straight toward us and as he approached he said cheerfully in English “a bit of California sunshine for our American guests,” and placed two glasses of orange juice in front of us. OK, another potential hurdle passed. We had scheduled an all day personal guide for the first three days in Prague. She was waiting for us when we came down to reception. She was a very pleasant woman in both appearance and demeanor. Conservative and business-like. No jewelry – just rings on her fingers. Mid 40s or so. She was friendly and easy to talk to, but serious and ready to begin. We enjoyed touring Prague with her. We saw all the sights on our list and more. The association became more friendly when she saw that we were just tourists, nothing more. I think she showed us things that were not on her list, also. We had lunch with her every day, each day a different, nice restaurant. Dave tried, but could not get her to accept a glass of wine with lunch. She said that she was not allowed to drink while working. She did lightly criticize Dave for drinking and driving even though it was just one small glass. Dave also tried to get her to drive the Porsche, but she emphasized that she didn’t have a license. It was evident that the regime had rules for just about everything and she was not going to break one of them. Big Brother might be watching. She said she was a mechanical engineer and her husband was an electrical engineer. She did the tourist job from time to time to supplement their income. She said they lived in a one bedroom apartment. Two engineers and a second job – living in a one bedroom apartment, no car! And she was very cautious not to be seen breaking any rules. Knowing this nice woman told us a lot about the situation in Czechoslovakia and under communism. She knew her city. We could not have asked for more in regard to the tourist sites of Prague and with casual conversation with our guide and careful observation, we learned a lot about the life under communism. Oh, my. The grim reality of it all was demonstrated. However, we could not have asked for a better visit to the tourist sites of Prague. The city virtually escaped the nearly total destruction of many European cities, especially Germany, in WWII. So, it has one of the best preserved historic city centers in Europe. And it has quite a history – from Capital of the Holy Roman Empire to one of the leading cities of the Austro – Hungarian Empire to the capital of Czechoslovakia to one of the key cities in the collapse of Soviet Communism to currently capital of the Czech Republic and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I don’t want to deviate from the narrative of the trip to a description of Prague tourism, but I should say something. The city possesses fine examples of Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance and Art Nouveau architecture. The city is dotted with fine old homes and historic buildings. On any tourism list you will find Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Astronomical Clock, National Gallery, the National Museum, the Clementinum, the old Jewish Quarter and the National Theater which the Communists had closed when we were there. Prague Castle is not a castle as we normally think of one, but is rather a very large group of connected buildings, a vast complex. Here is a picture of Prague Castle. 

All of those buildings on top of the hill in this picture are The Castle. The Castle contains St. Vitus Cathedral, St George’s Basilica and convent, the Old Royal Palace, the Royal Garden and the residence of the Czech Republic President among other things. Charles Bridge is notable because of its 32 unique points of interest including statues of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (very prominent 

in Czech history), St. Wenceslas (patron saint of CSR) and St. Vitus. The Clementinum is a collection of historic buildings, originally part of a Jesuit College. The Astronomical Clock is from 1410. It is the third oldest in the world, 

and the only one still in operation.Every hour the 12 Apostles and other figures appear and parade across the face of the clock. Prague’s wealth of art and artifacts is not housed by category in one massive building, but is scattered over many venues. At first we thought it was inconvenient to have so much under one heading scattered across so many different buildings, but then we realized the merit of this idea - saving these beautiful old buildings and giving them real purpose. Prague may not have extensive collections such as Paris or London, but there is some of just about everything: archaeology, anthropology, mineralogy, zoology, photography, fashion, sculptures, applied arts, ancient art, Bronze and Iron age items, Greek and Roman pieces, Middle Ages art, Classical era art, etc. and Prague has the old masters, too, such as Monet, Picasso, el Greco, Goya, Rubens, van Dyke, Rembrandt, van Goyen, etc. The great open squares and beautiful buildings, beautiful inside and out, really impressed us. Here is a photo inside the National Museum. 

You have already seen photos of the beautiful Wenceslas Square where our hotel was. And here are three views of the immense Prague Old Town Square.

Now let’s get back to the trip narrative. One day after a day of touring and a nice evening meal at the hotel we decided to sample the Prague night life. We asked the concierge for a recommendation. He gave us an address and directions to a spot near the hotel. We walked over, entered, found a table and ordered a beer. There was absolutely no atmosphere. The place was fully illuminated – as bright as a department store. There was a band and five or six couples dancing a slow fox trot. There were no single people. We listened to the music. I didn’t hear a single tune that I recognized. We found later that many influences from the West including music and literature were banned. Not allowing that decadent western stuff to contaminate the Eastern Bloc citizens. We finished our beer and left. When we entered the hotel, the concierge said “you’re back early.” Then he said “I know a place you might find interesting. You’ll have to have your passports to get in. Be sure to bring these passports back to me tonight.” He gave us our passports, the address and directions, again within walking distance of the hotel. He said “knock on the door and tell them you’re Americans.” We went there and the front door was a massive wooden one. There was a small rectangular window in the door. Shades of “speakeasy” time in Chicago. We knocked on the door. The small window opened and a voice said something in a language we didn’t understand. We replied in English “we’re Americans.” The voice said “passports please.” We handed them through the little window. It closed. We waited for quite some time. I began to think ‘wow, have we lost our passports again!?’ The door opened and we were ushered into a small, dimly lit room. The guy returned our passports and opened a second door. I looked into a dimly lit room full of people. Across the room was a stage and a guy was standing there with his arms and legs spread. He said in a loud voice “lets………..twist……..again……..♪LikeWeDidLastSummer♫” and the band hit it and he and entire room began to undulate (and twist!). Now this could be a nightclub anywhere in the West. People out for a good time. Lots of single people. People easy to talk to, easy to dance with. Embassy people and well positioned locals. We had no difficulty getting with it and having a good time. After some time in there, a guy whispered in my ear ‘you better look after your friend. He’s into a hot discussion with a guy from the Russian Embassy.” I went over, interrupted, sat down, changed the topic of discussion. We were both getting a little woozy by then and soon returned to the hotel. It was after midnight, but the concierge was still there waiting for the return of the passports.  We used our last day in Prague just driving around the city to see what we could see and perhaps engage some Czechs in casual conversation. We would park the car on one of the many large and beautiful squares in the city and just stand nearby. People would come over to look at the car, but when we tried to engage them about it, they hurried off. We tried this on and off all day and we didn’t engage a single person. We learned later that after Russia and East Germany, this was the most repressive country in the Eastern Bloc. If you were seen talking to a person from the West you could go to prison and at the very minimum you would be in for a very unpleasant interrogation. Day six in Czechoslovakia and we have a 75 mile drive from Prague to Karlovy Vary or Karlsbad as it is best known in the West. We are soon in the countryside and the terrain became hilly. It’s the first really varied terrain that we have seen so far. After driving through some beautiful scenery, from elevation the town poped into view. As we wound down and pulled into the town we could see more activity and more vehicles. Probably Eastern Bloc people on vacation or there 

for medical and spa treatment. Our hotel is the Grand Hotel Pupp and it is an absolutely first class lodging. Our rooms are ready for us – no waiting for a 4 PM check-in or any of that stuff. Both our very nice rooms are spacious with a

 sitting area and looking out over the square and the river. We have nothing scheduled until the spa treatments the next day. We decided to walk around the town and find a restaurant for lunch. We had a nice meal overlooking the river. There was certainly more observable activity than in Prague, but no one tried to talk to us and we also kept to ourselves. There was somehow a subdued feeling about the place. We strolled around through the promenade of the spa area. Striking and beautiful but a bit gritty. Not as well maintained as it should be. 

