Randy Stephens

CELINDA!!!! Darling!!! You move to the head of the class!! You get an A+ in History and you have won a one way trip to The Rocket City and then to the Moon in one of our used, retired beat up Rockets. They have been long retired, but for this one time special event we are going to bring an old wreck out of mothballs and fly you to the Moon. I don't know about coming back. That would be a bit more pricey. Know what I mean Vern! But that's ok, you can just be Moon Struck for eternity. That's special, I don't care who you are.

Ok. Ok. So you want to know about The Rocket City. Here goes girl.

Neseled in the Southern ridges of the Appalachians with the Tennessee River running through it is a city one hundred miles South of Nashville called Huntsville. In 1808 the county was created and named after James Madison. It quickly became the Social Center of the King Cotton realm. It became the 22 state of the Union in 1819. But before all of that Huntsville was the Sacred Hunting Grounds of one of my ancestral Nations, the Cherokee.

In 1941 the Huntsville Arsenal was created, a chemical warfare plant, and named Red Stone Arsenal. There artillery shells were produced for the war effort.

Then in 1949 Red Stone Arsenal became the Army's Guided Missile center.

In 1950 Huntsville became the center for the Army's Rocket project. In 1957 work began on the Jupiter Rocket and then in 1958 NASA was established. In 1960  Red Stone Arsenal became Marshall Space Flight Center. Also in 1960 the Saturn Rocket was created. In 1970 the U.S. Space and Rocket Center was established in Huntsville and I think it was shortly after that Huntsville began to be refereed to as the Rocket city.

Hey, that's all I know about that. Guess you've been lightened!!! All I got to say about the en stuff is just go ahead and get you some of that! It might be good Big Sister!!!

"THERE'S A BUG IN MY MARGARITA...."

Randall

Randy Stephens

HEY ALL Ya'll GROWN UP RUG RATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Celinda you guys grown up rug rats just ant right. Know what I mean Big Sister!

Good Morning or at least morning. It's to early to tell if it's going to be good or not. The odds or against mine being very good seeing how I didn't sleep worth a dam last night in the Racking Horse capital of the world. Now Celinda guess where that is!!!!! Bet you can't!!!

Just saying Hey and letting you know that my son, his friend and little old me are in a new venture. Yes you guessed it, were writing a book together. And no I have not finished my first one. But who likes to do just one thing at a time. It's more fun to juggle. I wrote the first page of this new book called Samuel last night while my son and his friend are doing historical and background research. This book will be an historical fiction. Don't it sound like fun! 

Got to get ready for work now. Tell you more later.

"SOME BEECH, SOME WHERE....."

Randall

PS......... It's all ya'll (you guys) fault for encouraging me. Shame on ya!!!! LOL!!!

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

Randall: Are you in Decatur?  I do know the racking horse is Ala-freaking-bama's "official" horse.  There's a lot I don't know but not much I can't find out if I put my mind to it!  Decatur is a guess because that's where the Racking Horse Association's office is located. 

Good luck with the book . . .writing it will be easy for you - getting it published may present a slight obstacle. However, I have full faith you will see it through & we will all see your book in print some day.  Are you planning a book signing tour?  I just hope they stock it online at Barnes & Noble in electronic format so I can download it on my "Nook" to read.  Now that's a nifty piece of technology!  I'm totally hooked on e-reading.  No more black fingers from book ink.  The Nook has renewed my love of reading!

It's been sort of quiet on the forum . . . maybe you are all taking summer siestas or a break from everything.  Wake up people, post something. . . anything!  Talk about your summer - anyone going on vacation soon?  We want to hear from you!

Randy Stephens

CELINDA!!!! Jackpot!!! You got it girl!! I just can't slide one by ya Big Sister!

BUT!

Here's one for ya. Near Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River there is a Resort called Double Head. Where did it get its name, who or what was it named after. When you tire of searching I'll tell you the story behind Double Head.

Next! Can you tell me what the Tennessee River was called before it was called the Tennessee River?

Keep getting knocked off this hotel signal. So I'm signing off till later.

