Read My Lips - the blog

Continuing the Spirit I

As my loyal fans know, I had published many of my late father's former columns in a continuin' series under this Category name. All such columns have already been published. Such were unique, fraught with every urban legend that has come along from time to time dealin' with decadence in our society and the like. Well, my favorite aunt sent me somethin' today that I thought was profound and was somethin' Rusty would have seized upon to blurb about in his column.

Mindful of the very proclivity of Urban Legends to be forwarded along in emails, I did take the opportunity to check the following through snopes.com, which somewhat corrected the version forwarded from my aunt. The following is snopes version of the January, 1999 prayer before the Kansas House of Representative by Rev. Joe Wright, senior pastor of the 2,500-member Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas.

Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your word says, "Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done.

We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We've exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We've neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionists.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today. Try us. Show us any wickedness within us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of the State of Kansas, and that they have been ordained by you to govern this great state.

Grant them your wisdom to rule. May their decisions direct us to the center of your will. And, as we continue our prayer and as we come in out of the fog, give us clear minds to accomplish our goals as we begin this Legislature. For we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Rusty would have loved this!

Episode No. 29

OK, this is the final Episode. Rusty died in July of 2001, and did not further columns after this one, what with his health failing. I was unable to retrieve October 2000 or August 2000, as all attempts returned 404 pages from his server. I am thinking of continuing Rusty style columns in the future, if there is any demand by my readership for such, maybe on the tune of one per week or one per month. I am still thinking about it and would entertain comments from you Rusty fans as whether to do such and if so, how often you would like to see them done. Until then:

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

April fool 2001 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Well sir, the stock market has a whole passel of folks having bad dreams at night. I don’t know any answers. If I did, I would be wealthy, but one thing I know -- it’s not gonna do any good worrying about it. I figured out a long time ago -- no use in worrying about something you can’t do anything about. I expect what will happen -- the small investors who can’t afford to take the losses will sell out, driving prices down even more. Then, those who got big money will buy low priced stock -- drive prices back up -- then sell and clean up. I reckon stocks are just like money. Not worth a nickel until or unless you spend it. No need to sell out now and take a loss. Hold on ‘til prices are back up then sell if you want to..

If you live in or around Abilene, check out my friend's shop. Lots of experience there and it shows. You'll be plumb tickled with the job they do. Give her a click.[*]

The following was written by my good friend Laurie. It says something we all need to hear.

"Fate is what life hands you. Destiny is what you do with it."

Hello..Just wanted to write down a few of the things that have been on my mind lately. I have lots of questions. What is happening to the world? What is happening to our school children, when they take weapons to class? Why do we send billions of dollars to third world countries, when we have starving people in our own country? We have become totally self absorbed...not knowing our neighbors, or even worse........fearing them because they look a little different, and don't fit into our "mold".

What is wrong with some people who cannot get a "grip" on life, and constantly whine that whatever is wrong in THEIR lives is someone elses fault? We all have choices in our lives...every single day. The choices we make today will have an impact on us farther down the road. If we make the wrong ones, then we should make the best of it, and move on. No one is perfect....me included, but if we see that we don't like what our lives have become...then change it!

Why is it that we have so many babies born to babies? I have been told that "this is the 21st century...things change".....Yep....true. Things change. I just don't believe that a girl that isn't even able to drive, is old enough to take on the responsibilites of parenthood. Its been said that the new generation is quite "street smart"....and that may be true. But crawling in the back seat of a car and making a baby , doesn't show much "smarts" to me. I have noticed in the papers, that someone who is 15 is referred to as a "woman" or "man"......how insane! They may have the physical appearance of an adult, but thats where it ends.

Also, this country needs to realize that you can't please EVERYONE! Someone is going to feel neglected, abused, ignored, and "put-upon". ... no matter what. When the constitution was written, I don't believe that meant it was just fine and dandy for someone with a mouth like a sewer should spew garbage and call it music. Since we are a free country, we allow these people to make lots of money peddling the crap to our kids...and more parents need to step up and say flat "NO!". Free to "express" ones self? Please. Just like the mother in the grocery store who cannot even discipline her child for fear of going to jail if she pops the child on his little bottom. We cannot give a toddler a hug, for fear of being accused of being some pervert.This is insanity!

What I think would help immensely, would be for people to have a little more respect...not just for others, but for themselves as well. I am sure something else will bug me soon...but for now.....thanks for listening to the rambling ....... just had to get some things off my chest.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

Today the world is the victim of propaganda because people are not intellectually competent. More than anything the United States needs effective citizens competent to do their own thinking. --William Mather Lewis

*Of course, there is no link and where the link goes, nobody knows.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 28

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

February 2001 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Has anyone noticed the new star in the sky? If you haven't, slip outside some night and have a gaze. How to find it. Just pick out the brightest one you can see and wave -- it's the space station. That is so cool. Wish I could go up and visit but afraid I am a few bucks short. Heard that Russia it taking a man up for several million dollars.

Been shining up the place some, even give one of the dogs a bath last week. Thinking maybe I'll attract me a woman. Some days it is mighty lonesome 'round here.

Well Sir, This is the month for lovers -- old and new. Before I get to jawin' 'bout what ails this old earth and what we ain't gonna do about it, I want to mention a swell place for gettin' fixed up for your sweetie. Guys are welcome too. This lady friend of mine has the gol-dernest business for cuttin' and curling hair and fixin' your face to make you look more beauteous 'n you are supposed to be. If you live anywhere near Abilene, Texas you ought to go see her. Just give the name thing down yonder a nudge with your mouse clicker and see what all she has to offer. And boys, y'all need to have a gawk at the pretty girls a working over there. They are cuter than a June Bug on a Watermelon.

[some graphical link that was no longer available on the server]

I ran across the following story and thought it would be fitting right now -- or anytime.

Who I Am Makes A Difference

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."
Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out, find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."
Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him. His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says "Who I Am Makes A Difference" on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all." His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad".

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference.
The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life...one being the boss's son. And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson.

Who you are DOES make a difference.

Instructions for Life in the new millennium from the Dalai Lama:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Gun Refresher Course by Art Tupin

a.. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
b.. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
c.. Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface.
d.. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
e.. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
f.. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
g.. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
h.. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.
i.. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
j.. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
k.. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
l.. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.
m.. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
n.. Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Politicians.
o.. Know guns, know peace and safety. No guns, no peace nor safety.
p.. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
q.. 911 - government sponsored Dial a Prayer.
r.. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
s.. Criminals love gun control - it makes their jobs safer.
t.. If Guns cause Crime, then Matches cause Arson.
u.. Only a government that is afraid of it's citizens try to control them.
v.. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
w.. Enforce the "gun control laws" in place, don't make more.
x.. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
y.. The American Revolution would never have happened with Gun Control.
z. "...a government by the people, for the people..."

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

It is a statistical fact that the wicked work harder to reach hell than the righteous do to enter heaven. --Josh Billings

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 27

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

January 2001 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

T'other day I went into the Post Office to pick up a package too big for my mail box. It were some pictures and gifts from my daughter and her kin over yonder in Tennessee. Well, that's beside the point. What I am aimin' to tell you is that I had a long wait and went downstairs to a break room. On the way I spotted a sign pointing to "MUSEUM". Well sir, hit were a sight. All the old post office paraphernalia. I started thumbing through a binder of old letters and found the one I have attached. Now I know we was nearer to the government back in 1881 but am plum tickled to find a letter from the custodian of Abilene Post Office to The Secretary of Treasury, Washington D. C. asking for $1.50 to buy a lawn sprayer. Can't help wondering if he ever got it.

Click right here to see a bona fide copy of the letter

[There was a scan of the letter which was unrecoverable. The following contains the text of the letter.

Abilene, Texas
April 16, [1908?]

The Honorable (Omirred),
The Secretary of The Treasury,
Washington D C

Dear Sir:

We need a lawn spreyer very badly for use on the lawn here. I hsve found that Geo. L. Paxton of this place will sell us an excellent one for $1.50.

As this is a necessity I trust that you will be pleased authorize the purchase there of.

Thanking you I beg to remail,

Very Respectfully,
(With held)
Custodian]

While the clicker is handy take a look at my adoptive wolf -- Misu and tell your friends how bad full blooded timber wolves are after a little lovin'.[*]

Let me tell you this. I got several letters from folks that agreed with me on the gay v/s Boy Scouts issue, but I didn't get a single one defending the deviate behavior. Don't reckon they wanted whatever lame-brained defense they night offer published. Shucks! Was hoping I'd get me a pen-pal feller who would try to convince me it's okay to bugger my fellow men. I don't think so.

Wasn't that president election a doozy? Don't s'pose we'll ever know just who got chosen, but I kinda think we came away with the best of what was offered. Just haft to wait and see.

Lordy, this sure is starting out to be a wintery winter. I kinda like it, but maybe I wouldn't be so gung-ho if I lived some other place. Not much chance of that. Would miss the110 degree days in the summer to say nothing about the dust storms. Those little dust devils ascooting across my field are pretty cute 'til they fetch their daddy by. Ever notice how Texas and tornado seem to go hand in hand?

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

The time has come to stop the sale of slavery to the young. --Lyndon Baines Johnson

*This link is no longer available. I am not sure what happened with Misha, but I am sure she is well and looked after.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 26

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

June, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

With the continuing flagrant school shootings it would be easy to join the ranks of those for gun control. Easy, but not SMART. Our forefathers knew what they were doing when they put the second amaendment in our constitution. Please read the following article written by well known news commentator Paul Harvey. Believe me, it will open your eyes as it did mine.

Paul Harvey on Guns and HISTORY....

Are you considering backing gun control laws? Do you think that because you may not own a gun, the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment don't matter?

CONSIDER; In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, gentiles, and others, who were unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

That places total victims who lost their lives because of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last century. Since we should learn from the mistakes of history, the next time someone talks in favor of gun control, find out which group of citizens they wish to have exterminated.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed, a program costing the government more than $500 million dollars. The results Australia-wide; Homicides are up 3.2% Assaults are up 8 % Armed robberies are up 44% In that countries' state of Victoria, homicides with firearms are up 300%. Over the previous 25 years, figures show a steady decrease in armed robberies and Australian politicians are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no improvement in "safety" has been observed after such monumental effort and expense was successfully expended in "ridding society of guns."

It's time to state it plainly; Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws only affect the law-abiding citizens. Take action before it's too late, write or call your delegation.

OPINION Paul Harvey on Guns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Harvey's comment on Columbine High shootings:

How can we blame it all on guns?

For the life of me, I can't understand what could have gone wrong in Littleton, CO. If only the parents had kept their children away from the guns, we wouldn't have had such a tragedy.

Yeah, it must have been the guns. It couldn't have been because half our children are being raised in broken homes. It couldn't have been because our children get to spend an average of 30 seconds in meaningful conversation with their parents each day. After all, we give our children quality time.

It couldn't have been because we treat our children as pets and our pets as children.

It couldn't have been because we place our children in day care centers where they learn their socialization skills among their peers under the law of the jungle while employees who have no vested interest in the children look on and make sure that no blood is spilled.

It couldn't have been because we allow our children to watch, on the average, seven hours of television a day filled with the glorification of sex and violence that isn't fit for adult consumption.

