Bright Ideas

My article didn’t get written in time to be included in the 4th of July holiday paper. My husband explains his refusal to hurry, saying he had rushed to beat deadlines for nearly 30 years. He refuses to do that in retirement. Well, that is his reason; I just didn’t nail down my choice of subject until too late to beat the deadline.

My final choice of subject was the shooting of journalists at a Maryland newspaper. Carter County folks probably carry more guns than Maryland residents. But we were taught as children not to point guns at anything we don’t intend to shoot. We may not agree with something printed in a paper, but we settle our grievances peacefully.

I got the occasional telephone call from a reader who thought my view was just the opposite of correct. One call won’t turn me around; I continue to be a Democrat in a Republican county. Being a very vocal minority hasn’t gotten me shot yet. But I don’t live in Maryland.

I remember when I was single and I moved to California. My great grandfather warned me, “Crazy people live there.” He may have been right. Would words bring on fatal responses? I remember being so mad I thought I could spit lightening—but I couldn’t.

I didn’t stay in California long. I got married, moved to Australia for two years, came back to the States, lived and worked outside Kansas City for nine months, then began looking for employment for Brice, eventually landing in Billings for seven years.

That’s when Fulton Castleberry told us Tom Taylor was trying to sell the “Eagle.” We made a trip to Ekalaka where we met with the Taylors. I don’t remember if it was Tom or Gladys who asked, “Do you have any money?” We did—enough money to make them happy.

When we were scraping the bottom, Brice’s dad gave us $10,000 to help out. He and Dora wanted us here; they wanted grandkids here. We stayed, and plan to remain here the rest of our lives. Just don’t ask us to hurry up; that won’t happen!

P.S. I need to correct a misconception with which I left readers. I wrote an article about Brice getting fired. That happened, but just as quickly another company stepped forward to hire him: same wages. He banks a check every two weeks. With Social Security, we are fine. Just don’t let Trump touch that!