What's Up Melton?

We live in the cities, the suburbs, on the farm, and out in the country. We live at home, and some of us live away from home. Some of us are wealthy, and most of us aren’t so much – some of us are just needing the basics of survival. We are still, in my mind, “just plain folks!” Wherever we live, we are “just plain folks.” We go to school, to work wherever we find it, in our homes, our industries, and in all manner of social services. I see people everywhere wanting to have a good life. We all deserve to have a good life – to be happy, healthy, and prosperous. Thank God we live in America where we have the opportunity to achieve that good life if we choose! I believe we are seeing hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of potential leaders who are called to see our great country return to her greatness – to help us achieve that good life we all want. Even now, in 2022, those leaders are stepping out and showing us the great American way. For a time, I was worried our future was i...

90,000 people needing to believe in an honest hope for their future amassed in Conroe, Texas today! President Donald J. Trump came to the good people of Texas, and He didn’t leave until later this evening. The Donald Trump Freedom Rally was packed, standing room only, with his faithful supporters and a great number of political, super star guests (whom he introduced individually, and thanked for their service), those who have given the real values and ethics in the past, that have stuck to the bones of real Americans across this great country. Being an American, I am proud of my country, my people! I want to see our great country return to her greatness! Will President Trump run for his deserved office in 2024? I don’t know. But at last, I see a glimmer of hope for our nation, our hard-working families, our neighbors, our businesses, our children, our brave and honorable men and women in blue, and our core values! I believe we will see America great again! Let’s pray for our gre...

The day I almost died -- there have been others. I’m not a daredevil, but I have lived dangerously many times in my life. On this one morning, I was going about my business. I was on my way to Lowes in Livingston (Texas) to buy some lumber for a deck I was building at the back of our house. This was the day the railroad commission decided to install crossing bars and warning lights at this dangerous railroad crossing. A very smart move! There had been several tragic accidents in the past at this same crossing. Driving along, I was thinking about my shopping list for our deck. Traffic was moderate, it was early in the morning, but ahead cars were slowing down. There were several orange traffic cones placed alongside the road, just before coming to the crossing. The workmen there had on their bright yellow safety vests and were directing the oncoming cars and trucks. Traffic slowed for the construction. I want to add that one of the reasons this crossing was so dangerous was both sid...

  What I’m getting ready to tell you happened to me! Really! It’s a strange little story, but true! During the years of 1958-1962, I served in the United States Air Force. I was stationed in New Jersey and my parents lived in Louisiana. Somewhere around 1959, I got 2-weeks leave to go home and visit my family. I caught a train (people actually traveled by train back then) connected with a Trailways bus (also viable transportation back then that didn’t cost much) and was making my way home. I smoked Marlboro cigarettes at the time, a lot of us young servicemen did back then. It made us feel like cool adults…at 19 appearing cool and grown-up was pretty important! Somewhere along the way, while on the train, I needed a “smoke.” Smoking while in the passenger cars was not permitted. Trains back then had “ smoking-allowed” cars towards the back of the train. Standing between the cars was another option if you wanted to light up a cigarette. Doing so was a bit scary though – it wa...

I think sometimes it’s best to put doing somethings off until we have taken the right amount of time to think about what we want to do more thoroughly. Am I lazy? I don’t think so. How many times have we bought something and later wished we hadn’t? How many times have we started a project without thinking about its real cost, only to have serious regrets later? Our answer to these questions is? Most likely, plenty of times! For example, I can get excited about a new accessory for one of my drones and jump on Amazon to order it! It comes next day in the mail (Amazon spoils me like this). However, what I ordered turns out not to be suitable for my particular drone. It happens! I was so excited to buy it I didn’t read the fine print. I send it back! Instructions! Most of us men don’t read them. We already know the thing has screws and widgets! We know a lot about screws and widgets! How hard could it be to throw this thing together? A piece a cake! Wrong, and then the little wifey...