It couldn't have been because we allow our children to enter into virtual worlds in which, to win the game, one must kill as many opponents as possible in the most sadistic way possible.

It couldn't have been because we have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love.

It couldn't have been because our children, who historically have been seen as a blessing from God, are now being viewed as either a mistake created when contraception fails or inconveniences that parents try to raise in theie spare time.

It couldn't have been because we give two-year prison sentences to teenagers who kill their newborns. Or by handing out condoms as if they were candy.

It couldn't have been because we teach our children that there are no laws of morality that transcend us, that everything is relative and that actions don't have consequences. What the heck, the president gets away with it.

Nah, it must have been the guns. -- Paul Harvey "That is the rest of the story."

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"If you have men who will exclude creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men". --Saint Frances

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 25

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

[Ed. note: be forewarned, the subject discussed is controversial and the author is now in the grave. I do not necessarily agree with everything stated, but the premise of this category is to publish my late dad's columns as written and previously published on his now no longer available website, not to edit out those things with which I am not in agreement.]

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

December 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

NOTE -- Due to the extreme interest in the November Page I have decided to extend it through December. If you came here expecting my Christmas Story click on December 1999 at the bottom of this page.

The US Supreme court upheld Boy Scouts of America's right to bar gay men from being in leadership positions, yet some United Way branches have said they will not give BSA any monies if they persist in this stand. Hopefully, this is localized in areas like S F.

If the information I have is correct, one out of every eight men are gay. That leaves seven others who resent having unnatural sexuality imposed on our kids.

What I am requesting is, this year instead of making a donation to United Way, make it directly to BSA. Maybe we can send a message that will be heard around the world.

I'm sure homosexuals see themselves differently than I. But whatever anyone says, sodomy is a deviant act. I can't imagine inserting my organ into any bunghole -- male or female. Not when God made woman for that explicit purpose and gave her such a delicious place. And it is unthinkable that I would invite a guy to use me that way. Our little kids don’t need to hear all the details of homosexual doing. If we are going to teach sex in school, let it be be straight sex, like nature intended.

I realize that homosexuality may be genetic or a birth defect and they cannot help being gay. I have known quite a few gay men and I promise you, most would rather be straight if they had the choice.

Some defend their actions by saying, "There has been homosexuality since the beginning of time." There has been rape and murder since the beginning of time as well, but that still doesn't make them acceptable, although I'll admit, our society is leaning farther and farther away from the victim's and seems more dedicated to criminal rights. Perhaps sometime in the future we will have groups of wife-beaters, and alcoholics, and druggies applying for permits to demonstrate for their rights.

I am not a sexist, nor do I condemn gays for what they are. I consider myself pretty liberal and I accept any kind of harmless sex between consenting adults as okay, but not sodomy. It is dangerous -- more life threatening than B&D. Both have the potential to cause ever-lasting harm, and death.

The entire gay movement can climb onto soapboxes and shout gay rights to the Heavens and still most straight men will think of homosexuals as "queer". That's the way it is.

Suppose the other seven of us ban together for "Straight rights". We should have the right to chose what we want our children to be taught in school. We should have the right to select the person we think is most suitable to lead them. We should have the right to decide for ourselves if homosexually is immoral behavior or not. Perhaps we should have the right to carry signs detailing our favorite sexual positions. And we certainly should have the right to speak up for BSA when we think they are being wronged. Notice I didn't say make United Way share funds with BSA. They have the right to decide that, but we have the right to contribute to BSA instead of United Way . That is what I am going to do. I hope you will join me.

Good values are as important today as they were a hundred years ago. That is why I can't support Gay Rights. They can recognize each other and we can usually pick them out of a crowd so why impose their sexual choice on others. Some things should remain private. What purpose is served by coming out?

I REALIZE THIS IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT AND THERE ARE ISSUES ON BOTH SIDES THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. I INVITE YOUR FEEDBACK. A LIMITED NUMBER OF LETTERS -- PRO AND CON WILL BE POSTED ON MY "READER CONTRIBUTION" PAGE. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT THEM FOR BREVITY AND LANGUAGE.[*]

Something must be done regarding the increasing flood of unwanted bulk e-mail. This is going to become an insurmountable problem in another year or two unless positive action is taken NOW.

The easiest and most effective solution would be legislation to require bulk mailers to put a key word or number on the subject line. As I am sure you know, Microsoft’s browsers and others have a program to screen e-mail with a list of words. Only problem is, the bulk mailers are getting wiser and have started doctoring their subject lines to counteract it. Example: A law office might run all the words together. IRS,LIEN,DIVORCE,DUI,ATTORNEY No spaces so it fools the blocking program.. Everyone please write your congressman and ask for immediate relief. Wouldn't it get their attention if we just FWD everything we get to them?

DANGER -- DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809 [**]

With the advent of the internet and world wide communication there are many scams coming to light. Other nations are not bound by US laws so they can do on-line gambling, banking without regulation, and sell and distribute porno to name a few. But here is a new one that promises to rake in billions of OUR MONEY.

This is pretty scary - especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure to read this and pass it on to all your friends and family so they don't get scammed! Do not respond to emails, phone calls, or web page which tell you to call an "809" phone number. This is a very important issue of Scam Busters! Because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading "extremely" quickly - can easily cost you $100 or more and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing victims a lot of money. There are lots of different versions of this scam so you have to be alert

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS

"You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're asked to call varies; it can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you're told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $25 a minute! Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $100.00

WHY IT WORKS

The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (the Bahamas) The 809 code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by US regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a "pay-per-call" number. There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many US phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 code.

No matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call - disregard the message. Be wary of email calls asking you to call an 809 code too. It's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both our local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.
Please use the form at the bottom of this page to advise your friends, family and colleagues of this scam so they don't get ripped off.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

About the only thing we have left that actually discriminates in favor of the plain people is the stork. --Kin Hubbard

*Of course, this option is no longer available. You are free to leave any comments you wish to leave, however the person you would be responding to is not available and will not see what you have said. As for my opinion on this subject, I have previously posted such here.

**This hoax is for real. I have previously searched and found it is true, but not that common and the figures posted are much lower than some of the email about the same thing I have had forwarded to me on several occasions. The advice is good. However, not all numbers in such area code are involved, only a few. I guess that is like saying not every Nigerian is involved in email scams, huh? Just enough to make a problem.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 24

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

November 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

I'm gonna start out a bit different this month. It is the time of Thanksgiving and we all have lots to be thankful for. So first thing, I want to THANK my dear friend, Kim, for allowing me to use her poem to help get us all into a Thanksgiving frame of mind:

THANKSGIVING

The time of year has come, my friend
The summer's passed away
The morning air now holds a chill
Which grows each passing day

The trees have just begun to sleep
Their leaves dance to the ground
The beauty of their fall, unique
And scattered all around

This time of year is special
And different in its ways
It offers us reflection
Of this years passing days

We call this time Thanksgiving
For so much, it is due
So we give thanks for those we love
And friendships old and new

It won't be long until the trees
Reach toward the sky so bare
And icy winds will soon replace
The chill that's in the air

But those cold winds will not affect
The warmth our hearts still hold
For all the ones that we give thanks
Will help us through the cold

I send this so that you will know
Within my heart so true
When I give thanks, Thanksgiving Day
My thoughts will include you
~ < c >K. Plaisance 11/99

It's also the time for electing a new President of these United States of America. Now, I have mixed emotions about the election. I know we need a new President. No quarrel with that. Only thing is, which one do we need least. It's a shame that our political system is in such a muddle that we are compelled to choose by elimination. Don't s'pose we'll ever have any real say as to who holds this office of the highest power in the world.

In a message dated 10/11/2000 5:21:34 PM Central Daylight Time, Shanvau writes:

Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's sub-committee.

What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful. They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert!

These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves.

I wrote a poem that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"

You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and reek havoc.

Spiritual influences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact.

What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA.

They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws.

Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

Political posturing and restrictive legislation are not the answers. The young people of our nation hold the key. There is a spiritual awakening taking place that will not be squelched!

We do not need more religion.

We do not need more gaudy television evangelists spewing out verbal religious garbage.

We do not need more million dollar church buildings built while people with basic needs are being ignored.

We do need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God!"

As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, He did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right!

I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA- I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone! My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!

Do what the media did not ... let the nation hear this man's speech. Please use the form[*] at bottom of this page to send this to everyone you can!!!

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

If you don't believe you have anything to be thankful for, be thankful for the privilege to express that belief. --Rusty Rucker

*Of course, there is no form at the bottom of this post, but there is a permalink which you can use to (re)inform people of this message which I have not personally checked for accuracy.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 23

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

September 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

I swore I wouldn't take sides on anything political, but George Bush Jr. done rubbed me wrong when he started talking about letting us who draws Social Security invest a part of our income in the stock market. He is totally out of touch with reality. How much does he think we get?

Maybe if SSI amounted to more than just enough to keep us alive (Some live on dog food -- the dry kind) we might be inclined to make some investments like Bush and all the other millionaire Republicans, but not one out of ten of the folks surviving on Social Security knows a pig's ear about investing. We would have to rely on brokers. Now, wouldn't that be a great opportunity to lose all our fingers (and toes)?

Nah! I think we need to take what we get and invest it in beans and potatoes so we may survive another hot summer without air conditioning and a cold, cold winter with little or no heat.

"Dad-gum-it"! you scream, "What about the Democrats"? Well now, I have had some things to say about them in the past. For those what has a short memory, go to: http://camalott.com/~chili/rusty23.htm">June 2000 Gun Control
and see what I said about thet.

Truth is -- What either says in campaign promises and what they does if they gets in is two entirely different horses. If there wuz only a way to oust all politicions and bring in farmers, truck drivers, oil field workers, ranchers, housewives, school teachers, and so fourth, we could have a real Government by the People and For the People.

What do you think about this?[*]--

Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security, and of course, they don't collect from it. The reason is that they have a special retirement plan that they voted for themselves many years ago.

For all practical purposes, it works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay, until they die, except that it may be increased from time to time, by cost of living adjustments.

For instance, former Senator Bradley, and his wife, may be expected to draw $7.9 Million, with Mrs. Bradley drawing $275,000 during the last years of her life. This is calculated on the average life span for each. This would be well and good, except that they pay nothing in on any kind of retirement, and neither does any other Senator or Congressman.

This fine retirement comes right out of the General Fund. Our tax dollars at work. While we who pay for it all, draw less than $1,000 per month on average from Social Security.

How good could Social Security really be?

A first step to finding out would be to jerk the Golden Fleece retirement out from under the Senators and Congressman, and put them in Social Security with the rest of us, and watch how fast they fix it.

No reason to live in a fantasy world. That will never happen. Wouldn't we all like to have a job where we can vote our own raises, health plan, retirement plan, while we keep our hands out for whatever BIG BUSINESS wants to slip into it.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

*I have received this information several times in emails and have never gone through the time to actually checked it for accuracy. However, I personally suspect it is likely pretty accurate.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 22

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

July 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Have you ever wondered--what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?[*]

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over his home for their headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. His home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America.The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by please sending this to as many people as you can. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games. P.T.F.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it." ---John Fitzgerald Kennedy

*Regrettably, I got this same message emailed to me this last 4th of July and decided to check for the accuracy of this information. From my research, this information was attributed to Paul Harvey, sometime in the 1950's, and most of it is fairly inaccurate. However, all people who opposed the English during the American Revolution did sacrifice much for our freedom, so the message is still worth remembering.

