Author: leonaldridge2015

“A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.” —William Wordsworth

I love living on a lake.

That would seem obvious for someone who has owned three lakeside homes over the years. So, if peaceful, serene and tranquil lake living beckons to me, then why am I currently living on a corner city lot where the only serene water is a patio fountain?

Wallace J. Nichols best describes the benefits associated with being near water in his book with the really long title, Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do.

“When we’re near water,” Nichols says, “Our brains switch into a different mode which can involve mind-wandering, creativity, and sleep, which are all known to be important to health, resilience, and productivity.”

While my brain of a different mode couldn’t have said it so eloquently, I just know that early morning pier sitting with a coffee cup in my hand is hypnotic. Lake life, like fish topping the water, frogs crooning, water fowl searching for breakfast, birds singing, water lapping against shorelines: it all melds in the early morning light to induce “take me away” therapeutic moments.

One such glimpse of lake life at Lake Murvaul in Panola County one morning became the beginning of a nature study of sorts. A nutria (water rodent best described as looking like a beaver with a ‘possum’s tail) passed my pier swimming his way north. Watching him for several mornings, his punctuality impressed me, although he was always going the same direction. Surely, I thought, he’s going back the other way later in the day.

My question was answered another afternoon by a small wake heading south, rippling the silky smooth sunset-hued water. Sure enough, it was him. It could have been a family member, but it makes a better story to assume it was the same critter.

Like clockwork, this routine continued for weeks. It became a ritual for me to look for him, morning and afternoon, wondering where he was going, and fascinating me that he made the same trip every day.

Storms on a lake fascinate me as well. Something about the water seems to energize a developing thunderstorm, bouncing menacing echoes of thunder off the lake’s surface. From my deck on the north side of Lake Murvaul, the view of clouds engulfing the lake with a curtain of rain was captivating. Mesmerized by nature’s display of a storm’s might, I would watch them and marvel at their power until the storm’s fury was right on top of the house.

Also mesmerizing are stunning sunrises and sunsets on the lake. Granted, they can be the most beautiful displays of nature anywhere on earth, but add a body of water as the backdrop and they can become breathtaking. Years of lake living resulted in a large library of gorgeous photos and an equally sizable store of memories watching them.

Wonderful memories from having lived in a variety of regions in Texas and appreciating the unique magic of each, I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. However, pressed to make a choice, it would be one with a lake outside my back door.

Which brings me back to my original question as to why I’m not still living on the lake. Truth is, I still wonder about that and about where that nutria was going … as I sit and enjoy the sounds of my water fountain on the patio.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“A good traveler has no plans, and is not intent on arriving.” —Philosopher Lao Tzu

Do you have coffee in the thermos,” he asked from the driver’s seat?

“Yes, I do,” she replied from the other side of the car and closed the door. “Our suitcases are in the trunk. Do you have the map,” she asked? “Did you get the oil changed and have the tires checked?”

Content that every preparation was complete, that everything was in the car including me in the back seat with a blanket and pillow, a road trip was ready to begin. It was 3:00 a.m. with a cooler trip in the morning air anticipated since air conditioned cars were uncommon, and the goal was reaching the destination before lunch.

The six to seven-hour road trip my grandparents were about embark on was from Pittsburg to Seymour, a distance of about 295 miles. The year was 1958, give or take a year.

Today, Google maps report that trip requires four and one-half hours of driving time via I-30 to Dallas and up highway 190 and 380 through Jacksboro, then 114 to Seymour. Sixty years ago, however, the first stretch of I-30, the Dallas Fort Worth turnpike, had been open only one year. Expansion east to Greenville and beyond was still just a plan on paper. The trip, if you dodged Dallas and went due west at Greenville, was two-lane roads through every small town with numerous reduced speed limits. Reduced meaning from the Texas speed limits then of 60 in the daytime and 55 at night.

Slow by today’s standards, however that speed limit was appropriate. New cars were built for cruising about 60, and anything more was considered reckless. Plus, a fair number of cars sharing the roads in 1958 were older and slower cars.

Fast forward to 2018. Contemplating an offer to join a quick road trip to Tennessee in a couple of weeks started me to thinking about travel today compared to travel in my parent’s and grandparent’s day.