A bowl of chili, a warm blanket, and maybe a good movie. That’s how we humans handle our cold weather, but what about alligators? How do they deal with the cold in winter? Alligators must have sunlight to warm them up and increase their metabolism. So, when winter temperatures drop below 40 degrees they slow way down, then go into a hibernation-like state. They “brumate” - go into brumation it is called, where their metabolism slows way down. They become lethargic and drop down to the bottom of the river, lake, or pond. Alligators can hold their breath for up to 24 hours! When it’s that cold they surface just long enough to grab a few deep breaths of air and then settle back on the bottom! That’s crazy! Some alligators dig themselves a nice musty smelling hole just above the water table out of the cold. I’ll bet they doze with one eye open just in case a curious critter or human hand pokes around their winter home’s sleeping quarters! I have seen gators 12-14 feet long on our Lake Livi...

                                                  Raw Oysters! Some of us will eat them, most won't. That's okay! Granted, raw oyster consumption is not for everyone. I do enjoy eating them! Years ago, a friend of mine, who lived in Maryland had a home at the shore, on the Chesapeake Bay. One weekend he invited me to go with him to gather some clams and oysters so we could prepare a fresh seafood feast for ourselves and our wives. This turned out to be an exciting adventure I'll never forget. It was late in the afternoon - low tide - and it was chilly. It had been raining. We took his dory (small paddle boat) from the beach, where we dug for our clams to a large oyster bed near the inlet and an estuary. The shallow water now revealed thousands of oysters all clustered and growing on top of each other. We had on heavy rubber boots and waders. We pried them apart or...

 Our Allies and Strategic Partners , the Pentagon, and White House officials throw these words out a lot. What do they mean? I have a basic understanding of the words but they sort of have the same meaning don't they? They do! When we hear our Defense Department officials use these words, they are very careful about how they use them. How so? In the world of international relations, they have two different meanings. Alliances Where we have alliances, we have formal agreements with other countries. Agreements in national defense that other countries promise they will support each other, especially during a war. The U.S. is in alliance with NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NORAD -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command (with Canada), ANZUS -- Australia, New Zealand and U.S. Security Treaty, and the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship -- Which is America's oldest unbroken treaty. Documents that make alliances official are treaties, aka "treaty ally....

"We have no hot water!" I yelled through the house from our shower. I had turned on the faucet in the shower about midway and waited for my water to heat up. I continued to wait...and wait...and nothing! No hot water! Well, Sally hadn't been running the dishwasher or the washing machine, so what happened? I diagnosed a heating element must have gone bad. They do when you have hard water and lime deposits short these heating rods. I went to Lowe's, bought two new elements and the little tool to install them and got back home ready to solve my no hot water problem. That was not the problem! The real problem was water in the trip pan beneath the water heater had entered the bottom of the heater itself and eventually over the past five years slowly saturated the internal insulation, which caused rust to get to everything inside the water heater. The electrical connections, the elements and the tank itself - all eaten up with rust! It was the weekend and no one to call. At...

Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to fly. Being able to spread my wings and soar up there with the eagles and blue jays. Wow, that would be cool I thought! My dad was always working on Saturdays, that freed me up to use his tools, our empty single car garage, and my mom would allow me to convince her I could do anything, any brilliant, imaginative five-year old boy could do. She would just say, "Okay honey be careful!" I would assure her I had everything under control! One day I decided to build my own airplane. I employed my two-year old little brother to help me. We got very busy. I found an empty wooden peach crate, a mop handle from the pantry, a couple old boards and some cardboard, and that's all we needed to build our airplane. I found a rope - probably had something to do with a clothesline. I theorized I could wrap the rope around my propellor shaft, pull it real fast and the prop would spin. All we had to do next was pull it up into the big oak tree in the f...

Back in the late 70's, I was in New York on business. My employer, back in North Carolina, kept an apartment in the city on Central Park west and 58th St. In the evenings, I would take in some of the popular theaters, pubs and small neighborhood pizza shops, and found my way into a few of the more popular night clubs. New York, New York! What a city! So much to do all hours of the day and night! One evening, I caught a cab, and had my driver drop me off at the famous "Birdland Jazz Club" on W 44th St. All the best jazz men and women played at Birdland's, at one time or another - great jazz! The club is not all that big, so it was usually crowded. The night I was there I was lucky I saw one empty stool at the bar and quickly plopped down on it. I asked the two black guys sitting next to me if my stool was saved for anyone, the blind guy next to me said no. We started a small conversation about Birdland and all that Jazz! My new black friend then asked me what my drink...

