Carl's Lost & Found - Latest Comments

Re: Raw 25: The most impressive person I ever interviewed

katherine_at_grass_stains — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:07:12 -0000

Perhaps it was because she leaned in, and she listened. So many professionals do neither. They're trained, and they're on point. They don't stray from their message. They no longer have to think ... they just spout what they know they're supposed to say. She was different, and it stayed with you all these years.

Re: A treasure I didn’t know how to mine

TotalBother — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 17:40:47 -0000

I remember the house, though I never remember being inside it. I never realized it was as large inside as it must have been to have the floor plan you describe.
I do remember Carom. We had a board and played it to the point where we were having to replace the little wooden rings because we'd thumped them too hard and broken a few. My brother, Mike, thought he was the world's best player, but I think he cheated when his little brother wasn't looking.

Re: Raw Day 23: Mother and her siblings

Karla Archer — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 22:27:23 -0000

He does have that look!

Re: Raw Day 21: Chasing the ghost

Karla Archer — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:51:42 -0000

who is in this photo? ;)

Re: Raw Day 20: The best academic advice I ever got (it isn’t what you think)

Karla Archer — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 20:53:23 -0000

wow - I could have used this advice a long time ago!!!

Re: Raw Day 19 ‘If you move, you’ll die’

Vivienne Nichols — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 02:02:43 -0000

My "if you move you move you will die experience" came with Big Red Measles. My fever had spiked so high that Dr. Weaver was summoned for a house call. Sitting on the side of my bed, he said, "Your feet may not touch the floor until I come back and say it's ok." My parents carried me to the bathroom, so I figured if my feet did, in fact, touch the floor, I would explode or something. I stared at the ceiling, watched the sun shine and fade through the big ole wood slat blinds and I can still see in my mind's eye the profuse cabbage rose paper that walled me in for days. After 3-4 days, I felt fine and was sitting up in bed playing with my dolls. I wanted to brush their hair but the hairbrush was across the room on the dresser. Finally, I couldn't resist the temptation, so I scooted to the end of the bed, dangled my feet, said my prayers and put one toe on the floor. I remember how my heart raced. Nothing happened. Whole foot. Other foot. Then a mad dash for the dresser. I grabbed the brush and jumped back in bed, but I'll never forget the thrill, fear, power & guilt of what I remember as my first conscious act of defiance!

Re: Raw Day 19 ‘If you move, you’ll die’

Lue Ann Hazen Lott — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 14:01:24 -0000

Funny how such a little thing as a sling meant so much to a little boy. Nice story!

Re: Day 9: On the other side of the pain, I began to find myself

katherine_at_grass_stains — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:23:35 -0000

God bless the teachers who take the moments -- those small moments -- that change students' lives. She may never know the impact her actions had on you and your career, but she changed the course of your life!

Re: Day 11: Spitting on the paper, and getting hit by a car

John McDavid — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 10:16:10 -0000

I had a paper route also. Seems to have been a pattern. paper boy starts out on bike, get motorcycle, mom collects route and we got a new paper boy. Mr Grueman came to hate motor cycles. I made 'Carrier of the Quarter' for one simple reason. I read the product! In fact until the News pulled the orange box from my building I read both papers for over 30 years. Miss them both. Keep the articles comming.
We also forget how busy and dangerous 5th Ave South was before interstate.

Re: Day 11: Spitting on the paper, and getting hit by a car

MediaGuyCarl — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 11:33:44 -0000

I'm not sure a turn lane can help a stupid kid who cuts across two lanes of traffic without looking!

Re: Day 11: Spitting on the paper, and getting hit by a car

Karla Archer — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 11:09:30 -0000

Sounds like a street that needed a turn lane ;)

Re: Day 10: Turnaround — How flunking Algebra got me into college

Vivienne Nichols — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 09:16:52 -0000

Raw and refreshing! Great "lesson" here!

Re: Day 9: On the other side of the pain, I began to find myself

Vivienne Nichols — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 11:44:36 -0000

And, as we all know...The hallmark of a great writer/storyteller is that they have the power to move the human heart. You have it and you did and you do. (And now I can't see out of my eyes, my nose is red and I want to run outside..to the boulevard where the school children pass and tell them all that they are special, they are good. Another gift of the greats...Not only do they affect the heart, they evoke response.

Her belief in you was what made Mrs. Woodard an exceptional teacher, not just a technician. I guess at her core, she knew she was a teacher. When people KNOW in their hearts what they should be doing, they can change the world for good...or make a little boy feel better and come home to himself.
I feel honored to have this story in my own collection.

You are a wonderful storyteller and you always will be. I believe it!

