An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 31, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. While friends of ours traveled out of state to attend a wedding, we took care of their dog. Hershey is a beautiful chocolate lab. His sleek coat and strong muscular body make him a very handsome dog. He loves to come to our house because my wife spoils him and he is accustomed to being spoiled. Hershey’s favorite foods are graham crackers and cheese. He knows that my wife is a soft touch, so he will go to her and put his head in her lap and look up at her with his big brown eyes as if to ask, “may I please have some cheese.” It works every time. Hershey likes to spend time on the sofa. He has a special place on the sofa with a blanket. Although Hershey is a big strong dog, he is afraid of many things. He was frightened when anyone would come to our house. When we got home from work in the evening, he wouldn’t come downstairs until we would go upstairs and talk to him. He didn’t like the sound of a...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 24, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. Spring is a wonderful time of the year. One of the reasons that I moved from Colorado to Arkansas is that I don’t like to be cold. Spring brings with it warmer weather and the end of winter, so I look forward to spring every year. There are many things about spring that I enjoy. When the redbuds and the dogwoods bloom, they remind me how much I enjoy living in Arkansas. I love to take a ride on country roads just looking at the trees and wildflowers. Driving through town when the azaleas are blooming is great. When spring comes, there is something else that we can look forward to. The grass begins to grow. When the grass begins to grow, it means that the yard has to be mowed. In my business as an auto glass installer, I get busy during the mowing season. Lawn mowers and weedeaters break a lot of glass that has to be replaced. In the past, it has been my responsibility to keep the churchyard m...

I love reading history and learning new things. Recently I came across a historical person I had never heard of before. As I learned about him, I became quite fascinated with his life. His name is Frederick the second. Frederick II was a man of extraordinary culture, energy, and ability. He was king of Sicily and Germany during the first half of the 13th century. He was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1220. Frederick is considered by modern historians to be the most gifted of the medieval Holy Roman Emperors. Frederick astonished his contemporaries who called him Stupor Mundi, ‘wonder of the world.' His court blended Norman, Arabic, and Jewish elements. He was witty and entertaining in six different languages, Latin, Sicilian, German, French, Greek and Arabic. Frederick was a man of intellectual distinction, and he was friendly with Jewish and Muslim scholars. He encouraged scholarship, poetry and mathematics, and original thinking in all areas. Frederick’s ope...

My article from the May 10, 2017, issue of The Mena Star We live in an area where the words “you have cancer” are heard much too often. But it is nice to know there are people in Polk County doing something about it. They are participating in Relay For Life. Relay is designed to promote cancer awareness while raising funds to fight the disease. This year’s Relay For Life of Polk County will be held Friday, May 12th at Janssen Park in Mena. In the case of rain, Relay will be at the Christian Motorcycle Association facility on Iron Mountain. The opening ceremony is at 6 p.m. The Relay For Life event opens with an inspirational Survivors Lap that symbolizes the steps Relay For Life volunteers are taking toward saving lives. Cancer survivors are honored as they take the first lap. The opening ceremony honors survivors and caregivers, but everyone is invited to show their support. From that time on, the object is to keep someone from each of the Relay For Life teams on the wal...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 10, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. When I attended school during the 1960’s, I had two passions that consumed me. I loved baseball. I chewed lots of bad gum to collect baseball cards. As much as I loved baseball, what intrigued me the most 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 moonshot was a part of pop culture. After watching the Apollo 11 landing 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...

I have been asked to give a talk about Relay For Life at the Quality of Life lunch. These are my remarks. I have been asked to tell you a bit about Relay For Life. I have been a Relay For Life volunteer for the past ten years. Relay For Life is about people making a difference right here in Polk County. The 2017 Relay For Life of Polk County will be held in Janssen Park on Friday, May 12th. So what exactly is Relay For Life? I hope that many of you have attended Relay For Life here in Polk County over the last ten years. The first Relay was organized here in Mena in 2006 culminating in the first ever Relay in Polk County being held in Janssen Park in April of 2007. In a nutshell, a Relay event consists of teams walking around a track in relay fashion. At least one person from each team is to be walking. But Relay is much more than a walk around a track; Relay is a time to celebrate those who have battled cancer, remember those lost and get inspired to fight back. People who...

While The Wall That Heals was in town at the high school stadium, my wife and I stopped by to see the exhibit. The traveling memorial wall is a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Since 1996, the mobile wall has visited more than 400 communities throughout the United States. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the sponsors of The Wall That Heals, “bringing The Wall to communities across the country spreads its healing legacy to millions.” This year The Wall will be displayed in over forty communities. I feel very fortunate that I was able to visit the exhibit and help honor the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives for their country in Vietnam. As my wife and I viewed the mobile Education Center that is part of the exhibit we were carried back to our childhoods. The exhibits told the story of the Vietnam War, The Wall, and the American experience in Vietnam in a historical and cultural context. Both my wife and I were in scho...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 3, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. My wife and I enjoy visiting Eureka Springs. It is our favorite place for a weekend getaway. We try to go there several times a year. It is a beautiful three and a half hour drive from home. The city has steep winding streets filled with Victorian-style cottages and houses. The old downtown section of the city has an alpine character with well-preserved Victorian storefronts. Not long ago we spent a weekend in Eureka Springs with my sister and her husband. We try to spend a weekend together at least once a year. As we traveled toward our destination, it started to rain. Before long the weather had deteriorated, and the rain became severe. Visibility on the interstate was very poor. Along with the heavy rain, the big trucks were constantly splashing the smaller vehicles. The bad driving conditions made the trip to Eureka Springs very tense. When we arrived, it was still raining hard. Our plans wer...