Will You Be My Daddy?

Here I am all alone in the room at 6:23AM, EDT. My better half took the girls and they are all snuggled up on the bed in mine and Heather's room. We woke up at about 5:00AM to send my mother-in-law off, back to her cave where her caldron is probably at full boil. It was kind of cool when the Swamp Thing left this morning. I learned two things - 1) brooms really do fly and 2) flying brooms don't leave a contrail.

This week is gonna be hectic for us as there are some very important things happening, possibly all on the same day. Tuesday the 19th is Isabella's eighth birthday, the Wii I bought on eBay may arrive on that day and my newest fishin' buddy, Coop is due  to take a ride on The Miracle Express at any time. Even at 54, I get excited about some things like I was a kid again - I can't wait for the Wii to get here. I'm just kiddin' about that, although I do plan to play on it a lot.

I don't know why, but I have quite sentimental for the last week or so.  Much of it has to do with my oldest daughter, Isabella. When I first arrived in Maine 4 1/2 years ago, she was a blonde haired, blue eyed fireplug. Now, at age eight minus two days, I see her making the transition from little girl to something else, a teenager I guess. She's kind of in between stages, not quite a teen but no longer a little girl. Does that make sense? I think about the future when she's in high school and beyond, and the boys who'll take notice of this beautiful young woman. Does eBay sell shotguns and rock salt? Issy has grown enough that I can't pick her up and swing her around like a helicopter, and that makes me sad. She doesn't help me in the garden as much as she used to, friends are all over the place, riding bicycles and skateboards. Think about it. If you were eight years old which would you choose? Handsome boys on bikes and skateboards or an arthritic old fart talking to tomato plants? What use to be Daddy and Issy time has been reduced to Daddy teaching tomato and pepper plants simple Spanish. I'm surely the only man in New England who has bi-lingual vegetables. Next spring I'll be teaching the squash pig Latin.

Will You Be My Little Girl?

I've always heard about the special relationship that Dads and daughters share, but I was ill-prepared for what was to come when Issy became part of my life. The bond between us is something that I can't put into words other than to say, she's my little girl, and always will be. I remember a time about six months after I moved here to be with Heather and Issy. I was washing some dishes minding my own buidness when my little blonde fireplug came into the kitchen. She was four years old and said, "Toby, I have a question". "I've got an answer", I replied. I was not expecting this particular question. She asked, "Will you be my Daddy?". Wow!! Talk about being knocked over with feather. All of the sudden, I got something in my eyes that made them water. Dish water or something. (cough, cough). I told her that it would be my honor and privilege to be her Daddy. A large hug between us and more dishwater got into my eyes ensued. Damn dishwater! Now she's stuck with me! hahahahahahaha All you guys out there with little girls, I am jealous of you. I am jealous because it took me nearly fifty years to get a little girl and you guys have had them for so much longer. :) I gotta tell ya, that one little question, all five words of it, changed my life forever. I thank God for my little girl, and those five little words, everyday. Now if you'll excuse me, I got some dishwater in my eyes.

Coop: My Newest Fishin' Buddy

Special Delivery

I think it was Isaac Newton who said "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Turns out that not only does that fact apply to science, but to every day life as well. Just as the Cloud of Doom and Despair (metaphor for my mother-in-law) was about to envelop the Toby Dome, the silver lining of said cloud suddenly appears, as if by Divine Providence. Even the presence of  the Swamp Creature (another metaphor for the MIL) can't dampen the spirit of what is about to happen. My cousin by marriage, Ashley, is in labor and about to bring forth into the world Cooper Dow. Cooper is Ashley's first baby so this is an exciting time for her, Shawn (the baby Daddy) and her parents, Arthur and Mary Ellen, who will be first-time grandparents. My wife, Heather, is very close to Ashley so she is elated as well. Me? I am very excited too in anticipation of a new fishin' buddy. Me and Coop are gonna be big time buds. As I type this, it's just shy of 11AM EDT, so by tonight we could have a new addition to our extended family.

I am the father of four kids and have seen two of them being born. It's an amazing thing to witness the birth of a child and to anticipate how he/she will turn out years down the road. Will Coop be a doctor, lawyer, baseball player, Priest? Where ever life leads Coop, I know he'll be a helluva fisherman because he'll learn from the best, me. :) Looking a few years ahead, Coop will be known as FishFearMeToo. I will be honored to be your fishin' buddy, Coop.


