SILENT NIGHT

MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR MY READERS

A POEM I WROTE AND PUBLISHED IN

MY BOOK 'COWBOYS, PLOWBOYS, AND

COUNTRY FOLK

                          Roger Ringer

This opens with the song Silent Night and is the background through the reading.  Then finished up with the 2nd & 3rd verses.

SILENT NIGHT

       It was a silent night....

       clear and cold like long ago.

       The moon and stars shining bright

       as old Charlie worked on his goal.

       Slippin' the old high back to the ground

       Tying a ribbon to the horn...

      With a tag to Jimmy Brown.

       Setting it gently by the door.

       As he walked limpin' down the road,

       Leadin' that old bay,

       Wishin' it weren't so durn cold

       As he tied him to the gate...at Tommy Ray's

      As he trudged back to his line shack

      He took inventory of his Christmas rounds.

      Left his spurs for young Zack,

      His Mexican riata...at Jennie Towns.

      A rag doll from an old shirt stuffed with grass

      He left for June at the Crossroads Ranch.

      She's such a fiery young lass...

      She'll break more than one cowboys heart with a glance.

      Charlie gave away all of his belongins'

       And other things that he had made

       That every child in the valley

       Had a present for Christmas Day.

     He made many winters riding line camps and such

      living life as a drifting saddle tramp.

     Since a family wasn't in the cards

      Now he was making his final lonely camp.

      Banking up the old stove...to warm his old frame,

      the chill finally driven from his bones.

      He dozed in an old work rocker,

      snoring in peaceful low tones.

      He opened his eyes to a young rider

      standing inside the door.

      "Charlie...its time to go, he said"

     Charlie nodded and said, "I'm ready for dern sure".

      A group of people gathered outside that old shack

      grateful for the simple gifts he brought.

      They found him cold...by his empty pack,

      Gone home...to the final camp he sought.

     For years they talked of that terrible drought

     when all the grass withered like blight.

     How hard times had stolen their holiday cheer,

     and how one cowboy...named Charlie...

     Saved Christmas...on that cold Silent Night.

GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS

" 'A CHRISTMAS CAROL' HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS

THE MOST PERFECT OF DICKENS'S

WORKS AND AS A QUINTESSENTIAL

HEART WARMING STORY, AND

IT IS CERTAINLY THE MOST POPULAR.

                                             Clair Tomlin 

       Christmas is a very unsettling time of year for me.  And it is true of many people.  Purely as a miracle it is the most joyous time because of the birth of Jesus who would go on to save mankind.  But the realities of life sometimes obscure the meaning to many people and it is a bittersweet time for many.
      Our family had a custom of going to Grandma and Grandpa Becker's house on Christmas Eve.  Since our family never was scattered across the country like many others all the cousins were more like brothers and sisters.  We saw a lot of each other.  I spent as much time on the home place with Grampa and my Uncle Charles as I could.
      I was complimented once on how straight I drove a tractor and my reply was you did not leave any crooked rows in Carl Becker's field.  My first job was shoveling the catching pen clean and spreading the manure on the pasture every Saturday morning.  I learned about what today they would call 'sustainable' farming from there.  Seems things go full circle since a lot of agriculture is seeing the benefits of diversification again rather than one crop.
      Until they moved to town after 'retiring' grandma had this terrible aluminum tree with the revolving colored light lamp on it.  In a house that had a lot of allergies a real Christmas tree was not an option.  Whether there or in town the families came for Christmas Eve and we thought it would always be that way.
       My first time to miss Christmas Eve was when my shift at the Fire Dept. fell on that day.  I was a probie at County Station 3.  But the family did not forget about me or the guys that night.  They took a pair of nylon panty hose and fill them with popcorn and brought it in for us.
      Even though the tradition is gone with Grandma and Grampa we do our own gift exchange on Christmas Eve.  The cousins had families and created their own traditions.  Since I never married the day is very quiet.
      I love the old classic Christmas movies and can't help feeling the message of a Christmas Carol personally.  I love 'It's a Wonderful Life' because it was such a failure in Hollywood and yet is a classic with real people.  And no Christmas season is complete without 'White Christmas' and Bing Crosby.
      Those busy with family are not aware many times of the loneliness of the season and the depression and spike in suicide that goes with it.  There is always someone who needs your prayer or maybe just a smile.
      There are so many blessings at this time of year but whenever there is blessing the devil makes a double attack.  You can fight the ghosts of Christmas with a little gesture sometimes or let them haunt those who feel the loss of something Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

THE GREATEST LOST GENERATION

"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUPIDITY

            AND GENIUS IS THAT GENIUS

                                  HAS IT'S LIMITS."
                                                     Albert Einstein

     This subject is one that is so polarizing that very seldom can you get those on both sides to talk about without huge amounts of emotion and conflict.  I ask that you who will take the time to read this to it's finish will reflect on it's intent before the storms erupt.

      Just consider, the United States has allowed legal Abortions since the Roe vs. Wade case and the number of children destroyed is now over 50,000,000.  It is a wonder, in many of the law profession, that the original case has not been overturned.  Many agree that it was a terrible case to use as the basis of legalizing abortion.  Many think that there were better cases to base the Supreme Courts attention on.  Even the original subject of the suit has changed sides and now advocates for Pro Life.

      Those who support legalization are happy with the fact that there has not been a solid challenge to come along so far.  Those in support are so happy that the case has stood up that there is an ingrained legitimacy for a large number of people to accept the existence of it as an unassailable right.

      Medical ethicists at the major medical university in Australia have made suggestions that post birth abortion would be acceptable.  This giving 6 months to kill the child for medical cause.  This not bringing an huge outcry and has led to a major Northeastern University to have a 'medical ethics class' start to advocate that up to the age of 5 would be acceptable.

     Lets stop and consider what 50 million lives have cost us as a nation.  We can consider 50 million souls as pretty much a lost generation.  Many Earth Firsters, radical feminists, radical green groups, and many more consider a loss of 50 million lives as a slowing of the overpopulation of the world.  These groups look at the human population as cochroaches destroying the world as it should be.

      If you hold with the belief that God is in charge and that each life has purpose and a vocation, what have we done as a major affront to the way that things are supposed to be?
       A mathematician can compute into a law of averages the number of advanced people that consistently are a part of each generation.  Taking the progress that mankind has made over time and the happenings in history it would be pretty hard to dispute that when 50 million lives are taken a percentage of exceptional lives are lost.
       If you are of the belief that as scripture says that God has counted the numbers on your head long before you were conceived.  Then you have to believe that there is a destiny for each life and man is a pretty poor judge of what is good for itself.
      I have known the lab assistant of Dr. Salk who cracked the code and brought the plague of polio to the end for the generations who lived in fear of it.  Have we lost the doctor or technician that will finally cure cancer, MS, or Muscular Dystrophy?  Did we lose a future president, the first American Pope, the person who frees us from dependence on fossil fuel?
      Or the researcher that advances agriculture past today's amazing capacity and feeds these billions of people that are so feared that the population control argument could be laid to rest?
       I am a simple mind and I read into the rather short pages of the founding of our republic and the Constitution and Bill of Rights and fail to see how the millions of decisions made about things like Abortion and many other things not specifically mentioned are considered a part of the legacy of our justice system.
       I am no lawyer, thank God, and prefer to speak in relative common terms and apply the basics of civil conduct and not the legalese that everything seems to be turned into.  Can you look me in the eye and believe that it is in any one's best interest that this Greatest Lost Generation is to our benefit?
       As another point of view what was the original point of advocating for birth control were when Margret Sanger began the crusade of the Planned Parenthood began?  What were the targets of the movement?  What was the results of the movement?  Evolving from this also came the Eugenics movement.  How did the Eugenics from the US influence Hitler's ultimate solution in Europe?
       At the risk of being cliche', are you not glad that your parents did not choose to abort you?
      The predictions are that the next industrial revolution will happen in the next ten years.  The last one took one hundred years.  It seems that it is going to take some getting use to the changes coming.  We may wish for a few of those lost lives for what is ahead.

