The Floaing Flag

True Halloween Adventure. I was stationed at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1964. On Halloween night in the E.M. Club after several beers during Happy Hour we decided to visit a cemetery. Not any cemetery, it had to be one that had Revolutionary Soldiers. The only one we could think of was in Camden, about 35 miles away. Away to Camden we went. When we got to the cemetery it was late. In the cemetery we found a whole section of Revolutionary Soldiers and plenty of Revolutionary Flags, We did not see any ghosts but we did take a tattered Betsy Ross U.s. Flag. Back in the barracks around midnight most of the men were asleep. We went to show our friend Dick Hyatt the flag. Dick had duty that evening. Halfway in his cubicle we threw the flag on him. But. He was asleep so we jerked the flag off before it completely settled over him and ran out and retired. The next morning in the chow hall eating breakfast Dick told us he had the strangest dream last night. He said in his dream a big flag floated in and was settling down on him then suddenly flew off. We asked Dick what did he have to eat last night.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! ,MAD's #5 INTERSANCTRUM art by Will Elder; Words by H. Kurtzman

Probable Apparition

In the late 1970s I took this picture looking in a window of a crypt at Oakland Cemetery in At;amta.. Visually, I saw no what-izzit or even Casper. But, the developed film pointed out this. Boo!

My cxousin had an explanarion for this, it is happened to him several times. It is somehing to do witrh a lose lens facor, or fracor. It happened rto me ;only once, so I'm sticking to my story.

Haunted House, Here and Gone

Another True Halloween Story. About 37 years ago there was an old abandoned house standing where the Post Office on Sandy Plains Road is now. Next door is a church cemetery. A local civic organization had a Halloween Haunted House in the old house when Rocky was about 3 or 4 years old. Rocky begged to go. I took him. It was a typical haunted house with strobe lights, chain saws, severed heads, and other horrid delights. It was more than Rocky expected. He screamed and screamed hid his eyes from some of the action. The next day he did not even want to ride in the car by the old house. I tried to convince him it was all a show, make-believe . I decided to drive down the dirt bumpy driveway to the house and show him it was all empty - just a harmless old house. He begged for us not to go. Regardless of his protests we went anyway. I had a point to prove. When we got close to the porch we saw a several plastic mannequin legs upside down sticking out of a garbage can. Which of course, caused more screaming.

The Ghost Mama Saw

This house is on East Dixie Avenue in Marietta. It now looks completely differently than when I took this picture. It has had a facelift, so to speak. Back in 1937 my parents, when they first married, spent the night here. It was a boarding house then. My mother believed saw a ghost looking down at her during the night. The next morning she found out the man she described to the landlady looked like the landlady's late husband. Also, for posterity, in the 1950s, when brothers Jack and Billy Joe Royal were teenagers, their family lived in this house for a short time before they moved to Smynra. They said they did not see any ghosts.

Neighbors!

vThis is fellow retired postal employee Carol. I ran into Carol at a grocery store. Carol was a relief rural route carrier. Then she wasn’t. Then she was a Target employee. Who knows what goes on particulars that go on in people’s mind that impel them to do what they do. Carol lived next door to fine family in a nice East Cobb subdivision off Trickum Road. If I remember correctly a little kid of the nice family next door banged on their door in the middle of night. The reason the little girl was banging her big brother, a teenage was on a killing rampage. He had just stabbed to death their parents. It so happened that another close by neighbor was also a Marietta Postal employee, a supervisor, named Keith. Keith is very athletic, involved in sports and a smooth taker. I forgot the details but I think Keith was involved getting the teenage boy captured. By the way Kwirh played a referee in a movie made locally which became popular.

Book of my on-line Srtuff selected by Kathy

This is Kathy Thomason and her granddaughter. They are relatives on the Ray family side. This picture was taken about three weeks ago at a Ray Genealogist Reunion near Franklin, North Carolina. At the reunion Ray family members would claim a table for their group and display Ray pictures, printouts, family pedigree charts, etc. On Kathy and her husband Mike's table were several items of interest. One was this book Kathy compiled, edited, and assembled. When I saw it, with my name, I felt like what I think a father meeting his child that he didn't know existed for the first time. She did a great job on it. I demand a blood test!

