Opus 500

It is hard for me to believe that this is my 500th post on An Arkies Musings.  Blogging has become a part of my everyday life.  Just a few short years ago I had never hear of blogging and had no idea what a blog was.  Since I started writing this blog in the fall of 2008 over 246,000 people have read at least one post.  I have had visitors from 193 countries. 

One day back in 2008 my friend Laurel was visiting in our home.  She showed me her daughter's blog, Winter's Day In. Because she lived so far away from her daughter, she kept up with her through the blog. I had no idea what it was all about.

As I was reading the blog, I noticed at the top of the page that it had a link that said create blog. I had to see what it was all about, so I clicked it. In a few days I had my own blog, and I enjoyed writing and posting pictures to it. I had written a little before starting the blog, but definitely not regularly. I would occasionally write a column for the religion page of my local newspaper, and I had posted a few articles on the writing website Helium, but I had never had a "reason" to write before.

I have been asked why I call my blog, An Arkies Musings.  I have to admit that very little thought went into the name of my blog. As I was looking at the create blog page in Blogger, just trying to figure out what it was all about, one of the first things that had to be filled in was the title. I spent about thirty seconds thinking, and typed An Arkies Musings. Arkie is slang word for someone who lives in Arkansas.

We used to be officially called Arkansawyers, but now the term is Arkansan. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, Arkansas and Oklahoma were some of the hardest hit states. Many people moved to California trying to get jobs. The terms Arkie and Okie were disparaging terms used by the Californians for people from Oklahoma and Arkansas. Now the term Arkie is most often used to describe a native Arkansan and is often still a bit disparaging. It seems to indicate that someone is unlearned and backward.

I have lived here for over 30 years. Though I'm not a native, I am proud to be an Arkansan or even an Arkie. You have to admit that An Arkansan's Musings just doesn't roll off the tongue.

What I enjoy the most about blogging is the people that I have met, around the world and close to home. It helps me have a greater understanding of the world as a whole. Most of us associate with and are friends with people who are very similar to ourselves. Blogging has broadened my horizons and really made me think. Before my blog, I had never experienced internet friendships before, but reading and commenting on people's blogs does help you get to know them.

My very first post was on  September 6, 2008 and was titled Shelter From The Storm, and told the story of our experience with Hurricane Gustav.

 

My 100th post was on January 29, 2009 and was titled An Icy World Part Two.  An ice storm here in Mena, Arkansas provided the opportunity for some icy photos.

On  May 23, 2010 I uploaded post number 200, Ready To Kindle.  I was excited about purchasing a Kindle e-book reader.

Post number 300 was the story of an afternoon trip to DeGray Lake, on in October 2012.  The fall colors were beautiful and we closed the day with a sunset cruise on the lake.

During the summer of 2013 we attended my Aunt Opal's 85th birthday party.  She gave me some memoirs that she had written, and I turned them into blog posts.  Post number 400 was posted on August 1, 2013 and was titled Aunt Opal's Memories-Chapter 1-Part 2.

I have found it interesting over the years to see which post are the most popular.  Here are the top 5 An Arkies Musings posts.

The most viewed post is from May 8, 2009 and is titled I'm So Sleepy.  Over 10,300 people have viewed the post about the fatigue that set in after a tornado hit Mena in April, 2009.

With over 7,100 view, the next most popular is the January 11, 2009 post titled Christmas In Jamaica.  We took a cruise and ended up being in Jamaica on Christmas Day.

The popularity of the TV show Duck Dynasty helped make my D is for Duck Dynasty post of February 5, 2013 the third most viewed post with over 6,100 page views.

The post titled U is for Unicorn has had over 4,200 visitors putting it in fourth place.  It features the Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers.

Over 4,100 people have read about the itsy bitsy spider and what the rhyme means in the post I Is For Itsy Bitsy Spider making it An Arkies Musings fifth most read post.

I can only wonder what the next 500 posts will bring.  Life experience brings many possible topics for An Arkies Musings.  I hope you will continue on the journey with me. I will close this Opus 500 with what I feel is the most heartfelt post of the 500.  This was written in the early morning hours a few hours after a tornado ripped through my hometown of Mena, Arkansas on April 9, 2009.



Tonight at around 7:30 the tornado sirens sounded here in Mena. Gina and I went to the safe place in our house, the downstairs hallway. About that time our electricity went out. The storm passed without damage here at the house. We were thankful that we were spared.

After the storm passed and the stars came out, I decided to drive into town to see if anyone had electricity. When I got to downtown, I started to see storm damage and saw that the authorities were not letting people proceed to the north side of Mena.

I drove to my parents house to see if they were OK, and they were fine with no damage to their house or property. I drove on to the church but saw no damage their. I thought that the storm may not have been to bad, but by the time I returned home, the phone was ringing off the hook with reports of severe damage.

The first news reports stated that the Polk County Sheriff's Department reports one person was killed after a tornado swept through the town Thursday night.

Severe storms moving through the area shortly after eight o'clock tonight spawned the twister.

