Today's Fun Fact

Dec. 16, 2014


Fun Fact: Liopleurodons smell real bad.

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The Neighbors are Moving!

Dec. 15, 2014

I knew that the neighbors were moving. What I didn't realize is just how much they were moving...

In reality, this event happened last year, and I believe (although I can't confirm it) that the First Darned Baptist Church (bless 'em, they're actually good folks, I just call 'em "darned Baptists") bought the property and sold the house off. I didn't talk to anyone to find out where it was going. Just watching the entire process was quite interesting. If I recall, it took the better part of two weeks to prep the house for moving and finally get it rolling..

What will happen to the lot? Church parking lot, I'd be willing to wager. Another lot at the end of the block was also leveled that year, but the house went down instead of moving. No parking expansion in evidence yet, but I'm expecting that lot by lot, my home is going to be completely surrounded eventually by parking, and my Sunday mornings will be a cacophony of slamming car doors and the happy chatter of Baptists heading to church.

My landlord and landlady bought their house many years ago in Foat Wuth, and moved it some 30-odd miles to its present location. I think I recall the landlord telling me that the move mostly went smoothly, although they hit a minor bottleneck at one point.

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My Five Most Influential Dinosaur Movies and TV Shows

Dec. 13, 2014

OK, the fourth installment in the venerable Jurassic Park franchise is due to hit a theater near me in six months, and my goose bumps are pulsing with excitement! It will have been 14 years since the last installment — way too long — but I’m certain that the wait will have been worth it. I’m going to steal and alter an old joke told by (if I recall) David Letterman: this goes to show that America is still the world’s leading producer of dinosaur movies. And people say that we don’t make things here any more.

So, as I reflect back on my 120+ years of movie going, I pause now to mentally compile my personal list of the most influential dinosaur movies I’ve watched. OK, the first of these isn’t technically a dinosaur flick, but it’s close enough for consideration..

1. Godzilla Versus the Intestinal Flu (1963). Ishirō Honda, Chonosuke Okamura, James Mason, Perry Mason

Synopsis: Tokyo police are baffled by a series of mysterious regurgitations. Eventually, the military forces of the entire planet are allied to stop the threat, but victory comes from the most gentle and innocent of sources — the Girl Scouts.

My take: Like virtually all of Japanese cinema, this production is just dripping with symbolism and multiple levels of meaning. It’s pretty clear to everyone that the Big Guy represents the menace of nuclear war; the terrified populace of Tokyo stand in for a cowering humanity faced with the threat of global annihilation; no one doubts that the Girl Scout cookies represent the possibility of salvation in the midst of catastrophe. Generally, Japanese critics are agreed that the Girl Scouts themselves represent the ancient Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, Kannon, although Westerners can be excused for not making the connection. However, the gigantic vomit covering the city has been problematic for critics and film historians. Does it represent the repulsive in human nature? Does it symbolize mankind’s rejection of the natural world in favor of technology? After much consideration, my conclusion is that the upchuck represents an upset tummy.

2. Honey, a Dinosaur Ate the Kids! (1989). Rick Moranis, Brinke Stevens, Stig Olin, James M. Buchanan Jr., Bessica Raiche

Synopsis: Absent-minded geneticist Wayne accidentally synthesizes a dinosaur, and to hide his blunder from the boss, brings it home and attempts to hide it in his garage. Hilarity ensues as the dinosaur eats the mailman — and the kids — smearing blood and flesh all over the interior of the garage! But all is right in the end, as the family dog cleans up the mess.

My take: A light-hearted, sappy little piece of cinematic fluff, Honey, a Dinosaur Ate the Kids! is notable mainly for the extremely accurate, lifelike rendering of the Giganatosaurus. Minor quibble: the Giganatosaurus is depicted with four toes on the left foot; I’m pretty sure both feet had three toes. So call me a perfectionist.