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 21

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with some of it.

May, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Wasn’t planning to take any kind of stand on the Elian Gonzales thing, but since Janet Reno decided to get into it, guess I’ll put in my two cents worth. Seems it’s just the same as Waco. Too much government interference. I don’t say he shouldn’t have been reunited with his daddy, but why break in and kidnap him? After all, his mother gave her life trying to get him out of Cuba. If she had made it alive with him, no doubt they would have been granted asylum. No need to make it into an International incident.

During the winter I put together a couple of Purple Martin houses and mounted them high in the sky. Although it is my first experience with this particular bird I am proud to report, both houses are full of little birds.

I love springtime when everything regenerates. Bluebonnets are beautiful, but a poor crop this year. The Texas dry winter was hard on flowers, lakes, and farmers. Spring hasn’t been much better. Hope we are not headed for another dust bowl like in the early 1930's of which Steinbeck wrote about in “Grapes of Wrath”. That is something we shore don’t need.

If you came directly to this page, I hope you will check out my Homepage. There is a photo of me and my adoptive wolf, Mina. She is such a wonderful creature. Sitting there scratching her tummy it is hard for me to believe how many people think wolves are savage beasts. Far as I am concerned, they are just another breed of dogs and far less aggressive that pit bulls and rottweilers. During the time I have been involved with wolves I have come to understand them better and appreciate them for their intelligence and striking beauty.

Things we learn from our dogs...

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
--Author Unknown

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"If you have men who will exclude creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men".
--Saint Frances

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 20

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with some of it.

April, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

You have heard of "being at the right place at the wrong time". Think that just happened to me a while ago. Was over at a neighbors, jawing about this, that, an' t'other when I happened to notice the 60 minutes program on TV about Wolves.

Now, as a lover of nature and particularly wolves I was mighty upset by some of the things being said. One gun dealer remarked to the effect, "What is going to happen when one of those supposed tamed wolves attacks and kills one of our children'?

Well, in the first place there has never "NEVER" been a case in recorded history where a healthy wolf attacked a human -- but if one did, it would be a only drop in the bucket to how many Pit Bulls and Rottwilers turn on their owners every year. Or, to put it bluntly, how many men and women have raped, tortured, and murdered their own kind -- even blood kin. Before we begin to worry about the danger from a few wolves, let us take a lesson from their strict hierarchy order.

As a person who has walked with wolves, sat on God's earth and played and scratched bellies and, been licked affectionately in the face. I'll tell you something that may come as a great surprise. Wolves are just another breed of dogs. Not unlike Siberian Huskies which are used extensively to work in captivity. Even now, there are thousands of places in Alaska, Canada and Siberia that are accessible only by dog sleds or helicopters. Last time I heard, few Eskimos own helicopters.

I have seen wild dogs -- dogs abandoned by their owners and forced to fend for themselves do outrageous things a Wolf would never do. Wolves are predators by nature, just like Lions, Bears, and Mankind -- except wolves and bears kill only for food -- never for sport. Wolves left to their own devises will feed on weak, lame, and injured, animals. Ever wonder what happens to the deer wonded by a hunter, but not killed?

Wolves are not out to prove how smart they are to bring down a prized bull or a healthy elk, though a pack could easily do it. Like all animals, they take the course of least resistance and feed on the easiest prey. And don't think they are not smart. They know who their enemies are and try to avoid them. Unfortunately, there is little defense against a 30-30 Winchester rifle in the hands of a sneaking ambusher.

Just like to make one other point. National Forests are government land just as are National Parks. Many, many thousands of acres of government land are leased to self-serving ranchers for a small fraction of what it should cost. Many of them are making out like bandits which, to my way of thinking, is exactly what they are.

TRUE LOVE WAITS

What is wrong with recreational sex?

A question not hard to answer when you consider consequences such as, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. But there is deeper, much deeper harm. It is abuse of one of mankind’s greatest gifts.

Sex is meant as an attraction to bring lovers together for the purpose of procreation. Bring lovers together -- the key word here is LOVERS. That is not a person you commit a sex act with as the term is so often used. A lover is someone you are fond of, like to be with, share hopes, dreams and desires, and are totally devoted to -- excluding all others.

Before any couple considers having sex they should already be in love. In love enough to commit to eternal marriage. There are far too many little children being born to single mothers as a result of recreational sex. Growing up in today’s crowded world with all the peer pressure youngsters encounter is hard enough to overcome without adding to their woes by having only one nurturing adult in the home. When children mature in an environment of paternal love and devotion they are better equipped to function in society. It has always been that way and it always will be.

Regardless of how great the joy of climax may seem while high on alcohol, crack cocaine, or marijuana, the risk outweighs it a hundred to one. I guarantee, an orgasm with a partner you truly love and are devoted to spend forever with is ecstasy unequaled. Sexual gratification is a precious gift. Don’t waste it foolishly.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 19

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with some of it.

March, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Sorry I am a bit late this time. Had a much needed medical procedure that took me out of action for a few days.[*]

In the month of February we lost two great men. Charles Schultz who entertained children all over the world for many years with Peanuts and Snoopy. And Tom Landry who personified what a gentleman is supposed to be. One of the greatest coaches of all time, he was a Christian, a leader, and a friend to all who knew him.

It’s no accident that the Dallas Cowboys became known as America’s team. They have always been good on the field, but under Landry they were good off the field, too. I remember when “Hollywood” Henderson was fired for using cocaine during a game, Lance Rentzel lost his job for flashing, and Clint Longley learned that Tom wouldn’t allow fighting between quarterbacks.
Henderson was a great linebacker, Lance a talented wide receiver and Longley, a promising young quarterback.

Tom was always straight faced because he took his job seriously. He wore a hat, coat, and tie to every game. Contributed generously to charity and encouraged his players to walk on the side of right and honor. A gentleman with class who earned the respect he deserved.Food for thought and nice to hear.

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES

This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

America: The Good Neighbor.

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them?

Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at . Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

Stand proud, America!

This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would give it some thought. We are blamed for everything that goes wrong, and never even get a thank you for what we do.

I hope that each reader will send this to as many people as possible and emphasize that they should send it to as many of their friends until this letter is sent to every person on the web. I am just a single American that has read this, I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON.

Wit and Wisdom

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal the neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

No one is listening until you make a mistake.

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.

If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

Tell the truth and you don't have to remember anything.

If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

Never mess up an apology with an excuse.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.

Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither works.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

If you try hard enough and long enough, nothing is impossible.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"There was never a nation great until it came to the knowledge that it had nowhere in the world to go for help."
--Charles Dudley Warner

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

*What was that? Angioplasty, I think.

Episode No. 18

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Another bonus: I had to do that link whatchamacallit to get one that I originally could not access, and found a graphic representation that Rusty displayed on his page. Although I did not disclose such previously, the Behind the Chicken Shack logo and this graphic are creations of mine from about the same period as the columns.

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with some of it.

February, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Let's all think about LOVE.

Call me old-fashioned -- for that is what I am.

I believe in love. True love. Enduring love. Everlasting love. It is something we should all experience. Not making out in the back seat or behind dunes at the beach. If a guy and girl like each other, they have to respect the other's feelings and desires. A boy may have several girlfriends and like all of them. Same with girls and boyfriends. But, if they are not compatible they will drift apart, or at least they should. Never become so enamored with sexual affairs that you believe it is love. When two people are truly in love, they will naturally have sex, but just because they enjoy each other in bed doesn’t mean they are in love. If you think you are in love -- YOU ARE NOT. When you really fall in love YOU WILL KNOW.

There is a world of difference between trying to make it work and being in love. Of course, it is entirely possible to be in love and not be completely compatible. That is the reason for engagements -- the longer the better. After being promised to each other is soon enough to have sex. Safe sex. Compatibility in this area is important, but it should never be the deciding factor for marriage. This is the time to put all your effort into resolving whatever problems have arisen. Two people who are truly in love will always find a way to settle their differences.

A good test of love is; Are you ever ashamed of the person you're with? If a guy can't feel proud of his date and want to show her off, she doesn't belong with him. And it’s the same in reverse.

Another thing; Don't be Jealous A great relationship is built on mutual trust. If you have to worry about someone stealing your date, he/she was never yours from the start.

Treat her with respect. If she is willing to go out with you, make her proud of the choice. Stick up for her and protect her, even if it means putting yourself in jeopardy.

Girls, there are plenty of guys like this out there. You deserve one, so don’t settle for anything less.

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics:

- 29 have been accused of spousal abuse.
- 7 have been arrested for fraud.
- 19 have been accused of passing bad checks.
-117 have bankrupted at least two businesses.
- 3 have been arrested for assault.
- 71 cannot get credit or loans due to bad credit histories.
- 14 have been arrested on drug related charges.
- 8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
- 21 are current defendants on various lawsuits.
- In 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving.

Can you guess what organization this is?

Give up?

It is the 535 members of the U.S. Congress that work for you and me. The same group that cranks out hundreds upon hundreds of laws designed to keep the rest of us in line. -- Paul Harvey news

Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too
I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin
When he smiled I realized
I'd passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile
then I realized its worth,
A single smile, just like mine,
could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin,
don't leave it undetected
Let's start an epidemic quick,
and get the world infected!
--Author unknown

I invite you to copy this
And pass it on to a friend.
Everyone needs a smile!
NOW IS THE TIME TO BEGIN.
--Rusty

"Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave."
--Mahatma Gandhi

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 17

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with some of it.

January, 2000 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

2000 -- A brand New Year -- New Century -- New Millennium.

Time for some new beginnings -- some serious resolutions. If y’all can’t think of any for yourselves, how ‘bout resolve to uphold the Ten Commandments. It would be wonderful if all the people in the World did that. If that is too much to ask, then settle for The Golden Rule. Most of us could benefit there, too.

I read where the Ancient Incas predicted that “The world will come to an end on December 23, 2012". I doubt they ever dreamed of atomic bombs, laser guns, deadly viruses, or poison gases. We will all have to put forth our best effort to make it last that long.

The place to start is population control. The whole world needs to practice Zero births for at least a decade. Of course, there is no way it will happen. Sex is all the entertainment some disadvantaged countries have. Life is of little value to them.

There are folks having babies for lots of wrong reasons. To get extra welfare money -- to increase numbers of their race -- to prove virility and numerous others.

Someone will mention a particularly memorable event from the past and another will say, “Ah! Those were the Good Old Days”. What could possibly be so good about times before Television, Airplanes, penicillin, Major league ball, Skyscrapers, organ transplants and all the other wonders of our modern world?
Well now, let’s just see. How about being able to walk alone at night without fear. Never locking your doors. Food grown by your own hands with no artificial coloring or preservatives. No labels on cans and boxes telling how many vitamins or how much saturated fat was contained.

Never even heard of nuclear war. There weren't no terrorist neither. Oh, maybe a bank robbery now and then but we had so little money, it was not a very profitable line of work.

