bugscufle
07-19-2008, 11:09 PM
Haircuts in Llano have gone from $11 to $12. *I guess that Chuck and Lee figure they'd better get some of the government stimulus money while they can. *Of course it could be that Lee spent more on his vacation to Alaska than he intended. *And Chuck is trying to get money together for him and the wife to fly to Sydney, Australia, next year to visit his daughter.
Went by the bank to deposit a Home Depot rebate. *My bank has a nice building a block south of the square. *That is where the people with real money bank. *Riff-raff like me do our banking at the office inside the (not so) Super S Grocery store. *Mary Perez has started working there. *Mary and her husband Juan had the feed store in Cherokee. *Things just didn't work out and they closed the feed store the end of March.
Juan and Mary do what people around here do when dreams don't work out; they got jobs. *Juan is working on a local ranch. *It is amazing how never quitting seems to eventually make most of a person's dreams come true.
I am real glad that Juan, Mary and the kids could stay out here and not have to go back to Silsbee. *I just hate for anyone to have to live in southeast Texas.
Took the long way home by Cherokee. *Counting the Children's Home north of town, there's not more than 400 people there. *The school is in the smallest student population category. *The only businesses open regularly are the Ice Cream Station, a plant nursery, the general store and a hardware store. *People have to go to Llano or San Saba for gasoline.
This town was a lot more prosperous at the beginning of the 20th Century. *The place had a newspaper, bank, two barbers, a hotel, a doctor, a dozen or so other businesses, and even a respectable college. *Cherokee was a peach tree town. *Did real well for about 25 years and then just got old and started dying.
And speaking of dead things, my kitchen window keeps complaining about the dead bald cypress twenty or so feet away. *Really wanted a bald cypress. *Just couldn't get Mother Nature to go along. *Anyway, I stopped at Vicky Barker's nursery to get a lavender crepe myrtle. *For all of a crepe myrtle's fragile and delicate appearance, that is one tough little tree. *A crepe myrtle can prosper through both drought and clay soil with cotton root rot that can make prickly pear cactus croak. *The crepe myrtle has made the kitchen window is much happier.
Went on over to the general store to get a ham and cheese sandwich and potato chips for lunch. *Sue Rhoads and her daughter were sweeping up after the breakfast crowd. *Sue is a widow, comfortably into her sixties. *She keeps the place appropriately cluttered. *There is a really old cash register on the counter that doesn't work. *Sue figues everything by pencil on old order pads like waitresses used to use in cafes. *There is a big, flat box with rows of these pads for people who have charged over the years. *Some are real old. *It is like Sue really believes that people who left forty years ago with an unpaid account will just show up some day and want to know how much they owe. *I am sure Sue has no intention of charging interest.
I watched Sue cut thick slices of bread from a loaf she baked that morning. *The tomatos and onions came from a local garden. *Sue put up the pickles last year. *Paid my bill and noticed that prices have gone up. *Guess most things Sue buys have gone up. *If you are hungry and don't have any money, Sue will let you charge it.
Listened to the San Saba AM station that plays old songs on the way home. *Thought about Cyd Charisse dying a little over a week ago. *Cyd was born in Amarillo. *Amarillo was one of my stops along the way. *Panhandle towns always seem to trying to get a little prestige from famous sons or daughters. *The first thing Turkey, Texas lets one know is that it was the home of Bob Wills. *Plainview lets everyone know it was the home of Jimmy Dean. *Littlefield wants everyone to know it was the home of Waylon Jennings. *And Tulia, bless their hearts, wants everyone to know they are the home of the Otwell Twins on the Lawerence Welk Show.
It is not quite as bad down this way. *Still people do take pride in one of their own, like Johnson City being LBJ's hometown. *Even Valley Spring can proudly point to James Smathers, the man who invented the electric typewriter. *Of course, everyone tips their hat to Mason County. *Mason borders Llano County on the west.
Mason County is the home of Ole Yeller.
I guess if Cherokee has a favorite son, it would have to be Bubba Shore.
