WEDNESDAY'S LIST . . . of beans 'n greens 'n other things:FRIDAY THE 13TH and I really wish I were making this up.
It is a bit after 8:30 in the morning and, after a breakfast at Bonnie's Country Kitchen in Wadley, I'm swinging right off Alabama 49 onto Highway 9 . . . heading home.
That's when the car loses power. Motor's humming, I'm not moving. I've lost a transmission.
With help from two very nice Lineville policemen, I get it parked beside an a old vacant restaurant, call Mike Lipscomb Auto sales to send a hauler, call the blonde to come pick me up.
Which is when my brother-in-law points to a sign in the vacant restaurant window that reads:
Need That Junk Moved In A Hurry, Don't Worry, Call D&M Transmission. We Will Do It For You.
Brother-in-law also points across the street to a sign reading:
Smith House
In addition to the lost transmission, the "Smith House" across the street is NOT the "Smith House" I want. That one is some 50 miles or so away.
Had I not been a "growed man," I think I would have just sat right down and cried.
And that's the way it went, Friday, Nov. 13, 2009.
If you're of my generation (or older) and from out on the rural route of dirt roads, well water, and no electricity, let me give you this from a Merl Haggard song.
"Anything was more than we had,
"In the good old days when things were bad."
Now tell me you don't identify with that, huh?
Living proof is young Chase Childers, number one academically in the Class of 2010, getting there with a 4.0 GPA.
A member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, Chase is on the high road, academically speaking, with a course study that reads "Advance, College Preparatory Diploma with Advanced Placement History, Economics and English."
He has enough scholastic awards to paper the family den. To name just a few: Advanced English Scholastic, Advanced Physical Science, Algebra II with Trigonometry and Spanish I.
Chase's star is just as bright in athletics . . . captain of the football and baseball teams, All-County and All-Region quarterback as well as honorable mention All-State. He is also a member of the track team.
Advanced Placement Teacher Allan Mauldin says, "Chase is the hardest working and most dedicated student I have. He will not settle for less than an A. He is absolutely driven to be successful."
A very proud mom is Linda Childers, Alabama 21 North.
Take a bow, young man . . .
