Blame it on the Banjo's 2 songs by Anno Nymus

Blame it on the Banjos

Banjo from the mountains

banjo from the city

make a big racket

but they sure sound pretty !

Tater bug mando's – and fiddles so bold

hollers and yells – ancient riddles re-told

ballads of truth - and stories of old

all riches greater than any silver or gold

* * *

Honky Tonks 'n Saturday Nights

Honky Tonk brawls 'n Saturday Nights

go to church Sunday – to set things right

Your good suit on – as you go to meetin'

'cause the tonk makes you foolish

But the church gives it meaning !

you end scuffed up

and just a little heart-broke

all your dough has gone up

in the proverbial smoke

one step forward – 2 steps back - bit ...

… by that “black dog” freight

train - coming at you ...

… down the same ol' tracks

* * *

Motoring

The blustery and windy road

short and winding along it's way

the powerful smell of new mown hay

the pungent aroma of orange 
blossoms so fragrant and special

and vistas unfolding all along the way

chorus

Motoring Motoring

Flying in the wind

Motoring Motoring

Driving in the rain

Motoring Motoring

Rubber wheels rolling on

take me from here

and let me - roll me - and move me - on down the line

* * *

Original Songs – Copyright R. Bigelow 2019

El Rancho S-OH-S Part 10 by KimB

Episode Gunsmoke

Water, water, every where,

nor any of yours to take.¹

Act 1 Scene 10 Water Tanks
sound effect: boot steps crunching gravel

Tank	There
Moi	Where?
Tank	Hmmm, there...
Moi	Where?
Tank	Or there ...
Moi	Where?
Tank	Could be there...
Moi	Where?
Tank	No, over there...
Moi	Where?
Tank	Maybe there...
Moi	Where?
Tank	You have to hide it, or they will steal it.
Moi	Steal what?
Tank	The Water
Moi	How can they steal water? Isn't that an LA problem? 2
Tank	A water truck. 3 For growing cannabis. There are guns.
Moi	I don't own a gun.
Tank	They don't know that...

End Act 1 Scene 10 Water Tank
sound effect: boots scuffing dirt

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner
   The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798.
   

   Water, water, every where,
   

   Nor any drop to drink.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_water_wars
   The California water wars were a series of political conflicts between the city of Los Angeles and farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California over water rights.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_truck#Common_small_tank_trucks
   Smaller tank trucks, with a capacity of less than 3,000 US gallons

Water Wars

Playing Cards

Playing cards has been a family pastime for as long as I can remember. During the summers during the great depression, my siblings and I lived with our maternal grandmother in Oskaloosa, Iowa. ¹ Those days still evoke pleasant memories of our care free days; spending time in the stadium where we practiced running the cinder track or walking to the other end of town to visit Aunt Rita and our new baby cousin.

Sometimes we just spent time in the park where the large statue of Chief Mahaska ² was. Sometimes we just sat in the lower branches of the apple tree outside the kitchen door and ate green apples and saltine crackers.

When we were in the house, we usually sat on the floor of the living room playing Michigan Rummy. I don't know how we learned the game, but it was fun game and we spent hours playing it. From time to time, though, Grandma would walk thru the room to make certain we were not playing Euchre. She always reiterated that there would NOT be any Euchre games in the house! No Euchre decks were allowed! None of us knew what Euchre was, but it was obviously a card game and I just assumed it entailed betting, although I had and have never heard of anyone in the family being a gambler, but there were no two ways about it, no Euchre games were played!

As adults, we do have favorite card games and each is associated with certain family members. One of our enduring favorites is Spite and Malice, taught us by my sister Adeline. It's a simple game that doesn't require much strategy, and you can chat and gossip thru the game and still experience enough excitement that we are always willing to 'play another round'. We play Spite and Malice tournaments and anytime two family members are together either a game or a tournament starts.

Another favorite is Rook, played with regular playing cards. We learned this game from my sister Esther when we spent a Christmas holiday with her and her family one year in Baton Rouge, La. We enjoyed the game so much, we delayed our trip home to California one whole day just so we could play.

Other family members have been into more 'pressure' games like poker. Aunt Bessie and Uncle H. O. and his wife Pauline, along with friends played poker every Friday night for many years. My brother Elbert and his wife, Mary also had a long standing practice of playing poker every weekend. I am not a poker player. I never learned the rules and when I have played, I had a piece of paper with the possible hands written down so I could identify a win or loss.

One time I begged to be included in one of the weekly poker games at Elbert's house. Every thing went well for the first few plays, but it soon became obvious that my being a beginner didn't make real poker players happy. I found a reason to quit the game and I could hear the sighs of relief as I drove back home. I was never invited to join their poker games again.