Someone says, “Road trip,” to me, and I’m in. Give me a couple of hours to pack a bag and I’m good-to-go with the assurance of picking up any forgotten items at one of the carbon-copy mega-stores in every city of 3,000 or more inhabitants along the way.

“How long will it take and what route will we travel?’ Don’t worry about it. Got GPS in the car and got WAZE on the phone. “Is the car ready to travel?’ No problem. Today’s cars stay ready. Maintenance intervals are fewer and farther between, and any car that carried you to work last week will likely get you across the country this week.

Even if an “change oil” or the “low tire pressure” light should come on along the way, detour into the same carbon-copy mega-store and pull around to the automotive bays. An hour or two later you’re on the road again.

Coffee in the thermos? Don’t need it. How many drive-thru coffee spots do you pass every day just going to work?

Hey, we even have autonomous, self-driving cars.

The rest of the story on my grandparent’s trips between northeast and west Texas is they arrived in time for lunch all right. That was followed by an afternoon of visiting and supper, and they were back on the road the next morning headed home to Camp County.

I’m thankful for the “road trip” gene I inherited. I’m thinking that faster and convenient travel makes road trips more fun. And, I’m also wondering what my grandparents would think about today’s autonomous cars.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

 

 

 

 

 

“Live your life. Laugh out loud. Love your family.” —Old Cajun Wisdom

The landscape of South East Texas differs little from that of Louisiana, but the culture on either side of the Sabine River can be vastly different.

The Cajun culture is unique in many wonderful ways, one being the always prevalent celebration of good things in life: family, friends, food and fun. My friend and fellow newspaper columnist, Bill Hartman, nailed it in his column a couple of weeks ago when he said, “Cajuns are funny, smart, a bit quirky and nearly every one of them I’ve met has a heart the size of a bucket of boudin.”

I learned that during my short time tending a struggling Louisiana weekly in the 70s. It proved to be a memorable stint in terms of the community and the people with whom I worked.

People like Brenda and Dale Broyles who tirelessly matched my long hours while Brenda fed the office with some of the best homemade dishes I had tasted since crossing the border. The entire staff, to a person, was all folks whose lively spirit and positive attitude offset the challenging circumstances at the small publication.

A prized possession still displayed at my house is a certificate with which the staff honored me, proclaiming my status as “Honorary Cajun.”

My dad was born in Doyle, Louisiana, to a family of Mississippi descent living in Cajun country, but was reared in East Texas. He was not—as Cajun humorist Justin Wilson used to say—a “full bleed Ca-john,” but it was enough for him to lay claim on some bragging rights.

Justin Wilson visited my house in the mid 80s while in Center, Texas, as the chamber of commerce banquet guest speaker. Tradition then was for the incoming president to host a reception, to which I invited the Cajun comedian and cook. He first declined, but I later answered a knock at the door to see him smiling and hear him proclaiming, “How y’all are? I’m glad for you to see me, ah gar-own-tee!”

The situation was anything but funny however, when I found him backed into a corner by my 80-year-old grandmother who was lecturing him about the colorful language he used in telling his South Louisiana stories.

In true Cajun fashion, he spent the evening lacing his accounts of Boudreau and Thibodaux with an occasional four-letter expletive, but concluded with an eloquent apology—sort of.

“Lady and gentlemens,” he began in a serious tone vastly differing from that of the jokes that had kept the audience rolling. “I just wanna say dat when a Ca-john tell a story, we sometime use dat cuss word sorta like spice wit what we cook. I’m gonna told you, we don mean nuttin’ by it, it just de way we talk. But, if I have offended anyone here tonight, I just wanna say from de bottom of my heart…I really don give a damn.” He delivered the closing remark with his trademark smile, and the “apology” brought the biggest round of laughter and applause for the evening.

He was also smiling at my house when he looked straight over my 4-foot-11 grandmother’s head while she was still shaking her finger at him, and he saw me standing behind her with my jaw hanging open.

He just winked at me and continued to nod his head at Granny, saying, “Yes ma’am, yes ma’am, yes ma’am.”