"WISHING I WAS KNEE DEEP IN THE WATER SOMEWHERE, GOT THE BLUE SKY BREEZE BLOWING BLOWING WIND THREW MY HAIR, ONLY WORRY IN THE WORLD IS THE TIDE GOING TO REACH MY CHAIR."

Randall 

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

Randall: What did we do for information before the internet?  The Tennessee River was formerly the Cherokee River.  Since we know you are "all things Cherokee" I was not surprised to learn that Doublehead was a Cherokee Chief who guarded the local area claimed as sacred hunting grounds (by both the Cherokee and the Choctaw Nations) against encroachment by white settlers from the late 1700's to 1807.  The train line between Decatur & Tuscumbia is close by and is the only railroad that is recognized as the Trail of Tears Route.

Now, let's hear your story. I have no doubt it is much more colorful & interesting!  Tell us about the Trail of Tears . . .

Randy Stephens

Celinda!!!!

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I have been laid up at home healing my broken spirit and mending my wounds and brokenness after you bested me yet again for the hundredth time. Bested by a girl! Dam! Sorry. Sorry. A woman! A female! I feel like a windmill Don Quixote destroyed in his misguided ways. Your just too tough girl!

But I'm glad you like research. Me, I hate it. It's too much like work. Plus I spent way too much time in dim lighted libraries in College and Grad School. It seemed like all we did was research and papers. It's all because of those dam dim lit library that I have to ware these dam proscription shades all the time. Oh well.

First I'm going to hit you with something simple that you can't research. Something you have to feel. Now, women are suppose to be good at that. Right? So go on and feel what I'm going to hit you with. Then later I'll tell you the story of Double Head and the three Trails of Tears.

THE MUSIC

Silence echo's the drums of rage impeding the harmony of the Cosmos;

Chaotic rhythms of violence mute the music of reality;

While whispering voices of evil smother the waltz of life.

How can we graciously dance under the Stars while shadows of Puritan shame wickedly leap about?

How can we sing to the wind ballads of beauty while bombarded by the deafening solitude of fearful noise?

Remembering, she sang the winsome lyrics of the Spheres purifying the air we breath.

Enlivened, he danced the miraculous music of life filling the heart that beats within us.

Entangled together in the breath of the moment they inspired all creation with the savory beauty of serenity.

It was ecstasy that empowered the Spirited dance and bliss that fueled the engaging lyrics.

He, the princely son of gods, she, the imperial princess of grace, sang and danced of life and love as light struggled to pierce nights deafening gaze.

With Spirits soaring in the twilight they orchestrated the sweet rhapsody of life.

Dancing into the sunlight of day, singing to the soul of the Universe they laughed and they played before all to see.

Rapturing the shadows of unenlightened indifference they resounded the intuitive tune of intimacy.

Now resonating through the nucleus of time and eternity an unprecedented dawning of consciousness chants rhythms of genesis awakening ancient lyrics of creativity and compassion.

The experiential music of wonder together with the inner dance of goodness enables us to feel the essence of life, while the melody of awareness embraces the rhythm of otherness and we are whole again, empowered again, alive again.

Randall

Ralph Ellerd

Hey Randall, remember this Guy Jim Varney!!!  Rest his soul!!  U know what I mean Vern????

Ralph Ellerd

Hey Cindi,  Great song!!!!!!!! And anyone else that want's to listen!!!!

Randy Stephens

Hey Classers!!!

What happening? How it's hanging girls and boys? Sorry. Sorry. At our age everything is hanging. Right! That gives a whole new meaning to "LET IT ALL HANG OUT." Cause it is. Shit's hanging out that we wish wasn't hanging out. Stuff that used to not hang out is just spilling out like the Tulia Lake Spillway in the sixties. Remember back when? Hanging out stuff that's way passed suck it up and now suck it up has a whole new meaning cause there's some stuff you just can't suck up anymore even though you still try. Dam gravity! Dam cookies! Dam beer! Oh well. Know what I mean. All I can say is just "TWIST AND SHOUT." But I'm shouting cause I'm twisting and it hurts like hell. Know what I mean! Oh well. Like the signs at Rose Hill says, "BE WARE OF RATTLE SNAKES. I think I've been bit in the ass. How about you?

