Comic Books, Cigars & Sex Education

  As first grade came and went, I survived school and actually kind of liked it.  At the end of second grade and the beginning of third grade Charles, J. W. & Rickey moved into Mr. Joe Parrish's house.  Every afternoon after school, we were bored and tired of being cooped up. Since we lived off  Broad St. we had about a mile hike everyday, and it carried us through downtown Headland.  As we hit Church St., just before the park square, across the street from The Thrift Store, there it was; Holley's Drug Store.
     Sometimes we would have enough change to buy a soda.  My favorite was a lemon sour.  Carbonated water, lemon juice, and salt; what could be better for a growing boy than that?  Really, buying a coke was just a cover, so that we could read comics at the magazine rack.  After reading about Spot run, and Dick and Jane do some crazy thing over and over again, we were ready for a good story.  And we were never disappointed.  Super Man, Batman and Robin, Dick Tracy, The Green Lantern, and The Flash kept us entertained for several days a week.  By the end of the month, we had read all the good comics and had to read Archie and Jughead, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.  Then Mighty Mouse would always come in at the last minute to save the day.  The first of the month would always bring in a fresh batch.  The Holly's were good patient people.  They never once complained about us being there.
     After we tired of reading those wonderful literary masterpieces, we would head out the door.  As soon as we walked out, the Thrift Store was directly in sight.  I would always look to see if a crowd was in front of the store.  It would take me a while to realize that the blacks only gathered there on Saturdays.  Then there would be a big enough crowd to make a Tarzan movie.  To get to the service station by the Headland National Bank, we had to go through the town square.  It was lined with big magnificent oaks that were already old in 1958, their canopy met and looked like a medieval cathedral ceiling.  Gave you a warm and secure feeling.  The square was a wonderland, with the walkways meeting in the middle and bushes planted all around.  The war memorial always amazed me.  In 1958 the soldier still had the rifle in his hand.  I guess he never did throw that grenade.
     Anyway, back at the service station, some of us would stay outside and a couple would go inside.  When they caught the attendant not looking, they would palm a pack of cigarettes.  If they were lucky, sometimes they could get a box of  Swisher Sweet cigars.  Man!, those were some great cigars.  After leaving there Wayne, J. W., Benny, Charles, Rickey, Walter and I would cut through the alley and hit Forrest Street.  There was a garage there that had a pin up calendar in the office.  We could see it through the window.  We were so young that we did not know what we were looking at, but we all seemed to like what we saw pretty well.  The mechanic would pick up a rock and throw it at us and we would run and laugh, happy that it was Charles that was hit and not us.
     At the end of Forrest St. at the intersection with Broad St. was a line of wooden warehouses.  They were all locked up(we checked), but they were built up off the ground, resting on brick pillars. The dirt was dug out a foot or so below grade.  We could almost stand up under the buildings, and there was enough debris laying around that we could build walls around us.  We were hidden from the world.  Safe in that cocoon, Wayne and J. W., being the oldest, educated us on the finer points of treating women like ladies.  We heard how to pick up girls, how to treat them, what to say to them.  Kind of ironic to have all this knowledge and being so afraid of them, that you could not use it.  And at 8 years old, for Pete's sake.
     All the while we were puffing on those cigars.  There was so much smoke pouring out from those buildings, I am surprised that the fire department did not show up.  I am not sure if all that smoke came from the cigars, because we all thought that we were pretty hot.  We learned a lot about girls (being very generous here), but it was all a failure.  None of us knew it at that point in time.  That did not matter, as we smoked, talked dirty, laughed and bragged.  Quite a sex ed. class.

Last Ride

This 16x20 inch oil on canvas painting, is one that I did  based on a photograph in the book "Indian Spirits"

Red Hat

Just refinished a metal Red Hat feed sign.  Fun project.

Welfare Bear

When a young bear is afraid to cross a creek for fear that when his feet get wet he will melt, there is someone around who will help.  The problem is that the bear never learns that getting his feet wet is actually a good thing and that constantly demanding help is depriving him of the satisfaction of becoming independent. The older he becomes the heavier he gets. Also the older the man becomes, the weaker he gets. Carrying the bear every time across the creek is inviting the two to a disaster when the man can no longer tote the heavy load.  What will happen when they both fall into the creek?  Why do the two not build a bridge instead?

Coca-Cola

I have always wanted one of these.  A customer brought in this button(49x49inches) painted red and wanted me to letter it.  Turned out pretty well, I think.

An Open Letter to Barack

     When I have been intercoursed by someone as many times as you, I feel that we should be on a first name basis.  I do not feel that you are the one to lecture me on gun violence.  It just does not make sense that someone who supports the slaughter of unborn babies for profit and giving Iran the atomic ability, would worry about my simple hand gun.  Just does not sound logical.
     Have you ever once considered that the removal of prayer and God from the public domain might have something to do with the violence?  What about bathing the White House with the gay rights rainbow?  Do you think that God died and left you in charge?  I think not.  What about the government encouraging young women to have out of wedlock babies so that they become slaves to the monthly government check?  It takes a man and a woman to raise a child properly.
     All of this boils down to a breakdown of society by disallowing God in the public arena, sponsored, in part, by you.  I am not allowed to judge you, but I can judge your action of lies and deceit.  I do have empathy and sympathy for the victims.  I also pray every night that you will turn to Jesus for the salvation of your soul and to help you run this country in a Godly manner.  When I become discouraged by the actions of you and all the government, He encourages me to pray and try harder to love you as He does.

Stone Pony

I have been  painting signs for thirty nine years, but this guy was doing that long before I was born.