a lot of time in hospitals and the state mental institution. I
loved my momma dearly, and my brothers and sisters always say I
was her favorite child. Hey, what can I say? Ive always had that
effect on women!
A lot of my fondest childhood memories occurred in Dixie. I can
still remember the day we drove to our house for the first time.
We unloaded out of a 1957 Chevrolet and a couple of kids from the
neighborhood walked up. We introduced ourselves to the boys, and
the only way I can describe them is, well, they were geeks. We
wandered around the yard, exploring the place, and noticed a big
patch of woods about two miles from the railroad tracks in front
of our house. We asked the boys, Hey, whats over there?
We have no idea, they told us.
What do you mean you have no idea? I asked them. Have you not
been over there?
No, weve never been over there, one of them said.
The next thing they knew, Tommy, Phil, and I were racing across
the railroad tracks and into the woods. We drove the farmers
around our house slap insane by hunting on their land without
permission. One of the farmers loved to chase us out of the woods
in his pickup truck. Every time we heard his pickup coming, wed
take off running like deer through the woods. We hid behind logs
and in underbrush, looking for his truck at the top of a hill or
in the pecan orchard. It was like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road
in the pecan orchard. It was like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road
Runner. He never did catch us.
Years later, we found out that chasing us was one of the farmers
favorite things to do. Momma sold Avon cosmetics for a while, and
one day she was at the farmers house selling products to his
wife. Momma apologized to the farmer for our hunting on his land,
but he told her we were allowed to hunt on any of his property.
Momma thanked him and was getting ready to walk out the door.
Hey, wait a minute, he said. Dont tell them.
Well, you gave them permission, she said.
Oh, yeah, they can hunt on all of my land whenever they want, he
said. But dont tell them I gave them permission. If they know
they have my permission, they wont run from me.
That farmer loved the chase. We ran from him for about fifteen
years and didnt even have to!
Phil, Tommy, and I were always hunting or fishing. One of the
best things we did happened when the sun went down. When Phil was
ten years old, he got an air rifle for Christmas. I was eight and
got a Daisy BB gun. We spent every day going around the
neighborhood, shooting anything we could kill. When the sun went
down, we got our flashlights and shined them under the awnings
over the windows of our neighbors houses. Birds loved to fly up
there and go to sleep. Guess what? We loved to shine our
loved my momma dearly, and my brothers and sisters always say I
was her favorite child. Hey, what can I say? Ive always had that
effect on women!
A lot of my fondest childhood memories occurred in Dixie. I can
still remember the day we drove to our house for the first time.
We unloaded out of a 1957 Chevrolet and a couple of kids from the
neighborhood walked up. We introduced ourselves to the boys, and
the only way I can describe them is, well, they were geeks. We
wandered around the yard, exploring the place, and noticed a big
patch of woods about two miles from the railroad tracks in front
of our house. We asked the boys, Hey, whats over there?
We have no idea, they told us.
What do you mean you have no idea? I asked them. Have you not
been over there?
No, weve never been over there, one of them said.
The next thing they knew, Tommy, Phil, and I were racing across
the railroad tracks and into the woods. We drove the farmers
around our house slap insane by hunting on their land without
permission. One of the farmers loved to chase us out of the woods
in his pickup truck. Every time we heard his pickup coming, wed
take off running like deer through the woods. We hid behind logs
and in underbrush, looking for his truck at the top of a hill or
in the pecan orchard. It was like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road
in the pecan orchard. It was like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road
Runner. He never did catch us.
Years later, we found out that chasing us was one of the farmers
favorite things to do. Momma sold Avon cosmetics for a while, and
one day she was at the farmers house selling products to his
wife. Momma apologized to the farmer for our hunting on his land,
but he told her we were allowed to hunt on any of his property.
Momma thanked him and was getting ready to walk out the door.
Hey, wait a minute, he said. Dont tell them.
Well, you gave them permission, she said.
Oh, yeah, they can hunt on all of my land whenever they want, he
said. But dont tell them I gave them permission. If they know
they have my permission, they wont run from me.
That farmer loved the chase. We ran from him for about fifteen
years and didnt even have to!
Phil, Tommy, and I were always hunting or fishing. One of the
best things we did happened when the sun went down. When Phil was
ten years old, he got an air rifle for Christmas. I was eight and
got a Daisy BB gun. We spent every day going around the
neighborhood, shooting anything we could kill. When the sun went
down, we got our flashlights and shined them under the awnings
over the windows of our neighbors houses. Birds loved to fly up
there and go to sleep. Guess what? We loved to shine our