Coop, you are coming into the world with something that nobody can take away from you, your family. You have a great Mom who will continue to love and nurture you for the rest of your life, no matter what. She's a good chick who earns the Redneck Seal of Approval. :) Your Dad is a good young man who will guide you through life's journey with the strength and assurance that you'll pass on to your son someday. Your Grandma and Grandpa are two of the finest people I've ever met, and believe me, Coop, I've met millions of people. They are rock solid folks with great values and an unconditional love for their family. I guess what I'm trying to say, Coop, is that you'll be a member of a family of good, decent, God-fearing people.

Coop, you're getting a good start to your life with so many of us who love you. But I think all of us are the ones who are getting the good end of the deal - we will have you in our lives. Welcome aboard, Coop. Now let's go fishin'.

Personal Note: My Glass is Half-Empty

It Came From the Swamp

Today is a glass half-full and half-empty kind of day at The Toby Dome. It's a glass half-full day for my wife and kids because my mother-in-law is coming to stay for the weekend. It's a glass half-empty day for me because my mother-in-law is coming to stay for the weekend! The wife and kids enjoy the old lady's Grandma's visits for obvious reasons. My wife likes it because she doesn't get to see her mother very often and when the MIL visits us, the two of them go shopping and practically bankrupt me find lots of goodies for the house and stuff. The kids love it when Grandma invades my home and breathes my air stops in because she always has a little gift for them. And by "little gift" I mean something like the siren of a police car. You Grand parents out there understand what I'm saying. Give them kid something that makes noise like a Pantera concert and send them home with it, or in this case, Grandma has a four hour drive back home and gets to laugh at all the "fun" the kids are having while Dad (me) gives the kids an education in how to cuss in English and Spanish! Meanwhile, I try to stay positive during all the ruckus by thinking good thoughts. Thoughts like: my wife is an only child and someday not soon enough, she gets to choose Grandma's nursing home while I sympathetically help her do so. I have the phone number to "Satan's Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth Assisted Living Center" on speed dial. It all evens out in the end.

The point of all this time wasting crap award-winning literary screed is this: I'm not sure how much posting I'm gonna do this weekend, since the old battleaxe dear, sweet (you have no idea how hard it was to type those two words) mother-in-law brings joy and love to my wife and kids and I keep my finger on the "speed dial" button. it may not be so bad, though, because I have a big ass TV upstairs and the Rangers and Yankees kick off the American League Championship Series tonight at 8:07 EDT. You also have no idea how weird it is to write the words "Rangers" and "Championship Series" in the same sentence. Combine that (Rangers & ALCS) and the MIL's visit and I may start drinking again. Heavily.

Country Music Month: The Texas Connection - Steve Earle

The story of Steve Earle is one of "what could have been". Here's a guy with so much talent to offer as a singer and a songwriter. Unfortunately, Earle also had an affinity for drugs and what could have been, never was. Very sad.

During my radio days, I remember playing a new song and I said to myself, "This guy is the next great Outlaw of Country Music". That song was Guitar Town. Whoa! "I love to hear the steel belts hummin' on the asphalt' and "a two pack habit and a motel tan". To a guy like me who spent most of my adult life single and ready to hit the road at a moment's notice, this song was written for me. I was a Steve Earle fan, hook, line and sinker. He released a few more songs (I'll get to those in a minute) that kicked ass and then POOF!, he was nowhere to found, except jail. I don't want to get into Earle's drug and legal problems, so if you want to learn a bit more about him wikipedia has more. One thing, however, I would like to say at this point is Steve appeared on the HBO show The Wire in which he was an addict addressing a 12 Step program, "I pawned my bike, my pickup truck, a National Steel guitar, a stamp collection that my grandpa left me; lost a good wife, a bad girlfriend, and the respect of anyone who ever lent me money." Autobiographical perhaps?

These are a few songs that made Steve Earle a star and the tunes that "could have been" the foundation of a brilliant and prosperous career for the man who grew up in Schertz, Texas.

• Someday - Good solid song. 
• Copperhead Road - Brilliance.
• I Ain't Never Satisfied - Damn good.

Steve Earle was a rare talent who succumbed to the demon of addiction and a prime example of "what could have been".

Country Music Month: The Texas Connection - Jerry Jeff Walker

You've no doubt seen the t-shirts or bumper stickers that say, "I Wasn't Born In Texas, But I Got Here As Fast As I Could". One such transplanted Texan is Ronald Clyde Crosby. Who? These days, he answers to the name Jerry Jeff Walker. Before getting to Texas as fast as he could, Walker was born in Oneonta, New York, where he introduced to music by his grand parents. After high school, JJ joined the National Guard, but the lure of the music business was so strong, that he went AWOL from the Guard and roamed the country, eventually ending up in Austin, where the freedom to do his music his way was exactly what he wanted.

