My thoughts raced backwards to that day around the hot stove with the radio playing. "You done it, Daddy." I told him. "You taught me how."

Well, he didn't believe it. Daddy shook his head. "No. Nobody in our family knows how to whistle, son. I didn't teach you how."

And the years were stripped away more surely than ever. "Yeah you did, Daddy. You taught me how. When we lived on Narramore ranch you told me that you had always wanted to whistle, but never learned how. You said that if I ever learned how to whistle a tune you'd give me a dollar."

He almost remembered. His eyes grew misty, and mine glistened too as I continued. "Boy Daddy, I practiced for months, but my mouth just wasn't made right. All I could ever get was some piercing shrieks. I must have given up on the project a thousand times. Only, I never give up on anything.

"So I always came back to give it another shot. Sometimes my whistle would get a little better, and I'd think, Hey, this is good enough. So I'd sneak in close beside you and try to whistle you a tune.

"You never said nothing. Never a word. I don't think you even heard. Most of the time you never even looked at me when I tried.

"So I'd know I wasn't really whistling, and I'd give up again. Only I never give up on anything. And I kept coming back to it. I knew that someday I'd be good enough. Someday I'd whistle a tune so good that you knowed it was a tune. I was going to earn that dollar. And boy, many a time when I NEEDED that dollar I'd fly into practicing again even though you were a hundred miles away.

"Finally I done it. It was years later. Down in a foxhole in Korea I whistled a real tune. I was so excited I could hardly wait to get home and strut my stuff in front of you. I practiced on that one tune for months. Only, when I finally got home and whistled, your head just turned the other way. After all that practicing, I still wasn't good enough to whistle you a real tune.

"I gave up again, and again. Only I never give up on anything. And I kept coming back to practice my whistling all over again because I was determined to earn that dollar from you if it was the last thing I did on earth. Over the years I've whistled a tune for you a thousand times. But you never seemed to hear me, Daddy. Gradually I realized you'd forgotten your words. Finally I realized your promise had been given on the spur of the moment, that you had intended for me to learn how to whistle that very week. And then you'd forgotten about it when I let you down on yet one more thing.

"But even then I never quit practicing because whistling had meant something to you once and just maybe you was feeling a little pleasure those times when I whistled near you. I still ain't good. But Daddy, I'm the best whistler I'll ever be."

When I stopped I saw tears, silver tears, squinting from Daddy's gray eyes. "Son," he said. "I ain't got a dollar right now. But the way you've learned to whistle is worth a thousand."

And hearing him say that was worth more than all the money in the world. My eyes were glistening so bad I could hardly open the door to hurry outside before my heart busted open.

And then, we have these essays in the GENERAL ESSAYS category 
which don't seem to fit anywhere in particular:

That first day of school  

Friendship, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  A ruddy drop of manly blood The surging sea outweighs, The world uncertain comes and goes, The lover rooted stays. I fancied he was fled, And, after many a year, Glowed unexhausted kindliness Like daily sunrise there. My careful heart was free again, -- O friend, my bosom said, Through thee alone the sky is arched, Through thee the rose is red, All things through thee take nobler form, And look beyond the earth, And is the mill-round of our fate A sun-path in thy worth. Me too thy nobleness has taught To master my despair; The fountains of my hidden life Are through thy friendship fair.

A Break From Boredom  --  by Lance Nalley 

The gods and Heroes of the Ancient World 

Staunch, steadfast, loyal and true.  What better friend can a man have?

This Web is MY Web  

The Moon on Six Pence Uncle Bob was an unforgettable character who traveled the world on bargain rates and golden smiles!

Man, the Meanie of the Planet.  This is a high resolution pdf document so you can print it out and hang it on the wall.  Be sure to RIGHT Click the link, and save it to your computer.

The Almost Good Housekeeping monograph is a good excuse for the harried homemaker to put off until tomorrow all those burdens of yesteryear, and quit trying so hard.

Sex before the Sax:  The first thing I learned about Lois was she had a label for being froward.  Kids at school said she had had sex with Alfred.  Not long after I arrived, another boy came forward to admit he had made a score at her door.

God Does Not Fit  -- by Lance Nalley

Old Rattler, and the King Snake. 

Pleasures of the open fire: The Fireplace Revisited.

Don't Make Us
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