Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 243, Ed. 1 Friday, July 26, 2013 Page: 4 of 10
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Friday, July 26, 2013
4 Brownwood Bulletin
What Confucius, Abe Lincoln and Jerry Garcia had in common
When a movie or television director wants
a male character to look macho, facial hair
is the order of the day. This doesn’t always
mean a mustache or beard; sometimes just
a little stubble will do. And whether it’s
displayed on the hero or the villain, it seems
to give the guy some swagger — at least on
screen.
I’m not a sports writer, nor do I play one
on TV, so why is it that I continue to be
drawn into baseball analogies here?
After reading that the Most Valuable
Player in the previous six Major League
Baseball All-Star Games had some type of
facial hair, I watched last week’s annual rite
of summer to discover, in part, who would
take home the big prize. As it turned out,
the MVP went to New York Yankees closing
pitcher Mariano Rivera, who might have had
a slight 5-o’clock shadow, but no other vis-
ible growth on his face. And he didn’t have
much more to show on his head either, for
that matter.
But the numbers don’t lie. Wahl, which
makes men’s grooming products, com-
missioned a study that found in baseball,
at least, beards and other facial hair breed
success in the All-Star Game.
Consider these findings as reported
online by Men’s Fitness, using statistics valid
prior to the July 16 contest:
— The last six All-Star Game MVPs all
sported facial hair: Melky Cabrera, Prince
Fielder, Brian McCann, Carl Crawford, J.D.
Drew and Ichiro Suzuki.
— Over the previous
three All-Star Games, play-
ers with facial hair had
twice as many extra-base
hits — eight — than those
without scruff, even though
clean-shaven players out-
numbered them 64 to 57.
— Sixty percent of the
Home Run Derby winners
over the past 10 years had
facial hair.
DeaSOfl — Players with facial hair
have averaged more home
runs (12.3) per derby than
players without (10.5).
— Players with facial hair have cleaned up
in major offensive categories over the past
decade at the All-Star Game. I’ll not bore you
with all those stats.
This fleeting national focus on facial
hair coincided with a decision I made the
weekend before the game to give my razor
a summer vacation. When you’re retired,
it’s difficult to determine exactly when it is
you’re on vacation. Maybe this is how it’s
done.
Circumstances made the decision easy.
I spent several days in the hospital, which
were followed by our annual family excur-
sion to the Big Bend. Avoiding the morning
shave was amazingly more convenient in
both those situations.
A couple of days after entering the hospi-
tal, I proposed the fuzzy face concept to my
wife. She was surprisingly agreeable, but she
may have decided not to debate it because I
was sick.
At the time, the growth on my cheeks and
chin was already soft, and I was puzzled by
the fact that I never experienced the itchy
stubble I had heard many bearded men
talk about when they were beginning to let
it grow out. Since I was beyond that point,
and since I had no reason to look sharp/be
sharp, I opted to go for it.
I will disclose at this point that this
column is being written almost a week in ad-
vance of publication, so I don’t know what
the status of my beard — assuming I still
have one — might be at this moment.
I will also admit that there are many
things that can go wrong when a man em-
barks on such an endeavor. Ladies, I realize
that I have left you out, and if any of you are
contemplating growing a beard, you have
my apologies. You definitely have my most
sincere apologies.
But returning to my beard, I’ve decided
that striking out in this direction promises
nothing but awkward moments.
I was talking with a visitor to my hospital
room when I mistakingly thought he was
looking at my left cheek. “I decided I might
try growing a beard,” I explained.
The visitor took a couple of steps in my
direction, squinted his eyes, and nodded.
“Oh, I see,” he said.
One thing that can go wrong when you
start growing a beard is that no one will
notice. The current problem is that there
are so many gray whiskers in the mix that
they overpower the few dark ones, and
that’s how it will be until the whiskers get
longer. It was no different when I tried this
several times before, and I could envision a
situation where I had brown hair but a gray
beard. But now, both have achieved a silver
equilibrium.