 OK, back to the hotel and relax until evening meal time in the hotel restaurant. We came down a little early and decided to go into the bar for a drink until the restaurant began serving. The place was full of Russian soldiers! I joked to Dave not to get into an argument with one of these guys. He didn’t, and probably none of them spoke English anyway. Then to the dinning room and absolutely first class dinning. We thought that at this point this could very well be the best accommodation in ČSR.  Nothing eventful the next day with our spa treatments. We had the massages, soaked in different temperature pools and drank the mineral water. For people who were there for medical reasons there were 

special programs that took at least two weeks depending on the illness and the treatment.  The next day I was getting something out of the car and a guy came up to me and addressed me in English. Immediately I thought “uh-oh, big trouble.” But no, it was a guy from East Germany on holiday and he wanted to know about the car. He was there with his wife and two kids. He said he was a mechanical engineer and that he had worked on the Aswan Dam project in Egypt. He said he was from Dresden. This was one of the German cities that suffered the ‘fire storm’ bombing in WWII. Darmstadt where I was living had suffered the same fate. He was full of conversation and seemed relaxed about it. His family was more reserved. Dave let him drive the car around the block, with Dave as copilot, of course. He wanted to exchange addresses and invited us both to visit him in Dresden. He said ‘don’t make any hotel reservations. You will stay with us.’ I began to wonder if this guy was with Stasi (East German Secret Police). He was so casual and open with us foreigners whereas most people didn’t want to even be seen near us. But, as far as we know he was just a friendly guy and we did exchange a few correspondences with him and he repeated his invitation to visit. I wish I had contacted the US Embassy in Bonn, asked them about it and maybe gone to visit him. But nothing came of it. And maybe I am fortunate it didn’t. I have another connection to Karlovy Vary or Karlsbad as it is mostly known in the US and Western Europe. In 1989 Tami and I were living in Frisco, Colorado to take advantage of the good and extensive skiing in the area. We decided to spend a summer in Laguna Beach, California where we had previously lived. I had learned to surf in nearby Huntington Beach when I first came to work in California as a young engineer. It would be a time at the beach and give me an opportunity to get in some surfing. After diligently searching for a short term rental in Laguna, we concluded that the places we could afford there we would not stay in even if they were free. So we went south along the coast looking for a place to stay. We found a nice spot in the little town of Carlsbad. It was like Laguna was many years before. And I did not realize that it was named after Karlsbad or Karlovy Vary. Our place was just across the street from the beach and it had a swimming pool. We could only rent it for the months of May and June. It was already rented for July and August. But anyway we were set for a holiday at the beach. We soon discovered that the little town had an interesting history. Of course Native Americans were the first in the area followed by the Spanish. Gold expanded the Euroamerican settlement of all of California, and with that came the railroad. In the 1880s, the Santa Fe Railroad had a depot in the area. A former sailor named John Frazier dug a well near the depot and sold his water to travelers at the ‘whistle stop’ station which soon became known as Frazier’s Station. A test of the well water showed the water to be chemically similar to the water in the renowned Bohemian Spa of Karlovy Vary or Karlsbad. The Carlsbad Land and Mineral Water Company was formed and after a period of growth the town of Carlsbad was incorporated. The site of John Frazier’s original well can still be found at Alt Karlsbad, a replica of an Hanseatic house located on Carlsbad Boulevard. A statue of John Frazier is also there.  

 Today, 2017, the city is a sister city to Karlovy Vary. And today Carlsbad is among the nation’s top twenty wealthiest communities and is the fifth richest in California. So, today Carlsbad is a tourist destination, just as Laguna Beach is. Now, back to Karlovy Vary in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s. Our last day in ČSR was upon us. We were scheduled to check out before noon. We were a 35 mile drive from the West German border, surely not more than an hour or so. We still had quite a bit of Czech money which we could not exchange and which was forbidden to take out of the country. So, in an effort to spend this excess money, we asked the hotel if we could extend our stay and take our rooms as ‘day rooms’ at a reduced price and check out after dinner that night. They said that they had never heard of such a thing, but they allowed it. So we would have a nice lunch in Karlovy Vary and we would celebrate our final meal in ČSR in the fine restaurant of the Grand Hotel Pupp. We must have made the correct comments, because the hotel gave us a little celebration also. They served us a delightful desert at no cost. Even after an extravagant lunch and an extravagant evening meal, after we paid our hotel bill, we still had some money left. We decided to stop at a spot on the road, have a couple of drinks and surprise the rural folks with a nice tip. So it was dark as we wound our way out of the famous spa town of Karlovy Vary.  We kept getting closer and closer to the border and we still had not seen anyplace along the road where we could spend some money. We finally saw a dimly lit building that looked like it could be a gasthaus, a place that sells food and drink and rents a few rooms. We pulled up and went in. Only men in there and they were all starring at us. Dave tried his German on the bartender in ordering a beer. The guy understood and started drawing us an on tap beer. Another guy came over from his table and said “do you guys speak English?” You could see the Porsche through the window. He asked “is that an American car you’re driving?” Other men got up and came over to hear the conversation. The English speaker translated whatever we said. They could not believe that the car was made in West Germany. “No, they are not making a car like that over there!”  Obviously they believed the State propaganda. They wanted to take a good look at it. We obliged. They wanted to see the engine, everything. We ate, drank and talked for quite some time with them. The time passed 11 PM. We were not Cinderella, but we had to be out of  ČSR before midnight. Our visas expired then. As we were preparing to leave,  they would not let us pay! There were hand shakes and back slaps all around and we were back on our way. But we still had that money!! Well, nothing to do now but hope we are not searched at the border. The ČSR border guards took a casual look at the passports, but mainly they wanted to make sure there was no one else in the car. They waived us on and the West German guards took a quick look at the passports and waved us on and we were back in the Federal Republic of Germany. We felt a relief to be back in the West. 

So, all our concern regarding the money was completely unnecessary. We had several hundred Koruna (Crown) which we divided and now some fifty years later that bill is all I have left. From the encounters we had and the interaction with the few people we could interact with, you might get the impression that life behind the Iron Curtain was not too bad. Do not think that for a moment. Life in Stalinist Communism was hell. People’s lives were destroyed. Innocent people were sent to prison, innocent people were executed. We now know without question the grim reality of life behind the Iron Curtain from the memoirs of people who escaped and from the memoirs of people who survived. There are these records now as well as books and movies. The horror of this nightmare is the personal hell each and every person endured. When the Curtain went up all property was nationalized and farms were collectivized. The affluent, the aristocracy, property owners, the clergy, the media, sport, culture, music, literature, education - it all fell under the totalitarian rule of Stalinist Communism orchestrated from Moscow. Those who did not comply with socialism were not only interrogated, intimidated and put under surveillance but also subject to house searches, during which the Secret Police invaded citizens’ privacy while searching for illegal literature and secretly installing bugs. Bribes abounded; the presence of bugs in homes prevented people from speaking openly; there were long lines at the shops for everyday products. There was little enterprise, choice or customer service. Everything was ordinary, without color, devoid of advertising. That was the grim reality of life under Communism. People were imprisoned for filing complaints or signing petitions. Company leaders were replaced with incompetent party members. Of course the economy took a tailspin with this reorganization. If a citizen defected, the family left behind was severely punished. Defected is the proper word here, but a more accurate word would be “escaped.” Most everyone wanted to escape, but most accepted the grim reality of the nightmare because of family. Tami and I became friends of people who escaped this nightmare. They did not talk about their life and the escape. I think the reason is similar to people who return from war. No one can understand it. The only people who understand the hell of this nightmare are the people who lived it. Even Stalin became so paranoid living in this nightmare that he created that he could barely function late in life. Even his daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva defected (escaped) while on a trip to New Delhi, India in 1967. She was given political asylum in the US. No one can describe it, no one can explain it. You had to have lived it to know it. On a later trip behind the Iron Curtain to Budapest, I had the need of medical attention. The doctor pleaded with me to help her escape. I wanted to help her, but all of her ideas were just not feasible and would have only served to land us both in prison. Yes, life behind the Iron Curtain was a nightmare. I know now why the ČSR so highly recommended the Hotel Jalta in Prague when we were planning our trip. Below that hotel is a huge, three level bunker which was the headquarters of the Secret Police. So surely they had all the rooms of that hotel fully bugged. Now the bunker is owned by the hotel and it has been turned into a museum. Here is a link to a blog written by Tracy Burns, describing it with photos. https://www.private-prague-guide.com/article/museum-of-the-cold-war-prague/ Another museum of the era is The Museum of Communism. It was begun by an American and a Czech to preserve some of the artifacts of the era and to remind others of this grim, bleak historical era. The museum theme is “Communism - the Dream, the Reality, the Nightmare.” It does not tell the story of Communism - no one can. Only those who survived it can know it.   

