An Arkies Musings

When I was a boy I loved to read. My favorite place was the Public Library in Longmont, Colorado. During the time I was going to school in Longmont, I read just about every book in the kids section of the library. I still remember being disappointed that I was only allowed to check out three books at a time. I also didn't understand why I couldn't check out books from the adult section on my kid's library card. I would take my three books home and have them read in a day or two and then begged my Mama to take me back to the library. I kept a flashlight handy for reading after I was supposed to be asleep. The Longmont Public Library was my access to knowledge. One of the books that I read that made a big impression on me was The Unlikeliest Hero by Booton Herndon. It was the story of Desmond T. Doss, the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. During a battle in Okinawa, Japanese soldiers shot at Desmond, an uncovered, unarm...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 27, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Recently I had the privilege of attending a birthday party for a dear friend. Her daughter planned a surprise birthday party and invited a large group of people. My wife helped decorate the large hall where the party was held. To get my friend to her “surprise” party, she was asked to attend an anniversary party for a friend. When she drove up to the hall where the party was held, she commented, “look at all of these cars. I’m glad that so many people came to the anniversary party.” When she came through the door and ninety people yelled, “surprise,” and started singing Happy Birthday, the look on her face was priceless. It’s not easy to pull off a surprise party with ninety people, but this party was very successful. Everyone loves a good party. Even the Bible loves a party. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Luke 15. I like to call it the party chapter. It is Luke’s account of three par...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about the power of one . Last week as she and her family were vacationing in Boston, my daughter received the following message that shows that even 10-year-olds can make an impression on someones' life. "Hi, I met your amazing daughter Autumn and your delightful Husband, David. My Dad and I were so taken by your daughter...She has overcome amazing challenges in her short life. She is a great testament to incredible parenting...She is a lucky girl. I am so glad that during your stay here you have gone on wonderful journeys and sharing them with such a beautiful family....Autumn had no problem sharing her awesome stories, and I mentioned that she should write a book. So that she doesn't forget maybe she should start writing in a journal. She is so smart and captivating I know that God put her in our lives for a reason. Maybe someday our paths will cross but until then I would like to stay in touch. I am missing her already....

When I was attending grade school during the 1960’s I had two passions that consumed me. I loved baseball. I chewed lots of really bad gum to collect baseball cards. As much as I loved baseball, what really intrigued me was space exploration. My heroes were the astronauts in NASA’s space program. I read everything about them that I could get my hands on. In 1969 my interest in space was at a fever pitch. Everyone was talking about the race to land on the moon. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, the entire world was captivated. Every newspaper covered the story. I soaked it all in. I couldn’t believe what a marvelous world I was living in. The moonwalk was a part of pop culture. After watching the moonwalk on TV, the Moody Blues drummer, Graham Edge, penned the poem "Higher and Higher", which was used to open their next album. "Blasting, billowing, bursting forth with the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes. Man, with his flaming py...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 20, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Six months ago I purchased a 1960 Rambler American. It has been quite a project as I have worked on it to make it a dependable daily driver. I have replaced the fuel pump, water pump, gas tank, spark plugs, shock absorbers, clutch linkage, and brake lines. I have rebuilt the front end and had it aligned. I enjoy driving the little Rambler with its small, underpowered flathead six cylinder motor. From the time that I first got the Rambler, my granddaughters have loved riding in it. They always want to ride with Papa in the little Rambler. They love to sing the Beep Beep song about the little Nash Rambler passing a Cadillac, as loud as they can, over and over again. But what they seem to love the most on hot summer days are the vent windows. When I showed them how to open the vent window and direct a stream of air to their face, they loved it. Even on a hot summer day they still want to ride in the R...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 13, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Awhile ago I came across a quote by the American author, historian, and Unitarian minister, Edward Everett Hale. He said, “I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” It is a good motto to live by. Most people don’t feel that they can really make a difference. What can just one person do? Recently I found out what one person can do. A friend of mine was upset about a situation and through his actions made a big difference even though he was an ocean away. This is his story. The story started back in 1916. The Battle of the Somme was one of the biggest battles of the First World War. Fought near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the deadliest battles in history. On the first day, July 1, 19,240 British soldiers lost their lives. It was the bloodiest day in the history of the Br...

The past weeks and months my Facebook feed has been filled with ugly, hateful, political posts. Most of the time is just a repost of someone else's memes or articles. I really wonder if anyone's mind has ever been changed by the hateful vitriol that they read on someone's Facebook feed.   I am not in the habit of posting things that others have written. The purpose of this blog is to post original writing. I am making an exception in this post. I did not write the following words, but I fully agree with them. They made such an impact on me that I wanted to share them with my readers. I want to give the original writer, Ginger Winters, credit. I first read it on her blog,  Ramble Ramble . So here is a shout out to Ginger. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends, Family, Co-workers, and Anyone Else I Know; As we all know, there is a rather major election happening this year....

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 6, 2016, issue of The Mena Star Last week while my granddaughter was staying with us, a friend invited us to go watch him fly his remote control airplane. It was a beautiful evening and was comfortable even though the day had been hot. We set up camping chairs as my friend prepared his plane for flight. After he had installed the battery pack, it was time to fly the aircraft. Because of the tall grass where he was going to fly the plane, he used a technique called hand launching. Just like it sounds, hand launching is where the RC operator throws the airplane, preferably into the wind, and then takes control with the remote. We were all watching as my friend launched the plane into the air. It traveled a few feet and then nose dived into the ground. When we inspected the aircraft, we found the motor was working, but the prop wasn’t spinning. On closer inspection, my friend noticed that the small nut that held the prop on the shaft was...