1st Lady of Ga some years back

First Ladies sometimes are a deciding factor of a political race. Georgia's f First Lady Sandra Deal, I'm sure, is an asset to Governor Nathan Deal, not a liability, for his campaign for reelection. This picture was taken when we toured the Georgia Governor's Mansion to see the Christmas decorations a couple years ago. She greeted us in the first room you enter from the foyer. She was very knowledgeable on the items in the room on display and an enthused docent. She is good, but not good enough to change my mind about her husband.

Dancing Butterball

THE DANCING BUTTER BALL. Willow's groomer told me this morning that her sister is now blind and she finally listened to some of her advice and acted. That was to get a seeing-eye dog to help her. She went on to say that her sister and her husband live on a farm in Ohio. He is always working on the farm and just doesn't want to take time away from working on the farm to give her a helping hand so the seeing-eye dog is working out fine. That reminded of another farming couple in New Jersey. At one of the many neighborhood bars between where I was stationed, NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Lakewood, New Jersey, one time returning from the movie theater in Lakewood I dropped in a "Dew-Drop-Inn" kind of joint. Back in the mid 60s the bars and lounges had video juke boxes, I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. Next to me was a middle-aged lady quietly weeping. I looked at her and might have asked her was she OK. She told me it was her and her husband's 25th weddding anniversary. He was a chicken farmer and would not dance with her. He resented having to take the time off from the farm to take out to celebrate. He sat beside her, looking straight ahead, listening to ever word we said, and occasionally glanced at the person talking. Finally, I leaned over to him, and saying in a joking manner to "Come on, dance with your pretty wife." He turned around and glared at me and said, "You dance with her Butterball!" I laughed like he pulled a good one, and said, "Oh no, I'm not the dancing type.... ha ha!" He stood up to show me his enormous size, pushed his ball cap back to get a better glare on me, and said, "Dance Butter Ball! Dance!" I looked at my watch and said I had to run. I hit the parking lot running. My lesson for that day was not to meddle in other people's business.

A Hardware Store is a Hardware Store

We were at Morgan Hardware today. I noticed a lady trying to open the Exit door from the outside. We opened the door to let her inside. She came in and asked, "this is Acworth isn't it?" "No, it is Woodstock." She said,"Oh no! I told them Acworth!" and ran out the door.

Joe Fry, One of supervisors in the Atlanta time keeping office. The guy he is presenting an award to is Mr. Harley.I Mr. Harley and his wife loved to sit on their front porch and watched people walk by and speak to them. He was also Wayne Williams Sunday School Teacher. They are probably dead now, that was about 50 years ago. Joe Fry fought in Europe in WW II. He said every day he was reminded he was black and had to do the grunt work. He said when Bob Hope came to entertain them the white soldiers were the first people in the audience, then German prisoners were the second. And last, way back in the back were the the U.S Black soldiers. That is a shame they were treated that way, even when defending our country.

Clean Your Typewriter! a voice from the past

Still cleaning and straightening out the basement this morning we looked at old Underwood Typewriter.. The typewriter was dirty. We studied a few minutes on how to clean it up. It reminded of my Navy days. Our immediate petty officer was named Ron. Ron often noticed the typewriter at my desk keys' types were dirty. To clean the types we brushed the types with some kind of cleaning solvent. Then with a clay looking wad you pressed into the metal types' loops, such as in the number 6 or 0 and other loops. It was easy to glance over a typed report and see if it needed cleaning or not. Ron often said, "Hunter! Clean your typewriter!@" Ron's active duty expired and he went to civilian life in St. Paul, where he was an officer at a big company. Our friend Sam, went back to civilian life to St. Paul's twin city, Minneapolis. In the same summer I went to visit Don in Chicago and we drove across Wisconsin to Minneapolis to visit Sam. The three of us decided to pay Ron a surprised visit at his work. His secretary told he was out to lunch. We went in his rather large offied and I, on his typewriter, typed, "RON, CLEAN YOUR TYPEWRITER!!" And we all left. We never, as far as I know, never heard from Ron.