I am not a doctor. I make no claim to know what causes night terrors, or why we have bad dreams. I am only sharing from my own personal experience, and what disturbs my sleep at night. Maybe you have had trouble yourself falling asleep in the evening, or you wake up at 2 in the morning, worrying about this and that! If so, you are not alone! It is not uncommon for many of us to have our worries or fears when we could be sleeping. It happens! We are vulnerable late at night. At this time, everyone else is sleeping -- we haven't settled our concerns about what went on during our day. There is no one to talk to at that hour, or those who we could talk to have business hours only during daylight hours. They are not available when we need them! Sound familiar? I have laid awake for hours worrying about how my doctor's nurse left me a message to call her back and I forgot! It's Friday night, and I broke a crown eating potato chips! I can't go to church Sunday with a broken f...

                                         We all need prayer. At times, we pray for ourselves, our family, our friends, for our country. And sometimes, we ask for prayer for ourselves. Prayer is powerful! Long before we need prayer, we have someone who is praying for us. His name is Jesus ,  he prays because he loves us! Oh,  how He loves us! He is the son of almighty God, the morning star, bread of life, prince of peace, lord of lords, alpha and omega, living water, savior, redeemer…and still , he prays  you , and me! Thank you, Jesus . Here is how Jesus prays to his Holy Father for you and for me from (John 17:20-26).  “My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have...

Have you ever been to a theme park or a county fair and watched an artist sketching funny or exaggerated cartoons of people?  That's a "caricature". Some caricatures are really distorted on purpose to bring special recognition to whatever it is that helps you know who the subject is. Will Smith and Michael Jackson (shown above) are easily recognized here. The artist shown is using a charcoal pencil, but many use a black marker. Caricatures can insult or compliment, some are political, most are for entertainment only. Caricatures are not portraits. They are typically created fast, on the spot, others are drawn in the artist's studio in color or black and white but drawn in a lot more detail. A simple caricature may be of one subject or combine others. Caricatures of kids and pets are very popular too. Prices can vary from less than twenty-five dollars for a black and white to hundreds of dollars for full color and depend on their complexity and the customer's ulti...

  Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! In other words, “Let the good times roll!” Mardi Gras is just around the corner, and Mardi Gras is about letting go of the not-so-good times and having yourself a whole lot of fun! This year, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Mardi Gras in New Orleans returns after another year of the pandemic. Mayor LaToya Cantrell has told New Orleans Mardi Gras will return to the city in 2022. However, there are changes, mostly in altered routes of the famous parade through the city. Interested in going? Check with event planners. Thanks to French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, it is believed Mardi Gras began March 3, 1699 when he camped just downriver from what is now New Orleans. Back in France, it was Fat Tuesday. Pierre named the camping spot Point du Mardi Gras and held a party there! I suppose he likely toasted to the event exclaiming “Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!” I don’t know this for a fact but I’m going to go with it! A few years later, a g...

                                        I am not Jewish, but I sure do love  Lox and Bagels ! Have you ever enjoyed this delicious, Yiddish inspired sandwich? No? Okay, first of all, you need a good bagel. Bagel? Most people know what a bagel is. Not many have enjoyed their bagel with the Lox, or as translated from   the Yiddesh word " laks ." Here's a little other knowledge to familiarize my readers with what I'm talking about. Lox or laks, is thinly sliced salmon fillet, cured in a salty brine. The processing method began in Scandinavia. Interesting to know, native Americans smoked and dried their salmon for consumption later. Around 1869, that transcontinental railroad carried barrels of salted Pacific salmon to the east coast, New York in particular, where immigrant European Jewish immigrants were already familiar with smoked, dried fish. Now, bagels appeared in Italy ...