DO THEY THINK WE ARE STUPID?

"THE TRUTH IS NOT FOR ALL MEN,

BUT ONLY THOSE WHO SEEK IT".

                Ayn Rand

      It always hits me to ask if they think that we all are stupid?  The actions of the entire incident in Ferguson Missouri makes me stop to think if the people in Government and the Civil Rights world thinks that they can say anything and expect us to believe it?

      I know that if anyone charges a police officer and tries to take his gun, or makes any threatening actions against them, you will be shot.  You, I, and law enforcement have the right to use deadly force when there is a credible threat to life and safety.

      Anyone who has been through school, or the system, knows that a Grand Jury is presented all the evidence to determine if charges should be brought.  Where a regular jury is only presented evidence as allowed.

      Where do you know any courthouse that works past 5 PM?  Do they think we are stupid that the cameras were in place, the National Guard pulled back, and the verdict come out at 9 PM?

       Where do all the 'rioters' sleep, eat, go to the bathroom, and where are they from?  There are always local idiots that will loot but these riots are organized.  What good did it do the locals to burn down their stores, jobs, and churches?

      I have not had a bad experience with a person of color in recent memory.  Is that because I live on a hill?   I read now that I am racist because of 'white privilege'.  I think that there are a lot of people that need to get a life and quit tell others who they are.

       I have known many law enforcement people and know that most are good people doing a hard job.  There are bad ones I am sure, but I never knew one to go gunning for anyone.

       When I see the leader of a country who tolerates riots, and attorney general that does the same, and leaders who advise them also are the biggest tax cheats, this does not instill confidence in our future.

      We now have Isis members threatening our military here at home and they have been advised to stop using social media that gives away where they are, I am worried.  We have advisers and members of our intelligence and security forces that belong to groups that gave rise to terrorism and yet we turn a blind eye to them.

      Sorry, we are not stupid.  History will someday look back and go 'that the country was at it's highest threat and the eye of authority was turned to its own endeavors'.  Wonder if the regular news media will recognize any of this?  Now there is stupid!

A HOLIDAY THAT ANYONE CAN AGREE ON

"AN OPTIMIST IS A PERSON WHO

STARTS A NEW DIET ON

THANKSGIVING DAY".

                                       Irv Kupcinet

     If there is a holiday that as a whole this country can get along with it is Thanksgiving.  Since it is primarily a US holiday the people who object to holidays, that are primarily church related, can't get too worked up. Because it is about a bunch of illegal immigrants showing up where they were not wanted, and almost died because they did not know what they were doing.

      The hard core can just put it off as being thankful for the Indians (native residents) as much as for there faith that kept them in trouble back in England.  This is the same group that would later burn witches and put people in stocks.
       It also is the group that inspired such a great work of literature THE SCARLET LETTER as a great warning about the honor of the unwed mother and the secret dishonor of the father, that could not bring the fact that leaders are just people also.
      Thanksgiving is that point where people can gripe about the Christmas sales and promotions starting after Halloween, that great holiday where monsters, demons, devils, and curvatious females are honored.  Haunted houses and beer are very much in style.
       So much are the undead in style that Budweiser is dropping the Clydesdales for Zombies this year to try and win back that coveted 20 - 27 age crowd.  Let me tell you what, you can have Elvira back for those horses and a little dignity.
      Thanksgiving is a great little holiday because you can have a nice time to thank what ever you are thankful to without some group from Wisconsin trying to change your public displays.  You do not have to spend money and can be with people you like.  We like our folks that come out.
      On the next day I can marvel at the stupidity of those who fight for bargains that were cheaper last month.  Where you can set back with that Bud, sleep to the favorite game of the day, eat some good food, and get ready for the next 5 weeks of insanity.
      Really, can anyone get real worked up about guys that wear knee stockings, shoot blunderbusses, and wear belt buckles on their hats?

THE STATE OF OUR BEING

"IN THE OLD WEST ONE LAWYER IN TOWN

STARVED.  TWO GOT RICH".

       What is it about the collective soul of a nation that allows meanness and bullying to be considered an art form.  There is no man ever lived, but one, that did not have faults and even have done bad things in his life.  Whether the individual has redeemed themselves or not it is not our affair.

       What has started this national fascination of bringing down iconic people?  It is even worse when there is no proof of the occurrence of crimes and misdemeanor's, just accusations.  Seems that the longer time has gone by and there is no legal proceedings it is worse that if it happened yesterday.

       There is no appeal from public opinion and if enough time goes by there is not even defense in the system to defend ones name.  Yet the news media finds this type of story to be so important that they can destroy a person with no fear, to the point of even voiding the volume of lifetime accomplishments.

       Finding someone will accuse 30, 40, and 50 years later seems to be a journalistic principle.  If so Journalism is dead.  Along with it is history.  For both have to be judged with the backdrop of their times and applying todays values to a story is revisionist.

       How is your soul?  Well lets run some names.  Martha Stewart, Clarence Thomas, Paula Dean, Bill Cosby.  Were you delighted at the amounts of money and the reputation that each is left to deal with after their lives and reputations were made the subject of public ridicule?

      What of the human failing of greed that will claim membership in a victim group because there is a pool of money that is at stake.  I imagine after 40, 50, & 60 years, a lot of the claimants of being violated by clergy were even eligible to be there let alone make money from it.  It is just fashionable to create hate and see how much a person can make out of being a victim, whether they were or not.

      My opinion of the ethos of Public Radio dropped sharply when a reporter finds it so compelling that he had to bring up Bill Cosby's allegations.  Not because there was legal merit but that there is no way for Mr. Cosby to answer without putting in question his innocence.

      For many years now I have had the opinion, that the opinions of Mr. Cosby will be setting him up for the attack against his character because he advises in no uncertain terms what is wrong with society and that the only cures for the wrongs is to take responsibility. 

       I am so sad that this is true.  And the others who share the position in his community are now involved in creating a race war.  If you take personal delight in any of this I fear for your soul.

OPENNING PANDORA'S BOX

"JUDGES ARE THE WEAKEST LINK

IN OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE,

AND THEY ARE THE MOST PROTECTED".

