Heartland Memories from David Lewis

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/MrWilsonsWar.mp3

When I was young, every 4th of July, my grandfather would load us up and drive to the big fireworks display at the football stadium in a nearby city. He said the airborn bombs “put him in the mind of” World War One.

When the United States entered the First World War, my […]

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A few months ago, I was approached by a young woman I have known for some time. She is only about half my age – a city girl, a secretary at a small business about 30 miles from where I lurk in the Missouri Outback.

“How long have you and Laura been married?” she […]

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When I was a lad, kite flying was popular among me and my peers – a ragtag crew of Cub Scout, river-rat little leaguers.  In those days, one could not journey to the local mart and purchase some exotic piece of airborne art for a few bucks.  Oh, no.  The best we could manage […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/TheHunt.mp3

Amos Beals was an immense man, at least to my little kid eyes. Distantly related to my grandfather, Amos lived out in the country on a hardscrabble farm and was perpetually clothed in a railroad engineer’s cap, bib overalls – or “biblicals” as he called them – and brogan shoes. A shirt was optional, […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/IslandGirl.mp3

Don Young was a ladies man. He had been a ladies man for as long as I’d known him – since about third grade. He was not a cad, not a heartbreaker, he did not kiss and tell. He simply loved women and they loved him back. Don was a year older than I, […]

Planting the Seed http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/OnceUponATime.mp3

“Got a minute?” he asked.

I’d seen him around the area for the past few days. He was busy, landscaping mostly – installing water features, planting trees. He was a hard worker, and so old I couldn’t even guess at his age. It didn’t seem to affect him. He labored like […]

Playing God http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/CatholicFish.mp3

A young woman and I were visiting the other day and she confessed to me that she was a Catholic. While I subscribe to no particular religion myself, I certainly begrudge no one else his or her faith, but she seemed apologetic at her confession, saying that she wasn’t even sure if […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Chirp.mp3

I want a bird.

Before this goes any farther, I would like to thank all of you who have so unselfishly given me “the bird” over the years, especially the very nice lady in the grocery store parking lot last week, but this type of bird is the feathered variety.

I had a bird […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/StopOrIllIll.mp3

Back in the days when I was a cop, my least favorite thing to do was writing traffic tickets, but, as a rookie waiting assignment to a real shift while languishing on the day trick, I was often forced into generating a little revenue for the city. Not that we had quotas – we […]

Here Kitty, Kitty http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/TheSmellWillTell.mp3

I never did understand why Steve Seymour wanted a skunk. When I was small, my Uncle Floyd had a skunk, de-scented, that lived in the house with him and his wife, Flo. It was a low-slung, black waddle with white stripes that would occasionally scuttle out from under the […]

When Will It End? http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Age.mp3

I’m getting old. I know that I’m getting old – that’s no big secret – but I was reminded of that ugly fact recently when I realized that I need a computer monitor slightly larger than a picture window. The one I have just isn’t big enough anymore – or […]

Down and Dirty http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/AugustAfternoon.mp3

It was hot, heavy, and humid at about three o’clock on that August afternoon. The air was totally calm, the sky slightly hazy, and I crouched in the dust, sweat rolling in muddy trickles down the back of my neck, a mask held tightly to my face by straps over and […]

Too Tall, Big Fall http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/JackpineJolly.mp3

His name was Roger Brooks, but we just called him Jolly. We called him Jolly partially because of “Jolly Roger” and partially because the Jolly Green Giant was popular in those days and Jolly was a little over 6 feet 7 inches tall, and partially because everybody had nicknames in […]