Re: Day 8: Forged signatures and failure, and the chance for a clean start

JulieJordanScott2 — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 18:54:17 -0000

What a story. I'm a Mom who abhors homework for her kids. Your story fascinates me. And hey, I've been signing on my blog comments as #148 and now I have to change it to #147. Congrats for taking my spot!

Re: Day 7: By today’s standards, we were practically liberals

Deek Dubberly — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 17:27:30 -0000

Carl, thanks for the word about Brother John and "The Controversy" in the SBC. Brother John sounds like a fine Christian man. I'm Glad our paths crossed via Dr. Dale Moody. God bless.

Re: Day 8: Forged signatures and failure, and the chance for a clean start

Carter — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 16:58:27 -0000

For some reason, Ms. Long loved me! But I do remember standing under her window one time at recess, talking rather loud (I guess), and the next thing I know, she had poured water on me from a small flower vase she kept on her window sill.

Re: Day 8: Forged signatures and failure, and the chance for a clean start

TotalBother — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 16:53:09 -0000

My condolences on your having had Miss Long. I will say, however, that if I learned one thing in her class, I learned phonics. She taught this religiously and by the time I got out of her class, and to this day, if a word follows any kind of normal spelling rule, I can spell it. It's nice to know I got something out of her class other than being humiliated.

Re: Day 7: By today’s standards, we were practically liberals

TotalBother — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 12:40:53 -0000

Thanks for all these walks down memory lane, Carl. I wonder what our parents would have said had they known we were not quite as oblivious to the world as they thought? All these issues and our opinions of them molded us into the adults we are today. As for Brother John, I remember him just as you describe him and have never had another pastor like him since. The "Inerrantists"have really ruined the SBC with their Calvinist leanings. I had a number of friends who were SBC missionaries who left the SBC rather than sign the documents they would have had to sign to remain in their posts. Some stayed in the countries where they were and lined up other funding through their friends and home churches, but it seriously disrupted the spreading of the message of Christ. The pharisaic "jots and tittles" of the SBC have hurt the cause of Christ way more than helped it.

Re: Day 8: Forged signatures and failure, and the chance for a clean start

Mary Roberts Easterling — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 09:07:22 -0000

Ms. Long was a terror! I can still remember her cold stare.

Re: Day 7: By today’s standards, we were practically liberals

JulieJordanScott2 — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:16:21 -0000

This was fascinating. I had no idea of any of this. I am a Presbyterian... and my church being ultraconservative
at least the local, Bakersfield, California congregation, couldn't take the crazy whacko liberals from the Northeast so they opted out of Presbyterian Church, USA. I haven't been back to my church since. I miss it. Glad to be here again from #31Days. Excellent reading.

Re: Day 7: By today’s standards, we were practically liberals

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 13:46:39 -0000

Norman McCrummen (Brother John, to you: I never heard him called that in our home) was a rarity in Southern Baptist circles at the time: he was extremely well-educated, spoke several bible-oriented languages (including Greek and Aramaic), and found every way possible to make his sermons instructive, not only about the teachings of the Gospel, but of the meanings of the Gospel that were embedded in the original languages. While I usually was not fond of most Southern Baptist sermons when young (many were very boring), that was never the case with McCrummen's sermons. McCrummen was also a realist: he knew that many people in the church were divorced and wished to remarry, but the tenets of the Southern Baptist church of the time did not allow him to conduct remarriages even between members. However, if he believed the couple was earnest, he had no problems sending them to a church and a minister of another denomination so they could be married in a church. I agree that he would have probably found the "inerrancy" group in the Southern Baptist Convention a bit much, though he and I never had any discussions along that line: he just seemed very "down to earth", with loads of common sense and respect for history and science. I respected Norman McCrummen a great deal, as he was a fascinating and learned man, steeped fully in the Bible and its culture (in ways many modern minsters are not), who understood the actual vagaries of life. I miss him to this day.

Re: Day 6: ‘Color guards’ with no flags

Rick Downer — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:11:50 -0000

Thanks for sharing your memories. They hit very close to home. I remember the ushers at Woodlawn Methodist who served the same purpose. Sad.

Re: Day 6: ‘Color guards’ with no flags

Karla Archer — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 15:41:36 -0000

wow... This is definitely raw. Thank you for sharing it, Carl!

Re: Day 5 of Birmingham Raw: How Birmingham got the turn lane

JulieJordanScott2 — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 18:44:33 -0000

What a great series for #31days. Love the photo above of LK Carter and the entire story. Its my first visit (even though we are neighbors on the personal endeavors board -- I'm 148) and I am so glad I popped over. You've now been added to my "must read" category. Happy Weekend!

Re: Day 5 of Birmingham Raw: How Birmingham got the turn lane

Karla Archer — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:48:04 -0000

This is so fascinating! I never considered how traffic patterns came to be!