The Town Tattler (Electra, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 7, Ed. 1 Monday, February 16, 1998 Page: 1 of 4
four pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
f
4
yQLIIME66
M
NUMBER 7
H
iri
fool from
-o
A
•n.-
of
the
f
She couldn't go. It was too
cold. Daddy did have to work.
She did need to nap. All
perfectly good reasons. As he
leaned down to kiss me he
said, "You might put on her
cap and walk out there and let
the horses out of the lot. 1
won't be using one this
evening, and at least she
would get to 'go.'"
I tucked a couple of cold
biscuits in my pocket and felt
the wind lay for a few minutes
right as we stepped out of the
house. In fact, I thought I felt
a warm ray of sun, but I was
too suspicious to look. As we
walked to the horse lot, Lily
chanted "Too-doo, Too-doo,"
over and over. That is the way
her tiny tongue gets around
the syllables of "Cooter," the
name of the old kid horse in
semi-retirement. Her glee
mounted when she actually
spied the old dun horse, lying
in the dirt, sunning himself in
my small ray of sun that was
actually peeping through the
layer of clouds.
We walked on by him and
opened the gate to let the
remuda into the horse
pasture. When we headed
back toward the house, 1
expected' Cooter to get up. He
Was lying there, with his front
legs tucked under him, letting
all of the younger horses make
fools of themselves as they
rushed for the gate. I saw his
old eyes, patient and calm. He
knew that we wouldn't go
back in the house without
spending a few moments
loving on him and rubbing
behind his ears. Besides, 1
rarely go to the horse lot
without some treat tucked into
my pocket, and Cooter is
especially fond of my biscuits.
As we got closer, I fully
expected him to get up out of
the dirt. But he didn't. He
continued' to lie right there.
Finally I stopped. 1 know from
a lifetime of being around
horses and livestock that only
a very submissive animal will
let you pet . him lying down.
And, if a horse panics, he can
really hurt a person, trying to days saved up. Age 7
Cowboyteme
The future has been losing
the wisdom of the past ever
since the freeway bypassed the
corral.
Behind every successful
rancher is a wife who works in
town.
Never approach a bull from
the front, a horse from the
rear or a fool from any
direction.
A bronc rider should be
light in the head and heavy in
the seat.
Broke is what happens when
a cowboy lets his yearnin’s get
ahead of his earnin's.
Any cowboy can carry a
tune. The trouble comes when
he tries to unload it.
When in doubt let the horse
do the thinkin’.
When a cowboy is too old to
set a bad example, he hands
out good advice.
Worry is like a rockin’
horse. It’s something to do
that don’t get you nowhere.
Poor is having to sell the
horse to buy the saddle.
Buy a used pickup with the
same caution a naked man
uses to cross a barbed wire
fence.
......---.....---...Q--------..........
eoftorul
by: Ted Bishop
. jrhe gross mismanagement of
City equipment and
manpower is not covert
anymore. It has been reported
to this office that City
employees and equipment was
used last week to build a play
ground at Dinsmore School.
The school district has the
money to pay for such
improvements and the City
should not be doing it free
gratis. City streets could use
these squandered funds and
attention. It is reported that
one of the Commissioners was
supervising the work without
the knowledge of the other
Commissioners. Could it be
because his wife is employed
by the School District? EISD
should be billed for this and. it,
should never happen again
with out a public hearing.
get up and away. I mean, I
had a baby in my arms! But, I
could tell he had no intentions
of leaving his nice, warm,
sheltered napping spot. He
stretched out his nose for his
customary petting, so 1 got up
by his head where we could
scratch his ears, but be out of
the way of his hooves if he
lunged to get up.
Lily had never seen a horse
from this angle. He didn't
look half so intimidating. She
wiggled to be let down. At first
1 told her, "No way, little one.
Cooter might try to get up."
He gave me a baleful glance as
if to say, "Not."
So finally, there in our little
ray of sunshine, the only one
scheduled for that cold,
dreary day, watching the
scarred up old hooves for any
hint of movement, ready to
snatch my daughter to safety,
I set my almost two-year-old
down to be eye to eye with her
"Too-doo."