3. Waltzing with Dinosaurs (1999). Narrated by Alistair Cooke

Synopsis: This ground-breaking BBC TV mini-series introduces what was then a very controversial idea among paleontologists: dinosaurs not only were warm-blooded, but they could dance.

My take: For decades, paleontologists considered dinosaurs to have two left feet. However, the startling 1938 discovery of ancient preserved tracks in the bed of the Paluxy River in Texas demonstrate conclusively that not only did these ancient reptiles have right feet as well as left, but they could trip the light fantastic. However, as startling and revealing as the series was (with ground-breaking animation), I’m still not convinced that T. Rex could rumba. Olé!

4. The Land Before Madonna (1986). Madonna, Dave Bancroft, Clement Serkis

Synopsis: Was there a time before Madonna? What was the earth, and life on earth, like before Madonna?

My take: It’s hard to imagine what life was like before Madonna, and some people insist to this day that Madonna has been around since the dawn of time. However, this entertaining docudrama takes us back to a time before MTV, music videos, and Who’s the Boss. Amazingly, we are told that there was virtually no music being produced during the Triassic. I’ve got to admit that the animated critters are first rate, and the lush prehistoric landscapes are breathtaking, but there’s not a Sound Warehouse (which has also been around since the dawn of time) in sight. Plenty of food for thought, but I’m not sure I’m buying any of it. Still, it’s been very influential.

5. Night of the Living Apatosaurus (1967). Fay Wray, Robert Conrad, Leis Meitner

Synopsis: An absolutely humongous plant-eating dinosaur shows up and stomps all over everybody and everything. Will humanity survive? Why do I ask all these questions?

My take: Wow, scary. The truly frightening thing is that the apatosaurus isn’t squashing cars and people out of malice — it’s only trying to find a delicious cyclad tree to munch on and there’s all these little people and buildings and obstacles in the way, and well...gosh...when you’ve got big feet it’s just really difficult to not step on things you didn’t mean to. Sort of like the situation with me and my cats. Humanity is destroyed simply because we can’t get out from underfoot. How depressing. By the way, the apatosaurus looks like it was modeled out of clay. But really lifelike clay.

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Next month: The plant documentary that made me change my religion.

Dan Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness

Well, I completely blew off the month of October, 2012. So now I've made a Second-Tier Vow (not as much energy put into it as a First-Tier Vow) to redouble my efforts and write more. After all, if one wants to become skilled at writing, one should...well, write.

Recently I became aware of Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert, whose book Stumbling on Happiness reveals some amazing research on what makes people happy.

Click on the book cover to go to the official website.

This is a book that I'm going to have to get, as soon as I can budget for it (money being tight right now). In the meantime, there's a video of a TEDtalks presentation ("The Surprising Science of Happiness") given by Dan Gilbert which apparently covers some of the material presented in the book. The clip can be viewed at either the TEDtalks site or on YouTube. Here's a link to the YouTube version:

Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness

One of the amazing results of research (a factoid?) presented by Gilbert in this lecture: people who won the lottery, and people who became paraplegic (lost the use of arms and/or legs) rate as psychologically equally happy with their lives one year after the event. In fact, on the bar graph Gilbert presents of the data, the paraplegic group is just a tick happier than the lottery winners!

Screencap from Dan Gilbert's TEDtalks presentation.

This is somehow stunning — yet not unexpected — to me. My spiritual tradition teaches that happiness is not dependent on external things like wealth or social standing or political power — or any particular situation or location. Happiness is a quality of mind and a way of reacting to the content of our mental processes. You cultivate happiness; it's not something that you find somewhere. But this little illustration from Dr. Gilbert brings home the point in stunning clarity. You probably thought, as I did, "Wow...if a severely disadvantaged person such as a paraplegic is happier with his or her life than I am, then something's wrong here."