Heck we knew what was good for us. Pinto beans, cornbread, turnup greens, fresh oven roasted corn on the cob, sorghum molasses, and lots of hard work.
We didn’t belong to the gym -- don't s'pose there wuz any. Didn’t cost a nickel to slop the hogs, milk the cows, churn the butter, hoe the crops and bring in the harvest.

I challenge the people making all that expensive exercise equipment to come up with something that will develop a body like choppin' wood or hauling hay from the fields and tossing seventy pound bales over your head through an opening in the barn loft. And saunas -- shucks, try being the one in that hot barn dragging and stacking those bales.

No! We didn't have no super sonic jet liners or bullet trains. Nor did we have those exotic diseases and viruses brought in from all over the world on them.
I remember Pa telling about courting my Ma in a one horse buggy. They could stay out ‘til 8:30 or 9:00 on week nights and maybe as late as 10 o'clock on Saturday. No recreational sex before marriage in those days. A boy that did his girl wrong had to answer to her Daddy and maybe half a dozen hard-fisted brothers.

The "good Old Days" kept boys in the field from sun-up to sun-down where they developed into strong men with dreams of a wife and kids and a farm of their own. No thought of street gangs, drugs, rape, shooting up schools or burning churches. It was those boys around the start of the twentieth century and their off spring that defended America through two world wars and built it into the great nation it is today. Let us see what the youth of today does to top that in the NEXT HUNDRED YEARS.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."
--Frank Lloyd Wright

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Episode No. 16

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Editor's note: Upon opening the file with December, 1999's column, I noticed it was just a rerun of the Christmas poem from the December, 1998 column. As such, I saw no reason to republish such here. However, just on a lark, I clicked the link for the lost October, 1999 column and remarkably actually accessed that column. So, instead of the expected December, 1999 column, what follows is the previously skipped October, 1999 column. Additionally, as a bonus, I retrieved the title graphic for the Rusty Rucker column.

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

October, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Starting my 2nd. year with this issue. Thanks to all my loyal fans who drop in each month to read the latest scoop. I have tried to make this issue special, but will never know how you like it unless you write and tell me.

SUBJECT: Reno's Ramblings

I didn't actually hear this speech , but the information came from a reliable sourse.

Read this alarming statement from Janet Reno:

"A CULTIST is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who homeschools for their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has strong belief in the Second Amendment; and who distrusts big government. Any of these may qualify a person as a cultist but certainly more than one of these would cause us to look at this person as a threat and his family as being in a high risk situation that qualifies for government interference."

-- Janet Reno, Attny. General of the United States during an Interview on CBS "60 Minutes" on June 26, 1999.

Do YOU qualify as a cultist by Reno's definition? Are you (as defined by the US Attorney General) a threat to the U.S.?

This concerns me. Does it bother you?

Everyone in this country -- "the land of the free" -- with computer access should copy this and send a copy to every other man, woman and child who has the ability to read.

There is a heap of uproar lately regarding Police sales of confiscated firearms. This knowledge leads me to wonder -- WHAT ABOUT CONFISCATED DRUGS? You hear all the time about the Coast Guard, FBI, or some branch of Police making a raid whitch yields a huge amount of drugs -- OFTEN TONS. How many times have you heard or read when or where those drugs are being destroyed? Hummmmmm!

Statistics show that Americans work the first three hours of every day just to pay their taxes.

That must be why we can't get much done in the mornings -- we're government workers!

You remember, I mentioned a while back that the POPULATION BOMB has already gone off. This is evidenced by all the starving people around the world. Think I read someplace that two-thirds of the world populaion goes to bed hungry every night. I don't suppose that is an accurate statement, 'cause millions and millions have no bed to climb in. Now those of us that have the power to enforce birth control have failed to use it and seems like God (AKA Mother Nature) is steppin' in to help out. Is it my imagination, or are there lots more killer earthquakes lately than ever before in history? And what about killer diseases like HIV. Now they say the fastest spreading virus is hepatitis C and it is even a more deadly killer. I just lost a close family member [*] to cirrhosis of the liver, brought on by this dreaded disease. It, like HIV can be transmitted by sharing drug needles and having unprotected sex with an infected person, but the reason it is more deadly -- THE VIRUS CAN SURVIVE MUCH LONGER OUTSIDE THE BODY.

Our government keeps talking about sending more money to Columbia to help fight the drug lords that have taken control of that country. Seems to me like we could send the mone okay, but in the form of CARE packages. They could be delivered by Stealth fighters with CARE to drop them on the most needy. The processing plants. There is something wrong when government is willing to spend billions to fight someone else's war in Europe while doing next to nothing about this invasion that is destroying our nation and killing our young. I say, pass a law to make it an Act of War for any nation to export illegal drugs to the USA -- and if they can't inforce them, we should step in and help. This is the kind of foreign aid I can relate to.

Expect I done figured out why it is so dry here in Texas. There is only so much sunlight to draw water into the sky 'n when it all falls on North Carolina there just ain't none left for the rest of us. Either that, or the collection plate has been coming up short on Sundays.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
--Adlai E. Stevenson

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

*That close family member was his wife, my mother, who had contracted Hepatitis C through blood given during a surgery almost a decade previously.

Episode No. 15

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Those of you keeping track will probably notice that Episode No. 14 was Septermber, 1999's column and this one is from November, 1999. I was unable to recover the one for October, 1999. It has gone the way of the dodo, it seems.

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

November, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Hope all you kids survived Halloween and didn’t get sick on the candy. Mostly I hope you read my Halloween poem. If you didn’t, go to my poetry page and check it out. It’s so good, even my dogs wag their tails when I read it to ‘em. I’ll leave it there through November -- or at least ‘til I think of a subject for Thanksgiving.

USA Today has conducted a new survey: Apparently three out of four people make up 75% of the population.

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the 'Present'

Prayer in school continues to be a much cussed and discussed subject. Can not understand why. This little poem that someone sent me says it all

NOW I SIT ME DOWN IN SCHOOL

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of him very odd
If scripture now the class recites
It violates the Bill of Rights
Any time my head I bow
Becomes a federal matter now
The law is specific the law is precise
Praying out loud is no longer nice

Praying aloud in a public hall
Upsets those who believe in nothing at all
In silence alone we can meditate
And if GOD should get the credit GREAT!
They are bringing guns to school,
They think being armed is really cool.
But I don’t dare bring my BIBLE
To do so might make me liable
So now OH LORD this plea I make
Should I be shot in school, my soul PLEASE TAKE.
--Author Unknown

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

"Old age is fifteen years older than I am."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

[*]

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

*BIG BROTHER watches no more. Only you true Rusty Rucker fans will understand that.

Episode No. 14

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

September, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

It occurs to me, there is nobody minding the store. The president is so blamed anxious to get Hillary elected to the Senate he is releasing Porto Rican terrorist from prison as a show of good faith -- hoping to garner the huge Porto Rican vote in New York for her.

Meanwhile, Governor Bush seems to be running on a platform of raising money. I know most republicans are wealthy and they want one of their own kind in the Oval Office, but I wonder what they expect in return. Hummmmm!!!

And, what about the Branch Davidian fiasco. Will it never go away? You know those big shots in the FBI and ATF thought they were God when they used incendiary gas after they had explicit orders not to do it. Leaves Janet Reno with a bunch of egg on her face.

Had a rattlesnake bite one of my dogs last week. He had gnawed half his paw off before I found him. I took him to the vet but he died anyway. You would think a blamed dog would know better ‘n try to swat a rattler with his foot. I got a new puppy though. Hits one of them Rottwilers, but I aim to leave it's tail on. That way intruders may mistake it for a hound. Whoooeeee! Won't that be a surprise.

I picked up the following sommers. Don't rightly ‘member where at the moment.

A COWBOY'S GUIDE TO LIFE

Don't interfere with something that ain't botherin' you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm.
The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

If it don't seem like it's worth the effort, it probably ain't.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.

Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence,
try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Don't worry about bitin' off more'n you can chew;
your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger'n you think.

Generally, you ain't learnin' nothing when your mouth's a-jawin'.

If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there with ya.

Good judgment comes from experience,
and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
--H. L. Mencken

[*]

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

*Where has BIG BROTHER gone? Only you true Rusty Rucker fans will understand that.

Episode No. 13

Yes, kiddies, it is that time again . . . time for another adventure from yesteryear. Yes, we all know you are all ready for another adventure of Rusty Rucker, and today's exciting episode is chock full of spine-tingling tales. So gather around, hush your mouths, make sure the parents are in the other room and let's get this show on the road:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

August 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Let's see if I have this straight. We can spend billions of dollars to protect Albania from the Serbs, but in our war against illegal drugs at home what do we do? I read where President Clinton wants to increase the anount of aid we send Columbia. I say stick that aid where the sun don't shine. The CIA knows the location (unless they have old maps) of every one of those Cocane processing plants. Why not send Stealth fighters in some night and bomb the hell out of all of them. Then make it plain that we will consider any country that exports drugs to the USA to be hostile and aggressive and deal with them likewise. It's stupid to waste time and money trying to stop drug trafficing at the borders. We need to do it at the point of origin.

Something that's a puzzle to me and I can't find no answer. Every time you go to a doctor, he/she will order one or more x-rays, yet we are constantly warned about the danger of radiation. So x-rays are not good for you. Why is it that when a body has cancer they treat it with radiation. It's a mystery I can't solve. Any one who has the answer, drop me a line.

Woah Nellie! Is it ever hot down here in Texas. Folks are doing all sorts of odd things -- like frying eggs on sidewalks, baking cookies inside parked cars, ‘n running air-conditioning day and night. I even got around to hooking up my swamp cooler couple days ago. "Mosquitoes breeding box," I like to call it.
Can't figure how it can be hot and dry for six months but make one little puddle of water on the ground and you'll have a swarm of "skeeters" buzzing ‘round your head all night long.

Might help if I had screens on all the windows. Used to have ‘til one night a danged jet airplane flew over and made a sonic boom. Reckon it skeered Ole Blue a mite. He jumped right through the window, screen and all, and hid under my bed until morning. Hit must a been one of them Stealth Fighters ‘cause I went out and looked all around and didn't see hide nor hair of it.

Billy Bob Simmons lives two places over from me, or did. Old Billy Bob passed away last week and his widow went down to place an obit in the paper. When the paper fellow told her it would cost 50 cents a word she told him just to say, "Billy Bob died." He explained that there was a 7 word minimum so she amended the article to read, "Billy Bob Died. Ford pickup for sale."

Remember what I told ya a couple of months back about leaving kids and pets in parked cars. Well, it's more important than ever to heed that warning. Even with windows cracked it's still too hot. Take ‘em in with you or leave them at home.

My old John Deere tractor is setting idle out in the shed. No sense in planting any fall wheat. Just dry up like my summer garden did. S'pose I'll be eating out of tin cans this winter. Been aiming to run a hose from the creek so I can pump to the house for watering the garden -- maybe a little flower bed too. Only thing is, I ain't got no pump, and no cash for buying one. Of course, if I had a pump I could use the power take off on my tractor to run it. Wouldn't cost much. That old John Deere will plow from sunup ‘til sundown in the summertime on ten gallons of gas.