                                                 Alan Dershowitz

     In the census, the numbers of homosexual citizens is in the neighborhood of 3%.  I am not wanting to tell anyone how to live their lives and I am sure that there are some very sincere people that I know in that group.  But I am not asking.  And the ones whose outrageous activities in the parades and protests do nothing to endear their cause to me.  I take no delight in pointing out anyone whose lifestyle is an affront to God and his laws, but I am charged as a believer to point out the wrong.  I am held accountable for what I do and don't do.

      I am constantly bombarded by the news media and the politically correct crowd that if I do not agree and give my blessing of their behavior then I am a racist.  Well then I guess I am a racist.

       I do not understand why I have scenes and stories constantly thrown in my face as to how 'normal' the lifestyle is.  State after state has voted that gay marriage is not legal only to have a judge turn that on it's ear.  Even in California the voters outlawed it only to have a judge overturn the will of the people.

      We have a form of government called a Representative Republic that gives the ability of the citizenry to decide issues and elect those who represent their opinions in government.  But it also gives the safety to minorities not to be bullied and lorded over by the majority.

      The sweeping over of the will of the people by judges and a small minority will have results that are unintended.  Even if being against the practice of approving gay marriage is against the rules of the church and the stories that most accept as the word of God, there is more.

       Only one of the problems has been discussed so far about opening up marriage from a man and woman so far.  That is the possibility of the state ordering churches and the clergy to perform marriage even though there is no belief of it in their doctrine.  But there are others.

      What will be the next push for 'rights'?  Polygamy?  Can the government ban marriage between one man and more than one woman.  There are radical sects that practice it still alive even though the Mormon Church gave it up to prevent a war with the US Government.
     What of recognizing Shiria Law and the multiple marriage and age lowered to age eight?

     What about group marriage?  Or marriage to animals?  Where does it stop once you open the door?  Are there sincere couples that feel they should have a right to marry there significant other.  I am sure.  Are their civil rights in jeopardy?  Seems most of that is covered.
     Once the lid of Pandora's box is removed it is impossible to put back on.

There is only one class of person left that it is legal to discriminate against in jobs and even simple features in public for comfort and safety and that is overweight.  Gee there just has to be at least one group that people can look down their nose at and publicly insult.

FREEDOM REQUIRES THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS

"I HAVE LEARNED SILENCE FROM THE

TALKATIVE, TOLERATION FROM

THE INTOLERANT, AND

KINDNESS FROM THE

UNKIND".

         

                                               Kahlil Gibran

      It seems that it is better now that more people seem to honor those who have sacrificed so much so we can have a country.  That we can go where we decide, pursue interests that are appealing to us.  After the war of Independence was won and the long task of creating a nation was underway one of our founding fathers found himself in conversation with a skeptical woman over the new founded Republic.  You have to remember that the group that declared independence was in the minority.

     In that conversation about a form of government that had never been tried in world history, and I assume, the great costs that it took to defeat the most powerful nation on earth.  That the answer is enough to live without the detail of the story, "we give you a free Republic, Madam, if you can keep it".

      I notice that there are more individuals that respect and appreciate the costs that our Veterans have had to give over the years.  To the soldier that is rebuilding a life without limbs, or sight, or peace of mind the sacrifice is everyday.  It is good that the average citizen seems to understand more now than when I was growing up.

     I was never called to duty and never asked to pay the price.  Like my soul, someone has done that.  Do I dare not be thankful and show respect for those who have?

      At the end of  'The War to End all Wars' the Armistice was set ending the hostilities.  "The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month".  It became a great celebration and the ideal date to honor all those who sacrificed so much.  So Armistice Day became Veteran's Day.

      Though we still have war as the bible says we will, we have to be thankful that there are those who will water the fields of conflict with their blood so you can live your life as you see fit.  I hope you choose an honorable way to live it.

HOW THIS ENDS

"THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO AVOID

CRITICISM:  DO NOTHING, SAY NOTHING,

AND BE NOTHING."

                                            Aristotle

      As a nation we have just come through one hundred years plus of a graduated progressive movement.  Through the years of gradual change and diverting from the original intent of the founding fathers.  There are literally thousands of factors that have gone into the place we now stand as a nation.

      We have emerged from one of the most brutal midterm elections and now we set and wonder if the Republicans can change from the impulse to take their new found power and just continue the direction that the country has been heading all this time.  Seems that the names may change but the direction never does.

       Due to the spending that both parties have to take blame for it has been obvious to any economist and anyone who lived through hard times as to the fact that there will be a day of reckoning.  It is not even considered scandalous that the debt the nation is in cannot be paid off.  No matter what happens now we are almost at 18 TRILLION in debt.  Our major creditors are our enemy's, so called friends, as well as the people ourselves.  Every bond you may have bought is a loan to the government as well as their ability to tax you beyond reason and seize your assets for any perceived wrong that you may commit.
      Nations that we have held gold for in Ft. Knox have not been able to even look at their bullion let alone transfer it home.  The Chinese have been soaking up 90% of gold produced each year and India is soaking up the silver.  Both elements are essential in the new electronic world that we are addicted to.
       So what happens when it all comes to and end?  I put the question to you as to why the last 30 years of government administrations have been seizing land and assets in the West?  There has been more Federal monuments, parks, and forest lands created and more controlled by the BLM than at anytime since the 1850's.
       The West is in a major part owned by the government.  That means us, but the people in Washington have made it there own.  Since Bruce Babbit in the Clinton Admin. to today, more land is seized.  Without any act of Congress the President can make national monuments on his own signature.  You probably don't know that the latest was last week.
      By the Governments own figures these states percentage of federal ownership is over 50%.  Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Alaska.  When other agency ownership is added such as military and other varying agencies the western states are in minority private ownership.  There is also strict usage on private lands by various agencies.
      When the dollar is worthless and a major event or string of events has devastated the US and World economies there will be a mandatory repayment in commodities and the old controls will be thrown on the ash heap.
      The US Government will be shipping timber, oil, gas, copper, coal, gold, silver, and anything that can be stripped from our lands to pay off the world of creditors.  It is our only resources that will have any value.  The old environmental restraints will be gone and our country will be stripped of its value under threats that can only be speculated at right now.
      If this is a far fetched scenario ask the residents of the German Vimar Republic or Germany after World War 2.  This sounds radical I know.  Given the circumstances that we are in now I would say that the next two years are critical.  If those who now are in power do not do what needs to be done there will be a backlash that will throw us into the hands of those who allowed this to be set up. 
       When you say that we have spent our grand children's future, it gives the impression that we will be dead and gone before it happens.  I am afraid that you will be here to see the devastation that has been set up and your grand children may not even be here to deal with it.
       Gloomy enough for you?  I pray we never see it!

WHO ARE YOU?

"OBSTACLES ARE THOSE FRIGHTFUL

THINGS YOU SEE WHEN

YOU TAKE YOUR EYES

OFF YOUR GOAL".

                                                  Henry Ford

     When you read this the elections will be over and you will be filled with either joy or dread.  You have been bombarded by so many half truths and lies that the future is either clear as a bell or muddy as the Mississippi.  This may lead to more confusion but at least the bombardment of the ad campaigns are gone and all we have to put up with is the news media again.