An important point that I've heard several spiritual teachers/wise people from various cultures, religions or societies emphasize is that even happiness can be an impediment to your own mental health. Or more precisely, the craving for or clinging to happiness can paradoxically cause unhappiness if your quest for happiness doesn't succeed. Therefore, you need to create happiness in whatever situation or experience you happen to find yourself in, in the moment.

Paradoxically, for me to find happiness, I have to drop even the idea of happiness, and to settle back and find value in, and be grateful for, whatever I'm experiencing in this moment — pleasant, unpleasant, neutral.

Physican, meditator and Huffington Post contributor Mark Hyman touches on this in his essay, "Why Doing Nothing is the Key to Happiness:"

What matters most in life is the quality of our experience, the ability to be awake to what is real and true in our lives, for the difficult and the happy times, to be awake to each person we touch, to our own experience, to the moment we are in, to the simple, sweet, and alive gifts of a smile, a touch, a kind deed, the breeze on our skin, or a firefly flickering in the early summer night.

But that is harder than it sounds. Our monkey mind gets in the way. In order to pay attention we need to be quiet, to be practiced at stillness, to know the habits of our mind and be skilled at dancing with them, not to be controlled or dominated by them. To witness the thoughts and feelings we have without having them overwhelm, dominate, and control our lives.

So that is my task now, to paradoxically find happiness by not seeking it.

—Tony

Most Paradoxical Headline of the Week

Our Most Paradoxical Headline of the Week is brought to you by The Washington Post's website:

More than a dozen killed in riots as 'Day of Love' for prophet in Pakistan turn deadly
 

A Few Quotes Concerning Substance Abuse, Addiction and the Human Mind

“Drugs can bring about meaningful experiences, but the one who takes a drug has not made causes for such effects. He has just temporarily altered nature, like injecting a monkey with hormones that send him shooting up a tree to pick coconuts. Such experiences my be true but not good or good but not true, whereas the Dharma is always both good and true.” — Achaan Chah, A Still Forest Pool

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“Between the stimulus and the response there is a space and in that space lies our freedom.” — Bob Stahl, PhD, from his GoogleTechTalks video presentation on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu5irWStNvA

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“During the late 1970s and early 1980s, (Robin) Williams had an addiction to cocaine; he has stated that he has since quit. Williams was a close friend of and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. He says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: ‘Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too.’” — from the Wikipedia entry on Robin Williams, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams

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“Though one were to conquer a million men in battle, that man who conquers himself is the greater victor.” — The Dhammapada, verse 103

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“The way of the vow: SAJJA

“The Pali word ‘sacca’ (usually spelt sajja and pronounced sat-cha) means a solemn declaration about the active fulfillment of a truth.

“According to Luangpor Charoen, (Abbot of Thamkrabok Monastery), the physical detox is only 5% of the Thamkrabok treatment. You must do the remaining 95% of the work in your mind and through your action.

“If you want to enter the drug-detox area and start with the purification of your body, you will have to go through the ceremony of SAJJA. The Sajja is a very essential element here in Thamkrabok. It might be the most serious and the most important thing you have done so far in your life.

“The Sajja looks like a vow. But it is far more than just a promise ‘to be a good guy’ or ‘a good girl’ from now on, having nothing to do anymore with consuming or promoting alcohol or other drugs.

“Sajja is a sacred act that, if you believe in it, will connect you with your will power and with something ‘beyond’. Something that is far more existential than the fight against the drugs! It connects you with a teaching. This teaching is not given in the form of intellectual lectures. But it will be there for you in any moment you really want it strongly enough and when you are ready for it.”

— from the website for Wat Thamkrabok, a legendary drug treatment center and Buddhist monastery in Thailand

The Kwik Kar Archives: The Neck from...PLANET X!!!

Wow...how time flies! Seems like it was just yesterday when Kwik Kar Scioness Debbie Lincoln's husband Mike had the neck operation (2003). And yes, that's a copy of Mike's actual neck X-Ray image we used in the ad. I swear that whatever the doctors put in poor Mike's neck looked exactly like a section of chain from an old Harley-Davidson. See for yourself:

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The Kwik Kar Archives: From the Flight Log of Dusty Brittain!

