Cool and foggy this morning off the front porch in Middle Tennessee.
The long range weather forecast says today is to be the last day of 90
degree weather. The rest of the month is in the 70's and
low 80's. Funny how weather seems to follow the calendar so close.
Sitting here thinking of how different objects were our treasures in
different times of our lives. At five years old my folks gave me a
Lionel Electric Train for Christmas, which replaced the tricycle i had
at age three as my treasure. At 8 years old it was a three blade pocket
knife. At 10 years old it was a .22 rifle that I roamed the woods with
and enjoyed for many years. At twelve, the gift that set the path for
the rest of my life, a Gretsch flat top guitar and some lessons on how
to chord it. At fourteen, I had made sufficient progress on chording
that I traded my Gretsch for my first J45 Gibson and made a huge step forward in music.
At fifteen, working all summer in the hay fields I saved enough money
to buy my first car, a $300 1936 Pontiac which I head on collisioned
with my buddy Bucky Goss, driving his folks '49 Chevy sedan. That's
easy to remember cause I carry the scar through my eyebrow where my
head connected with the wing window frame as I held my head out the
drivers side window trying to see the gravel road in the pitch dark ,
playing hide and seek with the lights out, and getting found really
hard. At sixteen I bought another car, a 1939 Ford Sedan, which I at
least didn't wreck, but couldn't keep running. So, at seventeen I
traded for my dream car, a 1948 Chevy Fleetline, candy apple red,
lowered in bach 2 inches, moon hub capped, twin pipes....yes, my
treasure til I turned 18, graduated high school and joined the Navy,
leaving behind my '48 Chevy, but carrying my J45 in a pillow case, cause
I didn't have a guitar case til years later. So, at that point in my
life, at 18 years old, my treasure was 1- J45 guitar, for the car was
sold to become some other kids treasure, and everything I owned could be
carried in a Navy Seabag, and a pillow case full lof guitar. Come to
think of it, when I left to move to Nashville to become a hillbilly
singer, in 1962, my treasures were still few, one 1959 DeSoto car, three
pair Levi's, three shirts, assorted ragged underwear and socks, a
jacket or two, 1 pair of Tony Lama boots, 1 pair tennis shoes, toilet
articles and the trusty old J45 finally with hard shell case, and which
got stolen a week after I arrived in Nashville, but the thieves left the
case. Now, that was my personal treasures, of course, back with the
family in Springfield there was a household full of the necessary things
in life, but my personal things easily fit into a small suitcase, I was
25 and that doesn't seem like much to arrive to the big city, but it
was just enough. Through the years there have been many other personal
treasures, guitars, cars, horses, tractors, bass boats, guns and fishing
rods....but, your mind changes and these objects become nice things to
use and enjoy, but the treasure part seems to stick in the past....you
remember the treasures of youth when you were new and the treasures
were few but so precious to you at the time. A treasure today is a good
woman that loves and walks beside you in everything you do, a good dog
that is faithful and loves you unconditionally, a porch that looks out
on each new day with hope for another good day, and the strength to
enjoy it at the fullest. God bless us all today. -Stan
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