LFS: The Storyteller

I love this essay - absolutely one of my favorite pieces. I first wrote it in 1992. Every once in awhile I go back and update "the list," most recently this week. ©1995 by LeeZard Most Americans don’t realize it but there’s a lot more to Oklahoma than tornadoes, oil wells, cattle and amber waves of grain. From the eerie white salt flats in the panhandle to its dramatic tall grass prairie, endless wheat fields and rolling green hills, the Sooner State is unique not only for its violent weather and physical qualities but also for its remarkable people. From 1991-1994, I made almost 100 business trips to America’s “Tornado Alley” to help the U.S. Department Of Energy establish a ten year multi-million dollar global warming research program. One of my tasks was to explain the project to people near our central research facility in rural Grant County, Oklahoma, just south of the Kansas State line. Sitting in cafes, general stores and ranch houses of many new found friends, I lea...

©2008 by LeeZard Have you been to a shopping mall lately? I try to avoid it but sometimes it’s unavoidable. I have to tell you; I am absolutely amazed at what I see. I’m talking about pre-pubescent feminine come-hither. I know I'm starting to sound like a curmudgeon but this rant goes back to when I was parenting my kids as teens. It bothered me then and it bothers me now. There are limits, ya know. Now, I’m no prude - far from it - but I am often appalled by the way these young girls – and I mean YOUNG – are dressing. Barely to their teens, they are in tight, belly exposing tank tops. They squeeze into micro-mini skirts or very tight low-riding jeans – riding so low that their thong underwear is exposed when they lean forward to take a bite out of their Big Mac Happy Meals. I have sweatbands that cover more than those thongs do. Then there are all those thumbtacks in their noses, their ears and their bellybuttons. We are talking about our very young daughters dressing li...