Touching on the history of communism in  ČSR, the Prague Spring of 1968 was prompted by the near collapse of the once robust pre-communist economy. The communist officials thought some political liberalization with economic liberalization and reorganization would avoid collapse. These ideas were adapted. During the process Leonid Brezhnev sent in Eastern Block tanks to signify who would have the final say about this reorganization. Thankfully it was without violence. Prague citizens rode around town on the tanks. The economy revived, but soon thereafter a heavy crackdown on the political liberalization measures soon made  ČSR the most repressive state in the Eastern Block. The communist nightmare continued. West Germany opened an embassy in Prague in 1974. This event was virtually insignificant until the summer of 1989 when this embassy and Prague would be at the center of the collapse of the USSR and especially the GDR. The collapse of the USSR began with discontent in Poland, continued in Hungary, the GDR (East Germany), Bulgaria,  ČSR, and Romania. Romania was the only communist state in Europe to overthrow its communist government with violence. The factors undermining the political stability of the USSR were numerous. And in the GDR even more so. In 1989 there were a lot of indicators that a breaking point was approaching. I had always looked upon our role in the West as containing Communism until it collapsed from its own problems. I never dreamed that it would come in my lifetime. And no one, not even the Western intelligence agencies, could predict that the summer and fall of 1989 would be the time of the great miracle - the collapse of Stalinist Communism. The West German embassy in Prague was soon inundated with refugees from GDR wanting sanctuary and transport to FRG (West Germany). The West Germans were happy to oblige in any way that they could. I recall a notice engraved in stone at one of the Iron Curtain observation points near Bayreuth in FRG which said in German “we will never forget our brothers and sisters in the East.” The GDR citizens were given papers and sent by bus and train to the GFR, the train actually traveling through GDR to FRG. The flow of refugees began as a trickle, but with knowledge of success, it soon was a torrent. About 62,500 GDR citizens used this ‘escape’ route. At one time there were over 6,000 abandoned GDR Trabants (cars) on the streets of Prague. Of course during this relocation there was considerable dialogue between officials in the ČSR, the FRG embassy in ČSR and GDR in Berlin. With the influx of GDR citizens overwhelming the embassy, German historians speak of this dialogue becoming nothing short of an ultimatum to the GDR regarding regulations on travel by GDR citizens to the West. The historians say that was a valuable contribution to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the GDR borders much sooner, and in a different manner, than intended. The East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of Germans, from both East and West, crossed and climbed onto the Berlin Wall in a celebratory atmosphere. Some say it was the biggest block party in the history of the world. The nightmare was coming to an end.

Events across the entire Eastern Bloc were like a tidal wave sweeping the communists aside for democratic reforms. The change in Czechoslovakia was like a fresh wind in the air, but did not take firm form until 17 November 1989. From that point on it was just a matter of time until the people developed the courage to awaken and assert themselves. On 24 November the entire top leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) resigned. On 28 November it was announced that the CPC would relinquish power and  dismantle the one party state. Obstructions were removed on  the border between Czechoslovakia and Austria. The Velvet Revolution was underway. On 10 December President Gustáv Husák  appointed the first largely non-communist parliament since 1948 and resigned. On 28 December Alexander Dubček was elected speaker of the parliament. On 29 December Václav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia. The 41 years of communist horror were over. A 41 year nightmare that cannot be adequately or properly described in book, in film, in any kind narrative, description or explanation. Only the people who endured and survived it can know it. In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946. The country was now a free and open society, but that’s not the end of the story. Disagreements between the Czechs and the Slovaks, the two largest ethnic groups in the federation soon emerged. There was the ethnic difference, the 20% disparity in GDP per capita between the groups, and the Slovaks resisted the Czech’s preference for rapid privatization of the country’s state run industries. The results of the parliamentary elections in June of 1992 highlighted these differences, and discussions between Czech and Slovak leaders later that year resulted in the peaceful dissolution of the Czechoslovak federation, to become known as the Velvet Divorce. This dissolution resulted in the creation of two new countries on 1 January 1993 - the Czech Republic with its capitol in Prague and Slovakia with its capitol in Bratislava. Two free and open societies. The Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution, the Velvet Divorce. All done without violence. 

                                                     LAMENT According to Websters Collegiate dictionary the word lament is a verb and is an expression of grief or sorrow. Maybe grief is a bit too strong in this case, but I certainly felt sorrow when my Texas A&M Aggies lost the Belk Bowl football game to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 55 - 52, today, 29 December 2017. The effect that a loss by a favorite team has on the personal psyche of the fan is truly amazing. We really feel “down” when that happens. I can use the word in an additional context by saying “it is lamentable that the officiating was not more accurate.” With 45 seconds left in the game and with Wake leading 55 - 52, Aggies with the ball at midfield, QB Nick Starkel launched a deep pass, Jhamon Ausbon  was behind the WF defense at about the WF 10 yard line. The pass was on target, but Ausbon was very clearly tackled by Essang Bassey and the pass fell harmlessly to the turf. No flag for the obvious infraction. That play determined the outcome of the game. I recall that last basketball season, I was once again lamenting an obvious non-call that sent my Arkansas Razorbacks out of the NCAA tournament. It was late in the game, crunch time, the North Carolina player both charged and traveled on the play before passing for a score. The call for either infraction would have sent the Razorbacks to the other end of the court with the opportunity to take the lead. Now here I am once again in the lamenting mode with the Aggies. The score of the game is astounding to me. Over 100 points scored and over 1,200 total yards in the 55 - 52 WF win. What has happened to defense in college football? In the 30 bowl games played to this date, 36 of the 60 teams scored over 30 points, 10 scored over 40 and 6 scored over 50. I recall what I thought was a really great game in 1957 between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Aggies, coached by Bear Bryant, were ranked nationally at Number One. The Razorbacks led 6 - 0 for most of the game, but the Aggies scored late to win 7 - 6. Coach Bryant was asked after the game if he thought his Aggies should retain the Number One ranking. He replied “absolutely. Didn’t you see the way we ran up the score on them?” Bear sarcastic humor, of course, but scores of that nature were common then. Incidentally John David Crow was a member of that Aggie team. That year the Aggies lost their last three games by a total of 6 points, vs Rice 6 -7, vs Texas 7 - 9, and vs Florida 0 - 3 in the Gator Bowl. So, the 1957 Aggies finished the season at 8 - 3 and ranked nationally at Number Eight. Here in Reno, Nevada we have easy access to the handicapping on most sporting events by the professional handicappers at the casinos. It is really amazing how accurate these handicappers are. But it is their livelihood and they have all the facts and figures available. It is equally amazing how often they have missed the mark with the college bowl games. On the first weekend, 16 December 2017, it was a disaster. Of the five games handicapped, they picked the winner in only one - calling four incorrectly. As of today they have gotten back on track, but have improved to picking the winner in only 65 % of the games. This is astounding. This is not missing the spread, but missing the winner. Of the remaining bowl games the handicappers have Louisville over Mississippi State by 4, Memphis over Iowa State by 3, Penn State over Washington by 3, Wisconsin over Miami by 6, Michigan over South Carolina by 7, Auburn over UCF by 8, LSU over Notre Dame by 1, Georgia over Oklahoma by 3, Alabama over Clemson by 2. In the two playoff games this is certainly contrary to the Final College Football Playoff Ranking - the rankings that established the playoff. The casino handicappers have Number 4 beating Number 1 and Number 3 beating Number 2. If the handicappers are correct, as they most often are, there would be an all SEC Championship Game. OK, our livelihood doesn’t depend on our choice and our choice doesn’t affect our net worth - so we can just relax and enjoy the games and see how the handicappers did. The first Semi-Final game will be in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on 1 January 2017 between Oklahoma and Georgia.

The second Semi-Final game will be in the Sugar Bowl, the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, on 1 January between Clemson and Alabama.