     So in the mean time the world has gone on and who won will likely not have much to do with what is real.  Have you stopped to evaluate what is real to you?  Maybe you should.

      In the last news cycle we have two different stories of suffering and two different ways of handling it.  On one hand we have this beautiful woman who is only 29 years old who has been sentenced to less than a year to live because of cancer.  On the other a 19 year old who had a non operable tumor that will soon produce the same result.  Yet how each handles the news is so different.

      Each can bring a tear to this old cowboy without shame.  Life is not fair and each life has so much to give.  The thought of two so young enduring so much pain is heart rending.  Each is a reflection of how society has become and only you can determine which is how you feel.  I cannot impose my faith and beliefs on you, but this is a measure of where you stand.

      "The wisdom of man is foolish in the eyes of God".  So a verse is written that transcends the need to justify the path these two women have to take.  Pain is a terrible destroyer of reason and without a strong faith it can lead to poor conclusions.  The need to maintain control over your life can be a terrible distortion for what your ultimate path is to be.

       Both women will inspire but which is the better?  Pouring all strength in a goal to maintain a gracious ending and marking a great example to leave behind is what each strive.  I am thankful that it is not mans wisdom that will in the end matter.

      To end your life at the prospect of what is ahead is holding all control to the end that a person chooses.  To allow the end to come as it is ordained requires more courage and sets the better example.

       Those of you who feel good at the choice taken by the lady in Oregon I feel a stab of sorrow for you.  It was sad but not inspiring.  Instead of defining the value of life it has cheapened it and enabled those who do not face the prospect of death with dignity to advocate for it.

      The girl who lived her dream and will receive the final passing with faith and friends surrounding sets the better example.

RIDING FENCES

BEWARE OF FALSE KNOWLEDGE;

IT IS MORE DANGEROUS

THAN IGNORANCE.

                                          George Bernard Shaw

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, it is a duck.  This is why I hate politics.  But there is reason to not ride a fence.  First it is uncomfortable and then it makes people think that the more preposterous the story can be made that you will fall for it and go their way.

It is no secret that I am beyond horrified with the leader of our country.  I am not enamored with those who voted for 'hope and change' without understanding that the hope and change was told to us all along and many just ignored it.

I have been brought to task by a few that I need to support what is going on in the White House and Washington because of who they are.  I am sorry, they do not support the oath of office that they took and our country is paying the price of corruption and turning from God and the foundations that our Republic was founded on.

I am not confident that Washington will ever change itself.  Until we have a constitutional convention and we limit the power of the thieves that we have put there, we will have to do the best with who we send up there.

So not being enamored with the status quo there have been games devised in Kansas that will seem to circumvent the vote.  If the race for senate and governor have not bothered you it should.  Even if you don't like the incumbents.

When half truths and open games are played it should alert and bother both sides.  When your talking points have to come from the morning postings of your party you need to start being upset about being manipulated and treated like a fool.

Elections should ideally be between the best candidates available.  Yet it seems that the challengers must depend on manipulations and gamesmanship and believe that you are not smart enough to make your won decision on the merits of the candidates.

As much as I hate pushing one side or another in a losing game I will have to support the two incumbents in Senate and Governor because the alternatives don't hit a good chord with me.  There is something wrong here.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it is a duck.  My advice to both parties is, can't you get real citizen legislators to carry the party banners?

SURPRISE!!!!!!

"TO SUCCEED IN LIFE, YOU NEED

TWO THINGS:  IGNORANCE

AND CONFIDENCE."

                                                   Mark Twain

     There are many ways to define success and each has his own and everyone else has theirs about yours.  If monetary measure is a standard then I failed that miserably.  But there are many other ways that are more important.  I have done a lot in my life trying to do what I love.  Most times that is the worst paying but with a lot of satisfaction.

      Of the many things that I have an interest in, some would say passion, the presence of music is as strong as anything.  Those who know me only by my opinion columns would have picked up a little about how I feel about music and the people in it.

      Many know me as being a vocalist in Western Music and a poet.  Now my music is a wider field than just Western and we have been trying to define what that is anyway for years.  Now the term Roots or Americana is probably defining things a little better.

      At a point in my life my best friends started to die and the majority have been to cancer.  The way I dealt with the loss was to dust off an old talent from high school that no one knew about, poetry.  Applying my life experiences it became cowboy and country poetry.  The things I feel strongly about like horses, cows, tractors, farming, ranching, being outdoors and being rural.  Being independent and making my own mind up about issues and not follow some party line.

      Being aware of how many times I was swerved away from things that would have turned out bad.  Enough close calls to know that when my time is done I will meet a crippled up guardian angel that took a lot of the hits for me.

      I also know that to ease the grieving from so many friends lost a new group would come from out of no where to give me hope and purpose.  I was transitioning from poetry to music, my love from high school and a little college, and joined up with a group that took me in just as I am. 

     Western Music, which is a combination of old classic cowboy tunes, classic Country & Western, Folk, Celtic, Spiritual, movies, Tin Pan Alley, Bluegrass, Hillbilly, Ethnic, Western Swing, and Rock, was booted out of Nashville and mainstream music.  Yet it exists today and is represented by the Western Music Association.

      I found a group of talented and diverse people with a streak of decency that was left behind by mainstream music long ago.  I am still amazed that this group lets me hang around with them.  I have tried to promote the music, artist, and fan whenever I could.  And still intend to even though I am slowed down temporarily.

      I was at our Kansas Chapter meeting at the Flying W Ranch in the Flint Hills last Sunday.  I am the Chapter Vice President and we had a good gathering of our members.  On the agenda there was listed a 'special presentation', which I had not any idea what it would be even though I have input into the agenda.

     When the time came there was a certificate of appreciation and a Life Membership to the WMA and I was looking around to see who had won it.  This is not something that happens often, many of our members work their tails of for the group.  The nice things they were saying I knew fit a lot of people in the room and then they called my name.

      For the first time in recent history I was speechless.  I did not see it coming.  When you love what you are doing, and the people in it, it just does not occur that anything special has happened.

     They like my ideas, wait until they hear about the show at the Ryman.

Thanks to all!

ATTENTION ALL POLITICIANS!!!!!!!

"WE HANG PETTY THIEVES AND

APPOINT THE GREAT ONES

TO PUBLIC OFFICE"

                                     Aesop

     Now pay attention all politicians.  Whether I support you or not, stop with all the half truth, pompous, gutter sniping, mud slinging, advertisements, phone calls, and mailings.  Stop trying to spin where you stand and start answering questions honestly, straight forward, and courageously!

     Any one running for office should be able to answer all questions with a YES OR NO!  I have had it and if I had hair I would pull it out.

     If you are running for office as a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Prohibitionist, or any other label, if you cannot answer these questions and quit bothering us.

ARE YOU?