Looking back, “Honorary Cajun” is as fine an honor as I’ve ever had bestowed on me.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“There are three signs of old age: loss of memory and I forget the other two.” —Comedian Red Skelton

A phone call from a friend summoned me to take a look at some old car parts. That’s kind of like asking my dog if he wants to take a look at a pork chop. We agreed early Friday would be good time. Problem was, my “light didn’t come on” until late Friday.

Offering a mixture of apology and admission, I threw in a little of my frustration with the increasing frequency of these “little” memory lapses lately. I concluded with a story about Cortez Boatner. Mr. Boatner was a well-known, successful businessman in my hometown of Mount Pleasant, Texas, when I was a youngster. He owned a furniture store, and he always wore a white dress shirt and tie when he came in Perry Brothers to visit with my father. For that matter, my father and most of the other businessmen in town also wore dress shirts and ties then.

Conspicuous in Mr. Boatner’s shirt pocket was an ever-present small spiral notebook and a pen. At some point during many conversations, out came the notebook and pen as he felt the need to document something from the discussion.

“Back then,” I related to my friend, “I thought that was funny. But you know, now that I’ve gotten older, I’m trying to remember exactly what it was that I thought was so funny about it.”

Same thing goes for my sisters and I who delighted in teasing our mother about her memory, or her lack thereof. She probably wasn’t any worse at forgetting things, it’s just that she had this comical way of doing it that we thought was funny.

Banana pudding was dad’s favorite dessert and mom made it often. About three bites into dessert one evening, dad stirred his as if searching for something, He stopped and announced, “I don’t think there’s any bananas in mine.”

“Oh no,” mom exclaimed. “Did I forget the bananas?” Sure enough, the unpeeled bananas were still lying on the kitchen counter. As a consoling gesture, we quietly ate every morsel of her banana-less banana pudding while extolling its magnificent taste.

Then there was the time her “good” sewing scissors disappeared. “They were right here,” she said, her voice registering a note higher with each word. “I just had them in my hand. Did one of you get my good scissors,” she quizzed us.

“No,” we chimed in unison. As mom continued searching, I checked the refrigerator in hopes of finding leftover banana pudding, preferably some with bananas. No pudding, but what I did find was scissors. Mom’s sewing scissors. Behind the ironing bag.

Although ironing clothes is becoming a lost art today, time was when freshly washed clothes awaiting the application of a hot iron were sprinkled with water and stored in a plastic ironing bag in the refrigerator. My mother ironed everything. She ironed school clothes, church clothes, play clothes, my father’s work clothes. She ironed tablecloths, sheets and pillowcases.

“Mom,” I called out, attempting to conceal my laughter upon finding her scissors in the refrigerator. “Were you ironing before you were sewing?”

I think about my mother on days when I arrive at the grocery store while trying to remember what was on my shopping list, the one I left at home. And, I’m still trying to remember what seemed so funny about Mr. Boatner’s habit of carrying a note pad in his pocket.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

Don’t throw the past away,
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again.

—1982 Song performed by Anne Murray

Increasing time spans between today’s date and the date on one’s birth certificate often aids in the realization that every now and then, some things put aside as outdated or useless just refuse to go quietly.

When the “going paperless” movement hit some years ago, I made a conscious effort to get on board with it at work, but knew better than to ever try it at home. I confess, I have a penchant for saving things, many things that involve paper. Things like hundreds of books. Countless vinyl records, all in paper sleeves. My first driver’s license. Notebooks and research papers from college. Car magazines back to 1954. You get the idea.

But, it doesn’t stop there. Things like printouts of digitally filed tax returns, emails to read later, and anything on the internet holding any possibility of a future need are all on paper and on file.

I know what you’re thinking, but print on paper is far and away aesthetically more enjoyable in my book. There is nothing like the smell of paper and the comfort of holding it in your hands.

My home library doesn’t smell like fresh linens, room deodorizers, or scented candles. It’s resplendent in the intoxicating aroma of aged paper, a fragrance on the same olfactory level as expensive perfume or cookies in the oven.

Granted, there are advantages to digital over paper. Text and email beats the socks off writing a letter and risking a week for it to travel three counties via snail mail. Online ordering is especially handy for buying real books, buying paper edition magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and buying paper for your printer.
Online searches yield information and data ready for printing.