Do you remember when we had only a few bowl games such as the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Sun and Cotton? No? Well, there was a time when there was only one - the Rose Bowl. The first game was played there in 1902, but the annual Rose Bowl Game really began in 1916. The reason for the event was to promote tourism and industry in the area. The Rose continued to be the only bowl for many years. The Sugar, Orange and Sun joined the club in 1935 with the Cotton following in 1937. All the bowl games were played on New Year’s Day. The games were played in warm climates where good weather could be expected - Southern California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Louisiana. There was no commercial air travel in those early days, so there had to be time to allow the teams, fans and families to travel to the bowl location after the end of the regular college football season. Only the best teams would be given a bowl invitation. There are now 35 bowl games which this year began play on 16 December. Also if a team wins six games it is eligible for a bowl invitation. Municipalities had realized that the bowl games gave them the opportunity to promote local tourism, local industry and local activity. With attendance, sponsors and TV revenue the bowl game could pay for itself. For profit organizations also realized that the bowl game could be an asset. The bowl business, and it did become a business, had proliferated. The inevitable occurred - the market became saturated. That is where we are now and have been for the past few years. At the lower tier level, costs have increased, attendance has decreased, TV has begun to offer less money for TV rights - the lower tier bowl business has become a losing business model. Viewing the empty seats in the lower tier games reveals the situation with these games. The non-profit bowl games simply could not afford to operate at a loss. After losing money in 2013 and 2014 the Foster Farms Bowl transferred ownership to the NFL San Francisco 49ers.  Three Pro teams now own bowl games: 49ers, Detroit Lions, New York Yankees. The Poinsettia Bowl was abandoned. The Miami Beach Bowl sold itself to ESPN. ESPN now owns 13 games which have become little more than ‘made for TV’ events. But smaller crowds and struggles at the lower tier doesn’t mean that the overall bowl industry is in trouble. It’s just that the business model has changed. This industry remains a supply and demand business. And there remains plenty of demand for these bowls from the conferences, the schools and the fans who want to see their team in a bowl game even if they only win six games. The conferences want their teams in a bowl game to generate more TV income. The teams want a post season game to have more practice and exposure for recruiting. The fans just want to see their team in action once more. So, the bowls are not going away. The post season is actually healthy. The reason is the windfall from the Playoff. The Playoff gets about $470 million per year from ESPN. The bowl games collectively paid out about $622 million to conferences and schools last season, including $441 million from the Playoff alone, according to NCAA financial records. After $105 million in expenses, the conferences and schools realized a $512 million “profit.” Last year the ACC received $20.3 million from the playoff despite not having a team in it. If they didn’t receive this they would have lost a little over $1 million on their bowl trips because the lower tier bowls didn’t pay enough to cover the $5.9 million in combined league bowl expenses. It is a system that works well for the biggest bowls and all the leagues and teams that play in the postseason. It hasn’t worked well for the smaller stand-alone organizations that need to sell tickets, sponsorships and TV rights to pay expenses including the payout to conferences that put teams in their games. This is where ESPN comes in, even to the point of bowl ownership. ESPN now owns 13 games which are essentially made-for-TV events. In this case attendance is not so significant. ESPN wants live TV programming during the holiday season to draw viewers, sell advertising, beat the competition, reinforce the network’s value with cable distribution and satellite providers, and realize a profit that pleases the owners. We simply have a new business model in the college football bowl industry. This industry is alive and well and generating a staggering amount of income. Look at the salary of the college football coaches.

There are many of us sports fans who don’t know what precipitated the explosion of revenue in college football. It was not an event on the football field. It was a decision by the US Supreme Court with Justice John Paul Stevens delivering the opinion. It is possible that the rise of cable TV and the Internet might have forced college football to move toward what it is today anyway. But the Court’s decision put the change in motion in 1984 and made college football and the media into today’s sports megalith overflowing with cash. Before that college football on TV was tightly controlled by the NCAA. In the early 80s with the NCAA firmly in control a college was limited to no more than six TV appearances over two years. It also carefully controlled “competition.” Essentially the only TV outlets were ABC, CBS and NBC. The Internet didn’t exist and ESPN was in its infancy. Consequently the only way to see your favorite team in action was to attend the game or hope that it had earned a rare appearance on TV. The fans didn’t like this situation one bit. And the Power 5 Conferences didn’t either. After years of unsuccessfully trying to convince the NCAA to change the rules, the big schools formed the College Football Association to negotiate directly with the TV networks for a better deal. They eventually achieved this with NBC. The NCAA retaliated by threatening to put the schools on probation, making them ineligible for postseason competition in any sport. The lines were thusly drawn. The CFA decided to go to court. To do so it needed some schools to put their names on an anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA as NCAA members who would be harmed by the threatened penalties. Interestingly enough the two schools playing in this years Semi-final Rose Bowl Playoff, Georgia and Oklahoma, agreed to be plaintiffs in the case. After several years of appeals by the NCAA, the US Supreme Court settled it in June 1984. It then took a few years, but market dynamics eventually created the big money system. Now there is so much TV money flooding the system that most big programs cover all their costs and even make a profit. Also, some conferences have their own cable TV networks and all their games are televised. And they still play in sold-out stadiums. The big money is actually a trickle down system which spreads the wealth while increasing revenue and exposure. The College Football Playoff Administration LLC has been formed to control rights and revenue. The CFPA  is affiliated with only six major bowl games and receives $470 million annually from ESPN. It is owned by Notre Dame and ten conferences. All the owners receive a payout even though they may not play in any of the games. There is plenty of money to spread around. Thirty nine of the schools pay their head football coaches over $3 million a year. College football is more popular than ever. And the big schools play in sold-out stadiums even though their games are televised.

Mother’s Day, 14 May 2017, has come and gone. It is beautiful how mothers give unconditional love to their children and most children return that love unconditionally. Mother is the doctor, teacher, nurse, cook, referee, heroine, provider, housekeeper, defender, disciplinarian - the real Superwoman. Wear your cape proudly, dear mother. A lot has been written about mothers dating back to the Greeks and Romans. Julia Ward Howe brought attention to mothers’ contribution to society in 1870 but she did not have the vision of a day like today’s Mother’s Day. The woman who had the vision, the strength, the energy, the determination and the tenaciousness was Anna Jarvis. On 8 May 1914 Congress passed a law declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. On the next day President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation declaring the first Mother’s Day. The proclamation is copied at the end of this blog. Jarvis’ relentless effort had reached a successful conclusion. But that is not the end of the story. To get to the end, we should start at the beginning. Anna Jarvis’ mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, was a tireless advocate for women’s rights. She was a peace advocate and cared for solders on both sides of the civil war. She created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. When she died in 1905, her daughter, Anna, wanted to continue her work and establish a day to honor all mothers because she believed that there was no greater service to humanity than that of mothers. She chose the second Sunday in May because it was near the day her mother died. She became relentless in writing letters to governors to persuade them to declare that day as Mother’s Day. She wrote to President Theodore Roosevelt, prominent people, congressmen, anyone she thought could help with the cause. So, finally, on 8 May 1914 her dream came true. But she quickly became disillusioned by the crass commercialism that soon overwhelmed the Day. She spent decades attacking this commercialism any way that she could. She even went so far as to trademark Mother’s Day phrases. So, Anna’s life’s passion had two phases. The successful phase, creating Mother’s Day, taking aboubt nine years. The second and unsuccessful phase, taking over thirty years, was a war against the commercialism of Mother’s Day. In the 1940s with her resources dwindling, her eyesight fading, her general health ebbing, friends and associates put her in a sanitarium in West Chester PA where she died on 24 November 1948. She was no match for MassMarketAmerica. However, I think most of us overlook the crass commercialism of Mother’s Day and celebrate it just the way Anna Jarvis envisioned it.

I have always been curious as to the status mother had in our ancient, prehistoric society - when we were in the hunter - gatherer period. In the period before man knew that he had something to do with the creation of a new member of the clan. Even though she doesn’t get equal pay for equal work these days, we do hold mom in great esteem and her view of us is very important. When Warren Buffet was asked what advice he gave the presidents of the many companies he owns regarding ethics and morality in business decisions, he replied “I tell them to imagine that their mother would see their decision in the newspaper the next day.”

Every year at this time our local newspaper, Reno Gazette - Journal, gives participants the opportunity to post in the newspaper a “haiku” to their mother. Those who wish to participate in the event are encouraged to submit their haikus to the RGJ and many of them are printed in the Mother’s Day edition. A haiku is a form of poetry developed by the Japanese. The poems are three lines with a 5 - 7 - 5 syllable structure. In Japan they are usually inspired by nature. The form has been adopted and adapted by virtually every modern language. They are often inspired by nature, a moment of beauty, a poignant experience, etc. Japanese poets traditionally used haiku to capture a fleeting natural image or experience. Many Japanese people go for nature walks to find new poetry inspiration, and these walks are called ginko walks. Ginko is the Japanese word for bank. Get it? No? Well they are going to the bank seeking treasure. In this case the treasure is the new haiku. The Japanese language is very colorful in this regard, as well as very imprecise.   Perhaps the most famous Japanese haiku is by Matsuo Basho. Furuike ya                        Translation:  The old pond Kawazu tobikomu                                 a frog jumps in Mizu no oto                                           sound of water

Of course the translation does not follow the traditional structure. An example of the structure in English: very deep pow-der snow            5      a sum-mer eve-ning its deep blue sky all a-round       7      a mos-qui-to comes my way my skis make no sound              5      wham, I’m at peace again

Here are some examples from our Mother’s Day RGJ edition: Mom you are the best You shine like a diamond you are my flower                        Jeriah, 5th grader

You are the best mom you mean the world to me, mom Happy Mother’s Day                    Faithlynn, 5th grader

In good times and bad my mother’s love was constant she is my hero                              Julie Gourley

My mom, my soulmate I treasure the memories Always in my heart                      Julie Gourley

Always there for me she loved me like no other showed me how to love              Karen Rosselli

Doctor, cook, teacher hug to give, ear to listen there’s no one like mom              James Umbach

Through joy and laughter heartache, tears - a mother’s love unconditional                               Ruth VanDyke

