By Neal Murphy

"The Perils of Piano Playing" by Neal Murphy

February 10, 2023 - My wife, Clara, has been playing the piano and organ for many years. She is quite good at it as she has been invited to play music for numerous weddings and funerals over the years. However, there is a side to playing the keyboard that is quite dangerous. One would think that sitting at a piano and playing would be about the safest thing a person could do. This is not the case with Clara, as you will soon detect.

"The Long-Tailed Cat" by Neal Murphy

January 20, 2023 - There is an old saying, “I’m as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!” The meaning behind that saying is the longer a cat’s tail is, and the more rocking chairs in a room, the greater the chance of the cat’s tail being mashed. Of course, it does not have to be a rocking chair as far as the cat is concerned.

"The New Model" by Neal Murphy

December 27, 2022 - As a pre-teen growing up in East Texas, my hobby was keeping up with the changes in automobiles. I could identify for anyone the make, model, and year of any vehicle I saw on the road. I actually cut out pictures of new automobiles I found in magazines and put them in a binder by year.

“The Hills of San Augustine” by Neal Murphy

November 21, 2022 - Many cities are known for the hills surrounding them.  Rome is known as the “city of seven hills”.  There is also a Seven Hills in Ohio.  San Augustine can also boast of several hills surrounding the city.  In the 1950’s when a teenager, I had experiences on each one of them.  There are four hills surrounding the city – actually three hills and one dip.

“Clara’s Culinary Calamities” by Neal Murphy

November 14, 2022 - When we were married in 1958 Clara knew nothing about cooking. Since I knew a lot about eating she made it her mission to learn all about preparing food fit for a king. I knew she must have thought of me as a king because she was always presenting me with burnt offerings. My, how things have changed over the years. I no longer receive burnt offerings from her as she has become a great cook.

“The Pesky Pet” by Neal Murphy

October 14, 2022 - For several years I worked as an interior painter and installed wallpaper in many homes in the area. Working inside people’s homes can be an interesting situation. I encountered numerous obstacles of different kinds ranging from hard-to please customers to pesky pets. Usually I had to work around cats, dogs, birds, pot-belly pigs, and on one occasion a pet snake. One job stands out as particularly interesting.

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