She hugged. He smelled. She
held out a crumbly biscuit. He
munched carefully, gently
lifting it away from little
fingers. She poked his eye. He
bumped her with his nose. She
scolded, "No no, Too-doo."
He blinked. She rubbed. He
allowed it all. The two of them.,
carried on a conversation
right there in that muddy
horse lot.
Magic moments in life almost
always involve nature,
animals, and/or a child. On
that day, a ray of sunshine, a
small girl who wanted to go,
and a lazy old, used-up ranch
horse constituted mine. '
ChildMM
*It would be terrible if the
Red Cross Bloodmoblie got
into an accident. No, wait.
That would be good because if
anyone needed It, the blood
would be right there. Age 5
*As you make your way
through this hectic world of
ours, set aside a few minutes
each day. At the end of the
year, you'll have a couple of
A Rayof Sunshine
by Amy Auker
As I stood scowling at the
cold gray skies for the sixth
day, I felt like maybe just for
once, West Texans had a
legitimate gripe about the
weather. It had definitely been
an odd April. At first, it really
looked like spring was here...
and a very wet springat that.
But, in the middle of the
month, a cold front blew in,
trapping the kids and I in the
house just as it had all the
long, hard winter. At first 1
was mad because my bedding
plants froze. 1 mean, I had
tried to be smart and wait
until the mesquites budded
out before planting anything.
Ha. Even those thorn-crowned
old-timers were wrong this
year. Then I got worried
about all of those tiny seeds
beneath the dirt that would
someday be my garden. But,
on that morning, all of my
gripes about the yard and
garden were gone. I was
resigned to the inevitable. All I
wanted was a small bit of
sunshine, and to be able to re-
pack the winter clothes into
storage.
Later in the afternoon, Nick
came stomping in, blowing, on
his hand's, He drank $fe dregs
out of the pot of coffee and
played with the kids for a little
while. The dinner dishes were
done, and it was almost nap
time. As he re-tied his wild rag
and pulled on his jacket, the
baby began to cry. She knew
the signs of Daddy leaving.
"Wanna go," she sobbed
while big tears rolled down
her fat cheeks and she reached
and reached with her tiny
arms for his big ones.
"Oh, honey. You can't go. It
is too cold. Daddy has work to
do. You have to take a nap."
All of his soft words, spoken
with a negative shake of his
head only served to further
break her heart. 1 knew how
she felt. Anything to get out of
the tiny, drafty house.
Anything to be outside. But,
no.
Filing For May
OwllonJBtarto
Starting today, persons
wanting to run for Places 3 &
or Mayor can pick up the
required papers from the City
Secretary at City Hall.
The deadline for having the
applications filled out and
returned to the City Secretary
^is March 18.
AM The early voting will begin
^■on Income Tax day, April IS,
at City Hall and end on April
m^|28. The election will be held at
Hthe south end of the junior
high school on May 2.
All citizens that feel that they
HHcan contribute to the
betterment of this city are
strongly urged to file and run
■£]for office. Anyone living
■■within the city limits for 1
year, owing no back taxes and
^a°f legal age is qualified to
Mstand for election.
™ A good field of candidates
offers the voters more options
j^Kin who they want to lead
Electra into the 21st century.
Electra will be facing some
gs^ltough problems in the next
Hfew years and strong leaders,
with fresh ideas and a
^computer age’ style of doing
Mf business will be needed to
insure • its progress and
survival.
Democracy demands citizen
aEl participation. The more there
is, the better it works. Any
^town will become stagnant if
H|the same few people make all
^the decisions for too long.
Without a regular infusion of
®^new people with new ideas, the
ggs seat of government will
assume the personality of the
^strongest person among the
pg governing few. In a
dictatorship this is done by
force. In a democracy it
S occurs as a result
.. . ------. among
---------------ELECTRA, TEXAS MONDAY FEBRUARY 16.1998________________'
ELECTION SEASON STARTS
In a
as
disinterest
governed.
dH Get involved, get elected, do
S® what's best for the group as a
whole and watch things get
better.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Town Tattler (Electra, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 7, Ed. 1 Monday, February 16, 1998, newspaper, February 16, 1998; Electra, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1242829/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Electra Public Library.