Let's take a look back to November 11, 2003 and see what Kwik Kar of Weatherford Technical Jargon Specialist Dusty Brittain was up to. Ah, yes...

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Debbie Injury Update

Please bear in mind that today's Kwik Kar of Weatherford Blast from the Past happened a decade ago. Debbie has since healed up just fine. Sadly, however, she's never ridden a horse since the accident. Instead, she now rides goats, because you don't fall nearly as far in the case of a spill. The horse was relatively uninjured, and went on to an illustrious career as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. So, without further ado...

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Irish Wolfhound to the Rescue!

Let's take a peek back in time — a little over a decade, to be exact. Dachshunds no longer rule the earth. It's the Age of Irish Wolfhounds. Read on...

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Miniature Golf!

Right up front, I'd like to briefly address a controversy which this ad touches on. Here, I call miniature golf the "silliest sport." However, I've had other folks swear up and down that curling is the silliest sport; while others are quite sure that egg tossing or gurning fits the bill. Despite my verbiage in the ad, I'm really neutral on what constitutes the silliest sport. But I have to admit that curling is just about the most bizarre competitive endeavor I've ever seen. I say "bizarre" here but what I really mean is that it's the most unusual, exotic, somewhat hypnotic, cryptic, fluid, graceful yet inscrutable sort of thing. What are these people doing? How do you score points? Do you even score points? Well, apparently there are enough folks who will gather and watch curling; just look at the viewer stats on this YouTube clip:

(Screencap)

Watch this clip at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpP30ADVTfA

126,935 people viewed this clip! Apparently, curling is Big Stuff in places I don't hang out in much. But, like I said, I do find it strangely hypnotic. Go watch this clip and pay attention to the guys with the 'brooms' (my terminology) who appear to sweep the ice ahead of the 'stone' (their terminology) as it glides down in a stately procession of stone and humans. What are those guy's positions called? What are they doing, exactly? It's most perplexing. I notice that 22 people out of 65 who bothered to express an opinion said they "dislike" this clip of curling. Those must be the Scottish folks. Sorry, Scotland. Better luck next season! Do they even have seasons in curling? Oh, well.

On to this week's Kwik Kar of Weatherford glance back in time, from 2004:

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Flu Season!

Today's Kwik Kar Blast from the Past first saw ink in March, 2005:

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The Call of the Small But Wild

I've noticed that a lot of folks in my area call them 'locusts', but it might be a bit less confusing to call them 'cicadas', which is their other common name.  You might be in a part of the world that doesn't have cicadas, so here's a photo of one:

Don't bother clicking, it doesn't get any bigger.

I'm used to hearing the word 'locust' used in reference to grasshoppers. I think that in the King James Version of the Bible, whenever locusts are discussed, the reference is to a grasshopper species native to the Mediterranean region and/or North Africa.

Anyway, if you've never lived in an area that has cicadas, you don't know what you're missing! Their pulsating, drumming, cycling song is such a familiar part of the sonic environment that to me it just doesn't feel like summer until I begin hearing them. I can understand why some folks might get annoyed with the racket they can throw up, but to me their plaintive attempts at communication are pure music.

Now, in nature no species exists in a vacuum, so to speak. In many parts of the United States, we have other species that feed on these big, juicy insects. One in particular has always struck awe in me, and that is the so-called 'cicada killer wasp' (Sphecius speciosus). These are huge wasps, whose main claim to fame is that they are able to catch, paralyze and haul cicadas in the air back to their nests.

Here's a photo of an Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp in the act of hauling a cicada. This photo was found at Wikipedia.com and is said to be in the public domain, but I'd like to give a public tip of the hat to Mr. Bill Buchanan of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for getting what must be a pretty rare look at the wasp at work.