Ok. Ok. I told Self not to write that dam poem but he wouldn't' listen. I told Self that ya'll would like feel good poems but you know how he can be. Right. Self wanted that '70 reflective,  Acid, farout stuff. He forced and tortured me till I gave in. Blackmail. Life threats. Arm twisting and all. He's such a butt. Were still not speaking. Just after I was forced to write that poem I had to take my lap top to the Geek Doc's in town for a defrag and tune up. Just got her back and thank God it wasn't fatale. I've locked self in the basement closet and I don't know if I'll ever let him out again. I'm divorcing him. Know what I mean! Get it done!

Next month my second job doubles. So, I'll work my first job Monday - Wednesday, second job Thursday and Friday and take care of my Ranch on Saturday and Sunday. When am I going to fish anymore? I live less than ten miles from the Tennessee River and have no time to fish. That just ant right. Know what I mean Verne! By this time I should have a large party boat with lots of boozes and naked women whipping up a storm on the Tennessee River. Sorry. Sorry. Not. Maybe. Never. Not on the river. Beneath a tree. Under the water. In a cave. Somewhere. Somehow. Someway. Yesterday. Oh well.

"........THIS IS COUNTY MUSIC........"

"......JUST A KISS GOOD NIGHT......"

So, this week I'm back down in Mississippi and up to no good. Ant it cool Dudes and DUDETS!!

Randall

Lloyd Singer

Hey Randall,

I don't know about everyone else, but I've kinda been recouperating from Picnic weekend and in a funk over the HEAT!  It's just been in the upper 90's the last few days, so maybe we're past the worst of it.

I don't know about Cindi, but your poem's source has eluded me...  so far!

LRS

Randy Stephens

Singer!

Read it a few more times.

"WISHIMG I WAS KNEE DEEP IN THE WATER SOMEWHERE......."

But I just have to go to work.

Randall

Randy Stephens

HEY!!!

I hate North Mississippi!!! It's the armpit of the world. Hell, God only created Mississippi so Alabama wouldn't be last everything.

I'm fighting with the Best Western here because they told me they would give me my reward points and now, tonight, they call and say they won't. Yep you guessed it, shit hit the fan and it will keep hitting the fan for a while. So if you here about an old man going postal in a Mississippi Worst Western it'll be me. BASTARDS!

Singer........sorry I had to fly off to work this morning after reading your post. Self said I need to share more of my mysterious poems cause it caused you to respond. I'm not listening to him, so don't worry. But it is good to hear your voice on here dude. You should speak more man. We all know you have a lot to say. Ok, enough said. Get the point. Know what I mean. Get her done.

Singer........./////????####$$$%%%^^&&**(())@@>><<}]{[~~``++==--__!!! The source. That's a good question. Reflective. Thoughtful. Curious. Alusive. Outer Limits kinda thought. The source. A source. What source? Any source. Your source. His source. Her source. Their source. My source.  Other worldly source and many other sources. What if there is no real source. Just a  reflective source. An emotional source. An individuate source. An experiential source. A source that has a different and various point of origin for each person who reads. 

Ok. That was grown up Self that spat all that out. Yes he escaped from his ball and chain closet prison. Sorry. Sorry. He has been recaptured and placed in solitude with only bread. No water. At least not for now. That'll teach him.

Don't worry. I have locked up my other poems in the vault at Fort Knox. They are safe now. Self can't get to them to post. 

Peace to you all. No more mind twisting poems. Don't be afraid. I'm sending out Lancelot to protect us all. 

"........KNEE DEEP...............SOMEWHERE"

Randall

LOL!!! LOL!!! ROFLOL!!! at my stupid self.

Hope I amused you. No offence attended to anyone but me.

Night, night.     

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

Lloyd: Randall said it couldn't be researched and I suspect that's because it's an original composition and Randall is the author.  Only he can confirm or deny the fact.  He does have a way with words, doesn't he?

