They are a lovable couple--Dr. Chris Liebrum and his wife, Cindy--known for quickly-triggered smiles, positive attitudes, deep faith and commitment to close-knit families.
Married for 52 years, they have reached highest peaks and navigated life’s storms--shortening them when possible--confident of a safe arrival on the other side. They’re the kind of folks whose company is treasured.
“Big Bad John,” a talking ballad written and recited by a tall drink of water from the Texas Panhandle, stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 40 for the week of Dec. 4, 1961.
Jimmy Ray Dean was born in Plainview the summer before the stock market crashed. His father’s answer to the Depression was to run off leaving his wife to raise their two boys by herself during the hardest times in living memory.
When the presidential limo came to a screeching halt at Parkland Hospital on Nov. 22, 1963, the Governor of Texas believed John F. Kennedy was dead and that his own wounds would prove to be fatal.
In his autobiography In History’s Shadow, published in 1993 the year he died, John Connally relived in vivid and sometimes chilling detail the assassination of President Kennedy and his own brush with death. This column is based upon that outstanding book.
Here comes another “Mother Hubbard” column.
That’s how preachers sometimes describe their sermons--comparable to “Mother Hubbard” dresses.
They cover everything but touch nothing…
Why are we not surprised? Researchers claim that many companies are taking advantage of the inflationary climate. Their deception is called “shrinkflation.” Some devious practices are “double-whammies,” with prices going up and product size going down…
To say that we have had our struggles with out-of-date plumbing would be an understatement. Our ancient farmhouse was, seemingly, pieced together through trial and error.
I have had several water main breaks in the last month. By several, I mean about four… arguably five. When I fixed one, another would break in a different place.
Recently, this column has attempted to capture the warrior spirit necessary to battle the inevitable occasions of struggle. Struggle and opposition remain something all human beings must learn to overcome. Let's face it, our society has lost its grit.
Hopefully, you have been stirred to bite down and tango on. Hopefully, you hunger to see great things. This can only happen when you think great thoughts. A renowned Christian missionary named William Carey famously stated, “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.” Wise words from a great man.
Now that the election is over, my ancient Uncle Mort and his domino-playing buddies down in the thicket can resume their usual mostly-minutia confabs that too often lack authenticity.
This reminds me of the annual extravaganza birthed in 1929 when old-timers of Burlington, Wisconsin held their first-ever “Liars’ Contest.” They called it “harmless fibs for fun and folly.”
“What is believed to be the largest field in the country under one fence was broken and sown to wheat this fall by Hickman Price, the most extensive wheat farmer in the Panhandle of Texas,” the Kerrville Times reported Nov.13, 1930.
One sure way to get off on the wrong foot in any small town is to treat the inhabitants like a bunch of ignorant yokels. The well-dressed stranger was smart enough to grasp that fact of life, but he did not let something as trivial as common courtesy stop him from straightening out the editor of the Plainview paper.
After a long and arduous night watching the results of the 2024 election, I attended the funeral of a dear friend’s mother. The service was held in a church to honor a Christian woman, so the music was sacred and moving.
Leading up to the 1998 execution of ax murderer Karla Faye Tucker, there were repeated references to the fact that a woman had not been put to death in Texas since Nov. 12, 1863. Her name was Chipita Rodriguez and this is her sad but true story.
For more years than most folks could remember, Chipita had lived alone in a wood cabin near the banks of the Aransas River. Weary riders caught out after dark on the trail between Refugio and San Patricio could always find cheap lodging at her place.