 Photo courtesy Bill Buchanan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public domain.

A brief search on the Interwebs indicates that there are two species found here in Texas, the Eastern and Western cicada killer; my local variety are the Eastern. I've been stomping around in the wild — with a camera — for decades, and I've never actually seen a wasp hauling a cicada like this, but I knew that they did this and have always hoped to see it one day. We've got several cicada killers now nesting in a city park just a couple of blocks from my home. I've starting doing morning walks in the park again for exercise, and almost ran into one this morning as she hovered around the dirt mound that marked the entrance to her burrow in the ground. She was not aggressive in the least, although she hovered close for a few seconds, checking me out. According to the Wikipedia article on these wasps, they'll generally not attack humans and will usually only sting if you attempt to handle one roughly or step on it with a bare foot. However, the sheer size of these creatures, and the fear of what that sting must feel like, has always caused a deeply conditioned urge to arise in my mind —the urge to flee at a rapid departure rate! Interestingly, the Wikipedia article relates that one person stung by a cicada killer has stated that the sting was little worse than a "pinprick." Somehow, I'm not completely buying that, but I'll try to remind myself of what this guy said next time a wasp the size of a small hummingbird is hovering next to my face!

So early this afternoon, on my way back home on foot from downtown, I passed by the city park, and just barely beyond the park I happened to glance down at the sidewalk and saw a wasp lying there dead. It was right next to Main Street, and appeared as though it might have been struck by a vehicle, although damage to the creature's exoskeleton was not immediately obvious. I walked past a ways, then turned back to pick it up, thinking "I'll photograph this guy and put in on the blog somewhere." As I approached what I thought was the location of the wasp on the sidewalk, I found that what I was now looking at was a cicada, lying there with no apparent damage whatsoever. Looking around, I soon spotted the wasp I had seen, just a few feet away. An idea formed in my mind about why I was finding these two large insects lying so close to each other and out of commission. I surmised that the wasp was hauling a freshly caught cicada across Main Street, heading back to its burrow with the meal, when hunter and prey were hit by a vehicle. It made perfect sense. I picked the cicada up and examined it closely. There was not the least sign of injury to the insect; it was just lying there. This made sense, because the wasp paralyzes the cicada with a venomous sting but doesn't kill it. The animal appears dead but is actually just immobilized and quite alive. The female wasp (the males are supposedly stingless...I'm not sure I'm buying that one, either) hauls the living but helpless cicada down her burrow, lays her eggs on it, and when the baby wasps hatch — voilà! Instant cicada meal! It's as fresh as fresh gets, and even more convenient than frozen! No microwave needed!

 I cautiously picked up the wasp by one wing. Not much damage to the body, but the other large wing was missing about a third of its length. I believe these insects have two sets of wings; if so, she also had a severely messed up small wing on that side as well. And she was dead as a doornail, poor girl.

Here's her death portrait:

Clicking on this photo won't get you anywhere, either.

She's shown larger than life in the photo, but notice how relatively massive her body proportions are compared to other wasps, like this guy:

 Public domain photo.

She's built for hauling heavy loads, I'd say. And here's a photo of her together with the (probable) cargo:

That's pretty impressive, to be flying with something that I'd estimate weighs three to four times what she does.

No wonder wasps give me nightmares! Images like the following in the media don't help, either:

'Wasp Woman' images are apparently now in the public domain.

"A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN BY DAY —A LUSTING QUEEN WASP BY NIGHT." Sounds like a girl I used to date. For a wasp-creature, she's kind of attractive and looks a lot like Susan Cabot from the neck up. Who's the guy? He doesn't look like he's having a fun date at all.

This image is in the public domain.

The good folks at aircraft engine builder Pratt & Whitney had an ad that ran in a 1952 edition of the Saturday Evening Post which featured this great illustration of a Wasp-Turbine hybrid. Interestingly, P&W had an engine series named 'Wasp' but they weren't jet engines as shown here. Thanks to fellow blogger PhilAreGo! Read his description here.