All is well in sunny Southern Cal.  It's hot but then it's hot just about everywhere!  After all, it's summer.  Our high should be 110 today which is actually cooler than the norm.  Did Dallas break their record of consistent days with temps 100 degrees or more? 

Hope you all are keeping cool. Stay out of the sun - it is not your friend. Those of us who used to slather on the baby oil & iodine and climb on the roof to sunbathe are regretting it now.  Right Beverley? My new best friend is my Dermatologist. I paid him a hefty co-payment to hear the words "barnacles of life" after he looked at some suspicious growths on my leg.  Now I feel like an old boat that needs to be pulled from the water periodically for barnacle removal.  Anyway, besides the barnacles there were some "pre cancerous" spots that can be directly attributed to the youthful practice of throwing caution to the wind and worshiping the sun.  All you need is a can of liquid nitrogen and you can zap those pesky barnacles!  

I'll leave you with words of advice - wear sunscreen!  

Lloyd Singer

Randy Stephens

HEY!!!!! HEY..... HEY????

Clinda you get an A+. You paid attention. You were alert. Awake. Sober. You remembered. Can't even  sneak an atom passed you girl. Not even if it tip toes in the dark. No you can't research it. And yes it's my creation. I wrote it back in 1995 along with 39 others half of which are Native American poems. Had a little time on my hands back then.

Sorry Singer, it was just to tempting not to mess with you over this stuff. I know I know. Sometimes I'm just a bad, bad boy but down deep ".....I'M A REAL GOOD MAN...." Even though I might not play well with others. But I know your a sport. You always have been. But I would post another one if it got you to post again or promise to never do it again if that would make you post again.

Clinda, thanks for what might have been a back door compliment. But I'm not really good with words. I'm just crazy and crazy people just sling shit together and with the luck of the god's it sounds good and may at time make one appear somewhat intelligent but when the smoke of illusion clears the scrutiny of time reveals the truth of ones short comings. Know what I mean girl. 

Got to go now. Just had an allergic reaction to the food I are for lunch. The Benadril is getting to me. So by for now.

Randall      

Randy Stephens

Hey ya'll (you guys)!!

Tomorrow I leave backwater Byhalia Mississippi, where everyone is a Hill Billy. That means they can't read and they are color blind. Just a step above Cave Men. It good to be with Cave Men for a while but only a short while. I'm tired of looking at black teeth and no teeth when they smile. Know what I mean Leroy!!! Oh well, Mississippi is ok. After all they gave us Elvis and this week it was Elvis week in Mississippi. I was lucky to even get a hotel here. Byhalia is just south of Memphis.

Singer....... I love the experiential you accused me of. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy. That side of my brain is loaded. That's why I walk with a tilt to one side. Plus I have always been in love with the clouds, sky, stars and beyond. Hell it was all I could see growing up in Texas. It's the beyond shit that's captures me and keeps me in trouble. Know what I mean Leroy! And then there is the Mystic and the Spiritual.

Oh no! Oh now! Here we go! Here we go! Look out! Look out! Hold on! Hold on! Sharp curves ahead. Proceed with extreme caution! Slipper when wet. Watch for water over the road. Be ware of ice on Bridge. Slick when frozen. Treacherous is the path we all walk but we walk not alone. The MUSIC is always there. We just have to learn how to listen. Tune in but don't flip out. Hold on cause it's a bumpy melody but one that is inspiring, gripping, moving, destroying but life building.  

Yes it is experiential but so much more and beyond astrological. It is however universe but it is also beyond. It's collective, shared in the longing hearts of all. It's mystical and magical. It's near and beyond. At hand yet just out of reach. It's spiritual in that it is within us all, connecting us all, calling us all, around us all, shared by all, longed for by all, missed by all, searched for by all, lived by all and fleeting from all. It's just enough out of reach to make all either continue the quest or just give up out of desperation. So I call it the MUSIC. Its connects us. Reunites us. Separates us. Frustrates us. Challenges us. Depresses us. Kills us and gives us life. Ant it great. Hell at least it ant boring. Now go figure.

