GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS

A REMEMBERAMBLE for Wednesday, 2/25/2026

Here we go again, going again, again some more! I do enjoy starting off now and then with some harmless fun with words. Mental gymnastics help aliven your brain. Did you know there is no such word in the English language as "aliven?" I just made it up. But, it should be a word, because you knew exactly what it meant when I coined it. Maybe someday I will write an entire post with words I made up for it. That would be fun.

Do you remember "Unguentine?" It was a smart marketing ploy to make the bottles look like small fire extinguishers.

I jumped right in to mention the old topical first aid ointment, "Unguentine," reason being, that I would forget it if I waited! I wonder if Unguentine would help my memory if I sprayed it into my brain? I was thinking earlier about pin wheels, pick-up sticks, balsa airplanes, Bo-Lo paddle games, cap pistols, water guns, marbles, superballs, play-do, yo-yos, and so many other such items. Those were all "nice, real nice," as you can hear Gomer say right now in your mind. But we had other perfectly good toys to supplement those, like literal "sticks and stones," an old brick or two, a hoe-head with no handle, snuff cans, those cone-shaped

thread spools that grannies brought home from the sewing factory, as well as almost anything that was free to use and would not kill us, maim a few of us a little bit maybe, but most of us idjit-chirrin survived. We rolled old tires for hours on end. We developed many skills, and honed some to a keen edge. The most important talent for kids then was the ability to get-gone, vamoose, make ourselves scarce (often pronounced "scace," back then), lest our mamas put us to work. Tree climbing was an age-old adventure that has about faded into obscurity, since kids no longer go outside.

John Wesley Raymon Olliff, in a big bay tree, several years ago, he is an "almost grown" young man now

Tree climbing reminds me of a tree that grew beside our granny's house, I hate to admit I do not even remember what kind of tree it was, but what made it special, I will tell you in a moment, but first let me introduce the cast of characters. On Sundays we went to granny and grandpa Morris's house to eat and play. I was the youngest of our family of three boys, Randall was a year older than me, and Joe was a year older than Randall. Our cousins Morris and David we there too, Morris was a year younger than me, and David two years my senior. David was the best tree climber and could reach the top, and go just a bit higher than any of us. He swore that if you went to tip top you could see a haunted house! I was a dumb youngun and believed him. Yeah, I was never able to go high enough to see it. Dangitman.

Numbers 6: 24-26, KJV

we boyz three, babee conway, lil merle, & me