Expect I got me a brand new grandson yesterday. One of my boys up and married a gal who already has a 7 year old lad. Cutest dad burned kid I ever seen. Looks ‘zackly like me when I was a young‘un. Hee! hee! hee! Am gonna stick a photo of the little dickens down at the bottom. Y'all write and tell me if I am wrong.[*]

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

Ah! what would the world be to us
If the children were no more?
We should dread the desert behind us
Worse than the dark before.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[**]

See all of the currently published Rusty Rucker works by clicking on this link.

Rusty Rucker posts are from previously published monthly columns of my late father that had been lost until I discovered Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

*I was actually at that wedding, but the groom was not I. The kid was cute, the gal was white trash, I thought my brother made a mistake, and it didn't take long for him to realize that fact on his own. The kid was cute, though, so Rusty had that right. Actually my brother has found a really sweet gal who he has married or will soon marry and they had a little baby gal last Octover, She also has a son from a previous relationship and he is much much cuter than the one Rusty was praising. However, Rusty saw a lot of himself in the other kid, as he was a little left-handed red headed rascal, just as Rusty had been so many long years ago.***

**For some reason, it seems that BIG BROTHER was not watching that month. Only you true Rusty Rucker fans will understand that.

***Anyone getting a clue as to why he was called Rusty now?

Episode No. 12

Yes, just what you have been waiting for all day ... another look into the past into what my late dad had to say in one of his monthly columns. This is number 12, for those keeping count.

For those of you who are big fans of Rusty's columns, I have recategorized such posts, so you can now have an index of all the columns and the poems by linking to the Rusty Rides Again category index page.

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

July 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Well now, let's see if we can get some things in prospective. Like all the high school boys going crazy and killing their fellow students. No one could ever condone such heinous acts, but this was just a handful of youth. Let's think of the millions of teenagers who go to school, mow the lawn, help with chores, sack groceries and lead a normal life.

The media rarely praises these guys. There are so many of them doing so well it is not news, but it should be. Kids today are confronted with stuff we never dreamed of in my day. All kinds of temptation dangling out there for them to latch onto. We didn't have friends selling drugs back then. In fact, the only drugs I knew anything about came from the pharmacy, which we called the drug store.

Another thing we have to keep in mind, the population has doubled and doubled again in recent years. There is overcrowding everywhere. This keeps the pot boiling all the time. It's no wonder that it boils over now and then.

Takes a heap of parenting to raise boys and girls in today's environment. And all too often, both parents work outside the home. I'll tell you right now, whatever extra benefit that second check brings, it is not worth the sacrifice of our children. If folks are gonna have young'uns, they gotta manage it so Mom (or Dad) is home until the youngest is in high school.

I sure can't disregard the mass loss of life in these school shootings, or bombing like Oklahoma City, but there is no justification for taking away our guns. Far back as I can remember it has been unlawful for individuals to own automatic weapons (machine guns) but the mobsters of the 20's had them anyway. Same now! Disarming the population will have little, if any effect on armed crime. Criminals can always get guns. But, imagine what will happen to burglaries and other intrusive crimes when they know the resident is not armed and hasn't any way to protect himself. Never doubt, crimes are committed by persons who do not wish to be caught, hurt or sent to jail. A 38 Smith & Wesson under the mattress or a Colt 45 in the nightstand drawer is an intruder's worst nightmare.

Gun owners should be responsible adults and I have no quarrel with requiring a character check before selling a weapon, not do I object to forbidding the sale of assault rifles and those 25 round "Buck Rogers" pistols. Neither belong in the hands of the general public.

I personally, have a double-barrel 12 gauge shotgun with rabbit and squirrel load on one side and double-ought buckshot on the other. Something for all occasions, you might say.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

... I believe one of America's most priceless assets is the idealism which motivates the young people of America. My generation has invested all that it has, not only its love but its hope and faith, in yours.

--Richard M. Nixon

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 11

Yep, it is time again to post another exciting monthly column from the past writings of my late father. This is eleventh monthly column, so please enjoy yourself and please tell your friends!

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he comes up with, and who knows, you might even agree with part of it.

June 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

A while ago I heard a little boy say, "What do I need to learn math for? I got a pocket calculator." I expect you have your own ideas WHY, but this is the way I see it. "Because it exists." Learning is somethin' we all gotta do ever day, else when we get old and start forgetting stuff, pretty quick our heads will be empty as a gourd. Show me a child who is curious and inquisitive and I'll point out a young 'un that will amount to something.

Funny thing is, I have knowed smart kids what spent more time and energy getting out or chores and assignments ‘n it would take to do ‘em, but that's a whole nother keg of worms.

And parents, if you have a youngster that wants to sit in front of the TV all summer, buy him a magazine about whatever it is that attracts his interest. He may be content to thumb through it at first, but soon as something catches his eye, he will read about it, even if he has to come ask you half the words. The trick is to get him interested in reading -- and learning.

I recall in the days before TV, we would divide up the paper and all read at the breakfast table. "Course, now my sight has gotten so blamed bad and the print is so dad-burned tiny, I don't bother with the paper anymore. What news I get is off the radio -- Paul Harvey. Reckon we are ‘bout the same age.

With Summer sneaking up on us, it's time to remember some safety precautions. Every year little kids and little pets suffocate in locked cars because of unthinking adults.

First off, never leave a child in a car for ANY length of time, for ANY reason. Don't believe your two year old who laughs and honks the horn when you run into a convenience store for a pack of cigarettes or jug of milk can't get curious and pull the car into gear. The possibilities from this action are endless -- from banging a gas pump which could catch fire, to rolling into the street amid speeding traffic. Oh, I know that some fancy new cars can't come outta park without a foot on the brake, but there are other hazards, like opening the door or KIDNAPPING. Just gather the tot into your arms and take him/her with you. And pets, though they are not likely to put the car into gear, grow panicky when left unattended. They are apt to scratch or chew the upholstery or at the very least, wet the seat. Temperature in a closed vehicle can reach deadly height in ten minutes or less when parked in the sun with an outside temperature of ninety or higher. Remember the old slogan "SAFETY FIRST" still applies today.

If you 'n the kids happen to drive by my shack this summer, drop in and we'll go out to the patch and fill up on watermelon. Nothing is so good as a melon cooled in the night air and picked fresh from the vine. Just bust it open and scoop out a fistful of heart meat and stuff it in your mouth. Never mind the juice dripping off your chin. We'll take care of that in the creek afterward.
Heck, I might even throw in a peck of roastin'ears and a sack full of tomatoes.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

I keep six honest serving-men
[They taught me all I knew];
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
--Rudyard Kipling

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 10

This is the tenth of the monthly columns my late dad wrote:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you might even agree with parts of it.

May 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Technology has done caught up and is running circles around us. Wonder how many VCRs have been flashing 12:00 for more ‘n five seasons? If them that makes ‘em are so blasted smart, why don't they set the time at the factory? Or have a button you could push to start the clock and set it with one touch. No, scratch that. The trouble with most doohickeys now is too many buttons -- half are never pressed for fear they will blow up the dad-blasted hen house.

Stopped by a fellers house t'other day ‘cause he invited me over to see his new Digital High Definition TV. It was right fancy to stare at, but the picher looked same an all others I'd seen and I told him so.

"Well, " he says, "that's ‘cause they haven't started broadcasting HDTV yet."

It were about the same nonsense as me buying a brand spanking new Studebaker Wagon ‘n see if somebody happens to come along and gim'me a team of draft horses. I don't think so. Heck, b'fore he gets the chance to see what its like, they may be somtin already better.

After he had done with showing me his pride and joy -- cost a bit more than I paid for my farm 50 years ago -- I happened to look over on a little side table and remote controls were piled up like firewood. At my questioning he told me, one was for the TV, one for the VCR, one for the satellite dish, and one for the CD Player, but what really scratched my funnybone, one was a universal to replace all the others, but he couldn't remember which buttons did what ‘cause every last one of them had multi-functions.

"Besides," he said, "It will only do basic commands. So I need the old remotes for more suffocated programing."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Don't know. Never learned how to do any." With that he got up, walked across the room, and pulled the TV's power cord from its wall socket.

Never was one to waste time. When I got nothing to do, I whittle. Keeps my hands busy and I don't run out of toothpicks.

Both my hounds got into it with a skunk a while back. Smelt right pungent at my place for a while. Never did find out who won, but I dang sure know two dogs that lost. I tied ‘em to a willow tree down by the creek so they could get water and heaved biscuits at them for a week. S'pose they'll think twice ‘fore they tangle with a striped cat again.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, we tend to neglect the faith that moves mountains.
--Eric Hoffer(Var.)

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 9

This is the ninth of the monthly columns my late dad wrote:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you might even agree with parts of it.

April 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

WHAT IF:
You and several friends were walking down the street and came upon some guys taking turns raping a young girl.

WOULD YOU:

1. Get in line for a turn.
2. Look the other way and hurry past.
3. Rescue her, even if it meant putting your own life in danger.

I hope most people would choose #3. I would and so has NATO.

There is no way to know how our involvement in the Serbian war will come out. It's a calculated risk, but how can decent, God fearing people let atrocities committed against innocent men, women, and children go on without offering a helping hand. Seems like I remember that we didn't want to get involved when Hitler was trying to take over the world. Now I don't know anything about those different religions, but they all worship God, don't they?

Many believe America is trying to impose its values on the rest of the world because we are a super power, but that is not so. During this age of terrorism and atomic weapons, even the smallest nation has the potential to be a super power. We don't bully weaker countries -- we try to protect them from those who do.

The USA has faults, but failing to stand up for human rights is not one of them. We believe that all men are created equal. Just because one happens to be born in a position of (or to assume) authority, his life is not more important in the big picture than anyone else. What is the use of carrying a BIG STICK if it's never use it to swat a snake?

Having voiced this opinion, I must also consider the other side of the coin. We put troops on the ground in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq and for the most part, the USA didn't make much difference. It is clearly obvious that Yugoslovia will accomplish their objective in spite of our intervention.

Here is something that really gets my hackles up. Folks speaking a foreign language to converse in public. Not because I care what they are saying, but it shows a serious lack of respect for their chosen country. It is a fact, all educated kids in the world can speak English, so why shouldn't they use this talent when in America?

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ...
Ya hear!!!

Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things ... You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.
-- Robert E. Lee - Historic American Civil War General.

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 8

This is the eighth of the monthly columns my late dad wrote:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you may even agree with parts of it.

March, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

The bomb exploded many years ago and the fallout is getting worse. Nope, not the atomic bomb. I am talking about the population bomb. World inhabitation is growing at a frightening, no horrorfying rate. Worst part is, countries whose population is growing fastest are the ones who are least able to feed and care for themselves. The death rate in under developed countries is appalling, yet they keep on breeding.

A while back I heard about school girls as young as twelve wanting to have babies. That is ignorance -- plain and simple. They are still babies their own selves. Now conception in an under age girl should be the responsibility of the parents, but if parents allow even one adolescent pregancy it's time for government to step in. I say, any female who has a baby without the means to care for it should be put on birth-control, Norplant or something like that, by the state. And men over eighteen who father these babies should be prosecuted for statutory rape.

We are not to the point, like China, of regulating the number of children a couple can have, but we darn sure should regulate the teen-ager who shell out babies like pop-corn ‘cause their boyfriend doesn't want to use a condom.