A Cop at our Door

Today in the early afternoon I was twiddling my thumbs wondering what I should say on my blog today. Politics? No. History? No? Memories? No. Comic books? Nah! Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader? Nix. Myself? Hmmm, maybe. Local eatery? No. Marietta? Wore that one out too. Genealogy? No not today, I am repeating myself too much…. Then the doorbell ranged. I looked at Anna. Anna looked at the door. Willow looked at me Usually when the doorbell rings it is an unsolicited sales call, like TV cable, or trees to be cut down. I was going to give them a piece of my mind. I stormed to the door and flung it opened ready for a battle. It was my old friend Lee Moss. Co-student, co-Big Apple carryout/sacker, co -Swabby at NAS ATLANTA. Lee had a gift. It is picture of my Daddy and his co-workers at the Marietta Police Force. I would recognized that broken nose anywhere. Lee and Diane (her Daddy's is in the line up too) drove across Cobb County to get this to me. They went to a lot of trouble. Thank you Lee! & Diane! (Diane's Daddy (Jesse Cooper) is in the lineup too) And here are Ed and Jessie Cooper again.

Fair

This was on my blog chicken-fat about 9 years ago. Some of my new readers might not have read it, so if you are the one of the ones that read it already and wished you hadn't, skip it. One time over the weekend we taking a short cut to get from side of Cobb County to the other and went by the fairgrounds. If I had realized it was time for the annual fair we would have avoided the area. I never been near the fair that there was not a traffic jam. But, this time there was no traffic jam. We sailed on by it without backed up traffic or anything. I saw a Ferris wheel in movement and heard a loudspeaker and a loud diesel engine and cars were in the parking lot, but no traffic. They were either already there or not coming that hour. It reminded me of past Cobb County Fairs as I was growing up. Now, the Fairgrounds in the near the County Farm Prison Farm about three or four miles outside of Marietta. Back when I was growing up it was just a three or four blocks from downtown. As a preteen some friends and I would walk around and watch them set up the rides and usually a carnie worker would give us little jobs to do for a dollar or sometimes even a dime. One Gypsy-looking woman handed me a bucket and told me if went to get a bucket of water for her she would give me a dime. I filled up the bucket and walked back with, which was about the length of a football field. I was just a little guy and I had a hard time holding the bucket and some of the water sloshed out. When I got to her trailer she was mad the water was not all the way to the top and gave me a nickel. After the Fair ended and the carnival workers packed up their rides and moved on out usually the next morning would be a Sunday morning. Us boys would walk around where the rides were and look for money that fell into the wood chips and grass. We usually found several dollars of change each. One year while looking for money I found a box full of jars. Each jar had a snake’s head in it with its mouth pried open to show its fangs in all its glory. I think there were about five or six jars. It was too valuable of a conversation piece to leave. Two of us lugged it, taking times carrying it until we got it to my house. I hid it by some bushes until I was sure nobody was watching me then we lugged it to a little shack of chicken house we had way back in the back yard – which at that time we had no chickens. I used the little house for our clubhouse and also as a make believe ship. Up on the roof was a hole that I could go through, and I had a little ladder that was there… we would pretend we were on a old wooden frigate out to sea and the hole was a hatch going “down below”. We lined the jars with the big snake heads up in various wood boxes turned on their sides which did serve as a home for the chickens to do their thing – lay eggs. The snakes worked out well, until one time my mother was up in the back yard having an old black man and his mule plow up an area to plant a garden and stuck her head in the chicken house and saw the snakes. She was very upset with me and was about to destroy them regardless of my objections when her brother dropped by for a visit. Her brother was head of the State Rehabilitation Department and up until then he was an educator and principal of a high school in Murray County, Georgia. He looked over the snakes heads and told his sister I really had something that many schools would love to have. He talked her out of destroying them. For that moment anyway. She waited until I was in school the next day and broke all the jars with an ax. A horrible stench was in the air when I came home. Snake flesh along with whatever you pickle snake heads with – vinegar? We had to shovel the heads up and throw them in the garbage. I don’t blame her, she couldn’t stand snakes. Back then the fair started about the same time the first high school football game started. One year several of us on the side of the street watched our friend in the high school parade to celebrate the opening of the football season and the fair. One of our friends in the parade hollowed from a convertible that the parade was going to the fairgrounds and they would get in free. My friend and I pulled off some crate paper off some of the paraders’ cars and ran the streamers up and down his mother’s PV544 Volvo. We jumped into the car and drove up and became the last car in the parade. I drove and the friend got on the front fender and raised his trousers up, past his knees, crossed them like a beauty queen and flew kisses to the people on the curb watching the parade. Everybody watching cracked up – except and aunt of min who saw me and hollered, “Eddie Hunter! I’m going to tell your mama!” As far as I know she never did. We, as the tail end of the parade we paraded right into the fairgrounds. We ran into two friends who both now are successful business men. They told us some guy in a big trailer full of stuffed animals told them he would give them ten bucks each to carry a bunch of stuffed animals and dolls to his booth on the fairway and hand them over to the guy there and after they empty out the trailer he would give them pay them. We asked what kind of game is he running at the booth. They laughed and said they didn’t know, they never got that far. They put the first load of dolls and stuffed animals in their car. Memories.

