We didn’t talk much on our daily trips to and from the woods to cut and load pulpwood. (For those who don’t know, a stick of pulpwood is a 5’6” long piece of pine log that’s sold to paper mills by the pound) There was no bantering over politics on these trips. Not because it was off-limits but because we didn't care. To a carload of pulpwooders, it didn’t matter what party was … [Read more...] about Holy Roll’n Dodge
And the Good Lord Said, “Fry Some Fish”
The church folks across the river from my house had a fish fry and sing a few months ago. It tickled me to be invited, and I wasted no time getting there. A winding country road connects our yard to the churchyard. It’s a graveled county endeavor that sometimes meanders through a canopy of oaks, at other times through rolling pastures dotted with grazing cows. It looked like a … [Read more...] about And the Good Lord Said, “Fry Some Fish”
Hallelujahs, Honky-tonks, Blisters, and Blessings Volume One
Standing on a rocky roadbed somewhere between Port St. Joe and River Junction, Florida, the old black man sang to us.... Up and down this road I go. Skippin’ and dodging a 44. Hey man won’t you line ‘um... huh! Hey man won’t you line ‘um... hah!" He was a Gandy Dancer. So was I. There were only a few of us “white boys” on the crew of mostly black men working on the Extra … [Read more...] about Hallelujahs, Honky-tonks, Blisters, and Blessings Volume One