BREAKING NEWS: Sara was right. It’s going to be a boy, due sometime the
first of November. That means there will be no Reeda Macksine in our family
this year. Sara has picked the name Marshall for the new youngster. Well, that’s
a family name, sorta. Of course, it is subject to change. We’ll just wait and see.
You probably have discovered that my column of two weeks ago appeared under
the Tom*s Tenoring header. I did not for one instant think that Tom* had anything
to do with this abomination. I have noticed, of course, that he had been a little,
could I say, jealous of all the attention and notoriety that my column has been
receiving. I did not suspect that he even had a jealous bone in his body. I first met
Tom* in, of all places, Trier, Germany. He was from up North and had met this
Southern Belle whose parents lived in Calico Rock. They married and he took off
to Germany to work in the Opera business. That was 35 years ago and now they are
retired and moved into the family home they inherited from Fredericka’s parents.
While Tom* was not working he was trying his hand at writing and sent out an
e-mail daily to some of us while testing out his skill, writing about things like the
May Pole and Farmer Brown’s cows. Occasionally he would enclose a recipe of
some dish he had prepared. Being from up North, of course, his writing had a Northern
flavor. You know what I mean; big words you can’t pronounce with an occasional
German word, such as “busomfloppen.” Since moving to Calico Rock, I have detected
a slight change in his writing, like he was trying to write Southern style. Some have
suggested to me that he slipped my column under his header trying to make his readers
thing he had succeeded but I knew you were too smart to be taken in by such an act.
To tell the truth, I am a little flattered to even think that Tom* would try such a thing,
even though I don’t think he would stoop that low. Actually it was Tom* that inspired
me to try my hand at this op-ed thing. I went back and read the last column and was
astonished at what I discovered. I had changed my rambling style and was really trying
to write. I don’t want that to happen so I am reverting back to my rambling style in this
episode. Much more comfortable. I thought the column that was stol…OOPS, I mean
“borrowed” two weeks was about the weakest I had done. However, if it was to win
the Bulletsir Prize for op-ed columns appearing in small town newspapers, I might want
to reconsider.
Anyway, two of my readers were in town recently. Patsy and her husband from Lawrence, Kansas, were here for her high school reunion. Also in town, Keith
and Joyce from the state of Georgia were here for the funeral of her brother-in-law,
Dwight. I’m sure you will notice, Tom*, how my reputation is spreading to several
other states. You folks may be wondering what that little dot Tom* places after his name.
My Uncle Elbert would call that a dingbattis. I’ve been considering, maybe, Reed+ or Reed^^ or maybe Reed<>. What do you think? If you like any of these or have any
other suggestions, let me know. I’m about out of my allotted space but have you noticed
the Crape Myrtles that are in full bloom? One of my dreams is to see these beautiful
shrubs planted all the way down highway 56 from the Banks to main street. We could
be the Crape Myrtle capital of the Ozarks, beautiful Calico Rock, Arkansas. Think about it. More about Patsy in two weeks. Until then, this is Reed+^^<>“”. Bye, Bye!!!
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