The 1920's were tough times for people in agriculture. *First the college officially ceased to be. *Then some farmers, and some ranchers, and some businesses went under. *Then the Cherokee bank failed. *Afterwards, the newspaper, more farmers, more ranchers, and more businesses failed. *By 1930, neither the town, nor 21 year old Viola Shropshire seemed to have much in the way of prospects.
They say a circus came through that year. *One of the circus employees smiled at Viola and paid serious attention to her. *The thoughts of cities, crowds, lights, music, radio, movies, and dancing were intoxicating to a girl who only knew hard times and a dying town. *Viola left with the young man. *
As it so often does, reality followed fertilization, *A year later, Viola came home with a baby boy, Mauriel Shore. *Mauriel, or Bubba as he became known, was his mother's, and his aunt's, and his cousin's, and just about everyone else's darling.
At a young age, Bubba would climb on top of tables, dressers, bed head boards, and anything else he could find to climb. *And no one could talk Bubba out of climbing something he intended to climb.
Normalcy is rarity for most people in Cherokee, but it started dawning on family, that even by the liberal Cherokee standards, Bubba was not a normal child. *When Bubba started school it quickly became apparent that Bubba's idea of what school was for wasn't anywhere close to what the teachers and principal had in mind. *There were no special education programs in those days, so Bubba just didn't go to school. *
Bubba never had an official diagnosis. *So we don't know if there were too many or too few bananas. *Maybe there were too many or too few vanilla wafers. *Maybe there was too much or too little vanilla. *No one knows. *All people know is that something wasn't quite right with Bubba's pudding.
Bubba walked up and down all the streets in Cherokee. *He just became a part of everyone's day. *As Bubba got older he went fishing a lot. *His was a free and happy spirit. *Bubba definitely had some Huckleberry Finn in him. *
From his teenage years through his thirties, Bubba would hang around the high school when the boys were practicing football or working out for track or baseball. *When the boys ran, Bubba would run with them. *Bubba was some kind of fast, he never lost a race.
They say Bubba's daddy was a truck driver who also played in a honky tonk band when he could get a gig. *They say every once in a while when Bubba was young, his daddy would stop in Cherokee on his way somewhere to see Bubba. *
Maybe it was because Bubba didn't have much in the way of a father figure, that Bubba would hang around the volunteer firemen. *When there was a fire, by cutting through yards and fields, Bubba usually was the first to the scene. *
Bubba was fascinated by law enforcement officers. *Bubba just hung around smiling if one was present. *If a law enforcement officer smiled back at Bubba and said something to him, Bubb'a grin just got bigger. *Bubba never talked a lot. *Probably because he stuttered and was uncomfortable with people's reaction to his stuttering.
One day, some old timer gave Bubba his old deputy sheriff badge. *Bubba always wore the badge from then on. *Bubba decided that if he were going to wear a badge, he needed a gun, so thereafter, he always wore a gun. *Most people began to address Bubba as "Sheriff." *Bubba just grinned more.
Most people believe that Bubba couldn't tell time, but he knew when people who bought him sodas showed up at the general store. *He was always there when they were. *If that's not a law enforcement calling, I don't know what is.
Bubba always rode on the fire truck in parades in surrounding towns and acquired a bit of area fame. *
When Bubba walked around town he would flick pebbles in different directions, like a person shooting marbles. *Perhaps he was shooting imaginery bad men. *Whatever, no one rembers any bad men around town when Bubba was sheriff. *Bubba seldom fired his gun, except maybe at the beginning of a race, or the end of a game, or during a parade. *Which was no big deal, cause the gun didn't have real bullets. *For that matter, it wasn't a real gun. *It was a cap gun. *
People from Cherokee had to smile and listen to a lot of ribbing about a crazy sheriff with a cap gun, but they just smiled and nodded at the silliness.
Certainly, anyone who is different is going to be picked on, and Bubba got his share in life. *Bubba had a unique way of dealing with mean people that I for one, wholeheartedly support. *He threw rocks at them. *One of the awesome things about Bubba is that he never let the negative opinion of others become his opinion of him.