You can probably name a dozen Jerry Jeff Walker songs, but not one that was a "hit". A loyal following, however, has been the backbone of Walker's audience for the better part of forty years, them and of course new fans picked up along the way. My first taste of JJW's music came in the early '70's when I listened to an album called Viva Terlingua. The album included these songs: Gettin' By, Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother, and the classic Gary P. Nunn song London Homesick Blues. The album also contains probably the only song in the history of the English language that pays homage to wine and Mexican food in Sangria Wine. Viva Terlingua is one of the most fun albums ever. Buy it if you can or at least give it a listen or re-listen. Jerry Jeff also wrote on of the most familiar songs ever recorded, Mr. Bojangles.

Let me toss out a few more Jerry Jeff Walker tunes to you:

• Navajo Rug - ay ay ay Katie!
• LA Freeway - Clip from an old Dinah show. Features Dandy Don Meredith with the intro of JJW.
• Jaded Lover - About an undercover Queen for a Day.

Jerry Jeff's home page is here if you wanna get some tour information and the like. A good bio of JJW can be found on wikipedia as well. The music of Jerry Jeff Walker is great on a roadtrip or at a poker game or bar b que. Crank it up when you get the chance! ay ay ay, Katie!

Country Music Month: The Texas Connection:Two Words - The Possum

George Glenn Jones, The Possum, was born seventy-nine years ago in Saratoga, Texas, destined to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, country singers in history. My only argument with that is a man named Hank Williams. Still, Jones is easily in the Top 5 of the Greatest All Time Country Singers. Jones has the God-given gift of interpreting a song like few others can. A prime example is He Stopped Loving Her Today. Please take about four minutes of your time to listen to that performance. In my lifetime and during a fifteen year radio career, I have NEVER heard someone sing a song with such power, emotion and the feel of experiencing the song as it's being sung. Pretty much everybody who has listened to Country Music for any length of time, knows about the personal demons in George Jones' life - alcohol, drugs, so on and so forth. Jones finally beat those demons, thanks to his fourth wife Nancy. One quick story, then on to his music. During his marriage to Tammy Wynette when he was a booze hound, Tammy took the car keys away from George so he couldn't go to the liquor store. But, the Possum is a crafty creature and can find ways to do things that others can not. The solution to Jones' dilemma? The riding lawnmower! Liquor store here I come! Jones was nothing if not an inventive drunk on this occasion. There's a hell of a lot more I could write about George Jones' life, but I'll leave that to Wikipedia. I want to delve into his music.

• She Thinks I Still Care - C-O-U-N-T-R-Y!!!
• Still Doin' Time - In a Honky Tonk Prison. This one's in my personal Possum Top 3. Frakkin' awesome!
• If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will) - The hurtin' song to end all hurtin' songs. Incredible.
• The Grand Tour - Step right up, come on in...
• Choices - Just because I like it.

For over fifty years, the man called The Possum has been crankin' out hits, so any effort to list them here would prove futile. I, therefore, highly encourage you to pay a visit to this YouTube page of George Jones songs. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a riding lawnmower.

Country Music Month - The Texas Connection: Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr.

As a small child, I spent many a Saturday night at my Grandparents' house. After one of Grandma's home cooked meals like only a Grandma could make, the evening's entertainment consisted of crowding around the black and white TV, tuned to Channel 11 in Fort Worth. Saturday night's TV fare in the Shoemaker household was all about Country Music. We watched Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton, The Wilborn Brothers, Live shows from Panther Hall in Fort Worth, where Willie Nelson was a regular guest, and a show from the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. Another regularly featured singer of the day was Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr, Buck to his fans. I saw Buck Owens on TV a thousand times before Hee Haw was ever thought of. I knew all the words to almost every one of Buck's hit songs like Tiger By the Tail, Love's Gonna Live Here, My Heart Skips a Beat and Together Again before I was even in school.

In my opinion, the harmony between Buck Owens and his guitarist, Don Rich, is unmatched by anyone before or since. Their connection to the music and the story of the song should be the standard by which any musical performance is measured. If you want to spend about an hour listening to honest-to-goodness country music and the emotions that go with it, go to this link to a Buck Owens YouTube page. The man from Sherman, Texas and his Buckaroos won't disappoint you. Guaranteed.

Wikipedia has a pretty good bio on Buck Owens if you'd like to check it out. As for me, I am gonna get a pocket full of imaginary quarters and drop them into an imaginary jukebox and fall under the musical spell of Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. and the Buckaroos.