Love and Sex -- they're not the same thing. Love is something acquired through association with another for a prolonged period of time. I know, there are those who claim Love at First Sight. That is bunk. Maybe lust at first sight which later turns to love. Sure, physical attraction is a key ingredient in a happy marriage, but so are friendship, respect, understanding and so much more. To my way of thinking, no one ever makes love. They have sex and if they happen to be in love, truly in love, the sex is far more rewarding. But sex is a biological drive inherent in all normal creatures. If you have ever lived on a farm you know that when a female comes in season, she goes wild for fulfilment. Heck, this is what makes the world go around. Isolate any normal male and normal female and they will breed. Be it cows, horses, goats, pigs, or humans. But, love is something else. Love is not gratification for the moment, but a lifelong commitment to someone you positively can not live without.

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ...
Ya hear!!!

There is an old saying here that a man must do three things during life: plant trees, write books and have sons. I wish they would plant more trees and write more books.
--Luis Muñoz Marin

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!Rusty Rucker No. 1 - Rusty Rucker No. 2 - Rusty Rucker No. 3 - Rusty Rucker No. 4 - Rusty Rucker No. 5 - Rusty Rucker No. 6 - Rusty Rucker No. 7 - poems.

Episode No. 7

This is the seventh of the monthly columns my late dad wrote:

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you may even agree with parts of it.

February, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Now here is something that'll blow off the top of your head.

Twenty-six years after the federal government banned it, the poisonous collar worn around a sheep's neck to kill attacking coyotes may be approved for use in Idaho.

The state departments of Agriculture and Fish and Game are endorsing the return of the livestock protection collar, which contains a small dose of compound 1080, or sodium fluoroacetate. When coyotes bite into a sheep's neck and break the collar, it releases the poison that later kills the coyote. This compound is more frightening than any poison ever conceived. Every single solitary lifeform who comes in contact with it.

Representatives of animal rights and environmental groups have appeared before House and Senate agriculture committees to oppose the collar, saying the compound could leak into the ground water, kill wildlife that feed on animal carcasses or kill humans who accidentally are exposed to it.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of compound 1080 in 1972 after wildlife on public ranges and two dozen humans had died from ingesting it.

When they attempted to unleash this compound here in Texas - we fought HARD to stop it. You should know why. Your state might someday entertain the idea of using it. If you ever spoke out against anything in your life - that would be the time. Eagles have been killed by 1080 put out for coyotes, and California condors, which conservationists are desperately trying to save, have died from eating ground squirrels poisoned by 1080.

In 1972 President Richard Nixon signed an executive order prohibiting the use of Compound 1080, and its interstate transportation. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan, in response to an appeal from seven western senators rescinded that executive order.

Now for the icing on the cake. This poison is chemically stable. That means that a decade from now, the ground it is spilled on is toxic. It has the potential ability to kill.

This is bad stuff folks.. bad stuff. Much worse than DDT!!!!

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

As Confucius said: In a country well governed poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed wealth is something to be ashamed of.

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 6

This is the sixth of the monthly columns my late dad wrote: By this time, the column was renamed "Behind the Chicken Shack" and sported a graphic logo, which is not shown in this entry.

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you may even agree with parts of it.

January, 1999 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

t'other day and I got to thinking. I am blamed sure lucky to live out cheer among the rattlesnakes and coyotes, away from the hate and killing and cheating in the cities. Of all these things, racism is the most savage. It is tearing our nation apart. Pity folks are so blamed wrapped up in their own-selves they forget to be compassionate towards other human beings.

I remember when I was a lad and I went into the bus station with my Dad. The first thing I spied was a drinking fountain with a large, hand painted sigh that read: "White Only." I asked Dad what that meant and he ‘splained that there are a heap of ignorant people who think what color a man is a measure of what is in his heart. "T'aint so a'tall", Pa reckoned. He never spoke much good English, but he had a site of good old common horse sense.

In the summertime we bailed hay for the public. Not many folks had greenback dollars to pay so they gave us part of the hay, which we hauled home and stored in the barn loft against hard times. Those came regular ever winter and folks from town would come out and buy the hay for twenty-five cents a bale, to feed their milk cow. In them days we didn't have pasturized and homogonized milk, but it was blame sure fresh.

One of my jobs after I got old ‘nuff, maybe ten or ‘leven, was to take a team of horses to some far off field and mow hay. I'll tell ya, a boy has plenty of time for thinkin' out there all alone. One day while I wuz nearly hypnotized from watching the tall oats, mixed liberally with Johnson grass, fall back in splendid green waves when the sickle sliced it off an inch or two above the earth, I got to thinking about something that had happened that morning. None of the hay hands had any conveyance so Papa ‘n me gathered ‘em up in our old homemade pickup truck. We stopped for a new guy that morning and he looked in back, nodded at Zeke and said, "What's he doing here?"

"Gonna work like the rest of us," Pa said casting over his shoulder.

"I ain't working with no damn N

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Episode No. 5

Is anyone reading any of these entries? I know OLDCATMAN has perused them at least once. These are my dead dad's writings that I recovered using Internet Archive Wayback Machine. I was hopeful, even though they were a bit old, that some of ya'll might want to see some of my dad's efforts before he died. This one was done in December of 1998, and as such, has a Christmas theme:

Formatted as originally published in centered form:

THE REUNION

A Christmas Story by Rusty Rucker

A chilling north wind swept across the plains with a vergence,
Snatching Autumn leaves from the trees,
And leaving an earth covering blanker of white n its wake.
It attacked the Ozarks in a rage,
Battering its way through the pines,
And gaining momentum with every mile.
At the mountain's crest it paused momentarily,
Gathered its fury and swooped does the clearing
toward a little two room log cabin.
With Icy fingers,
It resumed the battle of forty years,
to wrest a weathered screen door from its sagging hinges.

The door, proudly bought and installed by a caring son
who had grown tired of hearing his mother complain
about flies in the kitchen,
was now of little worth.
Its hook-latch long since had been ripped away,
leaving only a ragged hole in the wood
and a bent eyelet screwed into the jam as proof it ever existed.
The wire mesh,
rusty and full of holes,
clung desperately to the rotting frame.
Yet, the door hung onto the time worn hinges with stubborn resolve,
determined to once again defend its position against
this new onslaught from the North.

As the mounting wind pulled the screen open and banged it shut,
Time and time again,
the old man's eyes fluttered open and he sat upright
in his cane bottomed rocker.
His hair, white with age,
flowed down over his stooped and bony shoulders.
His beard, equally white, was every bit as long.

"That you, Sarry," He called,
his voice only slightly louder than a whisper.
"Seems a mite chilly in here.
Reckon I'd better stir up a fire?"

He remained seated, awaiting her reply,
until the fog of senility lifted partially from his head,
and realization began to creep back in.
Sarah was no longer with him.
She is buried out there on the side of the hill,
beneath the towering pines she'd loved so well.

For several minutes, he relaxed in his chair,
staring across at the identical one
that had belonged to his beloved wife,
and tried to recall where she had gone.
But his mind, like the rest of his 93 year old body,
had withered with time,
and refused to remember the unpleasant details of her departure.

How he awoke one morning last spring,
to find her still and cold beside him.
How he sat at the bedside,
holding her hand and weeping for 2 days,
taking neither food nor drink the whole time.

Except for Slim McCoy and his wife,
He would have gone with her then and there.
But Slim happened by, as he often did,
and took charge of the situation.

He lifted the old man and carried him to his chair.
Then made a pot of coffee and poured a cupful down him,
a sip at a time, while a slab of ham,
cut from the one he had just brought
fried in a blackened iron skillet.

When the old man had been nourished,
Slim ran the two miles to his own cabin,
to fetch his wife, Molly.
While she prepared the old woman's body
Slim dug a shallow grave.
There were not any boards to make a coffin
so they wrapped her lifeless form in a square of canvas tarpaulin
and laid her to rest,
Saying a few kind words over her grave.

Rising from his chair,
the old man stepped on the tail of his old yellow hound,
sleeping at his feet,
but the dog,
now more than twelve himself,
didn't bother to yelp,
the weight of his withered master being so slight.
Not raising his head,
the dog followed the old man with his eyes,
As he waddled to the door,
Opened it,
and stood listening for several minutes,
paying little heed to the biting chill of frigid wind.

"Can't hear that dad burned jeep a-tall, Sheb,"
he said to the hound dog.
The dog wagged his tail slightly,
to acknowledge his name,
but didn't show any concern
for what his aged master was saying.
"Reckon Jim's toooken up with one of them town gals again.
He's apt to be gone three, four days."

It taxed the old mans strength to shut the door against the wind,
but he finally managed.
Once closed and bolted,
he ambled across the dirt floor to the fireplace,
And stood looking at it as if wondering
what purpose had brought him there.
Starring at the cold ashes with uncertainty,
he hesitated,
forcing enough memory through the cobwebs in his brain
to bring forth the action necessary for starting a fire.

Occasionally he would waken with full rationalization
of his surroundings,
and remain lucid for several days,
Then slip back into the dream world of years gone by,
but those times were becoming less and less frequent
with every passing day.

Only the loving attention of his hill-billy neighbor,
Slim McCoy, had gotten him through the summer.
The ever present ham,
side of bacon,
or occasionally venison,
hanging in the smokehouse.
The potato bin that never became empty.
The woodpile that remained constant,
no mater how much was burned.
Now and then, a pot of stew on the table.
All could be credited to Slim and his wife,
going out of their way to look after an old friend.

After laying a fire with the practiced skill of many years,
he stood before it, warming his behind
while searching the room with misty blue eyes.
Spotting a rolled up newspaper he hobbled over,
picked it up and headed for the door.

The hound, watching his every move,
knew what the paper meant,
and got up to follow his master outside.

With slow deliberation,
The old man walked the fifty feet of time worn path,
to a rundown outhouse and stepped inside.
The door with its crescent moon opening,
so carefully carved in his youth,
Had long ago been pulled from it's hinges,
and tumbled by the wind into oblivion.

Removing from his shoulders,
the galluses of patched and faded overalls
he perched upon the polished hole and sat,
looking out across the hillside.
A lone snowflake sailed around the corned and settled,
gently on the back of his leathery hand.

"Hit's gonna snow, sure as you're a pup," he told Sheb,
who was sitting patiently outside the doorway,
waiting for the old man to do his business
so they could return to the warmth of the cabin.
"Hit'll be knee-deep by morning.
Lord knows when Jim will be able to get home
with them supplies."

When the old man arose,
The dog, Half trotting,
Hurried back down the path,
waiting until he was nearly to the door
before heisting his leg against a tree.
Only then did he notice the old man was not following,
but had turned aside and begun climbing
in the direction of Sarah's final resting place.

It was laborious toil to negotiate the steep hillside,
but he persisted,
stopping several times to rest,
before reaching the grave.
As he approached, the snowfall increased.
The wind driven flakes kept biting into his face,
making it harder to locate the limestone marker
Slim McCoy had painted and set atop the mound of earth.

The aged hound, loyal to the end,
was slowly trailing the old man's tracks
through the ever increasing storm.
Just as he reached his master's side,
the old man knelt before the stone and wiped the snow away
so he could read the epitaph painstaking painted by Slim McCoy.

"HERE LIES SARAH ADKINS.
Her wealth was boundless because she had contentment."