Now some might say throwing rocks at someone is not a good idea, because the people one throws rocks at, might throw rocks back, or worse, chase a person down and beat them up. *For most of us, that would be a problem, but Bubba was real fast. *A person would have a better chance throwing a rock at a quail taking off. *Likewise, Bubba wasn't afraid of any dog. *If he couldn't outrun it, he could for sure outclimb it.
Definitely, Bubba had his shortcomings. *He could be very obstinate and he smoked. *Once, a local rancher stopped at the service station to air up some tires before going on to San Saba to pick up some cattle. *Bubba asked the rancher if he could ride to San Saba with him. *The rancher remarked that he didn't *that would be a good idea, got in his truck, and drove off.
The rancher was almost to San Saba when he saw Bubba standing on the back of the cattle trailer in his rear view mirror. *Bubba was trying to light a cigarette but the air rushing past kept extinguishing his matches.
Nearly all the older people have their own Bubba story. *Somewhat uncannily, the story usually synchronizes with some point in their life when there was little to smile or laugh about.
About 1980, Bubba's mother got bad and wasn't able to care for herself much less Bubba. * Both had to go to the nursing home in Llano. *Bubba's mother died in 82, *Bubba died February 9, 1990.
They brought Bubba back to bury him with his aunts and mother. *The funeral was at the Church of Christ. *There wasn't standing room at Bubba's service. *The only possession Bubba cared about was his collection of law enforcement badges, which by now, was quite extensive. *They put all the badges in the coffin with Bubba. *
If you asked a woman if there was anything unique about Bubba's service, they will tell you all the men cried. *If you ask them why all the men cried, they give the obvious reason, because they loved him. *
Bubba is hard to explain. *It is hard for a person who lives in a severe and barren location to explain why that place is so beautiful. *It is hard for a mother with a deformed or damaged child to explain why that child is adorable. *Likewise, it is hard for a father of a severely challenged child to explain why that child is so terrific. *What they all have in common, is that each has a way of teaching what is important, and what is not important.
Bubba was happy with who he was and what his lot in life was.
Still today, people stop in Cherokee, and ask if this is the place where a crazy sheriff walked around town with a cap gun. *The people smile and reply, "Yes it is." *If one listens carefully, one can hear the pride in their voice.
Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
Went by the bank to deposit a Home Depot rebate. *My bank has a nice building a block south of the square. *That is where the people with real money bank. *Riff-raff like me do our banking at the office inside the (not so) Super S Grocery store. *Mary Perez has started working there. *Mary and her husband Juan had the feed store in Cherokee. *Things just didn't work out and they closed the feed store the end of March.
Juan and Mary do what people around here do when dreams don't work out; they got jobs. *Juan is working on a local ranch. *It is amazing how never quitting seems to eventually make most of a person's dreams come true.
I am real glad that Juan, Mary and the kids could stay out here and not have to go back to Silsbee. *I just hate for anyone to have to live in southeast Texas.
Took the long way home by Cherokee. *Counting the Children's Home north of town, there's not more than 400 people there. *The school is in the smallest student population category. *The only businesses open regularly are the Ice Cream Station, a plant nursery, the general store and a hardware store. *People have to go to Llano or San Saba for gasoline.
This town was a lot more prosperous at the beginning of the 20th Century. *The place had a newspaper, bank, two barbers, a hotel, a doctor, a dozen or so other businesses, and even a respectable college. *Cherokee was a peach tree town. *Did real well for about 25 years and then just got old and started dying.
And speaking of dead things, my kitchen window keeps complaining about the dead bald cypress twenty or so feet away. *Really wanted a bald cypress. *Just couldn't get Mother Nature to go along. *Anyway, I stopped at Vicky Barker's nursery to get a lavender crepe myrtle. *For all of a crepe myrtle's fragile and delicate appearance, that is one tough little tree. *A crepe myrtle can prosper through both drought and clay soil with cotton root rot that can make prickly pear cactus croak. *The crepe myrtle has made the kitchen window is much happier.