Cancer took my mom missing you on Mother’s Day love you forever                           Franke Weintz

Somebody’s mother all alone and sad today a phone call away                        Ruth VanDyke

I will pen one myself: Her name was Mary yes, she was quite contrary we loved her anyhow        

Here are a few for fun: Adopt a highway It seemed simple enough Then the tourists came                 by Vince Nobrega

Sausage, bacon, eggs mushrooms, tomatoes, green tea Atkins breakfast joy                      by Paul Trafferd

Football is my game don’t call me on Sat or Sun TV addiction                                      

This year down the drain where did the one before go next year I’ll do it

It’s John three sixteen that’s the plan for all of us better get on board

To eat, not to eat it is a nice red apple just one little worm

To make a great stew take a limerick or two mix well with haiku

Rain, rain, go away boots leak, umbrella kaput can’t stand here all day

Bikini summer my glasses and walker, please I’ll take a good look Apple of my eye Joanne had the sweetest smile for another guy

A very loud noise started ringing from my clock who will fix breakfast

They said golden years can’t dance, can’t hear, cannot see did they pass me by

Pepperoni is ready add that to lots of cheese bits pizza is my dish

Electricity can make your hair stand on end warden told me so

You ask for my plan well, think I will save the world when I finish my beer

Basketball is fine college game has the spirit pros have the money

What do we know now baby steps forward we go where does this take us

A gentle snowfall covering everything no sound can be heard

Here’s my adaptation of Basho’s haiku to English while retaining the 5-7-5 structure:

The pond, still water A frog leaps into the air The sound of water

This precise and simple method of expression reminds me of another example of the beauty and art of brevity in expression. And that is the writer’s task of telling a story in six words. The origin or the time of origin of this art is not clear. One of the most famous is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, however it cannot be authenticated: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.” Perhaps the oldest is attributed to Julius Caesar when he was a Roman general. He sent a letter to the Roman Senate in 47 BC reporting a quick victory against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the Battle of Zela: “I came. I saw. I conquered.” Of course in the original Latin it is: Veni. Vidi. Vici. I can sadly pen one regarding contemporary life where millions of people die needlessly every year. I suppose you could say by a horrible suicide: I smoked, I suffered, I died. And a horrible suffering it can be.

Here are a few others: Wrong number says a familiar voice. You’re not a good artist, Adolph Torched the haystack, found the needle. Strangers. Friends. Best friends. Lovers. Strangers. Painfully he changes is to was. Born a twin, graduated only child. We’re lying in bed. She’s lying. Sorry soldier, shoes sold in pairs. I’m beside myself. Cloning machine works. Reading for Dummies. Somehow never sold. Home early? Whose car is that? We were. And then we weren’t. You win some. You lose some. Nothing to declare. Much to remember. Three blind mice. Cat had lunch. An only son. A folded flag. Alzheimer’s advantage: new friends every day. Logged out. Pulled plug. Found life. Passengers, this isn’t your captain speaking. Being offended doesn't make you right. Left handed woman seeks Mr. Right. What’s your return policy on rings? Goodby mission control. Thanks for trying. Eventually we all face the storm. He loved, she didn’t. How typical. She loved, he didn’t. Still typical. Used vice grip. Now in hot water. THC, LSD, DUI, CPR, DOA, RIP. Wind blows. Sails fill. Journey begins.

I’ll close by returning to the haiku, 5-7-5. Remember? I salute two family members who are going to Europe for the month of June, 2017. Mikonos, Skyros Going to the Greek islands London and Paris, too

Try writing both a ‘haiku’ and a ‘six word story.’ Put your imagination and your creativity to work. You’ll enjoy it. It’ll be fun. I guarantee it.

Or is it “The Grey Mule?” Webster’s Dictionary defines gray as a color that is a mixture or blend of black and white pigments. Under grey the definition is that grey is the British spelling of the word. Some people think that gray should denote the color and that grey should be used for a person’s name. We do have Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England, who lost her head. And there is Zane Grey the American novelist. But then we also have Dorian Gray. And we have the recent novel and film titled Fifty Shades of Grey. The two words evolved from the Old English term græg. So, it would seem that if your family name is either Gray or Grey, you are stuck with it. However, if defining color you are completely free to choose. OK. So, here I will talk about The Gray Mule. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse (mare). Horses and donkeys are different species with different numbers of chromosomes. Mules are more patient, hardy and long lived than horses and are less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. Charles Darwin wrote: "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess less obstinacy, more reason, memory, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature." So, it is easy to see why most farms in pre-mechanization times had mules. My stepfather, Frank Weisinger, had one on his farm near Hampton, Arkansas. It was gray and he used it for plowing before tractors were available. Even after he had a tractor, he kept the gray mule on the farm. I always lived with my grandmother and visited my mom, Mary, and Frank in the summer. I never had sense enough to ask why it was like this, just accepted it as it was. It was in the tractor period when the gray mule and I had a lot of free time on our hands in the summer. I remember the first time I took the mule for a ride. There was no saddle and I had only ‘city’ pants, but I finally got aboard and away we went. Both of us soon began to sweat in that hot, humid weather. After a couple of hours I had enough. When I dismounted I found that the seat of my ‘city’ pants had completely disappeared. OK, if I’m going to enjoy this, I have to have some pants such as blue jeans or overalls which I obtained. So that gray mule and I spent quite a few summers together. I had another experience with a gray mule much later in life. My wife, Tami, and I were on one of our visits to El Tovar and the Grand Canyon National Park.

In those days you could get a mule ride down into the Canyon on short notice. Tami’s mule was gray and named Eagle. Mine was a darker color. The guide told us that we would pass some youngsters who would be hiking on the trail and that they would most likely have some marijuana. The mules like to eat it, so it will be necessary to hold tightly to the reins to hold the mules back. He also said to let the kids pass on the inside of the ledge and put the mules close to the edge. It happened and it was just like the guide said. I’m glad those mules were sure footed and not afraid of heights. 

OK, back to the farm near Hampton in my days as a youngster. Farm work was very hard in those days. Fortunately, Frank was a hard worker and a very good man. He was very patient with me and my naïve knowledge of life and work on the farm. We enjoyed a lot of good laughs centered around that. Fortunately I never hurt the mule and never wrecked the tractor. I remember Frank coming in from the fields for a quick lunch that Mary would have prepared for him. One of his favorite lunch dishes was black eyed peas and Mary’s home made chili sauce with corn bread. It quickly became a favorite of mine too. Oh, man! I would love to have some of that now. My mouth is watering. The two bowls of black eyed peas and chili, from the Internet, that I

show here are much too watery. This is certainly not the way I recall it. Frank had an interesting mixture for luncheon desert. He would take a slab of butter and mix it with honey. Then he would spread it on corn bread. This was good, too. He told me that the mixture is called a “gray mule.” There is no way to recreate Mary’s chili sauce to go with black eyed peas, but I do sometimes recreate the gray mule. For some reason it doesn’t taste quite as good as it did in those days, but it is enjoyable. I recommend it. I won’t enumerate specific quantities for the recipe, but rather will provide the process for you. Observing the next few photos, take a good pat of butter and then mix honey with it until you achieve a mixture similar to the one you see. As you see, in the gray mule example I am showing, I have clover honey and I am eating

biscuits with my gray mule, but of course corn bread is excellent with the gray mule also. OK, there you have it -

                          The Græy Mule!!

                 2017 NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 29, 2017. We are down to the final four in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. The only team in my bracket that is in the Final Four is UNC. We had quite a few teams to follow and root for this year: Razorbacks, Texas A&M, Nevada, Kansas, Wichita State, Michigan, and Gonzaga. I think the reason I root for the Shockers and the Zags is that they seem to always be relegated to the underdog role and they play good team basketball. I root for the Wolfpack because it’s my home town college team. I root for the Aggies, Kansas and Michigan because we have a family link to those teams. Of course I’m a Razorback fan because it’s my home state team and I am an alumnus as are many family members. I also am a back-up rooter for the Oregon Ducks. This is Tami’s favorite team. I think the main reason Tami has adopted them as her favorite team is the logo.

How can you not like that cute little duck? Tami became a Duck fan after observing the varied uniforms of the football team. Here are a few examples. Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike and Oregon alumnus, makes sure that the Ducks have plenty of outstanding gear. The same sort of thing goes on with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Billionaire T. Boone Pickens, Oklahoma State alumnus, makes sure that the Cowboys don’t lack anything in the way of equipment. Tami has an interesting description of the game of football: “they line up – they pile up – they line up – they pile up – they line up – they pile up.”