"Melton, come quick, a little bird is trapped on our porch, and she's trying to get out!" My wife yells. This happens a lot when we leave the screen door open. You've probably had this happen at your house too. Most of the time, these trapped, little birds are what are known as: Troglodytes Aedon's  or Texas House Wrens - A familiar backyard bird that tends to want to nest around human homes. They are very inquisitive, like to bounce around a lot and chirp consistently, like little cheerleaders.  House wrens prefer the open woods, gardens and thickets of underbrush. In the winter, they can be found in dense wooded areas; sometimes they nest alongside stream beds. Male birds defend their nesting territories by loud, quick chirping. Both parents take on the chore of hunting for food and for feeding their little ones. Their favorite foods include millipedes, grasshoppers, snails, spiders and crickets. Thank goodness, I can use all the help I can get eradicating these...

                                              Founded by Spaniards in 1779 on the banks of the Bayou Teche, New Iberia eventually became home to French settlers known as Acadians, who had been driven from Nova Scotia by British troops. The Acadians, who in their new home became known as Cajuns. When my dad, who worked for an oil company, got transferred to New Iberia from Houston, we had to move from the big city to this small country town in south Louisiana. A culture shock for me! I was 15 years old back then and had to leave all my friends back home in Houston. I eventually, made new ones in my new "hometown." It was tough! However, I wound up loving New Iberia and all my new Cajun friends. My mother was a nurse; she found work with the Jefferson Island Salt Co. on nearby Avery Island - it was one of the biggest employers in the area at the time. How do you get to New Ib...

I'm talking about Salsa. Everyone loves salsa! Salsa is a traditional, Mexican side dish typically served at room temperature. I enjoy salsa at any temperature, just make sure it's spicy! My neighbor, Marylou, makes the best darn salsa in the world! She is Mexican and was born knowing how to cook all things Mexican I believe. Her husband was born in Honduras, so she cooks South American too. Marylou gave me a very simple, traditional salsa recipe I'll share with you here. I've made it and... oh wow! Delicious! You can make this salsa with jalapenos or Tabasco-style peppers. She uses the latter, so do I. 3 Roma tomatoes 3 tomatillos chopped small 6 small hot peppers 3 garlic cloves chopped fine 1/2 yellow onion chopped fine salt to taste a little water It's best if tomatoes and peppers seeded are grilled (blackened) - adds smokey flavor I like. Combine all ingredients in a blender on "chop" setting. Leave chunky is what I prefer. Cover and put your salsa i...

While on an excusion back in December 2021, aboard a cruise ship to Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico we took a side trip by bus to a little private beach. We sat under a palm thatched polopa, met some other cruising friends from the ship, enjoyed a couple cold margaritas and I kissed an iguana. Yep, right on the top of his big prehistoric, scaly head! Why? I don’t know why, just acting crazy I guess. What does it cost to kiss an iguana in Mexico? Cost me $10!  I probably could have done it for nothing, but I was on vacation! So, I did it so there! Covid has once again shut down the cruise ships. Traveling by any means has been affected by this stinking virus. It’s every where! The CDC says its here to stay in one form or anither. Well that’s encouraging! We adapt in one way or another I guess. We are vaccinated, and we are wearing our masks. We are trying to be cautious for our sake and for the sake of our family, friends and others. Not everyone is taking these same precautions. It’s com...

"Dixie" Over the years, I have had some great friends who were dogs! Ringo, Lobo, Chix, and now Dixie. Dixie is my Australian shepherd, border collie mix. She’s old, like me. We have our aches, and pains, and we can’t get around like we use to when we were pups. That’s life, what can I say? Dixie has a hard time with her hips and back legs. I do what I can to help her every day. I pick her up, and help her in her chair, and in bed at night, next to me. I love this little girl. She and I have been buddies for thirteen years now. We’ve taken our early morning walks around our pond, chased the crows and barked at the deer. I have comforted her when the lightning and thunder caused her fear, fed her when she wasn’t feeling good. She in turn, has given me peace when I didn’t feel any! They say a dog is a man’s best friend! So true! Chris Stapleton, a gifted country-blues singer, recorded a song about “his” best friend, Maggie a while back. He sings a poignant song that shares on...