As damage assessment began, KARK was told a 25 block area that included the Polk County Courthouse and Mena City Hall took a direct hit from the tornado. There are 12 minor injuries in the city.

Governor Beebe has sent 30 National Guard members to the city for help.

The Arkansas State Police tells KARK 4 there is extensive damage to homes and businesses throughout the city of Mena.

We received a call from a friend telling us that our good friend Deanna had a lot of damage to her house, and her car was totaled. Just before the storm hit, Deanna was on the phone with Gina telling her that she was in the closet and she was scared. We have not been able to talk to her since. We don't know what we will find when we are able to get into the the area. Just a couple of blocks from her house, there were 20 or more people in the Masonic Lodge when it collapsed. There is one known fatality on the street where Deanna lives.

We have had friends staying with us this evening, because they were not able to get home. The National Guard is in town and not letting anyone into the severely damaged area. There was damage at RMCC, the community college, and at Wal-Mart. There is damage at U.S. Motors where Gina operates the Credit Union. We have not been able to find out the extent of the damage.

I need to go to sleep, but probably sleep won't come. I don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Top 10

2013 is now behind us.  Here is a listing of the top ten most viewed posts of 2013 on An Arkies Musings.  It is always interesting to me to see what topics other people are interested in.

The most viewed post of the year is my post on Duck Dynasty from February 5th 2013.  I'm sure the Phil Robertson controversy had a lot to do with it's Number 1 position.  You can read the post here. 

The number two post of the year was titled Happy Holidays.  Although the post didn't address the term Happy Holidays, I wonder what drove the traffic to the post.  Probably the cute photo of me as a child.  :)  You can read the post here.

Number three for the year was a post on 9/11 that told the story of a 9/11 massacre that happened in 1857, not 2001.  You can read the post here. 

The number four post wasn't written by me. When a friend of mine, Maurine Burden, passed away this story was found in her possessions. It was read at her memorial service. It made such an impact on me that I shared it with my readers.  You can read it here.

As Easter was approaching I wrote the fifth most popular post of the year.  I titled it What Did Jesus Do?  You can read it here.

Each week I participate in the ABC Wednesday Meme.  Those of us who participate write about something that starts with a designated letter each week.  The number 6 post of the year was written for the letter "E".  E is for Empathy.  You can read it here.

Number 7 was a post titled, "All You Need Is Love".  Did The Beatles have it right?  Read the post here.

This spring my granddaughters participated in a cardboard boat race. They had to construct a boat from nothing but cardboard, duct tape and paint. It was amazing how seaworthy the boats were. The boat race provided the topic for the number eight post of the year.  You can read it here.

The 9th most popular post of the year highlighted the organization ADRA.  ADRA stands for Adventist Development and Relief Agency. It is a charity that I support on a regular basis.  You can read the post here. 

In March, my wife and I attended the Jonquil Festival at Historic Washington State Park.  The number ten post was a photo essay of the event.  You can see the photos here.

Just because I can, here is a special bonus.  It wasn't one of the top ten most visited posts of the year, but it was my favorite.  You can see my favorite post here.

I can't wait to see what adventures and experiences 2014 will bring.  I wonder what the top ten posts of 2014 will be.

2013 Relay For Life of Polk County

Last Friday was the Relay For Life of Polk County annual event.  My wife and I have been involved in Relay For Life since it's inception here in Mena in 2007.

Friday's event turned out great, with the weather cooperating and a large turnout from the community.  Rain and thunderstorms had been forecast for Friday all week, but by the time the decision had to be made about moving the event indoors, the rain forecast was for the rain to be over at 4:00 Friday.  Sure enough their was a shower at 4:00 but the weather was beautiful after that.

This year the survivor lap had new meaning for me.  Each Relay For Life event starts with cancer survivors circling the track in the Survivor Lap.  This past year I had a skin cancer removed from my nose and my Mom was diagnosed with Leukemia and had a cancerous kidney tumor removed by cryoablation.  I was in the Survivor Lap with my Mom and my brother-in-law.

At a Relay event, each team sets up a campsite where members can hang out when thay are not walking laps, and where they can fundraise for Relay.  Our team, Nidec, chose as a theme, Cure Commanders based on the TV show Duck Dynasty.  There was plenty of camo and duck calls could be heard throughout the night.

Our menu included Critter Burgers, Yuppie Burgers, Roasted Duck Bait, Fried Squirrel Brains and Si's Sweet Tea. 

We wore our Cure Commander camo t-shirts as we walked around the track during the Team Lap.

There were lots of fun and exciting things at Relay including firemen, (thanks Ink Fire Department); Elvis, (thanks Cruizzers); Sheriffs arresting people and putting them in jail and a frozen t-shirt contest, (thanks Nidec).

After celebrating the survivors and the party atmosphere of Relay, when it gets dark the focus shifts to the luminaria. Relay For Life participants and donors remember loved ones lost to cancer and honor those battling the disease by dedicating luminaria bags. At our Relay we had over 300 people who have been affected by cancer represented by luminaria bags lit by candles and lining the track.