Which brings me to the point of this missive. Researching an article at work last week on misinformation about paper killing forests, I was thrilled to also find data overwhelmingly supporting continued popularity for the use of paper. Numerous surveys linked feelings toward paper to “a much more emotional and meaningful connection when reading on paper versus screens.”

Cited as factors contributing to these feelings toward paper were all points I have been using to rationalize my refusal to relinquish my love for paper: ease of reading, tactile experience, lack of Internet access.

Lack of Internet is probably not an issue if you call cities the size of Dallas or Houston home. But, in small communities, like Center, where AT&T service is only slightly better than what I envision the Mayflower may have had on its voyage to the new world, it’s a deal breaker.

One survey, covering five countries including the U.S., concluded its findings citing 80-85-percent of those surveyed believe companies promoting “go green – go paperless” are merely seeking to save costs; 62-79-percent want the option to continue receiving printed paper bills and statements, and 72-77-percent would be unhappy if asked to pay a premium for that option.

Online research proved I am not alone. Best news I’ve heard since vinyl records started making a comeback.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“Appreciate your parents. You never know what they went through for you.” — Anonymous

Some memories make you appreciate being here. Mine do, especially as applied to my sisters falling for my ideas of fun, to punishment those ideas earned me, and to my parents who endured it while still living long lives.

Eight of ten experts today discourage spanking, but research confirms eight of ten parents, as mine did, still consider sparing the rod less effective for discouraging undesired performance than reminders applied to a youngster’s backside.

Mom sometimes applied justice with a hairbrush considering it done. More serious infractions evoked the dreaded, “Wait until your father gets home!”

It was a memorable hairbrush lesson that marked the time I was about five and decided to join the neighbors for ice cream. Loading up the car and seeing me in the back yard, they extended an invitation. Mom’s decision was, “no.” Not pleased with that answer however, I went back outside and went with them anyway.

My return was to an extremely distraught mother. I thought it was because she was glad to see me, but mom corrected my error in judgement by marching me off to the bathroom. As was typical of mom’s punishment, she was an expert at applying the brush while simultaneously crying her eyes out.

An encore performance around that same time pushed my poor mother so far over the edge, she skipped the hairbrush. She didn’t even wait for dad to come home, but summoned him from work.

My younger sister, Leslie, was not blessed with lots of hair as a toddler. Mom nurtured it and taped bows to her head until it finally began to grow.

My idea one day was to play barbershop, and Leslie was my first customer. A few snips employing dull “safe” school scissors, and Leslie not only had a horrible haircut, she passed for legally bald.

Mom was sitting in the hallway floor sorting through boxes in some sort of closet cleaning endeavor when we beamed with pride to show her the fun we had been having. She looked, said something and returned to her project. In a heartbeat, her eyes got bigger, she turned and looked again, and began screaming. I thought something was wrong with her. Turns out something was wrong, and it was me.

Arriving at this conclusion, I figured my best move was to be somewhere else, and I took off. Mom reached out, grabbed the waistband on my pants and began reeling me in.

She looked at me and sobbed, then looked at Leslie and whimpered. She was hysterical, hugging Leslie and still holding me by my pants when dad arrived. Forget, “mom’s hair brush in the bathroom.” That day, I had earned a “dose of dad’s belt in the kitchen.”

Just as things seemed to settle down, Sunday rolled around. The family arrived at church with nicely groomed hair; everyone except Leslie who was sporting a bonnet. Mom tried to explain, but she just started crying all over again whereupon impromptu prayers were offered by nearby brethren. I bowed my head, hoping some of them were for me.

I can say, however, whether it was my parent’s prayers or my punishment, I am glad to be here and there were two things I never did again: Go rogue with the neighbors for ice cream, or play barbershop with my sisters.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“I bought this house now you know I’m boss,
Ain’t no haint gonna run me off.”

—“Haunted House” 1964 song by Jumpin’ Gene Simmons

“Ghosts. Apparitions. Haunts, or haints,” my friend teased me, “Whatever you call them, do you believe in them?”