That's all. I've gotta buzz off to bed.

A Miracle Needed...

What humanity needs is a religion/spiritual practice which teaches you to not be offended, angry or sad when you encounter people who don't believe the same way you do. Wouldn't that be a real miracle?

Inspiration #001

Having Buddhist leanings means that my take on spirituality will probably be a bit different from folks who are Christian or Muslim or Jewish or Hindu or Native American, etc. In fact, I used to think that I was “spiritual but not religious,” as they often said in my support groups. I felt this way for a long time. However, a couple of years ago I went to the trouble to actually look up the word “spiritual” to see what it really denotes. Well, it turns out that the word “spirituality,” logically enough, has its root in the word “spirit;” spirit denotes (according to most of the standard definitions I’ve read) the soul or supernatural spark which drives consciousness and the body. So spirituality is, in its most bedrock definition, concerned with the idea of a supernatural soul or eternal self. Well, as a Buddhist, I feel that I’ve seen the truth of anatta, or “no self,” which means that I don’t perceive of an unchanging, eternal “me” behind my experience and consciousness. No permanent spark (there may be a spark there, but its not permanent); no everlasting spirit. OK, but what about Truth...Beauty? I always felt that spirituality was the intimate friend of Truth and Beauty, that the epiphany which I perceived as part and parcel to the spiritual experience was concerned with the Supremely Aesthetic.

Apparently, I was wrong. Particularly in the Western, theistic religions, spirituality appears to mainly be concerned with man’s identification with a supernatural essence, bestowed upon him by God/Allah/Brahma/the Great Spirit. As nearly as I can tell, anything else beyond that is optional. This may explain why most spiritual literature of the Great Theisms leaves me cold. It seems that this idea of spirituality is mainly concerned with power (the personal identification with the All-Powerful, God) and clinging (to the idea that we must possess this great gift, this thing called the “spirit”); no matter how sincere and heartfelt the motivation. It just seems so trifling, so limited in scope, so unmindful of the real miracle happening right now, under our very noses. This miracle has nothing to do with the supernatural, or our supposed eternal souls, or all that high-blown power worship that passes for religious experience for many people.

I’ve decided to stop using the word spiritual to describe myself. The word is dead to me now; it’s no more meaningful to me than a cheap advertising slogan, now that I understand what it really points to. It’s too shallow and narrow to describe my experiences of profound connection to Just What Is.

Likewise, it’s tough for me to find much inspiration in writings that originated in the English language; very few in the English-speaking world appear to have experienced the same things that I have, nor to have interpreted them in the same way. Now, I know that this can’t be precisely true; reflection on our common experience tells me that at least a percentage of my fellow beings in this culture must be having the same profound “awakenings” I experience from time to time. Maybe this society’s overlay of Judeo-Christian theology and supernaturalism serves to suppress the expression of such culturally-unapproved experiences. However, sometimes I come across something that tells me that I’m not alone.

Here’s two small snippets of writing, from the English-speaking world, culled from my collection of inspirational things:

“What he actually said is that life is blissful, there’s joy everywhere ― only we’re closed off to it. His teachings were actually about opening up the joyful or blissful nature of reality. But the bliss and the joy are in the transitoriness. Do you see this glass? I love this glass...it holds the water admirably. When I tap it, it has a lovely ring; when the sun shines on it, it reflects the light beautifully. But when the wind blows and the glass falls off the shelf and breaks, or if my elbow hits it and it falls to the ground, I say ‘of course!’ But when I know that the glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.” ―Mark Epstein in the documentary The Buddha (2010)

“I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother’s hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony’s brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don't worry... you will someday.” ―Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey’s character) in the film American Beauty (1999)

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Maverick Turns to Mustang!