1. PRO LIFE?
2. PRO ABORTION?
3. FOR GUN CONTROL?
4. SUPPORT SECOND AMENDMENT?
5. FOR CONTROL OF THE BORDERS?
6. FOR AMNESTY?
7. SUPPORT OUR MILITARY?
8. FOR THE FAIR TAX?
9. FOR CLOSING THE IRS?
10. FOR FREE MARKET HEALTH INSURANCE?
11. AGAINST REGULATORY AGENCIES MAINTAINING SWAT TEAMS?
12. FOR A RESTORATION OF FUNDS USED BY OTHER AGENCIES BACK TO SOCIAL SECURITY?
13. DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS?
14. AGAINST GATHERING ALL DATA ON CITIZENS WITHOUT LEGAL WARRANT?
15. AGAINST ACTIVIST JUDGES OVERRIDING THE WILL OF THE VOTER?
16. FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION NOT FROM IT?
17. OPENING NUCLEAR WASTE FACILITY IN NEVADA THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN BUILT FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS?
18. RESTORE THE CONCEPT OF MULTIPLE USE TO FEDERAL LANDS?
19. REMOVE THE ABILITY FOR 'GREEN' GROUPS TO SUE AND HAVE ALL LEGAL FEES PAID BY THE GOVERNMENT OVER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES?
20. STOP THE DISMANTLING OF THE COUNTRY BY USING 'CLIMATE CHANGE' AS A REASON?
21. FOR BREAKING UP THE EPA?
22. SUPPORT THAT NO MILITARY ACTION BE TAKEN ANYWHERE WITHOUT CLEAR INTENT TO WIN?
23. FOR FUNDING ALREADY APPROVED IMPROVEMENT OF RIVER LOCK SYSTEM?
24. NO AGENCY OVERRIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ON AGRICULTURAL ISSUES?
25. STOP ALL FOREIGN AID EXCEPT FOR HUMANITARIAN?
26. STOP FUNDING THE UNITED NATIONS?
27. BUILD THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE?
28. STREAMLINE ALL LICENSING PROCEDURES FOR POWER PLANTS AND REFINERIES?

     It is not hard at all to answer these YES OR NO.  Quit bothering us with the rest and quit asking me to give you money.

FALL COWBOY STORYTELLERS

"THE PAST ACTUALLY HAPPENED

BUT HISTORY IS ONLY WHAT

SOMEONE WROTE DOWN."

                                         A. Whitney Brown

The Cowboy Storytellers of the Western Plains is an organization that started in Seiling Oklahoma over coffee from a bunch of ranchers telling stories about the old days.  It has been meeting ever since in Kansas and Oklahoma to have the locals tell the story's of the old days as close to first person as we can get.

Many get it wrong about the group coming to their area as being a group of entertainers.  No.  The group comes to hear and record your stories.  The stories of your growing up, your parents, grandparents, and the old stories you grew up listening to.

If these stories are not recorded from you they will be lost when they put you under.  That is why we need you to step up.

The Fall meeting of the Storytellers will be in Medicine Lodge Kansas on October 25th at the Senior Center 213 N. Main.  Music starts at 12:30 and meeting at 1pm.  It is open to the public.  Membership in the organization is $15/year.  You get a newsletter before each meeting.

We have been to Medicine Lodge 5 times before.  The Gypsum Hills is a great scenic area of the state.  From Medicine Lodge west 40 miles to Coldwater is the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway.  There is the Stockade Museum and the Carey Nation home that you can visit.  A great Veterans Memorial and several places to eat.

We are also home to the MEDICINE LODGE PEACE TREATY PAGEANT which will be done in 2015.  We are home to the Kansas State Championship Ranch Rodeo and the home of Martina McBride just over in Sharon.

If you have a story to tell or need questions answered call me at 620-213-2403

GOTTCHA!!!

"I AM AN IDEALIST.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM GOING,

BUT I AM ON MY WAY."

                                        Carl Sandberg

     Do young people ever irritate you?  When you were young you had the energy and vitality to believe that you knew everything, and that the old fogy's just were in the way and holding you up.  Impatience was your normal state of being.  You could not wait to drive, then you could not wait to drink.  And then you made it past those points and then those ignoring your obvious intelligence drove you to drink.

     It was said that if you were conservative when young you had no heart. and if you were liberal when old you had no brains.  Well the revenge of the elder is that at a point you will start living with aches and pains.  And then you will be having conversations with your friends about your latest ailments, the health care system, and doctors.  You will also find that the number of funerals are starting to out number the weddings you attend.

     Fall used to be my favorite time of year.  It was the season of hunting dove, quail, pheasant, and deer.  The temperatures were more pleasant and there is something about being out in God's creation that feeds the soul.  Maybe that is why I call it God's Great Cathedral. 

     Winter was fun because I could run my four wheel drive in the snow and ice and the burn on the front of a roaring fire was great fun.  Spring was nice and the farm work started.  We endured the heat of summer because the fall  was marked by the opening of Dove and Trap shooting season every September one.

     When it starts dawning on you that it is not as much fun to walk through fields for miles, more things start upsetting your stomach, and you are on first name terms with your pharmacist, you will start noticing that HEY THINGS ARE GOING BY TOO FAST!

     GOTTCHA!!  Your are no longer that young irritating know it all you used to be.  You may be the big dog at the Liars club coffee table by now, but you will notice that those young whippersnappers don't take your opinions as gospel anymore.  And the old farts are still calling you a kid as they give you the name of the latest wonder drug or the new specialist they are going to.  It is just our revenge to laugh at you for irritating us.

      

GET OUT THE VOTE

"YOU CAN'T DO IT UNLESS YOU

CAN IMAGINE IT."

George Lucas

This may be where you may think I am jumping into the fray and pushing for one side or the other in the political races.  WRONG!  You should know by know how disgusted I am with the half truths and the bloviating promises that all candidates are involved in.

No I am picking up on a article that my friend Beccy Tanner had in the Wichita Eagle last week about one of my favorite places in Kansas, Lucas.

Not only is Lucas famous for the Garden of Eden and quirky artists, (and ring bologna).  They have the BOWL PLAZA public toilet.  Now one thing that is a huge problem when you have a lot of tourists is that the availability of toilets is pretty critical.  Many of the old buildings are not up to the standards or capacity that streams of visitors put them under.

Lucas utilized their artist community and designed a public toilet that is bringing it's own tourists.  Not only well designed it is comfortable and so much in the design that you spend more time looking than doing your business.

Now you can vote to have the Bowl Plaza named number one, in number one and two, in the nation.  The Bowl is in the top ten in contest sponsored by Cintas (a company that designs restrooms) in the nation.  You simple need to go to www.bestrestrooms.com and vote.

The competition?  American Girl Place - Chicago, The Fabulous Fox Theater - St. Louis, the Tiki Lounge - Pittsburgh, and six other hoity toity restrooms.

The town residents decided in 2008 that there was a pressing need for a facility like this.  They spent four years raising the money and design it.  It is by far the blingiest toilet in Kansas.

SO GET ON LINE AND VOTE.  YOU HAVE UNTIL OCT 31 TO VOTE IN THE CONTEST.  LETS GET OUT THERE AND FLUSH OUT THE VOTE!!!!!



CAN YOU GO BACK HOME?