Went on over to the general store to get a ham and cheese sandwich and potato chips for lunch. *Sue Rhoads and her daughter were sweeping up after the breakfast crowd. *Sue is a widow, comfortably into her sixties. *She keeps the place appropriately cluttered. *There is a really old cash register on the counter that doesn't work. *Sue figues everything by pencil on old order pads like waitresses used to use in cafes. *There is a big, flat box with rows of these pads for people who have charged over the years. *Some are real old. *It is like Sue really believes that people who left forty years ago with an unpaid account will just show up some day and want to know how much they owe. *I am sure Sue has no intention of charging interest.
I watched Sue cut thick slices of bread from a loaf she baked that morning. *The tomatos and onions came from a local garden. *Sue put up the pickles last year. *Paid my bill and noticed that prices have gone up. *Guess most things Sue buys have gone up. *If you are hungry and don't have any money, Sue will let you charge it.
Listened to the San Saba AM station that plays old songs on the way home. *Thought about Cyd Charisse dying a little over a week ago. *Cyd was born in Amarillo. *Amarillo was one of my stops along the way. *Panhandle towns always seem to trying to get a little prestige from famous sons or daughters. *The first thing Turkey, Texas lets one know is that it was the home of Bob Wills. *Plainview lets everyone know it was the home of Jimmy Dean. *Littlefield wants everyone to know it was the home of Waylon Jennings. *And Tulia, bless their hearts, wants everyone to know they are the home of the Otwell Twins on the Lawerence Welk Show.
It is not quite as bad down this way. *Still people do take pride in one of their own, like Johnson City being LBJ's hometown. *Even Valley Spring can proudly point to James Smathers, the man who invented the electric typewriter. *Of course, everyone tips their hat to Mason County. *Mason borders Llano County on the west.
Mason County is the home of Ole Yeller.
I guess if Cherokee has a favorite son, it would have to be Bubba Shore.
The 1920's were tough times for people in agriculture. *First the college officially ceased to be. *Then some farmers, and some ranchers, and some businesses went under. *Then the Cherokee bank failed. *Afterwards, the newspaper, more farmers, more ranchers, and more businesses failed. *By 1930, neither the town, nor 21 year old Viola Shropshire seemed to have much in the way of prospects.
They say a circus came through that year. *One of the circus employees smiled at Viola and paid serious attention to her. *The thoughts of cities, crowds, lights, music, radio, movies, and dancing were intoxicating to a girl who only knew hard times and a dying town. *Viola left with the young man. *
As it so often does, reality followed fertilization, *A year later, Viola came home with a baby boy, Mauriel Shore. *Mauriel, or Bubba as he became known, was his mother's, and his aunt's, and his cousin's, and just about everyone else's darling.
At a young age, Bubba would climb on top of tables, dressers, bed head boards, and anything else he could find to climb. *And no one could talk Bubba out of climbing something he intended to climb.
Normalcy is rarity for most people in Cherokee, but it started dawning on family, that even by the liberal Cherokee standards, Bubba was not a normal child. *When Bubba started school it quickly became apparent that Bubba's idea of what school was for wasn't anywhere close to what the teachers and principal had in mind. *There were no special education programs in those days, so Bubba just didn't go to school. *
Bubba never had an official diagnosis. *So we don't know if there were too many or too few bananas. *Maybe there were too many or too few vanilla wafers. *Maybe there was too much or too little vanilla. *No one knows. *All people know is that something wasn't quite right with Bubba's pudding.
Bubba walked up and down all the streets in Cherokee. *He just became a part of everyone's day. *As Bubba got older he went fishing a lot. *His was a free and happy spirit. *Bubba definitely had some Huckleberry Finn in him. *
From his teenage years through his thirties, Bubba would hang around the high school when the boys were practicing football or working out for track or baseball. *When the boys ran, Bubba would run with them. *Bubba was some kind of fast, he never lost a race.