I am not a good card player. The why's and wherefores elude me. I can't count fast enough. I'm just a simple country card player and I leave the heavy playing to others.

Jack of Diamonds,
I know you of old.
You stole all my money,
and you stole all my gold.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskaloosa,_Iowa
   Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Mahaska
   Sculptor Sherry Edmundson Fry bronze statue of Mahaska
   Mahaska or White Cloud, (1784–1834) was a chief of the Native American Iowa tribe.

The Far Horizon

[Editor's Post]

Art!!!

Golden Rings by Marion 2010
[Editor's note: Art: Golden Rings by Marion 2010]
Saturday, November 06, 2010

Chocolate!

Will work for chocolate
[Editor's note: This story was written by MrsB]
Saturday, May 23, 2015

Kings Mountain Wild Ride - (a true story) by Anno Nymus

Kings Mountain Wild Ride

 The trees whizzed by close – we even caught a branch …

… heading down to town that night – from Kings Mountain Ranch ...

The '52 Merc' purred – like a fine Swiss watch

zig-zag'n down the winding deserted mountain road

12 tubes blasting country - on the old Philco

Lefty Frizzel just a moaning so low

We were young and ready – and rearing to roll

Twisty mountain road – pines flyin' by at night

Cruising along everything's just right

Suddenly she turns out the headlights

'n said 'drive in the dark!' – that got me excited

So we coast awhile in neutral – almost lost in the dark

Thrilled with excitement and our youthful spark

We have to take the curves with all our might

Rolling blind down the mountain – in the dead of night

While we swerve and bob - and hold back our terrors

Lefty's gal is really late -- and he's avoiding mirrors

Flyin' by memory in the deep forest dark

The old mercury rolled on – as we went on this lark

We were young and ready – and rearing to roll

The city lights blinking down below – our beacon and goal

We sparked the motor back up – she lit with a roar

Winding down the mountain --- still holding the road

She purrs and hums like that fine Swiss watch

And that old '52 Merc' – sure was a hoss

Bringing us in on a wing and a prayer

She took all we gave and thirsted for more

These were the days of glory and fun

Our wild Kings Mountain Ranch run

We'd fly down to town .. and get business done ..

Then we'd race back up

To the ranch in the sun

Another - wild Kings Mountain Ranch run

We were young and ready – and rearing to roll

We were young --we were invincible

Free to glide – and we would ride ride ride …

Into the night – laughing – gliding side by side

We were young and ready – and rearing to roll

The trees whizzed close by – we even caught a branch …

… heading down to town that night – from Kings Mountain Ranch ...

* * *

Copyright 2019 R. Bigelow (aka Anno Nymus)

This actually happened in 1954

Uncles Jerry, Mickey, and Charles (all freshly home from Korea), and Charles' fiance Linda, would often go from our place called 'The Sky Ranch' at the top of Kings Mountain, down to the little village at the bottom. They loved to use the twisty narrow two lane back road, and blast county music on the deluxe car radio. Most of the way down it was piney hill on one side, and creek on the other. Two cars could just get by, and if it was a car and truck, then someone was backing up to a wide spot. It was a classic old time mountain road. 

The uncles all famously loved to 'coast' down this windy road in Charles'  gorgeous and souped up 1952 Blue and White Mercury with fender skirts. It gleamed!  One night, I got to sneak a ride going on quick run to town and back. Grandma relented because Linda was going, even though the uncles each had a few cold brewskies under the belt. Loaded up we headed out. Pretty soon - as advertised - we were coasting in neutral to everyone's delight, when suddenly, Linda reached over and turned out the headlights - daring Charles to keep going!. It was pitch dark, and everyone sat straight up !

Charlie was driving. He had driven this road many many times, and somehow - between memory and good luck - he was pretty much holding the road - but the downhill grade was causing us to pick up speed faster and faster,  as we coasted, until it was getting pretty scary fast. We were all hollering to 'turn on the lights!', and 'start the engine!' and 'put it in gear and quit coasting!' in between squeals of excitement -- along with the squeals of the tires! Now we were really picking up speed, and barely making the hairpin turns. We were really skewing off the roadway at points! At one turn as we swerved under a tree,  the tip of a low hanging pine branch caught in the corner of the window, and we got showered with a few pine needles. Scared a bit, we suddenly got very quiet -  all you could hear was the radio!

Just then, the engine roared to life, the headlights came on, and everyone let their breath out, then busted out laughing !  I was revved up, and wanting to do it again, but alas,  I never did get another shot. After grandmother heard about this ride, I was banned from riding with the uncles - unless granddad was driving. 
I can almost smell the pine needles remembering ! But wow -- what a memorable wild crazy fun ride ! 

end