Well, back to basketball. We have the final four in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. On the men’s side they’re playing out here in the West in the domed, multipurposed University of Phoenix stadium, home of the NFL Arizona Cardinals. The name is a corporate sponsorship bought by the University for about $150 million over 20 years. The University of Phoenix has no intercollegiate athletic programs. The stadium is located in Glendale AZ, nearby to, but not in, Phoenix. The women’s Final Four will be played in the American Airlines Center (corporate sponsorship again) in Dallas, home of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks are owned by Mark Cuban. It was interesting that on 17 February 2017 at the NBA All Star Game, Mark insisted on having number 46 in the NBA Celebrity Game. When questioned about it, he said “if Donald Trump can do it, I can.” 

Nevada is not quite as prolific as Britain, but you can place a wager on most big events here and March Madness is a big money maker for the casinos. They have handicappers who make a living predicting who will win the games and by how much. It is amazing how good they are at this. They better be. It’s their livelihood and the casinos can make or lose significant money using their analysis. On the men’s side, right now Gonzaga is favored over USC by 7 points, and UNC is favored over Oregon by 4 points. UNC is an 8 – 5 favorite to win it all. Gonzaga is at 3 – 2, Oregon at 4 – 1 and USC at 8 – 1. On the women’s side UConn is such an overwhelming favorite that all the odds are skewed. UConn is favored by 21 over MSU. USC is favored over Stanford by 2. To win it all it’s Uconn at 1 – 10, USC is 15 – 1, Stanford is 25 – 1 and MSU is 35 – 1. We don’t bet or gamble on anything even though we certainly have the opportunity. I was a poker player though while I was in the military, winning and saving enough to pay for my college education. Never played or gambled after that. I noticed that Derek Stevens, Las Vegas casino magnate and Detroit native, bet $12,500 for Michigan to win it all at 80 – 1 odds. He placed the bet at his friend’s casino, the Golden Nugget – just to see Tilman Fertitta sweat a bit. The very affluent have their own type of fun, don’t they? Here is a copy of the ticket, just in case you have never seen one.

I was curious to see where these really great college basketball players came from. We all have seen the proliferation of foreign players in the NBA. A lot of these foreign players hone their skills right here in the USA. Eleven percent of this year’s NCAA tournament players are foreigners. Here are the states and countries with the most players in this year’s NCAA tournament:

There are other interesting aspects to this year’s Final Four. Gonzaga and USC are there for the first time. Oregon is there for the first time in 78 years. UNC is there for the second consecutive year and a record 20th time overall. For the 13th time in NCAA Division 1 history, both men’s and women’s teams from the same school are in it – that being USC. The SEC player of the year, USC’s Sindarius Thornwell,  is there. The Pac 12 player of the year, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks, is there. The AP player of the year, Kansas’ Frank Mason III is out. Before this postseason, the Gamecocks had not won an NCAA Tournament game in 44 years. Getting this far in the tournament with defense is rare, but that’s the mantra of USC. They swarm with a zone defense that not even Florida could solve and they had seen it in conference play. And they have Thornwell on offense. USC is the only one of the Final Four that has not had a really close call. And they beat the 2, 3 and 4 seeds to get to play Number 1, Gonzaga. The Ducks escaped Rhode Island 75 – 72 and had a miracle finish against Michigan 69 – 68. Down by 3 with seconds to play, Jordan Bell, although well blocked out, secured the offensive rebound and kept the key possession alive. That was the biggest play of the game, even Dorsey, who hit the winning basket, said so. Many picked the Ducks to win it all when they had Bell and Chris Boucher, elite shot blocker and good three point shooter, who was lost to injury. How would you like to drive to the basket with Bell and Boucher guarding the rim? No one will face that dilemma in this year’s tournament.

Gonzaga had close calls with Northwestern 79 – 73 and West Virginia 61 – 58. They don’t have that outstanding player on defense or offense, but they play very good team basketball. It is a team game, isn’t it? Tami asked me “where did they get the school name, Gonzaga? Is it a Native American word?” Actually, it is an Italian family name. The Gonzaga family was an affluent, aristocratic family in the 1500s. Aloysius Gonzaga was born in 1568, joined the Society of Jesus and while at Roman College died while caring for victims of an epidemic. He was canonized in 1726. Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic University in Spokane, Washington. It was founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus and named after Jesuit Saint Gonzaga. UNC had two very close calls: Arkansas 72 – 65 and Kentucky 75 – 73. They seemed to get some help from the officials in both of those games. In the Arkansas game in the round of 32, the Razorbacks led 65 – 60 with 3:28 left. UNC clawed back to lead 66 – 65. With 44.2 seconds left Joel Berry drove and collided with Adrio Bailey and traveled with the ball. There was no whistle – no charge, no travel, so Berry just flung the ball onto the backboard. In the scramble, Kennedy Meeks got inside position on Moses Kingsley and tapped it in for a 68 – 65 lead. This rather than calling a turnover, or calling a foul and sending Bailey to the foul line with a chance to put the Hogs ahead 67 – 66. After the game Roy Williams essentially said “we were lucky.” In the game with Kentucky, UNC broke a 73 – 73 tie with a jumper by Luke Maye with 0.3 seconds left. The story of the game though is that Kentucky’s Fox, Monk and Adebayo all had two fouls after 5:53. Fox, who is the motor of this Kentucky team, played only 8 minutes in the first half. There is a lot more regarding the fouls and how they were called according to Mike DeCourcy writing for the Sporting News. His column of 27 March 2017 is on the Internet.

The Kansas Jayhawks had significant foul troubles in the Kansas – Oregon game in the Elite Eight. Oregon was aggressive and intense from the tipoff, quickly building a lead and closed the first half with an 8 – 0 run in the final 1:27 to lead by 11 at intermission. The key I thought was that Josh Jackson committed two early fouls and went to the bench. Frank Mason played well, but without Jackson, Kansas just could not find their rhythm. Oregon came out explosive in the second half and built their lead to 18. Then the Ducks became very tentative, appearing to just try to run out the clock, but doing so way too early. They had 2 or 3 shot clock violations and 2 or 3 possessions where they had 5 seconds or less to shoot and just threw up a shot. This gave Kansas the opening they needed, but uncharacteristically they did not take advantage. The Jayhawks had encountered this situation several times in the regular season and with uncanny discipline and control mastered crunch time – notably against Baylor and West Virginia. That 18 point lead did dwindle to 6 with 2:49 left, but then Oregon hit a three and it was back to 9 with 1:51 to go and Kansas had to play the foul game. Kansas had their comeback chance, but missed or rushed shots in crunch time. Of course with Jordan Bell guarding the rim, Kansas was limited in their customary drives to the bucket. Mason kept Kansas in the game, but with Jackson and Mykhailiuk stuck in second gear, Kansas just never got going. The Jayhawks shot 35% and 5 for 25 on 3s. Jackson went 0 for 6 on 3s. Meanwhile Oregon was shooting 50.9 percent.

In the women’s Final Four, we have two of our SEC teams in it. And they are both good teams, with the University of South Carolina being a very good team. But unfortunately this is going to be a case of Casey at the Bat with the goliath of women’s basketball standing strong. What can be said about the University of Connecticut and Geno Auriemma’s Huskies that hasn’t been said addendum? They just clobbered our Oregon Ducks to get here and the Oregon girls are a good team. Oregon can play better than they did, but UConn played one of their best games of the season. Geno said so: “They were great!” Unusual for a coach to say something like that. They are on a 111 game winning streak. The last time they lost was on 17 November 2014 to Stanford in overtime. Stanford ended a UConn 46 game winning streak with that game. So the Huskies are 156 – 1 over their last 157 games. I watched the end of that 17 November game on TV. When a good game is coming up on TV and I don’t have time to watch the game, I try to tune in for the last 5 minutes or so to see the drama if there is any. When I turned on the TV, the Huskies were up by 9 with 3 or 4 minutes to go. With Husky errors and Stanford hustle the gap was closed and the Cardinal hit a three with 1.4 seconds to go to send it to overtime. Both teams made errors in overtime and it could have gone either way, but Stanford with good defensive effort prevailed 88 – 86. Otherwise we would be looking at a 157 game winning streak. Is Mississippi State University the next victim? Probably. If not, it will be a big upset. The casino handicappers have UConn favored by 21. Two good teams play in the first game Friday – the University of South Carolina and Stanford. Will Stanford get another chance to snap a big UConn winning streak? You know Stanford ended a 90 game UConn streak and then the 46 game streak I just talked about – but I don’t think they will have a chance this time. I think USC will defeat Stanford, UConn will defeat MSU and then in the Championship Game I think UConn will win over USC. That seems to be what most other people think, also. However, anyone of these four could win the championship this year. That’s why we play it out rather than just awarding the trophies according to statistics. Early in the season this UConn team beat Tulane 100 – 56. Then on 18 February UConn escaped an upset by 18 & 15 Tulane 63 – 60. UConn had a tough game with Florida State, winning 78 – 76. South  Carolina played them tough before losing 66 – 55 on 13 February. I’ll be watching, supporting and rooting for our two SEC teams, USC and MSU. The SEC had eight women’s teams in the tournament this year: Auburn, LSU, MSU, Missouri, USC, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Kentucky. The SEC had five men’s teams in the tournament: Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. I supported and rooted for them all except Kentucky. There are two prominent teams that I do not support and they are both from Kentucky – KU and Louisville. I do not like the basketball coaches of these two schools and my tendency to support the underdog puts me against them because they are so successful.