Heores, Unsung About

I was doing my walk this morning and haven’t even gone far enough to be off my street when a red pickup truck slowed down, then stopped and the window rolled down. An old fart, about my age, said, “How you doing?” “So so, how you doing?” “Who is this guy?” I thought. We talked and talked. We talked about the old days in Marietta and going to the Old Hospital on Cherokee Street, and Doctor Merl Haygood, and more old Marietta stuff. And all the time wondering “Do I know this old fart?” We talked about our time in the service, he was in the Army about the same time I was in the Navy. I know it is a Small World, but it would be nice if I knew who I was talking to. He said he thinks I should get another dog. It seems he knew about Willow’s departure. I am not sure, but I think it could have been the same guy that between 5 and 10 years ago at the bottom of the hill on the street near by in the morning before daylight I saw the flickering of flames in the back of a house. That was before I carried a cell phone, so it must have been nearer ten years or more. I bangedf on the door of the house and no one came. About that time a pickup truck slowly rode by and I ran out in the street and waved him down. He had a cell phone so he 911. The firetrucks came and what it was flames were surrounding the LP gas bottle and the fittings. The put the flame out and woke up the woman that lived there then and told her. Ironically, a week or so later while walking I saw the woman in her yard and I told her that I was the one who called 911 (which really it wasn’t, it was the guy in the truck). I expected a pleasant “Thank you” for saving her and her daughter’s life, but just got a glare, “Why don’t you mind your own business?” Anyway, back to the guy in the truck this morning, that might have been the person that called 911, if he had on his mask this morning, like he should have, I could have said, “Who is that masked man?”

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD's 2nd DRAGNET.

It's true, MAD AKA Harvey Kurtzman & Bill Elder created a DRAGNET in an earlier issue that was before eiher had a TV. The first Jack Webb looked nothing like Sargent Friday. But this ones does. Look at all the details of Will Elders art. The little side art peppered in all over is the work of a genius. He called his little side art "chicken-fat", the same as the name of this blog, ahem!

A Pat on the Head from the Mayor a couple years ago

Today At the Marietta Museum of History the Mayor thundered "Thank you for writing about Marietta's history." "And thank you for making the history." I replied.

Fun Fact

 click on to make it bigger.

Booster Shot Blues

got my booster shop today. I got it in the pharmacist department of a grocery store. I think there were about 3 or 4 people ahead of me. I watched the lady pharmacist’s procedure. On each customer or patient she repeated the same set up procedure. When each person left she cleaned up where that person was sitting. And on each case she had to make a new hypodermic shot. I think she would have saved a lot of time if she had a row of chairs and divide people into the type booster they needed, and have all that with he, so she would no have to run and back and forth behind the counter. She asked me if I wanted it on left upper arm or my might. I said it did not matter. Well, it did to her. She asked which side did I sleep on and I said my right. She said it would probably be better on my left arm. She asked me did I take blood thinner and I said she I do. She bought with her extra tape and gauze, never know when you might strike a leak. When it came my time I told her how she could make it more efficient and she seemed to have appreciated it. Always ask a retired postal employee how the make it less work.

There It Is, or was

I took a picture of it Because It Was There. My late father-in-law grew these gourds. There is something about the natural curviness of the gourds that are relaxing . Very relaxing, very zzzzzzzz.

Sharing

It seems tonight on the news all I am hearing is about the Braves and how they will do tonight. It remind me back in the 1980s when Rocky and Adam were in the scouts and ball teams and we, as groups, carried them some of the live games in Atlanta. I remember it was the 9th Inning and whoever the Braves were losing 10 to 8. The crowd was going wild stomping, blowing horns, screaming, and I don’t know what all. Dale Murphy was at bat. Amongst everybody hollowing I screamed, “KNOCK A HOMERUN DALE!” What I did not now, nor anyone else, is that everybody’s shut-up just as the demand to Murphy left my mouth. The whole stadium heard my scream. Dale Murphy looked up in my direction and then looked center at me. Embarrassed I faintly wave. Dale nodded without smiling, He called time out and the catcher and Manager Bobby Cox had a conference up on the mound. As they talked they all looked at me.. Embarrassed, I looked the other way. Then I I heard foot steps coming up the aisle. I looked towards the sound and Bobby Cox was making his way towards me with a serious look on his face. He came up to me and said, “You think knocking a home run will work??” With so much pressure I couldn’t answer without studying. Bobby said, “We’ll try it, but its on you.” Dale knocked it out of the park. The score was 12 to 10 Braves. The crowd roared and a bunch of people lift me up on their shoulders and danced around. Then I woke up.

