Best and worst Sept 29

 

Hayter for September 29, 2024

A survey about the best and worst of things

            One of you will recall that three weeks ago I asked you to complete a survey about the best and worst of some of your life’s experiences. You know, stuff like your favorite movie, place to vacation, worst motel or hotel… Personal stuff.

I’ll have you know that the only person who responded to my article was none other than the wonderful Karen! I told Karen that I would not include her last name just in case a weird person from her past was looking for her.

To help Karen out, I asked eight of my family members to complete the questionnaire and three of them agreed. That caused me to ask Kay and my buddy Brad Meyer to complete the survey. So, I’ve not got responses from six people. And, as it turns out, that’s plenty.

With the intro out of the way, here is the first question. -- “If you could get rid of one particular specie of insects, which would it be?” – Rhonda, my niece, chose “The Fly”. The girl lives in Washington State on a  hill surrounded by orchards. Flies are big at harvest time of any kind of fruit. The last time Kay and I visited, I left the back door of the guest house open, and when I returned, flies were in each room of the house.

Karen’s worst insect is the cockroach. Good choice. -- Jill is anti-mosquito. -- Kay chose the stink bug. I have no recollection of the stink from stink bugs, but the name does make it sound like a stinking bug. -- Brad has issues with fire ants. My kid brother, Big Al’s worst insect is “the worm in India that crawls up a guy’s private part, while he’s in the Ganges River.” That now becomes my 87th reason that I don’t care to live in India.

The next question dealt with the worst place you’ve ever visited. Karen’s worst visit was to India. Perhaps her husband took a swim in the Ganges. I apologize, sir. – Brad’s worst place to visit was the bathroom at the old Dairy Queen on North Frazier. He told me the details, which I choose not to share. There is a new Dairy Queen that I’m sure has a much nicer restroom.

Kay’s worst place was the Dairy Queen in Rosebud, TX. DQ is really taking a hit this morning. Kay reminded me that the time we were there, we didn’t see a smile in the place. Some of them had possibly just returned from the restroom.

Moving right along: If you had to move, where would choose to live?”  Kay chose Scotland. – Rhonda chose heaven, because she never wants to leave Still Hill. I’ve been there, and I can understand her choice. – Brad would move to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. The guy was a manager of numerous hotels in the Caribbean. Only he knows how he got the jobs.  

Jill would live in a small cabin in the woods, surrounded by waterfalls. But no bigfoots. Her kid brother Big Al wants to live in a cabin in the mountains by a stream where a sasquatch swims. Karen doesn’t want to move, but if she had to, she would move somewhere that actually has four seasons. Wouldn’t that be great?!

Next question: At what age were you at your happiest? Karen, Kay, and Jill are there right now. Brad wrote something about every age having its own “unique pleasantries and vexations.” What a load of hoo-ha. But thanks for sharing the depth of your thoughts, Bradford. Big Al would like to be five years old again. That was back when his brothers and sisters were at school, and he was home with Mom. I never experienced that, so I can only imagine. By the way, I don’t remember Mom ever spanking Big Al. She must’ve worn herself out on Dennis, Jill, and me

As for your favorite cartoon character, Big Al chose the Tasmanian Devil. You know, the thing spun around while running. Brad chose Bugs Bunny. Jill went with Beaker from Sesame Street. Kay chose Snoopy, and Rhonda picked Winnie the Pooh. (He was a favorite of mine, too. “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Winnie the Pooh)

And your favorite movie?”—Jill chose “The Searchers.” -- Brad picked four favorite movies, so I picked my favorite out of his four --“Citizen Kane”. – Kay picked “A Fairy Tale”. A sweet movie.  –Karen chose any movie with Denzel Washington in it. I’ve gotta say, “Denzel never disappoints.” Al chose “Two Buddies and a Badger” He has watched the animated movie a few dozen times with his two great-granddaughters Piper and Lacy. Both of them are cuter than cute.

What’s next? “Oh, yeah, “Favorite two athletes.” -  Karen chose Astros’ Jose Altuve and golfer, Scottie Scheffler.  You didn’t ask, but my dad’s favorite golfer was Sam Snead. – Brad picked Bruce Jenner and Fran Tarkington. – Rhonda chose Colt McCoy and Intangibles (One of you look that up for me) – Al chose Pistol Pete Maravich and Larry Bird/Magic Johnson. – Jill went with Chris Evert and Art Howe. – Kay picked JJ Watt and Simone Biles. I think Simone could probably beat ‘em all. 