HAPPINESS IS NOT A STATE

TO ARRIVE AT, BUT

                          A MANNER OF TRAVELING

                                         Margret Lee Runbeck

      They always say that you cannot go back home.  In many ways this is true for we never live in the times past but only remember them.  I find that when I go back to places in my past there are a lot of good memories alive even if nothing else is.  It is always fun to set in and feel the old times yet you are still there on a visit and have to come home, where ever that is now.

      After visiting my clinic in Wichita if I time it right I avoid the traffic and travel around on paved county roads.  I find many more today than when they were a part of my fire response district.  I end up at my old stomping ground on the west end of Cheney Lake at Mt. Vernon at Creations Restaurant.

      Now Mt. Vernon has grown since a couple farm and storage sheds went up but I think the population is still around six or seven.  At the old country store next to the spot that the old dance hall sat is Creations Restaurant. 

      When I moved from poetry into music there were several of us that could see that a corner that was not in real use would be a great place to put a small stage.  Steve, the owner, was great with the idea and in a couple weeks time a stage was built and the music started.

      Every Thursday night there would be musicians wander in and out.  There might be 3 or 30 you never knew.  We had a regular crowd and it was a fun place.  I was a member of the Western Music Association and was working with the best guitar player I have ever known named Gerald Walters.  He was one of the Kingman County crowd who grew up with music in their homes on Saturday nights.  This before TV, CD, downloads, and when you charged the battery's on the radio to listen to the Grand Ole Opry in the parlor with the neighbors.
     I still get to visit with old friends and there is the memory of Prairie Dog Lafferty who I swear still haunts the place.  Sometimes a few of the local musicians pop in for a jam session.  I swear that jam session music is the best even if it is off key or the mikes are not right.  It is that live feel that makes the music special.
     Since I have been fighting health issues I have no air and when I was asked if I would sing a couple songs, I had to go by faith because I was not sure the voice was still there.  Well there was enough that I had a great time.  There is going to be something special happen at Creations around my birthday so stay tuned.
      I guess you can go home for a little bit.  But I still had to get on the road and get across that Barber County line.  Good memories.

FORGET ME NOT

"THE LIFE OF THE DEAD

IS PLACED IN THE

MEMORY OF THE

LIVING"

                                      Marcus Tullius Cicero

      An article saved for me by some very good friends renewed many memories.  It was in the Hutch News written by Kathy Hanks.  The story was about an abandoned cemetery and the Old Order Amish.  I have had the privilege to become friends with an Amish family and the people and history hold a special interest for me.  It has been a long time since I was back to Yoder and say hello and drink coffee with the men.

     My friend was one who had the misfortune of coming down with cancer.  His was the only Amish funeral I had ever been to and it was an experience that I will never forget.  My best friend went with me at the time.  He had been the bulk truck driver picking up the family's milk for a while.  We were two of three 'English' at the proceedings, yet we were made to feel a part of the ceremony.  There were bus loads of friends and relatives from as far away as Ohio.  I never had the chance to count how many were there for the service.

      I have always been fascinated with the Old Order Amish views of the world we live in.  The article brings back a lot that I have not thought about for a while.  The story is about a long abandoned cemetery south of Dodge City where an Amish settlement had once been.  It is one of the 'Failed settlements' in Kansas.  The severe weather took it's toll on the settlers in Kansas.  Six settlements were abandoned.  Traces of the settlements soon were gone but the cemeteries are still there.  Unless the advice of the Kansas State Government has been heeded by township officials over the years.

     You see this cemetery south of Dodge City survives because a township official could not bring himself to pull up the head stones and plow under the plots.  You see in Kansas after 15 years of abandonment and no one puts forth ownership, or assumes the care of, Kansas has no protections for them.

      I made the effort many years ago when my State Representative at the time would listen, and give consideration for things that were not a hot topic, and yet should be done just because they were right.  He managed to lose his next election before we got anything in the works.  I know a land owner in South East Kansas that has been tending to an abandoned cemetery for years since no one will do it.

     Maybe it takes a group of Amish from Iowa to come and save a cemetery that they don't have to, to set the example.  Shouldn't we introduce a bill and pass a historic cemetery act?

     Sometimes it takes a simple people to set an example to bring us back to the time when we respected those who went before us.  To prevent the despoiling of the hallowed ground where the dead lay shouldn't there be protection? 

     Along Kansas trails and ghost towns lay many a lone grave.  Most are lost except in the notation in a book.  South of Clearwater several miles on the Chisholm Trail there was a lone trading post.  A family traveling through sometime in the 1870's had an infant die.  It was buried nearby this trading post joining a Vaquero that died coming up the trail.  I can't help but wonder if there is a family somewhere in their genealogy that remembers that infant?

     The old cemeteries are the history books that don't fit on our shelves.  Don't you think we should give them the protection they deserve?

SUMMERS END

"EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT

TRACK, YOU'LL GET RUN OVER

IF YOU JUST SIT THERE".

Will Rogers

     Time has this way of running faster than you are expecting.  The sure sign that Fall is about here is the ads for the new 'hit' TV shows, the messing with the schedule's of the shows you do like, and the ads for the State Fair.

     It also is the realization that all the places that I have wanted to visit in rural Kansas are still unvisited.  Part of the reason on my part is the health challenges that I have been confronting the last two years.  It is getting harder for me to make road trips.  I love the little out of the way cafes and dives that are sometimes the only link for a former town and the ghost town status.

      Hearing on the Kansas Sampler Foundation's Facebook about Mo's closing in Beaver shook me up.  Everyone has the right and sometimes no choice, to retire at some time.  Apparently the hamburgers at Mo's are no more.  I have been so close when traveling the back roads, which is my preferred way, I have always wanted to be able to take that jaunt over to Beaver for the hamburger.  Normally it is when I am going to Bunker Hill or Lucas that I whiz by.  I can understand how frustrating it is for Marci Penner to update her Kansas Travelers guide.  You want all these cool places and experiences for those who will be using the guide for the next decade.  It is so hard to guess what will still be open when the third edition is done.

     I have been wanting to get to Marquette for years. The chance finally came up when the South Central Kansas Tourism Association had it's meeting there.  The frustrating part for me was the pain from the drive took it's toll on me and I never had the chance to get into the Motorcycle Museum.  There was a great antique store that I did not get into.  I did get into the old drug store and the nice people allowed me to use there restroom.  It was a good one, you don't expect that in many old buildings.

     We had a good meal at the Ranch House.  My sandwich was good and the hamburgers looked great.  I will get back sometime and do the things I love to do in small towns.  Even though Marquette just lost their school I think the town spirit will keep this unique community growing.  I am going to try to get up there for the Swedish food festival, but let me serve notice now I will not be trying the Lutefisk.

      Closer to home there is a new steakhouse opened in Attica.  The Crazy Horse, good steaks.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

"BELIEVE YOU CAN AND YOUR

HALFWAY THERE."

                               Theodore Roosevelt

     There are so many things that are happening today that you have to stop and sometimes ask 'can you believe this'?  We are so busy reading things on our I pads, computers, and other electronic stuff that I don't even know what it is.  And on the other side of the world a bunch of crazed people living in the 8th Century are killing men, women, and children and blowing up historic sites.  They are threatening to come to America and bring their Jihad with them.