Back in 2003, I actually owned the Ford Maverick which appears in the upper left corner of this ad. Forget Mr. Haley's 'Stang, my Maverick was the Beast! Or not. But seriously, I recall being stopped at a light once, and a very young guy next to me rolled down his window and asked if my Maverick was a Ferrari. "Why...yes, YES IT IS a Ferrari! Wanna buy it?"

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The Kwik Kar Archives: Desperado Ducks!

Today's peek back into Kwik Kar of Weatherford history comes to us from March 15, 2005:

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The Kwik Kar Archives: The Anole!

Today's Kwik Kar of Weatherford Archived Ad hearkens back to June 7, 2005:

 

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Farewell to My Friend, Marni

I was perusing the website of one of our two local Weatherford papers, the Democrat, and as I often do, I made a quick pass through the Obits. Yes, I'm of that certain age when it's become important to see who has passed on recently.

So, I was saddened to see that Marni (Mockbee) Henderson had died last month of congestive heart failure. The notice showed up way late in the paper, not until just a few days ago, over three weeks since she left us. Lots of folks around here will be saddened at Marni's passing, as she was our barber. Really, she's the only steady barber I've had in Weatherford since I came here in '96, even though I've transgressed from time to time and hit one of the franchise shops (but only on those times when I was desperate and Marni happened to be closed). I've always gone back to Marni, my local independent businesswoman.

Marni was a good ol' Texas gal, and she knew everybody's business, but in an endearing and entertaining sort of way. If something interesting was happening in Parker County, you often heard about it first from Marni. Plus, the icing on the cake was that not only was she entertaining, she was actually good at cutting hair. That particular combination of attributes can be kind of rare here in small town Texas.

She was only 48 when she passed. She had had a stroke; it was in 2009, as I recall. However, she seemed to rebound quite well from it. But it was probably a portent of the future. Marni's health was apparently on a long downward slide. I'm trying to remember if she was a smoker; I seem to recall that she would step outside the shop from time to time to take a puff, but I wouldn't testify to that under oath. Of course, I was gone from Marni's world, due to my incarceration, between 2010 and late 2011 and couldn't keep up with her more recent health issues.

I saw her for the last time about four months ago. I had been back home in Weatherford for only about four months that day. She rolled on by me in her truck as I walked down York Avenue, and as she did, lowered the window and hollered at me that she was now working for another barbering establishment over on Palo Pinto. So, she had given up running her own shop! I waved and nodded my head to assure her that she would be seeing me again. But I was broke then, and store-bought haircuts would have to wait until my personal economy was on the rebound. Alas, the happy reunion never came.

Marni seemed almost destined for a bit shorter life than most of us enjoy. She had terrible luck with the male gender, in terms of getting a good specimen of lasting value. Her man Lee Henderson passed in 2008, also at age 48. I don't think it's a coincidence that she had the stroke just a few months later.

I know that she had gotten a new man in her life before I went away, but I can't recall his name, and I don't know if they were still together during her final days. But I assuage my sadness with the thought that she had plenty of loving kith and kin at her side when she left.

Adios, Marni.

Note: the photo of Marni Henderson was found on the Weatherford Democrat website; no photographer attribution was given. Text alteration was added by me. I will be happy to comply with a removal notice if contacted by the copyright holder to the original photographic image.

The Kwik Kar Archives: When Dachshunds Ruled the Earth!

This one's from February 3, 2004. Or maybe from February 3, 145 MILLION YEARS BC:

The small "movie credits" text at lower left reads:

A DEBBIE LINCOLN PRODUCTION of a DUSTY BRITTAIN FILM
'WHEN DACHSHUNDS RULED THE EARTH'
starring MEL GIBSON • CLORIS LEACHMAN • RUTGER HAUR and JACKIE CHAN as 'Charles'
Filmed in DACHS-O-SCOPE and glorious BLACK AND WHITE • Soundtrack available on NAUGHTY DOG RECORDS

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