Notes From The Cactus Patch

The year was 1955, and at six years old, by my grandmother’s observation, I was a heathen child, almost feral. Being raised in the big city of Fort Worth on a steady diet of television featuring Popeye, Bugs Bunny, and the Three Stooges, I was living in a religious void. I saw the “good book” as a large decoration on the dining room table and read it at Christmas, Easter, and family funerals.…

Four boys joyfully play a spirited rock-throwing game in a gritty urban alleyway. When I was a child in the 1950s, one of our favorite forms of retaliation against our enemy, the small group of hoodlum kids we called the ‘hard guys,’ from across the tracks, was the infamous rock fight. As kids, we didn’t possess the strength to propel a stone fast enough to kill an enemy, but they hurt,…

I don’t know what it is about us as we age, but the weather fascinates us. Momo and I watch the weather every night. Even if it’s raining, we want to know if there will be more rain or when summer will actually start frying our brains when we go outside. It’s been raining here almost every day for almost three weeks, and more is coming, so I guess the El Niño thing really works. Momo did her…

Advice From A Texan That Listens, Watches, And Learns From History In 1931, as the sunlight cast long shadows across the Asian continent, Japan’s invasion of Manchuria marked the first stirring of trouble that would engulf the Pacific and all of Asia in the dark embrace of war. Seven years later, in 1938, the boots of German soldiers marched into Poland, igniting the fierce, relentless path…

As some of you know, I had, and now, still have a Rodent, Rat, Mouse, or something more vile living within the depths of my wife, Momo’s, favorite thing: her hot tub. We’ve removed most of the foam from inside, found the tubes the little critter chewed to obtain water, and have a friend who is a plumber who plans to replace the damaged parts in a week or so. Now the Hantavirus, or the Black…

Sometimes correct but snarky advice for those who seek it. This Iranian fellow sent me an email ranting and raving about what the US is doing to his country. I asked him why he was here in the US. He says he didn’t feel safe over there anymore, and besides, he can get almost everything for free over here. He also said he is considering wrapping himself in explosives and blowing up a Quick Trip…

Real Good Advice For Folks That Don’t Have Any Brain Cells left…. The Texan This Texan received a request for help written on the back of a Walmart bag, the new ones made from paper. Mr. Weemus Weesley of Sore Rabbit Foot, South Dakota, says his wife is abusing Ozempic in the worst way possible. Mr. Weesley: Mr. Texan, there ain’t nobody in our town that knows nothing about nothing. My wife,…

One Hundred Fifty Years Of Texas Music Back in 1985, my father’s band, The Light Crust Doughboys, recorded an album that was meant to focus on Texas music, some present, mostly passed. Country music was invented in Fort Worth, Texas, but Western Swing was. Bob Wills started as a Light Crust Doughboy, as did most of the great talent from the 1930s onward. I was fortunate to have known every man…

The Texan I read X (Twitter) and sometimes post on there. I also have a notesfromthecactuspatch on Facebook, so I visit that site once in a while. What bothers me nowadays, well, every day 24-7, is the amount of false information on all the social media sites. Nothing is confirmed, and any dipwad with an account can put out any form of disinformation they dream up, and folks believe it as…

Johnny Strawn on the left and Bob Will on the right. The Sunset Ballroom, early 1950s I was born into music the way some children are born into weather—something that surrounds them before they have words for it. Long before my hands were big enough to hold a wooden neck or find a note on a steel string, the sound was already there, drifting through the rooms like a ghostly wind. A man doesn’t…

For the third year in a row, Reverend Little gave his annual Easter Service in the cactus Patch. Attendence was down this year because of a massive invasion of Fire Ants, and the local Crow flock has discovered they adore those sweet marshmallow Peeps, so it was a shorter service than the last two by an hour. The congregation was carried away within thirty minutes, and Reverend Little’s wind-up…

Drug and Age Induced Advice For Seniors Over 75 I’m turning 77 in a few months, and the only object made from fine wood that I want is a Gibson F5 G Mandolin. Banjo Ben in Mo. has a used one for 4900. bucks. I’ve contacted The Southwestern Medical Center about selling a kidney ( I only need one to pee), maybe a pinky toe, and both testicles, but no response just yet. My son is checking into a…