I remember when Arkansas dropped out to the Southwest Conference and entered the Southeastern Conference; we thought that Arkansas and Kentucky would be battling for the basketball championship every year. Arkansas had won the SWC basketball championship more than any SWC school and Kentucky had won more SEC basketball championships than any other school. Do you remember Ron Brewer, Sidney Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Lenzie Howell, Todd Day, or Oliver Miller? Well, anyway, it didn’t turn out that way. Arkansas has won the regular season SEC twice and the SEC Tournament once. Kentucky has 48 regular season titles and 30 tournament titles. Unfortunately our Razorbacks are seldom in contention with Kentucky for the title, far from what we thought. I attach the 2017 NCAA Brackets for both the men’s and women’s competition below in jpg (or photo) format so you can copy them out and expand them on your computer if you don’t have a good magnifying glass and want to take a closer look.

I have said that we are fans of the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks were eliminated by UConn in the Elite Eight. We in Reno had a link to both teams in this game. Gabby Williams, a 2014 Reno Reed High School graduate who plays for UConn scored 25 points, had 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Mallory McGwire, Reno High School graduate who plays for Oregon had 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. They both had good press in our local newspaper, the Reno Gazette – Journal.

You may be thinking that Geno Auriemma has a very easy job coaching the University of Connecticut  women’s basketball team.  After all he attracts the best women’s players in the country. He takes good players and makes them great players. But when they come there a lot of them think that they already are great players. You can bet that a lot of them have big egos. He must manage those egos and make a team that plays team basketball, willing to pass and give up the ball to the open player. He’s on his 32nd year there.

I’m proud of our 2016 - 2017 Men’s Razorback Basketball Team! They played hard and could have won that final game. 

                            MAKE BLOGGING GREAT AGAIN

I am certainly not a friend of Donald Trump, but I am not his enemy either. I didn’t vote for him, but he is my president. He is the President of the United States of America. It pains me when I see and hear my president continually stating and tweeting ridiculous, obviously incorrect assertions; assertions that are quickly refuted by valid facts. Many are so ridiculous no one bothers fact checking him. When he was just a political pundit and when he was just a candidate, it could be laughed off. But now, when he does it, it hurts. He is damaging his integrity and the integrity of the office. Not only nationally, but worldwide. The world listens when the President of the United States speaks (or tweets). Unfortunately, he is not likely to change. He has been doing this his entire life. His latest ridiculous tweet(s) asserting that Obama “wire tapped my lines” in Trump Tower during the campaign has apparently angered both the GOP and the Democrats and they are doing their utmost to make The Donald admit that he made a mistake. He is not likely to do that. It is not in his character to admit fault. It is actually humorous to hear Sean Spicer and Mike Pence try to answer questions about it. I think everyone in Washington knows how it came about and they just don’t want to say it. The story originated with an article in Heat  Street, a far right website owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and started by Louise Mensch, a former Conservative Party member of the British Parliament. The article, based on anonymous sources, alleged that the FBI sought and obtained a warrant to investigate Russia’s interference in the US presidential election. This part of the article is true. The article alleges that the warrant involved a server, possibly related to the Trump campaign. A far right radio talk show host, Mark Levin, laid out a theory based on the Heat Street article on his radio program. His ‘theory’ postulated, without further evidence, the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. Impossible, of course. No president can do that. The theory and accusation was heard by Joel Pollack, Breitbart News Editor. Joel took the ‘theory’ and the accusation and embellished it with his own unsubstantiated information for an article he posted on Breitbart News. A White House aid placed a copy of the Breitbart News article in Donald’s daily reading pile. Then, fueled by that Breitbart report, Trump unleashed the series of astounding tweets* that accused Obama of spying on him. (The tweets are at the end of this blog). Instead of tweeting, why didn’t he call FBI Director James Comey and ask if it was true? Unfortunately it is not his nature to do so. His public life, especially since he became a candidate, is a litany of ridiculous, unsubstantiated statements and accusations. It is a paradox because Trump is a voracious consumer of media news in spite of his ridiculing and disparaging the media. He often tweets immediately after a TV news segment. The TVs are on all day – Fox News a constant, CNN and MSNBC intermittently. He deems CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC ‘fake news.’ FOX News is the only valid source. The media is not Donald’s problem. It is facts. I know my wish is wishful wishing, but I wish The Donald would verify his information before dispatching it to the world. Even in his recent address to the Congress, he distorted the facts on jobs, immigration, health insurance, war spending and more. His statement that his inauguration crowd was the biggest in history was indeed sad. Some humor came out of it though. Kellyanne Conway coined the phrase “alternative facts” in defending the indefensible. The daily White House news briefing by Sean Spicer borders on ‘comedy central’ frequently. Trump has long disparaged the ‘jobs created’ and the ‘unemployed’ numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as fake, but when the jobs created numbers exceeded the forecast under his administration, Donald tweeted that they were good and valid statistics. Spicer replied to a query regarding the disparity with a smile and said “they may have been false before, but they are real now.” The latest Spicer involved ridiculous W.H. news brief involves Britain. Evidently Trump sent him out to the Briefing Room with the revelation that Obama had requested the British Government to spy on Trump. Usually they don’t give a source for this type of ‘news,’ but in this case Spicer said the source was a report on Fox News. Trump repeated the revelation at his news conference with Chancellor Merkel, saying it came from a very good lawyer on Fox News. The UK immediately responded, calling the allegation absurd and ridiculous. Then Fox News responded saying they made no such allegation. As usual, Trump will not admit to fault or allow Spicer to admit to fault. This type of activity by The Donald is difficult to accept and it seems that both the GOP and the Dems have decided to tolerate it no more. They seem determined to “hold Trump’s feet to the fire” in the Obama ‘wire tapping’ episode. I recall when he said that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the JFK assassination. On this one, he finally admitted that he was repeating an article he read in the National Inquirer. Did he believe the article? Repeating a tabloid article as fact is bad enough, but believing the article is fact is much worse. Which is it with President Trump? He said his Inauguration crowd was the largest in history, quickly refuted with photos. He said he won the popular vote if the 5 million illegal votes were not counted, but provided no evidence of illegal votes. No one else has been able to find any evidence of illegality either. He said there was a terrorist attack in Sweden when there was none. He said Obama released 122 vicious prisoners from Gitmo who returned to terrorism. There were 9. The rest were released by George Bush. His spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway was documented three times referring to a nonexistent Bowling Green Massacre. Both Trump and Sessions claimed that murder is at an all time high whereas the data shows it at its lowest in decades. Trump declares China a currency manipulator whereas the facts refute this. He chastises China for not helping on North Korea. China has discontinued coal imports from North Korea which is one third of North Korea’s exports. He said he would demand that Japan pay for the US troops stationed there. Japan already pays for them. Trump said that he would renegotiate the trade agreements with Germany. The US has no trade agreements with Germany. The agreements are with the EU. He praised the LA Times for predicting his victory. Actually the Times predicted that he would win the popular vote, which he didn’t do. Trump says that his Electoral College win was by the largest margin in history. The facts say otherwise. Both Trump and VP Pence state that Trump’s victory was overwhelming, giving him a strong mandate to lead the country. Trump has used the word landslide in several tweets.  Kellyanne Conway tweeted ‘landslide, blowout, historic.’ He received fewer votes than Romney did in losing to Obama. His overwhelming majority fades quickly in the details. Trump won Michigan by 10,704; Wisconsin by 22,177; and Pennsylvania by 46,435. Therefore if 39,659 votes in those states were switched, 46 electoral votes would have flipped to Clinton and she would have won 278 to 260. To give that even more perspective: the University of Michigan football stadium seats 107,000. The deciding votes would not fill half that stadium. So much for landslide, overwhelming mandate. Trump objects to the media’s use of anonymous sources, but he seldom sources his tweets and statements. His staff in the WH continually holds “on background” conversations with reporters with the condition that officials names not be used. Trump said “I know more about Isis than the generals. We are going to eliminate Isis very quickly after I’m elected.” He was asked by an NBC reporter for his Isis plan. He said he would ask his generals for a plan. The reporter followed up with ‘is that your plan – to ask someone else for their plan?’ That ‘general’s plan’ was just released to Congress. It was characterized by a congressman as a Plan B to Obama’s Plan A. Plan B being to intensify Plan A. Trump said his cabinet has the highest IQ in history. He also said that his nominees are the greatest in history.  General Michael Flynn, the National Security Advisor, was fired by Trump for lying about his conversations with Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, especially to VP Pence. Pence probably demanded it because Pence then repeated the lie on national TV. Flynn also was acting as a foreign agent in dealing with congress and he did not register as such which is a crime.  Trump named as a replacement Vice Admiral Robert Harwood, a former Navy SEAL, but he rejected the offer. Then Trump named General H.R. McMaster, who accepted. Good choice, good man. Betsy DeVoss, Secretary of Education, plagiarized in her written confirmation statement and then used misspelled words in her apology for the ‘error.’  Andrew Puzder, Secretary of Labor, withdrew his nomination after it was known that he had used an illegal alien as a housekeeper for several years without paying FICA and his ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse. Tom Price, Health and Human Services, was under scrutiny for insider trading because of a mountain of circumstantial evidence.  Monica Crowley withdrew from the position of Senior Communications Director of the National Security Council. She plagiarized in her Harvard Ph.D. Dissertation and in her book on politics. Etc. So, Trump has the best nominees in history? While I am on personalities, I notice that Vice President Mike Pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. This is in violation of Indiana law. This after his relentless attacks on Hillary about private emails during the campaign. Trump, in reply to reported start-up problems, said “my administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.” Right from the start we saw President Trump busily signing documents, appearing to be accomplishing great tasks. Thankfully most of that activity consisted of memorandums, proclamations, and orders directing agencies and departments to conduct various reviews such as: calling for the Pentagon to conduct a 30-day review of readiness, recommending that the NSC and the HSC restructure, directing the Commerce Department to streamline the permitting process, etc. However, one Executive Order signed on Friday night 27 January 2017 created chaos at international airports and world wide protests.

