Henry
In the third grade, under the tutelage of Miss McKinley, Henry and I became lifelong friends. We knew we were friends because we liked a dog, a donkey and a fishing pole. Together we walked along the back roads of yesterday. At times a dog trotted at our heels.
Henry talked a lot. He made people laugh. He never knew a stranger.
Today is Henry’s birthday. He would be 76 years old. Ten years ago, he went ahead to walk a new road.
There is still beauty in the world today because Henry and I walked together along those back roads of yesteryear.
Get to know Henry as you read my forthcoming book, short stories, and ebooks.
Trails of Nostalgia, A Man Along the Road
I had to rush over here from Trailsofnature and say a few words about Mr. George’s new e-book that will be available shortly - here on orisgeorge.com.
A Man At the Side of the Road is a touching, bittersweet story of a stranger who is grappling with the loss of his wife and son. Through their encounter, an 8 year old learns to face the fears of war; he will never again be just 8 years old.
This is a more serious story than the humorous nostalgia for which Mr. George is known. Still threaded with the realities of years gone by, Mr. George yet again pulls you into his words and takes you to a place when life was different, simpler.
Don’t miss this memorable walk down the backroads of yesterday - right here on orisgeorge.com.
Red the Mule and His boy Oris
It always amazes me, when I do something worthy of being called mischief and a friend calls me, grinning from ear to ear to ask me oh so politely to undo it. I can’t resist. I’ve got to please, that’s my nature. But there’s so much more. The mischief, if you missed it, was worthy of greatness. The friendship is valued so much more.
Oris, I’m truly glad you sent me this photo to play with. You’ll never know where it will show up, or what color now. I love playing with photos. They’re just so “telling”.
That’s a cute little tow head on that mule! How did he ever grow up to be you?
Coyote Moments - Oris is Killing Birds Again
Got an email announcing to the world that Oris hates birds, says I’m having a nightmare if I hear them squawking. Says the sun is shining brightly (he used an -ly word - he’s having a mind glitch) at his house this morning.
If the coyotes are out, they’d best be checking on old Oris, to see if he’s alright.
I hear Marcia has been visiting…
Seriously, the man says he feels like a writer. I wonder what he thinks that feels like? Any Jack with a crow to pick can come up with enough words to string together to say something of minor enough importance to publish in a book thinks he’s a writer. Next thing we know, he’ll be polishing up the keyboard and announcing he’s a poet and didn’t know it.
Elmer, you’d best get your carcass over to George’s residence and salvage those birds, you’ll be going hungry this winter. But I suppose when you live on the Back Roads, you’re used to that…
What’s this I hear about that cock-eyed mule, Red, becoming a celebrity in Oris George’s new book? I hear he’s got a picture and everything in the book, including his own portion in the About Red section. Herumph!
A Twinkle of Time
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book — Along the Back Roads of Yesterday.
“Oris. Getting you to listen to what I’m telling you is like asking a pet mouse to eat a bushel of red apples.”
I had asked Mom if I could hitch my mule Red to the cart and go for a drive. (Red wasn’t really my mule, but I claimed him.) He was a one-eyed aggravating mule Dad let me ride and drive. Mom ’s answer didn’t make the day any better
“Bring some wood for the kitchen stove, fill the kitchen water bucket, and take out the trash.” I tried not to listen but my ears wouldn’t shut off.
“But, Mom — I want to go now. I’ll do those chores when I get back.”
“You’re not listening to me.”
“OKAY. I hear you. You don’t have ta yell.”
“Don’t get mouthy with me young man. I’m not yelling. I’m trying to get you to listen, for once, to what I’m saying.”
That hot summer of 1941 is still fresh in my memory. World War II was raging in Europe and Africa. The term, The Germans, struck fear into the hearts of me and my eight-year-old friends. When I was riding Red or driving him to the cart, I daydreamed and played like he was a large beautiful horse instead of a one-eyed, contrary red mule. Out by myself, I didn’t hear my parents or grandparents and the neighbors talk about the war.
The water bucket was always empty. The big gray Monarch cook stove was always hungry. The trash basket was always full. I had more important things to do than be bothered with chores. Mom didn’t see it that way.
DOES TIME TWINKLE
Does Time Twinkle?
An online definition of twinkle is…To cause to shine with fluctuating light. My friend Oris and I discuss a twinkle in time often; it seems to stick around our conversations. Is our childhood but a twinkle in time’? Are we the changers-of-the-light; do we decide the moments that shine or not? Do we have the helm when those freeze-frame moments are created, the ones that shine continually throughout our memories while others are only…twinkles? These notions seem a part of philosophy and questions that go unanswered and leave us pondering the elusiveness of life.
Oris George and I often banter around the conception that in our childhoods, time seems short; there’s never enough of it to do all we wish. Yet as we approach forever and time really is short, as we look back in retrospect, our childhoods now seem to have lingered on forever. Was/is it all short? Maybe our childhood, even our lives, truly are only… twinkles in time.
Stay tuned for Mr. George’s upcoming twinkles in time, peeks into his childhood - his freeze-frame moments that still shine brightly today. You’re in for a treat! Prepare to walk with him down the backroads of yesterday to a time when life was memorable, palpable, real.
Danielle (aka damwriter/Mrs. Barn Builder/MBB)
Coyote Moments - Elmer’s Gift
Everybody knows Coyotes don’t wear pink. Particularly not Elmer Coyote, the resident bachelor at the Oris George Mansion, but seriously, if he’s wanting to find himself a she-coyote, he’d better get used to the color pink.
Just this past week, I noticed a she-coyote with a gleam in her eye dancing past the entry to Victoria’s Secret in the downtown, mentioning her desire to meet a handsome coyote with an affinity for the color pink. Her name was Tusci and I don’t think she was looking for a scrawny city boy in a pin stripe suit. She definitely looked like the back roads type with an eye for power.
So, Elmer, I just wanted to let you know, if you’re still searching the single’s columns, you’d better get your Pink on, and get ready to rumble. Cuz buddy, she’s comin’ at ya. Tell Melvin Coyote he’d better set you up in style.
The Coyote brothers
Melvin and Elmer Coyote have asked for the perfect egg.
More Shades of Pink
You know, EVEN when I pinched Oris George’s cheeks at McDonalds, I didn’t see as much PINK as we saw when we gave Oris the RECOGNITION he deserved for presenting - The Perfect Egg. So, if you like PINK - and I know you do - you’ll LOVE the article I wrote.
Leave a comment, tell us how much you enjoyed it. We may get him convinced to do it again, in front of a camera.
YAY!!!
Y’know, I’m beginning to like Oris in Pink, this could be the best brand a Mule Lover ever had! What do you think Mr. Elmer Coyote?
This morning
At daybreak this morning I went for a walk around the pond. Three Killdeer scampered ahead of me, screeching, whistling, trying their best to lead me away. They were saying, “Come this way.”