Tears flowed freely from his clear blue eyes as he stayed there,
headless of time or the rapidly dropping temperature.
The dog sitting along side,
looked toward the shack occasionally and whined,
begging his master to return to the warm shelter,
but not offering to leave without him.

Finally, he stood, using the hound's head to steady himself,
and started back in the direction of the hut.
The dog followed closely at his heals.
At the door, he waited, holding it ajar for the aged hound,
after listening again for the jeep,
he closed and fastened it.
Sheb, wasting no time looking for someone he didn't expect to see,
had already stretched out before the fire,
as the old man dragged his chair close beside him.
There they dosed together,
the old man looking toward the table,
as if hoping that somehow a meal would appear upon it,
but not once did he consider putting forth the effort
to get up and prepare something.

"Don't you bother with fixin' t'night Sarry," he said,
never taking his eyes from the flickering flames.
"Likely Jim will make it through before the storm gets bad
and fetch us a big pot of hot stew."
He rocked to and fro with a smile of satisfaction,
listening to the rungs of his chair creak in their sockets.
The hound got up,
circled around and laid back down, turning his opposite side to the fire.
"No Sarry, don't be frettin' about Jim.
He done worked hard for two summers in that there saw mill,
and saved his money to buy his old jeep.
He's old enough to look out for his own self now."

He dosed again,
waking with a start when a gust of snarling wind caught the screen door
and banged it harder.
"That you Jim boy? Did you bring me and Ma a pot of hot stew?"

And so it continued through the night.
The fire burned down and the cabin grew cold.
The old dog rested peacefully at his master's side,
while the old man drifted in and out of awareness,
talking to a wife who had been dead six months,
and watching and waiting for the son who went to town forth years ago
and never returned.

After saying the only prayer he knew over the old man's grave,
Slim McCoy joined his wife in song,
Though only a little past noon,
"Silent Night" echoed through the hills.
Tying a rope lead around the dog's neck Slim said,
"C'mon, Sheb," You will live with us now.
Him and Sarah will enjoy Christmas together,
and who knows,
Maybe Jim is there with ‘em."

Thanks for the ride. Y'all come back now ... Ya hear!!!

Episode No. 4

Here is my dad's fourth monthly column of those I was able to save:

Thoughts from the Country by Rusty Rucker

Old Rusty lives way back in the boonies with a couple of hound dogs and one lazy ole mule. With nothing to do all day except whittle and listen to the radio, he gets some off-the-wall ideas about our political structure and its impact on our daily lives. Maybe you will get a chuckle out of some of the stuff he has come up with, and who knows, you may even agree with parts of it.

November, 1998 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Now here is a touchy subject -- or to be more precise, an untouchy subject. When I was a lad in school my teacher was like a second mother. Since I wasn't blessed with a real mother past my third birthday because of divorce, she was a very important roll model in my early years. Then there was Mrs. Sutter, where I stopped almost every day to talk and maybe get a cookie or piece of fruit.

"What am I getting at?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you. We are over protective of our children. Sure they need to be taught not to get into cars with strangers and to immediately report any inappropriate conduct to a person of authority, but they shouldn't be taught that all friendly people are out to molest them.

Some little kids are so starved for affection they will take unnecessary risks to get what should be readily available from a teacher. The hugs kids used to get from their teachers were often the only show of tenderness they got all day.

There are Big Brother and Big Sister programs who solicit volunteers to be mentors to our youths. How ridiculous to forbid a teacher from hugging (or even touching) a child in his/her classroom when we are perfectly willing for the same youngster to spend private time with another person who has no higher credentials. Devilment can pop out from anywhere and we should all be alert to any potential danger. It really does take an entire cummunity to raise a child.

The sun can possibly cause skin cancer because it touches our skin, but we cover ourselves with lotion and play in it anyway. The comfort and joy derived form it's warmth makes us ready to take the risk.

Yes, there are perverts our there...always have been...always will be... But, there are also those who are just nice, good, friendly people that love kids and would die to protect one from harm. The second being more often than not. Undue fear is a negative energy that serves no positive purpose.

What y'all think about taking arms and legs and hearts and kidneys from the dead and giving them to the living? Seems like a good idea to me. A fatality comes only once in a lifetime and it's the last chance a person has to contribute to society and make death count for something worthwhile.

NEVER FORGET -- Big Brother is ALWAYS WATCHING!

Episode No. 3

Here is my dad's third monthly column of those I was able to save:

October, 1998 Updated regularly -- Totally new first of every month.

Heard about where this feller what has been in jail twenty-two years for rape and murder of a thirteen year old says he is rehabilitated now and wants out. Not sure he should go free after committing such a heinous crime, but if it wuz me, I'd consider it soon as he un-rapes the little girl and brings her back to life.
Seems our society is so hung up on being kind to monsters and sickies they forget about the victims. Were I to have my way, we would reinstate hanging on the Courthouse lawn and leave them dangle all day and night so the punks and thugs could see first hand what awaits 'em after they do their rotten deed. Shore, hit would be a revolting sight for little nine year old Johnny to see, but when he gets to be fourteen and decided to act out, maybe he will think twice -- or three times.

I been studyin' 'bout all the pills and ointment being sold now-a-days and the unsupported claims they make. One that raises my hackles a heap is when they allude that it is doctor recommended. Lots and lots of 'em do that, but some go way too far. Like the guys that says, "Maybe I should see a doctor" then tells us the guy what gave him the pill said, "You just did." Or the little girl who tell us, "My Mommy says to always use -- so and so, and she's a doctor." Don't see much truth in that advertising. When a real honest-to-gosh doctor, like Red Duke stands up and says somethng is good or bad -- it's different. First hand info; we should believe that.

And vitamins: Now they are selling pills we never heard of and don't even have a clue what they are supposed to be good for. Heard one advertised t'other day that claimed to "Keep life in prospective." Now gosh-amity, what is that all about? 'Nother one said, "it makes your veins strong and flexible, plus ......"
And even the stuff we know is good for us. There is not one whit of proof we are getting the product we pay for. This feller told me he has prostate trouble and heard that the juice from some little berries (saw palminto) would help. Well, he bought some and it worked real good, but the blamed stuff costed like the dickens. So he found another brand what wuz a whole lot cheaper and bought that. Not only was it ineffective, but it was tablets, not the gel capsules. Heck, they weren't no juice in them. If they had ever been near a saw palminto plant, it was ground up stalk. S'pose it was lawful anyhow, but it were fraud -- plain and simple.

The food supplement business has gone hog wild. With no regulations to stop them, unscrupulous makers can package anything and say it does whatever and sell it. Notice all the weird concoctions being advertised now days. Where is that Ralph Nader feller? We need him.....

--Special Election Addendum:

With election time growing nigh, maybe we should give some thought about who to vote for -- now that’s a pretty hard choice since all the candidates claim to be honest and assure us their opponent is the scum of the earth. Well, since they are all honest, we must assume they are telling the truth about the opponent and he/she is telling truth about them. That being the case, they are all lying, cheating, selfserving thieves who deserve to be tarred and feathered and rode out of town on a rail.

Ok.... so we’ll forget what they are saying about each other and focus on the campaign promises. Every last one says he/she is going to make more money available for kids education, special programs, health needs etc. So in that area everyone is still equal. How about taxes.... Try to think of a single politician you have ever heard say, “Soon as I’m elected, I will raise taxes.” Never happened -- never will. They all promise to lower taxes. Then there is Social Security. Only by voting for the one making the promise can we be assured that Social Security will continue as we know it. Land sakes, we’re still even. Looks like they are all perfect for the job. Something for all everybody. Better education of our young -- lower taxes for the middle class -- and protection of Social Security for the aged.

So what are our options for making a wise decision? Vote for the best looking ones and improve the looks of government. Vote for the incumbent cause he has already been in there forever and knows the system and how to get what we need out of it. Vote for the new feller so we can get some fresh blood and modern thinking in office. Vote for the riches ones cause they already have so much money they will be less inclined to steal. Vote for the poor ones cause they must be honest, otherwise they’d be rich.

Then there are those who vote straight tickets no matter who is running. But the rest of us listen and study and think and decide who among the choices we want least, and then when we get in the polling booth we forget most of them and wind up just voting helter-skelter. It’s a wonder government even survives -- but somehow it does.

One of my hounds caught a jack rabbit a while ago, so we're gonna celebrate with rabbit stew t'nite. Come over and join us if you can.

If you like this one, Rusty Rucker No. 1 is here, Rusty Rucker No. 2 is here and the assorted poems I recovered are here.

Episode No. 2

Another of my departed father's columns I recently recovered. Originally posted September 1998

THOUGHTS FROM THE COUNTRY By Rusty Rucker

Heard t’other day ‘bout the big controversy over, let’s see, I s’pose they wanna be call gays now, getting’ married. In my youth homosexuals were fags and queers, now they have alternative life styles. I wonder if any “straight” folks ever stop to think about what those “alternative life styles” consist of. Disgusting assaults each other's behind that make me wanna puke -- and now they want to marry so they can have the benefits of family life. Well, I’ll tell you, consenting adults may have the right to do anything they please, but keep the door shut. Don't be rubbing it in my face .....

Marriage is sanctioned by society to support family values -- to create a stable environment for little kids to grow up in. Sure, we as civilized people want those little ones to have every opportunity possible and that is why we allow tax breaks and other benefits so married couples can afford to raise their young. It is a travesty to presume that two men or women who choose to live together should have the benefits of a decent couple raising a family. Let thendo their unspeakable things if they must, but we should not sanction it -- EVER. Seems like McClintock has a mission to further gay-rights (whatever they are). Guess that’s understandable when we consider his liberal preferences.

On the subject of “The White House Affair” I have to believe this whole Kenneth Starr thing is a witch hunt to discredit the President. How is it that an investigation of alleged Whitewater misdeeds has circled ‘round the barn into what a man does behind closed doors. Everyone knows JFK fooled around, as did FDR and Ike, Churchill and Prince Charles. Even King David did the unspeakable, sending Batstheba’s husband into battle so he could have his wife. Yep! Little David, the giant killer. It’s like Hollywood -- people in power have to feed their ego. I say the office is disgraced by the media feeding off the Starr investigation and by nothing the man in the big White House did. Strange we are so quick to condemn a man for denying events in his private life, but when President Brush stood before us and declared, “Read My Lips, no new taxes” we were willing to accept that lie as political rhetoric. BS --

Thanks for the ride.

Y'all come back now. Ya hear?

Rusty Rucker No. 1 is here and the assorted poems I recovered are here.

Episode No. 1

As I reported yesterday, I was actually able to recover some of the stuff my late father wrote. You might have called him a blogger, although he only did one post each month, mostly it was in a hand-made blog form. I will be posting his columns over the next couple of weeks, hopefully introducing one each night. There will definitely be some reformatting to fit my format, but none of the language, punctuation or spelling is modified. Only justification, line length and other formatting mechanisms have been altered.

My father's name was Charles W. Russell. Rusty Rucker was the character he played when voicing his opinions for all to see. In all, he produced 30 monthly columns. I was not able to recover one or two of them. This is his first stab at doing the monthly Rusty Rucker column. It was originally published in August 1998.