 

Our last question had to do with your scariest dream. I’m going to share only one of these with you, because the others are too scary and would take up too much space. However, there is room for Big Al’s dream. He wrote that he doesn’t remember his dreams, because he’s always asleep at the time.

 

And now, I think it appropriate to end this week’s article with something that Winnie the Pooh said to Christopher Robin. “If we’re in each other’s dreams we can be together all the time.”   --  Till then.

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Sept 22 Unthankful cat

 

Hayter for September 22, 2024

The joy of befriending a cat

            I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I am not a cat man. I imagine God created them for a purpose, but I’ve yet to discover it. Some cats are sweet and cuddly, and some behave as if they’re pretty much in charge.

Last week, Kay introduced me to one of those “in charge” cats. I didn’t ask to see it; she just brought the thing home. But she had a reason for her ill-thought-out decision.

The story begins with Kay stopped at an intersection waiting beside a pickup truck at a redlight. Unfortunately, she noticed a cat run across the road and hide beneath the truck. Being Kay, she immediately got out of the car and knocked on the window of the pickup, to let the driver know about the cat. The guy was surprised, but not enough to do anything about it, so Kay knelt down and coaxed the cat out from under the truck.  After which, she placed the thing in her car and drove off.

Before arriving home, Kay stopped at a convenience store to get a couple of cans of cat food. When she pulled into the garage, she located a box that she could put the cat in. Upon entering the kitchen, the first words out of her mouth were, “You’re not gonna like this, but there’s a cat in the box.”

I hoped she was talking about a Dr. Seuss book, but she wasn’t. She put the box on the floor in the hallway and asked me to keep an eye on it while she doctored her hand. Turns out that while saving the cat’s life, it bit her on the back of her hand. She didn’t blame the cat because the cat was scared.

Keep an eye on the cat? Kay had saved the thankless feline’s life, yet her reward was a bloodied and swollen hand. When I asked to help with her hand, she said, “Okay, but first wash your hands.” She had been bitten by a cat hiding under a truck, yet, I had to wash my hands.

Kay said that all of the animal shelters would be closed, so she would get into contact with someone the next day. She fixed up a bed for the cat in our guest room and put in a bowl of water and a small plate of great-looking cat food. (You may know that using great-looking” and “cat food “ in the same sentence is called an oxymoron.) Wisely, Kay scooped some dirt into a shallow box and placed it by the restroom door so the cat would know that it was a good place to relieve itself. Without question we had a smart cat in the house.

That evening, Kay and I took turns checking on the cat. By the time we went to bed, the creature was still in the box plotting its escape.

The next morning, Kay called the office of a nearby veterinarian clinic to see if they would check for a chip.   The lady who answered the phone said of course they would check for a chip. I told Kay that I would drive her there, while she sat in the backseat with the boxed cat. On our way over there, I assured Kay that if the lady couldn’t find a chip in the ferocious beast, it would not spend another night with the two of us. Kay said, “Hmm.” The girl can say a lot in one “Hmm.”

Well, God was with us that day, my friend. The vet lady was able to detect a chip under the cats fur. I screamed “thank you God” loud enough for someone in the parking lot to hear. I had no hope for that killer cat to be hauling around a chip. From said chip, the lady found the phone number of the owner and gave him a call. He said that he was on his way to claim Beelzebub. I assume that was its name.

I was so elated that I started petting on the back of the cat. He suddenly became almost placid. So unthreatening. He was just standing up in the box, taking life as calmly as a cat on weed. Each time I petted its neck he seemed more relaxed. It was about 10 minutes before the owner showed up, that I chose to again pet the cat. I lowered my hand into the box and the devil quickly turned its head and bit my hand. I kid you not. The bite didn’t draw blood, like Kay’s bite did. I’m fairly sure it was because my blood had gone straight to my face. I was so mad at the tricky hellcat!

It’s just like a cat, to light up as soon as its owner enters the room. The man brought his daughter along, and she was happy as could be. I can’t remember, nor will I care to remember the name of the cat. The owner stuck his hand in that box and the cat behaved as if the Lord of Cats had arrived. It climbed up his arm and was trying kiss him on his face. And the little girl? That young lady kept petting and hugging her cat. Turns out the cat had slipped out the door when his wife went outside.

Kay was not the one who took the cat away from its owners. The cat did that on its own. Kay merely saved the life of the lousy mouser, yet the shrew still tried to kill her and her husband.

There’s a lesson to learn from this. That being, get a dog. I wouldn’t have one, because of the responsibility to keep up with it. But, Kay? During my cremation, that girl will be carrying a dog around in a backpack. And you wanna know something? I probably won’t even care. Probably. 