  Don’t get me wrong I can enjoy a good pizza or a juicy, baked range-fed chicken or some locally caught fried catfish, but I do like a good steak! My favorite is a nice Wagyu ribeye barely grilled. A great steak is never cooked, just seared with all those wonderful juices retained by getting it hot and then allowing it to “rest” for about 8 minutes – granted wagyu isn’t cheap! You may have heard of wagyu beef by any of these other names: Matsusaka beef , Kobe beef , or Yonezawa beef . Waygu is any of four Japanese breeds of beef shipped around the world. Black Angus is raised right here in southeast Texas! Yahoo! Don’t want to sell your soul to the devil to get a great steak though? Black Angus! Especially, if you got local ranchers and farmers raising " most of the stars" , excellent quality, grass-fed beef! Fortunately, living here in southeast Texas “we’ve got the beef!” You know Black Angus – you’ve bought it before! Black Angus is what we look for and buy! Yesterday...

Growing up and working my way through school – not to be confused with getting any form of employment, to enable one to finish their bachelor’s or complete their master’s – no, working my way through school to me, meant showing up for grades 1-12! I wasn’t all that interested in school, especially the early grades. The acres and acres of woods across from where I grew up provided me too many wild adventures as a young boy. I couldn’t wait to get this school thing over with each day so I could get home, throw those books on the bed and cross the street into those wild woods where my land of adventure waited each day! Mrs. Collins was my 4th-grade teacher. I’ll always remember Mrs. Collins, she encouraged my reading, which led me to like writing, which led me to my interest in storytelling! Not lying, mind you, but imagining all sorts of happenings, in those early years, to amuse my little schoolmates. I became their source of funny stories, their scary stories. They always wanted ...

  The Real Geronimo was born: 1829 Died: 1909 He was a very memorable leader of the Apache Indian nation and a medicine man. Geronimo was made famous for his devotion to his people, and he resisted anyone – Mexican or American - who attempted to remove the people of his tribe from their native land. After many years of escaping the U.S. Army’s attempt to capture him and his band of dedicated warriors, he was finally captured on September 4, 1886. He was a prisoner of war for 23 years. He died of pneumonia. I watched the movie “Geronimo” on cable TV the other night. It was very interesting. I have always remembered Geronimo as a ruthless Indian bandit and heard how he infamously, fought the early American Army soldiers. Oh yeah, as a kid, I played cowboys and Indians. I had twin toy six-guns in leather holsters. I think they were officially a Roy Rogers Western set for kids my age, around 4-6. Me and my little friends played these games over and over; some of us were cowboys at t...

 A lot of people are upset today. I know, but today, at my house, it’s sunny with a nice blue sky overhead. There’s a gentle, cool breeze out of the NNW - got a cold front coming in. That’s not all that bad! It’s actually a little warm for January, 56 degrees! I’m thanking God for all I have and for my great friends and family. I pray this new year brings all of us good health and all the resources we need to be happy and satisfied with what He has allowed us. Let’s look for the good stuff and try not to worry like we did in 2021. January 6, 2022…a day of blessings.

 Getting old has a lot of great benefits! No more peer pressure, no more worrying about wearing that t-shirt you got paint on last spring to Wal-Mart - who gives a flip? I'm not interested in a fancy new Peleton that allows me to run up mountain highways with some sexy-looking, 20 year old, Celtic woman diva. I'm not running anywhere unless it's from a bees nest! Besides, I got achy knees! Too many angry bull rides, pole-vaults, and leaping out second story windows from angry fathers (I wish). Speaking of Wal-Mart, you know those people that ride those little scooters around the store? Yeah, they got it made! no more hard floors, standing for hours while your little trophy wife takes hours picking up every can reading the labels for nutritional values. So, a while back I got me one of those little hotrods. I did, and I love it! Here's a picture of mine. I call her "My Little Corvette". I even got one of those miniature Texas vanity license with that reads; ...

 Some of my posts on Facebook run long - I usually have a lot to say. I guess Facebook posts are supposed to be mostly short and to the point! Okay, I get it. This here (not good English) new blogger page allows me to tell more of "my stories" in more detail. Sometimes I like to go into more detail - that's just me! I'll include in my usual Facebook posts from now on this link: whats-up-melton.blogspot.com to allow my readers this opportunity to read even more of my stuff if they would like to. Thanks to all my loyal Facebook friends for sticking with me all these years! I plan to keep on throwing the "kitchen sink" at ya' with my photos, cartoons, rantings and my posts on just about any old subject. Stay connected! Love you guys! Melton