OUTSIDE THE SMOKEHOUSE By Rusty Rucker

I reckon VP Albert Gourd knowed what he was talking about when he said he's gonna reinvent government. Heck, him and McClintuck already got the Bill of Rights so screwed up it looks like Lenin wrote it from the tomb. We still got Freedom of Speech -- unless we decide to toss a hook into Whitewater or ask why State Troopers are chasin' down Bimbos. And, course we can't say nothin' detrimental about lawyers or they'll sue. Since we don't know anything good about any of them, only reasonable thing is to elect 'em to Congress where they can waste their lives and our money jawing at one another.

I done figured out why so many lawyers get into politics. The transformation is a cinch. They already know how to lie, cheat, and steal. [*]

What about the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. They don't want us to have as good as them -- in case we need to be pushed back under the porch. The boss family being from Arkansas and having names like Hill and Billy should guarantee everbody at lease an AK-47 in the garage. Even the Boobies in London have started packing iron.

Then there's the fifth -- suppose Ted Candidatey is thoroughly familiar with that one by now.

Can't understand all the fuss about aliens. Isn't that what America is about -- saving the hungry and oppressed masses and giving them a fresh start. 'Course it's only fair they start fresh as our ancestors did. We have all that Government Land in Alaska. Why not send them up there to develop that challenging new frontier? Or they could get that Rostan something or other to adopt them on shares.

Heard a fellow say the other day that he'd vote for a jackass if he was a Democrat. That explains a lot. Don't start thinking I'm for the Republicans 'cause I quit taking sides a long time ago. There ain't a nickels worth of difference between the two. They're both in Washington for only one thing. Now, we all have to figure out a way to make 'em understand what it is.

Thanks for the ride.

Y'all come back now. Ya hear?

If ya like this, check out the poems of his I posted in this entry.

*I did rag to my dad once about how I never seemed to be a successful attorney as far as making money as one, and my dad said to me: "Son, I always thought you were a bit too honest to be an attorney. Remember, it was your mom's idea for you to go to law school." I think my dad appreciated my writing more than my career choice.

Rusty gets poetic

I created this post solely to post Rusty Rucker's poems in another place so as to be a part of the new Rusty Rides Again category and to be easily found for those Rusty Rucker fans out there in the Blogosphere. They are also still located in the prior location.

By The Gun

Down the street comes a prancing red stallion,
Slowly and deliberately, to attract every stare,
His massive hooves puffing the powdery earth
Into tiny dust devils as he plants each with care.

The rider looks neither right nor left.
His youthful face expressing no sign
Of the turmoil boiling within, as he passes
In review for the bystander line.

A cool breeze brushes against his back.
A rare chill races from head to toe.
Sunlight glistens off silver trappings.
A vision of supremacy, master of the show.

His pearl-handled cannon, calibre 44,
Clings to his thigh, firm as a leech,
It has become a part of his being,
A warning to all, death within reach.

It boasts twelve notches, carved carefully,
So sharp, impressible eyes can count,
Completing a picture of doom and glory,
Framed in the glitter of rider and mount.

An aging marshall stands firmly.
All alone at the street's other end.
Like a tree he is rooted in position,
Waiting for the duel to begin.

The gunman dismounts and crouches,
Coiled like a tightly wound spring.
Death hovering beneath his fingertips.
To be unleashed in one awesome swing.

The brave marshall is placidly waiting,
His stomach hollow and throat dry,
To accept a challenge he can't win,
But the code demands that he try.

Lead hammers the lawman's vest,
His gun exploding as he fell.
Has the bullet gone wild or found its mark?
Someone in the crowd gives a yell.

Both men topple in sprawling disarray.
Each has done the thing that he must.
But, the long, gray shadow of dying
Passes swiftly over one in the dust.

Wounded and covered in crimson,
One single combatant survives.
He's walked the lonely valley once more
And emerged from its shadow alive.

The stallion stomps restlessly -- waiting.
His champion always set 'em up at the bar.
But, along about sundown he is stabled
By a bandaged old man with a dent in his star.

Copyright 1987 --Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

Other poems of his:

The Toy Train

Billy is sitting in the living room
Playing with his train on the floor
Waiting for Dad to come get him
He is anxiously watching the door
While the train go round and around
The wall clock is striking two now
Dad's running a little bit late...
Billy is all dressed and ready
And he's finding it quite hard to wait
Still the train goes round and around

The sound of a horn catches his ear
The boy jumps quickly to his feet
"Its Dad, I knew that he'd be here!"
But it's only a car on the street
And the train goes round and around

The time has crept to hour four
Billy begins to feel very sad
Just like all of the times previous
A little boy who's needing his Dad
Yet the train goes round and around

His Mom makes her entrance from the stairs
She's all dressed up to keep her date
Billy sadly watches her leave
He thinks, "Why couldn't HER date be late?"
And the train goes round and around

Billy watned to see a ball game
"That is what we'll do." Dad said
But like before he doesn't come
Billy is wishing that he were dead
But the train goes round and around
Grandmother comes in from the kitchen
She's bringing a batch of fried pies
Billy looks up at her slowly
Revealing pain and tears in his eyes
Still the train goes round and around

Grandmother sits, then pats her lap
The boy takes his place with her there
They feast on the tasty goodies
That Grandma has brought to share

While the train goes round and around

As the moon rests high in the sky
Mom tucks Billy into his bed
He leaves Dad out of his prayers...
Blesses Mamma and Grandma instead
And the world turns round and around

Copyright (C) 2001 --Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]
__With help from my friend Kim [I regrettably do not know who this "Kim" is]

Feel the Burning

I feel a burning inside,
An almost unbearable pain,
The certainty of dreams forsaken
Mysteries I can never explain.
In the cool silence of night,
Comes the spirit of yearning and hope,
So full of life I can touch it,
When in utter darkness I grope.

The heart looks ever skyward
To the vastness of outer space
Beautiful and yet solitary
As is my love without a place.

It longs for a haven to share.
A second heart to entwine.
To beat as one forever,
But TRUE LOVE is hard to find.

(C) Copyright 1999 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

WOLF - God's Own Dog

Howling high on a mountain top,
Sending shivers up my spine,
Stands a lonely sentinel
Calling to others of his kind.
The last of a vanishing breed.
His crime -- the need to eat.
His mate has a liter waiting,
For Dad to bring home some meat.

Ranchers say he's a threat
To the weak ones in their herd.
But to hunt him to extinction
Is meaningless and absurd.

A way has to be found for all
God's creatures to coexist.
To bring harmony and justice
To Wolves, and Gorillas in the mist.

So, before you condemn him,
Or shoot him -- even worse
Remember the Wolf, like Indians
Inhabited this land first.

(C) Copyright 1997 Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]
Published 2000 "Reflections of Nature" [I am unsure where this publication exists or can be found]

To June

Hand in hand in the wedding chapel,
We stood together, you and I.
A picture of feminine lovliness
And a boy, so awkward and shy.
The homeymoon has never ended.
It's still special to hold you close.
When we kiss and you call me baby,
Is when I feel your love the most.

At times it hasn't been easy.
The hills have often been high.
But, we reached the top by sharing
Each other's load -- girl and guy.

The years have passed so quickly.
We've kept our vows to be true.
I promised to love you forever.
I have, I will, and I do.

Alva June Russell
June 8, 1935 -- July 23, 1999

(C) Copyright 1967 --Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]
[ed. June was my mother, who passed away the year before my father, Charles]

Senses

Did you ever,
Watch the full Moon rise,
Into a gold sequined sky?
Hear the plaintive call of a Whip-o-will
Issuing its mournful cry?
Smell the Heavenly odor
Of Grandma's apple pie?
Taste the sugary lips
Of a girl so sweet and shy?
Hold her in your arms
As the night goes fleeting by?
These are the things I love.
Have you,
Heard the roar a waterfall
When sheets come cascading down?
Seen fish jumping in a lake
To feed on insects that abound?
Savored the fragrance of wet earth
As rain falls softly around?
Felt the pounding of a happy heart
Where untold joys are found?
Tasted sweet kisses from your honey
While you gently lay her down?
These are the things I love.

Have you,
Watched a field of golden grain
Shimmering in the summer breeze?
Heard the drone of working
>From a swarm of busy bees?
Walked along a sun warmed beah
And tasted salty mist from the sas?
Felt the tug of autumn's wind
As it swirls among the trees?
Enjoyed the perfume of passion
>From one always there to please?
These are the things I love.

(C) Copyright 1999 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

This Girl

She is the one in Cyberspace
Who keeps messing with my heart.
I know I will never meet her
I've known that from the start.
She is the chick I met last night,
The winsome lass next door,
The foxy babe that I will find,
And those I've known before.

Fate has placed us miles apart.
With only Cupid to span the gap.
Yet, excitement in my beating
Heart did not foresee this trap.

Our connection is a bonding
That is impossible to explain.
We have touched not once,
But a thousand times in vain.

She dominates my dreams,
Both sleeping and awake.
Joins with me hand in hand
To places our fantasies take.

Our exchange is so frustrating,
The connection is going bad.
I shall remember her forever
As the love I never had.

(C)Copyright 1996 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

My Best Friend

When I am down and feeling low
There is a place I can always go.
To visit the friend who is waiting there
If no one else does, I know she will care.
She'll give me a hug and a pat on the back
Make me feel better...she has the knack.
She'll boost my ego and prop up my pride
And make my tummy feel all tumbly inside.

(C) Copyright 1996 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

My Mom

Nine months of carrying me
Around in her tummy
Where I wiggle and squirm
And kick like a dummy.
Then the day arrives
When I burst into the light
With flailing arms and crying.
I must be a sight.

But if she is disappointed
She expresses no sign
Holding me to her breast
I begin life devine.

I suckle and sleep
That's all I can do
But I learn to express
My comfort with coos.

She bathes me and tends me
While watching me grow
She wipes my nose
And tells me to BLOW.

She helps me to walk
And then to run.
And watches constantly
As I play in the sun.

She packs me a lunch
And sends me to school
Helps with my homework
My Mom is way cool.

She makes me wash behind ears
And Between my toes,
But relents when I beg
For fadish clothes.

Every year I grow bigger
And come to love her more.
She is my rock
To cherish and adore.

In light of what she does
It's only right that I say
"Tell your Mom you love her
And hug her EVERY DAY!"

(C)Copyright 1998 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

Seniors

We delight in sports at high.
In college, we are young men.
But, the years rush swiftly by
And we become seniors again.
We dwell on memories of yesterday
And dream of times we have had.
All of the trials along our way,
Recalling the good and the bad.

We sit alone with nothing to do.
Until we hear a grandchild call,
"Pap-paw! I've come to see you."
Now is the best time of all.

(C) Copyright 1992 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]

Love Is

Love is a feeling so hazy
That we can never explain.
It makes us go wild and crazy
Really scrambles our brain.
It fills our being with wonder
That we are compeled to supress.
Shakes the earth with its thunder
An expression of pure happiness.

A smile or wink and a blown kiss
Makes our insides tumble about.
A hug between a lad and a miss
Is fuel to make both wanna shout.

So if you feel love coming on
There is only one place to start.
Let all your worries be gone,
And take it right to the heart.
(C) Copyright 1996 -- Rusty Rucker [Charles W. Russell]