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Twin Towers

 

Hayter for September 15, 2024

“Where were you when…”

 

            When I passed by the bank last Monday, I wondered why the U.S. flag was flying at half-staff. I couldn’t remember any famous person dying, or any historic event taking place on September 9.  A few seconds later, it hit me. -- Bonk! – It was the week of 9/11.

            That horror took place at 7:47 a.m., our time, in 2001. That’s about as close to 23 years ago as you can get. For some of us, 9/11 was one of the few historical moments that we were able to witness on TV. In my case, at 7:50 I was standing in the hallway, greeting and pestering my students as they entered the room at Oak Ridge High School. I was about ready to join them when the Social Study’s Department Head hurried to my door and said, “Have you heard?”

            She looked so serious, that I said, “Apparently not.”  Jean said, “A jet has just crashed into one of New York’s twin towers!” I immediately hurried into my room, and hooked up the Social Studies’ television to a circuit in the wall. The minute the screen lit up, we saw the top portion of the North Tower in flames.

The students were as flabbergasted as I was. Students started in with “What is it?” – “What’s happening?” “How could that happen?” What happened looked apparent, but what caused it to happen was a guess. It was a clear sky at the time, so you wouldn’t think a pilot could run into it by mistake.

            It wasn’t three minutes later when another Boeing Passenger Jet flew into the South Tower. There was dead silence in the room for about three seconds before we snapped out of it.

            Most of the morning each of my classes watched and listened to the news about the Twin Towers. At about 9:00 CST the second tower to get hit collapsed on itself. The plane had hit it at an angle between the 78^th to 84^th floors. The first tower that got hit collapsed 30 minutes later. The plane  had hit between floors 94 and 98.

            A few minutes earlier we were informed that  a low-flying Boeing 757 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon. A day later, we learned that 64 passengers and crew memembers and 125 military and personnel workers died.

Around the same time, a fourth Boeing passenger jet was commandeered by a handful of terrorists on a mission to DC.  A few of the passengers and crew members, forced by the terrorists to move to the back of the plane, grabbed phones from the passenger seats and learned that the Twin Towers had been hit by passenger jets. After a quick vote several men agreed to attack the terrorists and bring the plane down. It wasn’t learned until much later that the target was to be either the Capital Building or the White house. The airplane ended up crashing near a small town in Pennsylvania. All passengers, crew members, and terrorists were killed. We don’t know how many of the 40 passengers and crew members attacked the terrorists, but each gave their all to save a bunch of others.

            Throughout the rest of the school year my students learned some of the details I just went over. And my classes for years to come learned of the world events that took place because of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

            Today, I called Big Al, Larry, Dennis and Jill to find out if they could remember where they were on September 11, 2001. I told them about the article I was going to write, and wanted to include their memories. Big Al said that he and Marlena were near Boston at the time. They were to attend a wedding in New Jersey for the son of one of Marlena’s nephews.

Anyway, Al was sunning on the beach when Marlena stepped outside and told him about the Twin Towers getting hit. He probably could’ve seen it from his position on the beach. They had intended to take a flight to New Jersey for the wedding, but all flights anywhere had been cancelled due to fear of further terrorist attacks. After filling me in on all of that, Al asked if I wanted to know where he was when he learned that Elvis had died. I told him I’d pencil him in for a mid-March article.

Larry, the eldest Hayter brother, said he lived in a house in Clear Lake when the the Twin Towers were hit. I paused for a while after that, hoping for a follow up. He then told me that a Catholic church near his house rang the bells after news got out about JFK getting shot. I was tempted to ask him about Elvis, but didn’t have time for it.

Jill was a secretary for the preacher in one the churches in Deer Park, when she learned of the Twin Towers’ incident. She said that one of the ladies from church called about the destruction and was crying. Jill talked to her in attempt to calm her down. It was one of those situations where listening is about the best you can do. She then walked to a room in the church building where a young lady was watching TV and crying. Jill calmed her down and let her talk for awhile. My kid sister has always been a great comforter.

And Dennis? Dennis had just retired from coaching and had a part time job somewhere watching over ten or twenty water wells. I asked how you watch over water wells. He said, I don’t know now and I didn’t know then. But he did remember a guy driving up and telling him about the Towers.

Well, that’s my take on “Where was I during the 9/11 disasters in New York, Washington, DC and Shanksville, PA.” You and I have likely experienced many pleasant moments since then. It’s just sad that, for me, the memories of the pleasant times are too often hidden behind the thought of where I was on 9/11.

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