Listening to campfire stories as a youngster in Coach Sam Parker’s Boy Scout Troop in Mount Pleasant instilled in me an appreciation for lore. His story telling skills were legendary. While his recitation of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” was unforgettable, his spooky stories could keep a Tenderfoot Scout camped deep in Titus County woods awake half the night trying to forget.

While never investing heavily in paranormal perception, I’ve also never doubted unexplained occurrences. Particularly, personal experiences in a Center house I called home a few years ago, one built in 1900. Experiences that were, well…difficult to explain.

They started with minor distractions—sounds of walking in the attic at night. Then a bedroom with “possessed” lighting.

I blamed George, as I called the assumed unseen inhabitant to give him some personality. I also decided George resided in one large bedroom connected to a smaller bedroom and bath via a common door—standard construction in houses from that era.

George was seeking attention, it seemed, with the light in that room. After we ignored the attic sounds, the light began randomly coming on for no reason, frequently as someone walked by the door. Switching it off worked, but it would come on again at some point.

Fearing faulty wiring in the old house, an electrician was summoned, but nothing found. In fact, he argued events such as described were not possible. Nobody told George that. It continued during the years we lived there. We also learned to ignore that.

Other events were less easy to dismiss. Like one quiet morning when a slight noise caused me to look in time to see a kid’s football rolling through the door. It apparently fell off a bookshelf in the large room, rolled across the floor, through the door and stopped at my feet.

Early morning, no one else up. What made it fall off the shelf, and at that moment? What made a football that neither rolls easily or straight, navigate perfectly from one room to another, through a door, stopping at my feet? Having no other explanation, I said, “George, I don’t have time to play ball. I have to go to work.”

Preparing for work another morning, I deposited a washcloth on the lavatory and exited the bathroom, making the 180-degree U-turn necessary to face the closet. As I did, the aforementioned washcloth came flying out of the bathroom and landed on the floor beside me.

Again, I was the only one awake—an assumption I verified this time. Taking time to allow my heart rate to slow down, I looked around the room and announced loudly, “George, you gotta cut this out. If you have something to say, can you just write it on the wall? I’ll get back to you.”

Numerous oddities came and went at the old house, all in the area of those same rooms. I became accustomed to it, audibly addressing George with the blame and assuming he was hearing me.

Despite everything, after leaving the old house we often wished our stay there had been longer. Pending of course, George’s approval … and, whether I admitted to really believing in him.

—Leon Aldridge

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“These are the good old days.” — Oscar Elliott (My late friend and long-time purveyor of philosophy, wit and wisdom.)

– – – – – – – – – –

Stuck at home entertaining an uninvited bout of flu last week gave rise to discussion touting methods of modern medicine against Granny’s old-fashioned home remedies.

The winner, and the cough cure recommended by nine out of ten Grannies, was the proverbial lemon, honey and a shot of whiskey. Mine endorsed it. Granny Aldridge, a devout teetotaler quick to admonish alcohol as the work of the devil, kept a small bottle of spirits in her cupboard—for medicinal purposes only, of course.

The affliction itself, she attacked with a concoction of garlic, vinegar and other ingredients that I not only couldn’t identify, I didn’t want to know. Today, I’m convinced the cure was not in the potion itself, but in the fact that no one else was going to get close enough to infect you.

Everything was just different at Granny’s. From miracle cures, to more pleasant memories, like eating: if it was from Granny’s house, it was better. Simple things like chips. I eat Fritos today because Granny kept them at her house. My favorite chip could be a toss up. “Ruffles,” or barbecue potato chips are contenders, but, I’m thinking Fritos would win two out of three times just because eating them recalls time spent at her house.

Fritos were not a common pantry item at home. We had chips—just the plain ones for “sandwich night.” Mom prepared simple meals, even on sandwich night, and I guess Fritos were too fancy.

Granny’s stash of Fritos, cookies, candy and other treats was kept only in her dining room buffet and that was the attraction. Special treats, kept in a special place.

For instance, we had mellorine at home, not to be confused with real ice cream, in the half-gallon square cartons. But, Granny kept ice cream sandwiches, and for a practical reason. Her refrigerator was old, even for the 50s. It had a very small freezer compartment with space on either side for milk, juice, and a water bottle, because there was no need to “waste” ice on a drink of water.