  

As part of the luminaria ceremony sky lanterns were lit by people who had purchased them in honor of someone with cancer.  My grand daughter helped light one of the sky lanterns.

Because cancer never sleeps, the Relay event goes all night with people walking around the track.  There were lots of activities to keep people entertained such as karaoke, a talent show, 3 on 3 basketball, theme laps, zumba, line dancing and Hope Has No Curfew.

This was the first year that the Relay For Life of Polk County has participated in Hope Has No Curfew. It is a pledge to stay at the event all night. At midnight team members that were still at the event signed the banner pledging to stay all night. Several times during the night the banner made a lap around the track with those who were still there. All team members who stayed all night will be receiving Hope Has No Curfew t-shirts. In all 104 team members kept the pledge to stay all night.

The event was very successful with over 5,000 dollars raised that night.  The teams have raised over 57,000 dollars total so far this year to benefit the American Cancer Society in it's fight against cancer.  Relay For Life is more important that ever as we are seeing cuts in the amount the U.S. government is spending on cancer research.  Privately funded research is going to have to take up the slack.  The American Cancer Society is the largest private funder of cancer research, and Relay For Life is their largest fundraiser.

The 2013 Relay For Life of Polk County was awesome, and I can't wait to see what this community has in store for 2014!

D is for Duck Dynasty

The TV show, Duck Dynasty, follows a Louisiana  family living the American dream as they operate a thriving duck call while staying true to their family values.  Over the years I have been very strict about not viewing "reality" TV.  The idea that there was any kind of reality in these shows seemed far-fetched.  Over the last year while I was "not watching" reality TV, I kept hearing about a show that people were crazy about; Duck Dynasty.  Last year my wife gave her Hero of Hope speech in Sheridan, Arkansas at a Relay For Life Celebrity Waiter Event.  The event ended with a live auction.  We were amazed when an autographed duck call was sold for 850.00.  We later found out that it was a Duck Commander duck call from the Duck Dynasty TV show.

The show is filmed in West Monroe, Louisiana just 70 miles from where my daughter and her family live.  My son-in-law likes to hunt ducks.  I decided that I really should see what all the fuss was about. Once I watched Duck Dynasty I was hooked.  The characters remind me of people I know here in Western Arkansas.  They are real rednecks, and I know real rednecks when I see them.  My young granddaughters refer to the show as The Rednecks, as in "we want to watch The Rednecks".

Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander. As the only one with the business degree, he took the company from a living room operation to a premiere destination for all things outdoors. He says he honed his skills as a salesman by selling his freshly caught fish at the market with his mom as a young boy. Even then he was always working to negotiate the best price. While he says “being a redneck millionaire has its perks,” including buying new trucks, gadgets and swanky suits, working with kin can be a headache.

Phil Robertson is the patriarch of the family.  He is a living legend in Louisiana and is better known by his alias; the Duck Commander. He played first-string quarterback ahead of football star Terry Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech University in the ’60s. They were both drafted into the NFL but Phil turned it down because it interfered with duck season. Instead he stayed in Louisiana, married his high school sweetheart, Miss Kay, built a house down by the river and together they raised four sons. His love for the outdoors lead him to create the Duck Commander® Duck Call in 1973, which has gone on to become the most trusted duck whistle ever conceived. Duck hunting is so important to Phil that he follows a strict routine of no showering, no shaving, and no clothes washing of any kind during the ten-week season to ensure a bountiful haul.

Jase Robertson is Willie’s brother and his polar opposite. While Willie enjoys making deals behind the desk, Jase would much rather call the swamp his office. But he knows he’s gotta earn his keep, so Jase’s job within the company is to fabricate the duck calls that have made Duck Commander famous. When pressed, Jase can churn out a thousand new calls in a flash, but he likes to take his time so that Willie doesn’t expect the same performance every day. Jase has more important things than work on his mind, namely, duck hunting. Jase’s motto is “Only three things matter: God, then family, then ducks.”

Si Robertson is my favorite on the show.  He is Phil’s brother, best friend, and partner in crime. He has a very specific job in the workshop, fashioning the reeds that are inserted in every patented duck call. It’s a pretty easy job, made needlessly difficult by the fact that Si can never seem to stay on task. The Vietnam vet will often share his war stories with the guys, which usually gets the crew behind schedule, much to Willie’s dismay. Si’s most famous story is that while serving overseas, his mother sent him a blue mug. Thirty years later it’s still hanging from his back pocket and he continues to only drink from this cup, every day.

Kay Robertson is the revered matriarch of the family. What she says goes. She was 16 when she married Phil and since then she’s been keeping him and the boys from spending too much time in the woods, bringing them back to civilization each night with a home cooked meal. Kay believes her cooking talents are a gift which she must share, so she often ends up feeding all of the family and most of the neighborhood. Her most famous dishes are banana pudding, fried deer steak, crawfish pie, and sticky frog legs.

If you haven't seen Duck Dynasty, give it a chance. I highly recommend it.