GOOD MORNING NEWPORT NEWS!!

We just watched a special about Robin Williams from beginning to end, his end. I think he was genius in acting. Anyway, it reminded me of the time I was on the USS NEWPORT NEWS’s Helicopter Crew from about Dec 29, 964, to about the first week of February 1965, slightly over a month. We left a Naval Base in Virgina, stopped at a Naval Base near Jacksonville, Florida, Mayport I think the name of it, and we got to in Jacksonville that New Years Eve, then on through the Gulf and up the Mississippi River to New Orleans where we met the Brit sailors and reacted the Battle of New Orleans – or day did. I had fun playing in the streets of the Crescent City. As a member of the Helo crew my co-workers and I spent a lot of time on the main deck of the ship. The Executive Office (assistant captain) spent a lot of time on the main deck too, I don’t think he had much to do. Another fellow, short, blondish hair and big round glasses also spent a lot of time there with nothing to do. One day I saw the Executive Officer talking for a long time to the little guy with the big round glasses. They talked into detail. Then they left and went below deck. Later that day the little guy could not wait to tell us what hey were talking about. Since the kid did not have anything to do, the Executive Office gave him the duty as the ship’s DJ. It took him a while to go over the details. He was to play popular music that most every body would like, news (non-controversial), ships announcements and anything else he could comeup with to take ship life less boring.. I think it took him about a week to come up with a doozy: People to call in to complain. They complain about the food, regulations, bully NCO’s and everything else they could think of. I don’t remember if the XO put an end to that or not. I know by his expressions he did not like it. I looked up GOOD MORNING VIETNAM! To see if it might have been an inspiration to the little guy with big glasses but no, GOOD MORNING VIETNAME was started in 1965 in Saigon by Airman 2ndclass Adrian Cronamer. GOOD MORNING VIETNAM was in a later part of 1955, so Airman 2nd Class Adrian Whazhizname couldn’t have inspired the little guy with big glasses, but the little guy with glasses may have spired Adrian. USS NEWPOT NEWS probably carried troops too.

Is Banksky a State-of- Mind

 

Have you ever heard of the underground graffiti artiist Banksy? This is partly what Wikipedia said about him: Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.

His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.

I heard on the news fairly recently in England at an art auction somebody wealthy bided and won one of Banksky original canvases for a very high price. He paid the auctioneer and as soon as he took possession it uploaded in hundreds of bits.

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Bettis Kids

 

These are Bob and Ida Lavonia Prance Bettis's four sons. Bob and Ida had ten children, 6 boys and 4 girls. The four oldest children were boys, and I think these were probably the only kids at the time of the picture was taken, which I estimate to be 1906. The first daughter was born in 1907, after when I believe this picture was taken. Based on that, from left to right: James Toliver Cecil Bettis (1900-1969), Reuel Andrew Bettis (1901-1968), Herschel Raymond Bettis (1903-1987), and Isaac Landrum Bettis (1898-1975).

Roy

 

As we were walking around the Chalkober Fest in Downtown Marietta today we ran into our long time subdivision friend Roy. He was sitting alone, enjoying watching people. We introduced him to Rocky our oldest son. Then it occurred to me they met before. Rocky is in his early 40s. I said, “Roy, one time Rocky sat in your lap.”

“What…?”

“He and his brother sat in your lap and told you what they wanted for Christmas.”

Then Roy got it. Roy had a Santa suit and that was one of the many things he did. He also has a motivational book out titled, NEVER BEAT YOUR BOSS AT HORSE SHOES by Roy Lantz and he is also a motivational speaker.

Roy's wife died not long ago. Just before she died a group of women came to their house to pray for her. She told the ladies if any of them are looking for a husband, Roy would be available in a day or two.

ON THIS DAY