The tiny freezer in Granny’s ‘fridge had only two shelves for frozen food, each one accommodating something no larger than a couple of ice trays—which it also had just below the shelves. Therefore, she bought ice cream sandwiches because they fit. Today, however, I still eat ice cream sandwiches for no other reason than it reminds me of snacking at her house.

Another special treat at Granny’s was one I’ve not seen in many years—vanilla ice cream and devil’s food cake roll. That was not going to fit in her freezer in any case, making it a special treat bought only on Sunday afternoons at the A&P, after which we drove to the “gravel pit” to enjoy it picnic style.

The county gravel pit in the late 50s was on a county road off 271 north near the current Pittsburg hospital. Why we didn’t just go to the park, I don’t know. There was obviously some sort of attraction to enjoying a cake and ice cream roll on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the gravel pit.

It was in any case, a much easier and simpler way of life than today…except for those old-fashioned home remedies. You can keep them, but let me know if you see a cake and ice cream roll, will you?

—Leon Aldridge

(PHOTO: By the author—”Granny’s buffet,” the same one I went to for “special treats in a special place” at her house. She bought it used from a neighbor in Mineola, Texas sometime between 1923 and 1930. It sat in the same spot in her house in Pittsburg, Texas from 1930 to 1993. It has resided with me since 1993.)

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Many people regard birthdays ending with a zero as milestones. That’s a title I use for events like the day I graduated from high school, the day I got my first car, or the day I retired. Oh wait, haven’t completed that last one yet.

Honestly, I don’t mind aging. I’m of the opinion that continuing to have birthdays is a good thing—a blessing, and that an optimistic outlook about having birthdays will lead to a long life.

Thinking decade by decade last weekend about the zero-year birthdays with which I’ve been blessed, two or three birthdays are all that really stood out. Truth is, I’m thankful for every one I have been blessed to celebrate.

I’m reasonably sure I had a tenth birthday, but possess no memory of it. I do, however, remember Valentine’s Day as a fourth grader in Mrs. Poe’s class at Seymour (Texas) Elementary. Why Valentine’s Day instead of my birthday? Maybe it was something to do with the little blonde I had big crush on.

Fast forward ten years. Fourth grade quickly became my second year of college at East Texas State University in Commerce sharing a rented house with two of my Mount Pleasant classmates, Ronny Narramore and Gary Cornett. Birthday? I guess, but memories are likely overshadowed by the next year’s birthday—turning 21. Now, that’s a milestone.

Birthday 30 as a blank could have something to do with emotions falling between losing a first child short of his first birthday and celebrating a new daughter within eight months. Thirty was the first birthday I remember thinking getting “old” seemed closer than it had once been.

Forty was a big one. Friends and family heaped three celebrations on my “big Four Oh.” Turning the dreaded 40 made me feel more blessed than anything else. It was also the first time I realized a lot can happen in ten years, and that ten years can go by before you have time to think about it.

50 and 60 were marked with memories of settling into thinking, “Just another birthday. Yesterday, I was one day younger. Tomorrow, I will be one day older.” With each one, however, the ten-year spans were not just fast any more, they were picking up speed like a runaway locomotive.

So, what about 70? I’m proud to say, today is the day. If you’re reading this, chances are I’ve made it. My aforestated philosophies of remaining optimistic and maintaining a humorous outlook as prerequisites for a good life and a long life remain intact. And, today, I’m pretty sure those principles came from my dad whose wisdom on birthdays was, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper—the closer to the end you get, the faster it goes.”

I also believe there’s truth in the clichéd adage that age is a state of mind, that we are only as old as we feel. I can report today that 70 doesn’t loom nearly as old as it did when I viewed it on my parents. My goal is 100, which by then will surely be the new 70, and we’ll take a look at things from there.

I’ve been blessed to have known two centenarians while living in Center, Texas. Mattie Dellinger, with whom I worked for many years, lived to see 100 and beyond. She embarked on a journalism career after she was past 50, wrote columns, and hosted a radio show at one point, while reaching 100.

The other was Grover Hicks who saw 100 still driving a car, teaching a Sunday School class, and going wherever she wanted to go.