"GOD IS GREAT, BEER IS GOOD AND...................... maybe I'm just crazy and there is no music. Or maybe I'm right and the music hasn't died???

BY, BY MISS AMERICAN PIE.............?

Randall

Singer..... Read it again.

Randy Stephens

Hey ya'll.

Sorry. Sorry to bore ya'll. I won't do it anymore. I'll just fall back on the light chat and all and try not to be crazy again. Dam I just can't keep Self out of my business. He always interferes and makes me crazy. 

Randy Stephens

UPS!! I just lost my whole response. Don't you just hate that when it happens! And I was really ona roll. Shit! I'll try again later

"MAGIC CARPET RIDE......."

Randall

Randy Stephens

HEY DUDES AND DUDETS!!!

"JUST SITTING HERE RESTING MY BONES AND THIS LONELINESS WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE...."

 Resting my bones? Yep. Injured reserved, as they say in sports. But I'm not in sports you say. Correcto! You win the prise behind door number 3. Whoopeeee!!! An all expense paid trip to your bed room where a fresh hot heating pad awaits you set on burning high. Yes friends. Turn back the sheets and climb right in. But first don't forget to take that miracle pill it will take you places no man has ever gone before, especially if you take two. And don't forget to eat first or your all expense paid trip to paradise will take a u turn to burning stomach hell. Have fun and don't forget to write. 

Yes I won the prise behind door number 3 and now I hate my bed and that dam heating pad, (slow roaster). But ant the meds always good. Legal and strong. Take one and fly away without ever leaving you slow roasting bed. Free at last! Free at last! Free in your dreams while roasting in you flesh. Dam heating pad. What happened you ask. Well it all started out as a beautiful Alice in Wonderland day but first I want to know if anyone has heard from Nelson. She was in the direct path of The East Coast His-a-cane. If anyone knows please share. I'm concerned. I promised her I would tell the muppet story, that preceded the real TV muppets, which started Nelson, Pope any yours truly. So she has to be ok cause I haven't told that story yet. Hey now that logic 101.

Well I did as Doc proscribed, to some degree at least, and went to those places and saw those things. Some things I really didn't want to see. Things that I would like to say I had never seen before but there are some of you who were with me backin the day that think you know better. You think you remember us seeing some of those things together. You think I was with you in body when I was really only with you in spirit. You conjured up my spirit guide and I walked you through your mind journey so you could come out safe on the other side. Remember. Your mind can do funny things, make you think you remembered certain things in a certain way when it wasn't like you remembered them correctly at all. Trust me I know these things. My ancestors, who walk The Blue Road (Sky Walkers) revealed these secrets to me. Know what I mean. And now I pleaded the fifth. Innocent till proven guilty. Right! So I rest my case. Somebody wrap the gavel and let's go forward. 

Ok, hurt my shoulder at work last week. Ant Workmans Comp great. They pay you while your off work. Make your doctors appointments, pay your medical bills, buy those "good mood food" pills and all. But like all other gov programs they don't tell you whether you qualify or not till after you have told your story so may times to so many different people, and you can't help but polish it up a little each time, that you end up wondering what the hell you told them the first time. 

W/C is like a present. It has the allure of a pretty ribbons and a beautiful bow. It has the promise goods inside that you desperately hope isn't a Dear John letter or some other sick political surprise. It is tightly wrapped in bright glittering bureaucracy Holiday cheer and held together with so much red tape it's all but impossible to unwrap it and when you do you can't find the goods for all the tons of bubble tape and packing paper instruction. Such a huge Christmas box fill with so much hot air. Miles of ribbons and bows. Tons of red tape. Endless shipping and assembly instructions. And the actual present, the longed for content, the real goods, the gem we were promised. Well your lucky if it doesn't say RETURN TO SENDER AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE!!!! Well, that's all I got to say about that.

I tore my trapezoid muscle, that's the big one that covers your neck, shoulder and shoulder blade. Or so I was told. They said I pulled it, strained it and inflamed it plus sparks and flames were leaping out of it. So here I set a weary, broken and now injured traveler on the stage of life trying to get a little sympathy from my old classers. Hope it works better than Workers Comp.

