Saturday, April 2, 2011




Pebbles!
That's a pretty funny word when you stop to think about it! Don't think about what a pebble is because it's not as funny! Just the word, pebble, has a "funniness" when it rolls off the tongue!


Maybe you have a pet. A dog, cat, maybe a rabbit. Maybe you have a terrapin (yet another funny word) who carries the name Pebbles! I'm sure your “Pebbles” is cute, fun, and playful. That's nice!


I also had a pebble as a youngster. Lots of pebbles actually! The difference is, my Pebble wasn't cute, but was good for a few laughs!


I was born in a small town known as Stuttgart, Arkansas. It’s known for it's rice & ducks. It also had a lot of pebble driveways. You know, small rocks that would cover the ground by the millions.

As the founders of Stuttgart were staking their claim to the area as Rice and Duck Capital of the World, a little old country farmer in the back corner of the room shouted "And Pebbles!” I'm sure of it.


Our driveway was littered with pebbles. It was the perfect place for us kids to play while mom cooked our next meal. That's exactly what my older sister and I did. We built roads for my cars, trucks, and tractors! She'd use her hand as a road grader, making the perfect avenue for her baby brother!


After endless hours as "road grader," she apparently had grown tired of that game, and her mind began to wonder. I remember the dare as clearly as if she’d spoken it only moments ago.


As I drove my trucks through the small rocks, I heard the words "Don, I dare you to stick this up your nose."

As a three year old little boy, maybe four, it was a dangerous thing to dare me to play this game! No sooner had the words escaped her lips I had the pebble (funny word, yes!) pushed deep into my nostril (yet, another funny word) cavity!


I clearly remember laughing with my older sister at our great achievement! We had just created a special bond.


Moments later she says, "Let's go show mom!"

Thrilled, we ran in the house like a band of wild Indians. "Mom, mom, look what Don did," my sister exclaimed! With the pride only a small child can have, I held my head back as my mom went into panic mode!


NOTE: Panic mode in the presence of small children ONLY CAUSES CHAOS!!


Mom grabs tissue and almost smothered me to death as she places it over my nose! She begins yelling, "Blow Don, blow your nose!"


Apparently, my parents failed to clearly instruct me on the fundamentals of nose blowing. Each time she’d scream BLOW, I would suck in! I was doing the very best I could. I’m THREE, remember?!


With each passing moment, and my incorrect execution, the pebble only descended further. Soon, it was too far for any of mom’s removal tricks. That's when we headed out the door and she went all NASCAR!


After a couple hours at the hospital, countless tissues, and a pair of tweezers to retrieve the foreign object, my mother finally calmed down from her previously frazzled state.

Did I learn a lesson from this episode? Of course I did! The bond with my oldest sister has never been the same, and our playing days ended that day!


Thanks for reading!


Till next time, be thankful for the little things!
Don G.

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