They say Bubba's daddy was a truck driver who also played in a honky tonk band when he could get a gig. *They say every once in a while when Bubba was young, his daddy would stop in Cherokee on his way somewhere to see Bubba. *
Maybe it was because Bubba didn't have much in the way of a father figure, that Bubba would hang around the volunteer firemen. *When there was a fire, by cutting through yards and fields, Bubba usually was the first to the scene. *
Bubba was fascinated by law enforcement officers. *Bubba just hung around smiling if one was present. *If a law enforcement officer smiled back at Bubba and said something to him, Bubb'a grin just got bigger. *Bubba never talked a lot. *Probably because he stuttered and was uncomfortable with people's reaction to his stuttering.
One day, some old timer gave Bubba his old deputy sheriff badge. *Bubba always wore the badge from then on. *Bubba decided that if he were going to wear a badge, he needed a gun, so thereafter, he always wore a gun. *Most people began to address Bubba as "Sheriff." *Bubba just grinned more.
Most people believe that Bubba couldn't tell time, but he knew when people who bought him sodas showed up at the general store. *He was always there when they were. *If that's not a law enforcement calling, I don't know what is.
Bubba always rode on the fire truck in parades in surrounding towns and acquired a bit of area fame. *
When Bubba walked around town he would flick pebbles in different directions, like a person shooting marbles. *Perhaps he was shooting imaginery bad men. *Whatever, no one rembers any bad men around town when Bubba was sheriff. *Bubba seldom fired his gun, except maybe at the beginning of a race, or the end of a game, or during a parade. *Which was no big deal, cause the gun didn't have real bullets. *For that matter, it wasn't a real gun. *It was a cap gun. *
People from Cherokee had to smile and listen to a lot of ribbing about a crazy sheriff with a cap gun, but they just smiled and nodded at the silliness.
Certainly, anyone who is different is going to be picked on, and Bubba got his share in life. *Bubba had a unique way of dealing with mean people that I for one, wholeheartedly support. *He threw rocks at them. *One of the awesome things about Bubba is that he never let the negative opinion of others become his opinion of him.
Now some might say throwing rocks at someone is not a good idea, because the people one throws rocks at, might throw rocks back, or worse, chase a person down and beat them up. *For most of us, that would be a problem, but Bubba was real fast. *A person would have a better chance throwing a rock at a quail taking off. *Likewise, Bubba wasn't afraid of any dog. *If he couldn't outrun it, he could for sure outclimb it.
Definitely, Bubba had his shortcomings. *He could be very obstinate and he smoked. *Once, a local rancher stopped at the service station to air up some tires before going on to San Saba to pick up some cattle. *Bubba asked the rancher if he could ride to San Saba with him. *The rancher remarked that he didn't *that would be a good idea, got in his truck, and drove off.
The rancher was almost to San Saba when he saw Bubba standing on the back of the cattle trailer in his rear view mirror. *Bubba was trying to light a cigarette but the air rushing past kept extinguishing his matches.
Nearly all the older people have their own Bubba story. *Somewhat uncannily, the story usually synchronizes with some point in their life when there was little to smile or laugh about.
About 1980, Bubba's mother got bad and wasn't able to care for herself much less Bubba. * Both had to go to the nursing home in Llano. *Bubba's mother died in 82, *Bubba died February 9, 1990.
They brought Bubba back to bury him with his aunts and mother. *The funeral was at the Church of Christ. *There wasn't standing room at Bubba's service. *The only possession Bubba cared about was his collection of law enforcement badges, which by now, was quite extensive. *They put all the badges in the coffin with Bubba. *
If you asked a woman if there was anything unique about Bubba's service, they will tell you all the men cried. *If you ask them why all the men cried, they give the obvious reason, because they loved him. *
Bubba is hard to explain. *It is hard for a person who lives in a severe and barren location to explain why that place is so beautiful. *It is hard for a mother with a deformed or damaged child to explain why that child is adorable. *Likewise, it is hard for a father of a severely challenged child to explain why that child is so terrific. *What they all have in common, is that each has a way of teaching what is important, and what is not important.
Bubba was happy with who he was and what his lot in life was.
Still today, people stop in Cherokee, and ask if this is the place where a crazy sheriff walked around town with a cap gun. *The people smile and reply, "Yes it is." *If one listens carefully, one can hear the pride in their voice.
Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'