"KNEE DEEP IN THE WATER SOMEWHERE.................. BLUE SKY BREEZE BLOWING WIND THREW MY HAIR...... ONLY WORRY IN THE WORLD IS THE TIDE GOING TO REACH MY CHAIR...."

Time for another pill. SAIL AWAY!!!! SAIL AWAY!!!

Randall    

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

TGIF! The forum has been very quiet lately - where is everyone? Randall, are you ok? It's been over 2 weeks since your last post and you know I worry when you don't check in.

For those of you who have accounts on Facebook - I encourage you to check out the Tulia groups.  You can use the F/B search box to locate the exact links. There's about 3 up and running now.  One is just a general blog site, one is where you can tell what you've been up to since HS graduation, and one is a memorial site for classmates who no longer walk among us.  There's some really interesting and amusing things posted as people recall fond moments of growing up in Tulia.  Check it out & sign up.  The sites are growing daily!

I have no interesting news from CA . . . we're just waiting for the Fall (and cooler) weather to get here.  I hope you all had a great summer!  Take a minute & say "hello" on the forum.

Kathy Breitling (Carlisle)

    I like to think we're all like the tortoises in this video.  We may be slowing down as life engulfs us, but we're still there when someone needs a friend. 

     Happy Fall to all of you.

Kay Lee (Culwell)

Kathy -

Very well put, I agree!

Randy Stephens

Hey ya'll all.

Had a Grandson borne today. 9 1/2#. He is number five. Three Grandsons and two Granddaughters. I'm trying to talk my son into naming him Sue.

"MY OLD MAN IS THAT OLD MAN................... MADE IN AMERICA!!!"

Randall

Lloyd Singer

Congratulations Randall, on #5!

Randy Stephens

Celinda................. darling, girlfriend of the Grassy Knoll, Arm band bandet of THS, my pick me up on graduation night when I was falling down and couldn't get up, and well, I guess I better stop know what I mean Leroy. 

But thanks for worring about me. It's nice to be a worry, or at least to be worried about. Of course you shouldn't worry, but, let's not get into the shoulds and should nots. That's another story for another day, in another Galaxie, with the force and light sabers and worm holes and strange creatures, sights and sounds, far, far away in lands not yet visited by the human spirit and may not ever be. Or not. Or will. Maybe. Never. Already. Not yet. Someday. Yesterday. Tomorrow but not today. "GET HER DONE!"

Singer.............................. Thanks. Their naming him Paxton Ryder Stephens but I still want a boy named Sue. I recon I'll just call him Pacman.

Kathy........................ Cooooooool turtles!!!!!!!!! Good stuff................... Turtle Soup.............. taste like chicken!

Off today and nearly dead. Tuesday I worked 6 1/2 hours, drove 2 hours and then worked another 6 hours. Wednesday was an easy day I only worked 5 hours and drove 4 hours. Then came Thursday and my second job where I found myself working 8 hour and drove 8 hour.  Don't know which was worse the working or the driving.

Shit, I'm not as young as I once was but I can still work the younger Whipper Snappers into the dirt on my good days. It's just that I don't have as many good days as I once did. Know what I mean Leroy. Today I feel like I have been run over by a Semi pulling doubles only to turn around and be struck by an old lady driving a School Bus full of kids. And that's after coffee and breakfast. You should have seen me before that! Well, maybe not. I was naked and drulling then. For anyone who doesn't understand or needs an explanation...... I fell like SHIT! Left over. Warmed up! Ice cold! Spilling over! Running out! Fresh! Old! Stinky! Painful! Get the picture or should I continue? Ok. Ok. I will. No just kidding. I won't.

"NOT AS GOOD AS I ONCE WAS BUT AS GOOD ONCE AS I EVER WAS........."  I think?

Randall

PS..... Spell Check ant working. So, this one's coming at you live from New York City! New York City? New York City? Been there. Done that. And won't ever go back! Not even with my Light Saber!