The Second, Second Best Blog

Dad was born in 1924 and so was a teenager during most of World War II. His two older brothers, Dar and Dale, joined the Navy. Dad got an exemption to stay home and work on the McAllister ranch where he landed after his mother died of tuberculosis in 1932, making them orphans. The Fuller [...]

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Once upon a time, a 25 year old cowboy was thrown from his horse in a Susanville rodeo. During the ensuing hospital visit, he was taken by a pretty little nurse… and she was both pretty and little, 4′ 11″ to be exact. But then again, all the other single men in the vicinity were [...]

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Where to start? What to say? I left for work early this morning, partly because it was raining, and partly because I had a couple of projects I hoped to finish by year-end. The words in my Inbox demolished that thought: “…cut 3-4 positions…” It seems most everyone who wants voice recording systems either has [...]

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This post is especially for the three most faithful readers of the Second, Second Best Blog, each of whom has mentioned the disappointment they experience when checking here and finding nothing new. Sorry. Writing is a rather slow process for me. I have to get kind of worked up about something before the words will [...]

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When I think of home, it’s not the Southern California cookie cutter cracker box that I own today, even though I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else. It’s the old ranch house where my four brothers and I grew up in Lassen County’s Honey Lake Valley, 14 miles east of Susanville, off of U.S. 395. [...]

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The first days and weeks that followed Mom’s death in the summer of ’60 have faded away to just a few wispy tendrils. I can’t remember who made us breakfast or tucked us in at night, or the hundreds of other tasks involved in managing five boys from 9 to 2. There were groups and [...]

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Christmas in the ’50s was magical. Dad worked for Doyle Motors in Susanville, Mom at the hospital in Herlong. I don’t think there was a lot of money to spare after house payments and groceries for seven. In the days leading up to Christmas my brothers and I would watch the presents accumulate under the [...]

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What is needed in abundance to raise five boys with strong healthy bones and never risk them suffering the effects of rickets, as my father did as a child? Milk. Lots of fresh whole milk. I don’t remember exactly how and when my parents acquired a cow but they did. Even though we lived out [...]

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