The order blocked the entry of citizens from Syria indefinitely and blocked for three months entry from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. These are seven mostly Muslim countries. On Saturday morning lawyers were in court and got a federal judge to issue an emergency stay blocking the implementation of the order. However, the Department of Homeland Security shrugged off the court rulings on Sunday, saying the orders will have little impact on the implementation of Trump’s order, saying “the order remains in place – prohibited travel remains prohibited.” Rallies erupted all across the US, especially at airports in a groundswell of fury at the order. There was no advance warning or planning for this order. Trump moved without the traditional consultation with members of his Cabinet, leaders in Congress or even the government lawyers who customarily review the language and legal basis for executive orders and memorandums. The 9th Circuit Court quickly blocked the implementation of the order nation-wide on a permanent basis. Trump appealed, but finally withdrew the appeal and filed a new order with some modifications. However, the Federal Court quickly halted the implementation of this one, also. Trump said that he would appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary. This is not the only poorly conceived and poorly planned action by Trump’s “finely – tuned machine.” Just five days after taking office, Trump had dinner with Kushner, Bannon, Flynn, Mattis, Dunford and Pence. They approved a special operations raid by SEAL Team 6 on what the US now calls a terrorist compound in Yemen. The local people call the structure a family house. In Yemen most men always carry weapons. The attack resulted in a ferocious 50 minute firefight in which William Owens was killed and 3 other SEALs were wounded and a $75 million aircraft was destroyed. The SEALs were pinned down and only escaped when air strikes were called in. This operation was never raised to operational status by Obama. It was one of a series of proposals. The attack by Trump obviously was not well planned and obviously did not have accurate intelligence. It appears that the Trump team just wanted to impress with a quick raid on terrorists. Then in haste to justify the raid and report that valuable information was obtained, Trump released information that they claimed was new, valuable and obtained on the raid but in fact was information that had been posted on the internet in 2007. Then they said they were after an al Qaida leader who wasn’t there. The number of casualties varies from US to locals to NPR reporters. Best estimate is that there were 14 combatants killed along with over 38 civilians including children. The survivors said that the family was working with the Yemeni government that the US and KSA have been supporting against Houthi rebels, who are armed and supported by Iran. Now Yemen has banned all US military activity in the country, whereas they were assisting the US war on terror prior to the failed raid. The raid destroyed much of the village of Yakla. Spicer characterized the raid as “very, very well thought out and executed.” He also essentially intimated that “if you call the raid a failure, you are unpatriotic.” So, a “fine-tuned machine” is it? I see chaos at home and chaos abroad. Trump did say “There has never been a presidency that has done so much in such a short period of time.” I would agree with that. Some of the other things that Trump and the GOP have done since taking office are: an executive order blocking an Obama order that would have reduced the cost of mortgages for millions of home buyers, an executive order blocking the implementation of the fiduciary rule requiring banks and investment advisors to act in the client’s best interest, an executive order making it easier for mentally ill people to buy guns, an executive order removing the requirement that mining companies demonstrate financial resources to cleanup their pollution, and an executive order removing the ‘sludge discharge into local streams’ restriction on coal companies. We never expected Donald Trump to be a compassionate conservative ala George Bush, but he did promise to be an uncompromising populist who would fight for the forgotten poor, rural Americans. His actions and his budget blueprint is a betrayal of those people and his populist message. From my viewpoint, this presidency is a rolling disaster. The result so far has been the most chaotic and incompetent White House I can remember. The GOP prides themselves in having fiscal responsibility, but what about decreasing taxes, spending $1 Trillion on infrastructure, increasing defense by $54 billion. This is like my saying ‘OK, my salary is cut so I’m going to buy a new car and a new house.’ After all the promises and threats, it seems that the GOP has no choice but to repeal and replace the ACA in short order. But they could not have gone about it in a less competent way. After all those years of attacking it, they still were not ready with a replacement – now they are doing so in scramble mode. Is it better to pass a bill for party integrity, or take time to create a bill that is good health care and good for the country? Take time to review the health care systems of the industrialized nations and try to incorporate their proven, good points into our system! I don’t like the idea of tax credits aiding the purchase of insurance. Most people take the standard deduction; therefore a tax credit is of no value to them. They say they want to make health insurance available. Available and affordable is the key. A $10 million house is available to me now, paying for it is the problem. I am for single payer, universal coverage, essentially eliminating insurance companies. All our competitors have it. We don’t have to invent the health care wheel. Take what has been proven to work and form our system. Every medical provider office you enter in the US now has from 1 to 5 people handling only insurance for that office. And each office has several receptionists, also. It is estimated that from 20 to 50 percent of the money we spend on health care as a nation goes to administration. We need to take health care away from the insurance companies and from the pharmaceutical companies and give it to the citizens. I’ll not see it in my lifetime, that’s for sure. Most of what gets done in Washington is done by the congress. Unfortunately the GOP can’t say to Donald “Donald, thank you for getting us in power, now put your feet on the desk in the Oval Office and be the President – we’ll take it from here.” They don’t have the courage for that and are put in the awkward position of either defending the latest bit of stupidity from the WH or being honest about how ridiculous it is, which they know would win them the president’s ire. Because he talks and tweets before he thinks and then he cannot admit that he was wrong, Trump drags out these ridiculous issues endlessly. This distracts his staff, distracts the congress and they have to spend endless hours pretending that its serious and legitimate and are forced to answer questions about it for weeks. This is important time taken away from advancing the GOP agenda. What does Rush Limbaugh have to say about all this Trump stuff? He says “it’s an Obama conspiracy to execute a ‘silent coup’ to unseat Trump and render him ‘effectively immaterial’ as President. Obama has advanced the pretext of Russian interference to justify his illegal wiretaps and illegal leaks of information.” There you have it, from the guru himself. Steve Bannon couldn’t have said it better.

Donald Trump Memes are Making the Internet Great Again! On the internet when there is a blank piece of paper, sign or poster, the internet will reliably find a way to turn that canvas into endless possibilities. Internet users have transformed the GIF of Trump displaying a signed executive order into executive humor. I created a few of them myself. I include them at the end of this blog. Before I close perhaps we could benefit from the words of the famous basketball coach, John Wooden: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” 

 WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE 20% TAX ON ALL IMPORTS FROM MEXICO TO PAY FOR THE WALL???