     Just how far apart are the things of reality in this world?  It pushes the edge of sanity to believe that we set here feeding the world and the world wants to come kill us.  Of course the red neck response is that 'it is about time to play cowboys and towel heads.  The Christian response is to turn the cheek. And the presidents response is to negotiate.

      There are a lot of Christians who are so involved with criticizing other Christians that I don't think they realize that there are so many dying for their faith worldwide.  The Pope even says that fighting in Iraq to save the Christian community is justified.

     Can anyone stick their head in the sand any longer and not acknowledge an invasion on our southern borders.  The cameras show us kids and the law enforcement on the ground, that talks even when given gag orders from Washington, are apprehending 18 to 30 year olds from the mid east and other countries all over the world.

     Why is it that when I see pictures of Africa, Asia, and other third world countries on the TV that all I see is starving and hopelessness?  But when I look at travel pictures and photographers pictures of huge houses, mansions, palaces, and tremendous wealth from the same places.

      Why are so much of the online crime coming at us are coming from those same places?  And if I get any more proposals from women totally unsolicited from Ghana, Nigeria, Russia, and other places I am shooting my computer.

      Just when you think it is weird enough there is a group in Oklahoma City that is renting the Civic Center to have a Black Mass.  Yes this is a Mass to worship Satan.  They say they have to let them do it because of the First Amendment.  Then I think I will rent it afterward for a Koran burning and see if the same protections exist.

      I am going to pull the covers over my head and start back to talking about missing Mo's Hamburgers in Beaver because they needed to retire and the three meat BBQ plate I found at a Coffee shop in Towanda named Hebrews.

    

     

FAREWELL TO THEE MONTEGUE

"SUICIDE IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION

TO A TEMPORARY PROBLEM."

                                           Phil Donahue

      The line between genius and insanity is a fine one.  Robin Williams walked that line all his life.  As close to the great comics of the past as our generation has produced.

     Normally I am not a celebrity watcher and what goes on in Hollywood is nothing near reality for me.  I never understood how people in the news could be such a point of interest for so many people.

      It is not that I am humorless or beyond being entertained.  There are many entertainers that I have wanted to meet and many that I know.  I guess that I separate the performance from the reality, and many people don't. 

     I admire the true talents who can bring a crowd to the edge of their seats and then walk down the street and remain a genuine person who understands that the role is left on stage.

     The problems with great success is that there is always the need to achieve greater success.  Always continuing the role, it is so easy to take yourself seriously and have real pressure in your life from non real things.

      Talent is a gift and what each person does with it is something that is hard to define.  Try as I might I cannot get the fingers to walk the neck of an instrument and get what I want.  I would give anything for that, but have to deal with what I have.  Very seldom does the talent come without hours of practice.

     What a shame that Mr. Williams had the demons that plague many talented geniuses.  Those who have the demons fighting over whatever they have can relate to what he went through.  To come to the point of taking your own life leaves no winners at all.

     Perceptions are awful when pain is involved.  The loss of a loved one to suicide is one thing that haunts.  Death is a normal part of life and it is hard enough to contend with.  Suicide takes a part out of the heart that never heals.

     There is no answer now.  No chance to change, contend, or grow.  It is not that I cannot understand what he may have gone through the devils are plentiful in the world and very few have not been affected by them.

     I don't get to the movies often and so most are on the TV.  I felt that the true talent of Robin Williams was over shadowed by those who wanted to use his talent in ways they thought best and not let him seek his true roles.  In the comedian is a streak of drama and I felt that his best work was THE FISHER KING.  Robins use of his style in a tragic and dark story of insanity I thought was the best I have ever seen.  His character had you laughing and crying at the same time.

     That movie was a box office flop and not acclaimed by the movie establishment that still feels a comedian is not up to dramatic standards.  His series of sitcoms over the years were not successes either.  Who knows what lead up to the end.

     What I can say is what I would expect from his character from GOOD MORNING VIETNAM. 

     FAREWELL TO THEE MONTEGUE.  

I-400 (I-66) POLITICIAN'S HIGHWAY

LAWS ARE LIKE SAUSAGES,

IT IS BETTER NOT TO

SEE THEM BEING

MADE.

     In the research of the history of our main Kansas highways none can be more frustrating than the Interstate that was never built.  I call it the 'Politician's interstate'.

      Back in the early 1990's there was a 'major' movement to design and build the last major interstate corridor through the country.  Ninety percent of the original intent for the interstate system was built.  Whether it was loss of interest, cost, or incompetence has never been established, there are many view points.  The central corridor between I-40 and I-70 was never built.

      When the DOT decided to explore the project it started out as I-66.  The idea being going straight across the country more or less paralleling the old Highway 66 route.  Known as the Transcontinental Interstate 66 Proposal its idea was created and promoted in Wichita.  Business people saw it as a means of bringing more business and traffic into the area.

      Using the fabled number '66' the highway was to start at Fresno California and end in Delaware.  The only part of I-66 that actually exists runs from Washington DC to Somerset Kentucky.

      The chairman of the national committee to build I-66 was Mayor Bob Knight from Wichita.  One full time city employee was put on the task Mr. Glen Dockery.  His statement on the highway was "I'm going to get this damn road built".

      The total project would have been 1700 miles in length.  The western part of the project would have been mostly new road carved through the west and the studies for environmental standards extreme cost rendered that portion untenable.

      East of Wichita the road would be following established corridors with upgrades to interstate status.  In the end the feasibility study came back cancelling the perceived need for the road.

      So the alternative to I-66 became I-400.  Early on the 400 corridor was routed on existing highways.  Many of the construction projects done on the route were actually part of upgrades that would have happened without the re designation of the number.

      For a cost around 52K signs were made and the I-400 corridor was created.  Many of the websites and highway critics just characterize I-400 as a joke.  West of Wichita the process of building the upgrades have been done on small increments and each section is dependent on the funding from the Legislature which fluctuates wildly with the politics of the day.

      The design and planning for I-400 around Kingman past Pratt has had people scratching their heads for years.  The worst route at the highest cost has been the only option actually considered.  The building through the Kingman Wildlife Area and the multiple crossings of the Ninnescah River has never struck anyone as real logical.  Two miles either direction would have avoided all of it, plus some huge costs.

      As changing needs arise there are bits and pieces that will be built.  Highways are due for re-routing most notable US-54 around Wichita on the Northwest bypass covering the K-96, I-235, US 154 route from Goddard to Eldorado.

      There are many more things and stories about highways in Kansas that I may take up in the future.  At some time I will tell the story of the International Trade Corridor.

LOVE AND LOSS

"THE ROSE AND THORN,

SORROW AND GLADNESS

ARE LINKED TOGETHER."

                               Saadi

      Just as I am saddened by the loss of a friend of fifty one years, so Abilene is saddened by the loss of a historic landmark once again.  Though not the same they are similar.

      I have too many interests and areas of interest.  I love old theaters especially when they are alive with activity.  There is a feeling back stage and on stage of something that cannot be duplicated by modern architecture.  The ring of your voice and the music is in a spot that was intended for it to be there.