Another thing that can go wrong is that
the beard won’t look good when it’s grown
out. What if people laugh when they see me?
Frankly, I’m not very committed to this
project. I’ve had the razor and shaving
cream out and ready two times as of this
writing, and the temptation to end the
experiment increases every day. The only
thing that keeps me going is that I was
scheduled to “rough it” earlier this week,
and not having to shave would be conve-
nient. Of course, “roughing it” means a
two-room cabin on a dirt road with window
air-conditioners and no TV.
I’m willing to wager that if you see me
around town today, I will be clean-shaven,
and I will have lost my swagger.
Gene Deason retired as editor of the
Brownwood Bulletin in November 2012.
He may be reached at news@brownwood-
bulletin.com.
EDITORIALS
Don’t forget to
check on others
in hot weather
The much-needed and welcomed rain in Brown County
is in the rearview window, and the 100-degree tempera-
tures customary for July are back in full force.
Knowing it’s hot, and making sure the heat doesn’t af-
fect us, are two completely different stories.
Being able to do something about the heat also comes
into play. While you’re heading for some place with air
conditioning, keep in mind it’s the duty of a good citizen
to check on older neighbors who don’t seem to leave the
house often, anymore.
Just because there’s an air conditioner doesn’t mean
the people inside are using it. Those living on small
monthly allowances, perhaps just Social Security — or
not even that — often have to make “penny here and
penny there” spending choices. And more often than
not, food trumps running the air conditioner, so as not
to run up the electric bill.
Be a good neighbor. Check on the elderly, especially
if you see they have few, if any, family visitors. Peek
around while visiting; perhaps they could at least use a
fan.
The heat can wreak havoc, even on those who have the
comforts that help stave off the often sweltering July
and August weather conditions.
A glass of cool water multiple times a day equals hy-
dration. Sports drinks can also provide a boost, too. And
you’ve got to eat. Heat preys on the weak of body.
If you start to run a high temperature, feel weak or
experience dizziness on a really hot day, it could mean
you’re grasped by heat exhaustion.
Check for those signs in others, especially the elderly
and children. Muscle cramps are another sign of heat
exhaustion.
Mostly, it’s common sense. Your body will often tell
you the dos and don’ts.
And remember, between late morning and early eve-
ning, avoid lengthy amounts of the sun if at all possible.
Brownwood Bulletin
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Love is blind, but marriage
restores the sight
Today, the subject is weddings. I just
returned from a “joining of the sands,”
between my grandson and a young lady
he met at Texas Tech. The ceremony was
just a few blocks up Fifth Street at the
Earle Harrison House and Pape Gardens,
beside the Cameron Park Zoo.
There was no green and gold to be
seen at this event, even though we were
just a few blocks from Baylor University.
The color of the day was red, Red
Raiders red. Red never looked better on
the seven or eight beautiful bridesmaids.
(Red is the color for happiness and
weddings in old China.) The groomsmen
looked good, too, in their black tuxedos.
The bride was lovely in white, but did
not compare with the groom’s mother. (I
admit to some bias.)
The wedding was an outside affair.
The sun was hot as blazes and we had
none of the good old West Texas wind.
Not a leaf on the ancient oak trees
moved as I watched them with hope
(and sweat).
The garden is covered with ancients
oaks probably planted by the Hucao
Indians long before the white pioneers
arrived. (Waco’s name, sadly like San An-
gelo’s, was misspelled. Had they kept the
village name of Hucao, all the “Wacky
Waco” jokes would have never surfaced.)
Of all the hundreds, maybe thousands
of weddings I have officiated, this one
takes the cake. I mean literally, the cake
looked like a stack of whitewashed
freight cars, without the usual graffiti.
At 10 minutes to the starting time, it
began to rain. Nobody dared complain
for the rain is worth more than gold any-
where in Texas today. (The corn fields all
over the county are burned crisp, stand-
ing tall and straight but dead.)
