GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS

A REMBERAMBLE FOR OCTOBER 04, 2025

"Won't y'all get down and come in?" "Sit down here and take a load off." First, I want to say how sad I was to learn that group member and administrator, Pat Dye passed away. It is well that he is with the Lord, whom he loved, and with the ones dear to him who welcomed him, with open arms. I am enjoying the cooler weather, but I am looking forward to that first frosty morning. You might say that I am jumping the gun wishing for frost, as it is still yet a good ways off.

If Dollar General can put Christmas decorations on the shelves this week, I can talk about first frost. My toothache is some improved, if you ever did have teeth, you know how bad toothaches can be. I have told y'all before about a man who worked for daddy who came to work one morning limping, and daddy asked why he was limping, he said it was his toothache. Yeah, a toothache bad enough to make you walk with a limp is dang sure a bad one.

That is what killed old Dan Tucker, you know, the old song says he died of a toothache in his heel. Speaking of teeth, I have told this here before but it is time to tell it once more. Years ago, our Grandpa Robert Morris was having all of his teeth pulled. He would walk to Kite on Saturday mornings, where old Dr. Watson, who was the father of our childhood dentist, Dr. Reid Watson, pulled teeth in the back of Blocker's Store.

He was getting old and weak, but still pulling teeth. He would pull several of Grandpa's teeth each time, and did not use Novocain. It was a terrible ordeal, but what made it worse was the Dr. Watson was so weak, he had to "waller" (wallow) the teeth out. He would grab the tooth with the "pullikins" and pull this way and that way, up and down, and all around, with Grandpa's head going around and around on his neck, like the bones were gone from it.

He would snatch, twist, and jerk, then being exhausted, would rest a bit and come back and finally "waller" it out of Grandpa's head. Grandpa would caution anyone to never let an old man pull their teeth. After several sessions of this, gramps told Dr. Watson to bring Novocain, he would pay extra for it. The next week, sure enough old Dr. Watson brought a syringe full of Novocain. He told Grandpa to open wide, and proceeded to accidently give it to him in the tongue.

He had used up the Novocain, and had to pull grandpa's teeth once more without it. He left bleeding, broken, and in pain, and was unable to talk with his tongue numb. He walked home, as soon as got close enough to the house, seeing Mama and Aunt Mary outside with Granny, he commenced trying to tell them about his awful experience, but he was still too thick-tongued to talk. Granny was sure he was drunk, and told the girls to come inside, and they locked Grandpa out. Bless his heart it was just not his day.

My great-Uncle Ernest Townsend was in the US Army from right after the end of WW 1, and through the end of WW 11. He was in Japan for a good while during the Occupation. I recall him telling me about how those men who would be trained as "teeth pullers," did it, there was really no dentistry going on then, just pulling of teeth. He said they used an ancient method to train those men, that sounds incredible. They would have thick hardwood boards, with holes drilled in them, they would use a mallet to drive wooden peg a little way into a hole.

They would work and practice until they could pull the peg out with their fingers. All along in their training, the pegs would be driven deeper and deeper, until they finally mastered the ability to pull those pegs out with only a little bit sticking out to grab hold to. Then they pulled teeth with their fingers. I wrote of this years ago and a couple of members accused me of lying, saying that it was impossible. Uncle Ernest would not lie, he observed it himself.

Most oriental cultures have those who train to do incredible things through concentration, skill, sacrifice, and years of dedicated effort to master the seemingly impossible. I knew an old man who was thankful for small blessings, as he should have been, that would say, "I ain't got but two teeth, but thank God they meet." Think about that. I hope this morning's Rememberamble was one you could sink your teeth into. We love having you here or a spell each morning.

..... NUMBERS 6:24-26 KJV

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