       Two of the greatest moments of my life were backstage, when a production that I envisioned was taken by a group of highly talented artists in tribute to the 150th anniversary of Kansas, to places that I never envisioned.

     The chills that ran up and down my spine must be like the feelings that adventurers feel performing some dangerous feat.  Or the athlete winning the championship.  Or like the kid that screams with delight and terror on the roller coaster.  The true feeling cannot be described.

      Abilene will not have that again at the Great Plains Theater.  Those feelings and experiences there are gone.  Once again the town suffered the loss of one of it's historic treasures.  It is gone with nothing to salvage.

      The 130 year old structure burned on Wednesday July 23rd.  Five hundred of the towns people from toddler to elderly gathered to witness the futile battle that the fire departments from the region fought.

       Just as I place affectionate value on our friend that we lost this community places value on it's friend also.  Seems as when you age you place value on the fragility of those you love and things that stand for something more than just board and stone.

     I never had the chance to perform on stage at the Great Plains and now that is a permanent certainty.  Just as I will visit with old friends that are past.

      As I said I have too many areas of interest.  I like old barns and old folks.  I like the stories of the past and the people who lived them.  Old tractors and trucks.  Old Cowboys and Cowgirls.  I like old books and things that record what once was.  Music and writing, expressing my opinion.  I like those who stand for what is right and will express what is wrong and not cower by a vocal minority that seek to dominate others.

       Maybe the ache in the bones or the ringing in the ears from mindless political campaigns.  But I come to value friends and things I consider friends more everyday.

US 54: PART 4 IN A SERIES

"WE WOULD ALL LIKE TO VOTE

FOR THE BEST MAN

BUT HE IS NEVER

A CANDIDATE."

           Kin Hubbard

      I have spent my life beside US-54 Highway.  I am still within twenty miles of it where I live here in the hills.  As a small boy I remember a big sign at Kellogg and Tyler that looked like the old Holiday Inn signs.  It was promoting US-54 Chicago to El Paso.  The four lane was built west of Wichita to Viola Road while I was in Grade school.  Then they took it to just east of Kingman where it veered left down through town and west through the Kingman Wildlife Area.

     Kingman was convinced that losing the highway through town would ruin it.  There is still a lot of sentiment that way today.  It has also produced revenues to the town for years as one of the premier speed traps in America.  Talking to truckers that go coast to coast there was always talk of that speed zone in Kansas down on the roads in Arizona and others.

      The fight to keep the highway has virtually been handed down by generation.  Thus, delaying the improvements west past Pratt.  It also is routed through a swamp crossing the Ninnescah river several times.  Funny since most know that moving the route two miles in either direction would have saved millions of dollars in construction and maintenance costs.  The savings on bridges would probably have paid for the Pratt loop.

      Over the years the US-54 route has been allowed to deteriorate into a rough outdated road that many avoid.  Eastern Kansas has suffered a lot of the neglect over the years.

       In the South Central Kansas area US-54 is a vital and modern highway that is key to the strong economy.  The ties into the Interstate System allows for the access that many industries thrive on.

      For a part of US 54's length it is aligned with I-400.  The interstate through the southern part of Kansas that was never built.  I-400 is an entire story unto itself.  As I call it "the politicians interstate".

       Being in the center of the country Kansas is a great cross roads.  The interstates were mostly built in a North-South East-West direction.  It is the Highways like US-54, 56, 50, and K-96 to provide those easy connections to the Interstates and surrounding states.

      Several years ago the then Representative from Kansas, who is running to gain his old seat back, made an announcement that was made on national TV.  At least it looked like a national statement at the time.  The announcement was that the bill had passed out of the congress to rebuild US-54 across Kansas from Ft. Scott to the Oklahoma line south of Liberal as all four lane.  It was an exciting announcement at the time.

      In the years after when his staff would come to town for 'Town Hall Meetings' I would always ask what happened to the US-54 HIGHWAY ACT?  I would always get stares like they never heard of it.  And I would always get a form letter congratulating me on participating in the town hall.  But never any answer.

     'Well there they go again' making the highways a political football.

NEXT TIME US-400 THE POLITICIANS HIGHWAY. 

K-96: PART 3 IN THE SERIES OF KANSAS HIGHWAYS

"HISTORY NEVER LOOKS LIKE

HISTORY WHEN YOU

ARE LIVING THROUGH IT."

                                            John W Gardner

     Legend has it that F.W. 'Woody' Hockaday, a Wichita service station operator, out of his own pocket, placed signs marking routes in Kansas and other parts of the Southwest.  Rumor has it that his phone number was 96.  But that is shot down since Highway 96 was numbered in Colorado as early as 1923.  Also when looking into the phone directory for Wichita Hockaday's number was 'Murdock 102.'

     K-96 developed as a highway from the west central to the southeast part of Kansas.  Lining up with Colorado 96 East of Towner and Missouri 96 south of Pittsburg.  The evolution took many decades with a major portion of the 'highway as graded gravel'.  There has been continual paving, realigning, and construction of K-96 for much of it's life.

     K-96 runs through the towns of Tribune, Leoti, Scott City, Dighton, Ness City, Great Bend, Ellinwood, Lyons, Sterling, Nickerson, Hutchinson, and Wichita.  The current terminus being the interchange of K-96 & US 54/400 in East Wichita.

       What used to be a state wide roadway has been re numbered in the Eastern part of Kansas and ceases to exist there.  As with many highways in Kansas it has a history of wrecks and death.  Mostly for the fact that the updating of the highway lay forty years behind what it should have been.

     The stretch of highway between Severy and Fall River was a particularly bad for grinding crashes.  That is because of the design of the highway was for model A's and the modern car and truck traffic was way beyond the design.  No shoulders and steep ditches marked this particular stretch leaving little room for error.

       In a string of highway updates the conditions have been improved drastically.  Yet there is no clear corridor to the southeast from Wichita to Joplin, hooking into the interstate system.  (Yes I know about US 400, this is a separate story in the series).

      The portion that claimed as many lives with a huge volume of traffic was between Wichita and Hutchinson.  Up graded in sections K-96 was still one of the most dangerous highways to drive on.  In places it still makes no sense to me why.  One of the most dangerous intersections is 151 ST WEST(Bentley RD) and K-96.  The four lane section here should be one of the safest in the state yet still claims many lives.  The visibility is as good as any in the state with at least 12 car lengths between lanes, yet it still is host to grinding crashes.

      The Federal DOT has rules about signage and little flexibility in the application of them.  In the Amish community of Yoder the markings used to be there for the warning of slow moving vehicles.  Horses and carriages are still the main mode of transportation for this group of people.  Negotiating the major highway with horse and buggy I am sure has made for terrifying moments.

      Yet for the unimagined process of the government the signs came down and late one night an Amish couple was struck and killed sending a jolt through the community and the state.

      The planning that took decades with the construction now has a limited access highway connecting the two major towns of Wichita and Hutchinson as well as the by pass around the west side of Hutchinson.

       Today there are still bad crashes in the western sections of K-96.  The visions of a modern highway from the Southeast to the West still remain a dream.

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