The ceremony was moved to the big
tent where the feast was to be held. Half
way through the regimented ceremony
the bride told me the “pouring of the
sand” would be done later. I was about
the least needed person around, but
it all worked out well. (The day before
at the rehearsal the bride stood in for
herself. Another first during my years at
the altar.)
Wedding photographers come in all
sorts of quirky whims,
opinions and oddities,
but this time it was not
an old man with a bag
of cameras and tripods,
but a lovely lady who
seemed to be every-
where doing a great job.
Another first: a photo
of everybody in the field
from a helicopter. (Not
the same lady photogra-
pher in the copter.)
All this activity
brought memories of
another warm, but far
simpler, wedding in the
chapel under the steps
of the First Methodist
Church, Fisk at Austin, in Brownwood.
That old Methodist Church was demol-
ished long ago — but the marriage is still
going strong!
That was Friday, July 28,1950, as
Jody Long and I stood before Dr. Joe
McClain, with Jody’s sister as bridesmaid
and my dad as best man. Other than
the mothers, the only others present
were my classmate John Y. Robnett and
Jody’s friend Ann Self, who the next year
married songwriter Richard D. Baker.
Reception was in my folks’ two-
bedroom house, a couple of blocks
from the Frisco Railway Station. We had
no car and my cousin Don drove us to
our rented one-room garage apartment
behind a big white house on Main Street.
(No honeymoon, I had a history test the
next morning.)
Day after tomorrow, Sunday, July 28,
my bride and I move head-first into our
64th year in harness. (Please no gifts,
cards or calls, we will probably be nap-
ping.)
Britt Towery is a former missionary,
freelance writer and published author
of “Carey Daniel’s China Jewell, story
of the Gal from Buffalo Gap.”His col-
umns are published in the Bulletin on
Fridays. He welcomes reader feedback
at bet@suddenlink.net. Other columns
are available on his Web site, www.
britt-towery.blogspot.com.
m
y
.
Along the
way
Britt Towery
OTHER VIEWS
Spend money
on life, not
lawyers
In regard to the “fe-
tal heartbeat” bill filed
by State Rep. Phil King
(District 61), one has to
wonder why? This type
of legislation is how our
elected officials insure
that no lawyer ever goes
hungry. Millions of our tax
dollars are already being
spent because of bills writ-
ten by lawyers to line the
pockets of lawyers with
litigation fees.
Our right to medically
induced abortions is con-
tained in the Constitution
of the United States. Re-
moving that right requires
an amendment to our con-
stitution. While conserva-
tives view the proper role
of government is to control
the behavior of each indi-
vidual, liberals resist giving
up their cherished liberties
by allowing government
such power. Nevertheless,
we should be voting, not
litigating, as to the extent
government is allowed to
intrude into our lives.
The U.S. has one of the
highest infant mortality
rates of any country in the
industrialized world. Our
state is a major contribut-
ing factor to that disgust-
ing statistic. Texans refuse
to spend the money re-
quired to make us the best
in the world at keeping
children alive from birth to
their first birthday.
What if we took the tax
money that is now being
spent on unending litiga-
tion involving useless laws
that are being passed on a
regular basis by the Texas
Legislature and spent
that money on reducing
infant mortality statistics
for our state? Can liberals
and conservatives come
together and agree that our
tax dollars are better spent
keeping kids alive than lin-
ing the pockets of lawyers?
Weatherford Democrat
TELL US WHAT
YOU THINK
Readers are encouraged
to voice their opinions and
concerns. If you would like to
offer feedback to be included
in the published forum, mail
correspondence to Brownwood
Bulletin, RO. Box 1189, Brown-
wood, TX 76804, or e-mail to
news@brownwoodbulletin.com.
Jerry Pye:
Karen Wade:
Derrick Stuckly:
Kevin Holamon:
Marty Baker:
John Reyes:
Wesley Davis:
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Stuckly, Derrick. Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 243, Ed. 1 Friday, July 26, 2013, newspaper, July 26, 2013; Brownwood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth739941/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Brownwood Public Library.