I knew Miss Grover had celebrated 100 when I saw her in the bank a few days after her milestone birthday. “You missed my 100^th birthday party,” she teasingly scolded me. I acknowledged that I had, but apologized, letting her know I didn’t know about the party until I read it in the paper. She smiled and replied, “That’s all right, you can come to my 101^st party next year.”

That’s the optimism I hope I have…should I still be doing this at 100.

—Leon Aldridge

(Youngster’s birthday party photo from author’s collection. A birthday party, but not his, in Pittsburg, Texas, about 1950 or ’51. He’s the one behind the table, between the two girls and looking at the camera.)

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).

“Our memories keep yesterday alive.”—Author unknown

Roller rinks. Not so long ago, every small town had one. Facebook discussions last week about the “good old days” of roller skating in my hometown of Mount Pleasant, Texas, gave new life to lots of great memories. The smell of leather rink skates, the sound of skate wheels on wood floors and music by Bill Black’s Combo.

Invented in 1863 and popularized in the late 1800s, roller rinks boomed after World War II. Roller skating birthday parties became a rite of passage for children from the 1950s through the 1980s. Changes in the 70s with the disco craze boosted skating’s popularity as many rinks became roller discos. Replacing staid lighting, organ music and aging clientele, teenagers were skating under mirror balls to disco beats.

The skating rink was my primary hangout as a youth in the 60s. Owner J.B. Hall lived across the street from us on Redbud Lane, and I enjoyed time spent as his semi-sort-of employee riding to the skating rink with him to help open up for business. This entailed opening large wood “barn doors” over the screen windows and turning on evaporative coolers in the summer, or leaving the windows closed and lighting gas heaters in the winter. Dust mopping the floor performed on roller skates was next, followed by ensuring that stacks of 45 r.p.m. records were ready to spin.

Best part of the job, however, was that I was also the “bouncer” on some nights, a job that rotated between a number of guys. That meant wearing a whistle and pointing at anyone skating recklessly, too fast, or in any other unacceptable fashion.

My pay? Free ride to the skating rink, free admission, free snacks, and a free ride home. Oh, and the coolness that came with being a bouncer.

I wasn’t the best skater, but do anything often enough and you eventually get the hang of it. I was fair on wheels, held my own with most of the crowd. One of the crowd, however, stood out as “the pro.” Bobby Rhea moved with the fluid motion of an Olympic ice skater, turning circles, spinning on one skate, forward or backward, never faltered. Made it look easy.

The most amazing thing he did was strike a match on the floor while holding it in his teeth. I could attempt a description of the rolling acrobatics he accomplished to pull this off, but mere words are weak short of seeing someone do it. To every young guy wanting to skate like he did, and to every young girl he impressed, Bobby personified cool on skates.

The Halls purchased the rink from the McMahans, then later sold it to the Henry’s who owned it for a long time. By then, my skating days in Mount Pleasant were fading away as high school faded into college.

I never completely left roller skating behind though, accomplishing two “comebacks” since those early days. One in the late 80s when with my children, daughter Robin and son Lee, we started skating at the rink in Nacogdoches, the nearest one to home in Center, Texas. Despite a 20-year absence, old skating skills returned with a few laps around the floor. To ensure an authentic atmosphere for a respectable return, I even worked a deal with the rink manager to play my 60s Bill Black combo music.

The last comeback was just a few years ago in Longview, Texas, when my wife’s nephew decided a skating party for his birthday would be the bomb. As I had 20 years before, I calculated about 20 fingers and toes since the last time I had rolled on a rink—and this time I was in my 60s. None-the-less, I laced up my skates and rolled out on the floor one more time with “the other kids.” Within 15 minutes I was 16 years old again, even without the aid of what I termed proper music.

Perhaps there will be other comebacks before I hang up my skates for good, at least as long as Bill Black’s Combo music is still available.

—Leon Aldridge

(Photo: Author’s 60s vintage Chicago Trophy roller skates still doing time, these days as a reminder of the “good old days” displayed in the back seat of his 1955 Ford Crown Victoria at vintage car events.)

Aldridge columns are also published in the Center, Texas, Light and Champion (http://www.lightandchampion.com) and the Mount Pleasant, Texas, Tribune newspapers (http://www.tribnow.com).