A Tour With Morris

Hey; Whatcha Doin'?
Oh, well why not take a walk around with me?



I really like the flower garden but there's not much going on there right now. My stupid little brother Fraidy Fredy always has to tag along with me. He is very insecure.







This one still smells interesting even though its dead.




Hey Merlin, your supposed to smell the flowers not lay on them. That's my very independant brother. He usually only shows up at meal times. The Moocher!




What's going on across the road?





Oh, it's just the farmer checking out his field.





There goes OLD Miss Stuck-up, she is sooo rude, she won't let anyone but my owners get near her. Screams that she has seniority, whatever that means.





Ok, time to move on. They let those rowdy morons out again. When I'm inside they act all nicey,nicey but the minute were out alone watch-out. It's every cat for himself!!!

Oh, that, well, it's just a fun place to watch for birds.

Now this is my favorite, it's an old pear tree that my owners refuse to cut down. The bark is the only thing holding it up. But since it still produces a few pears they let it stand. Excuse me a minute....

See I can almost push it over. And I like how my paws smell after sharpening my claws an it's bark.

Oh, they do cut down some trees, they took these down last week and left the branches piled up for the wild rabbits to knaw on and birds and mice to hide in, but I can find them anyway. I don't eat the nasty little things, but they sure are fun to scare and play with.

I don't know why they didn't finish cutting down this one too.

Or why he spent all day putting in this pet door. I sure as heck ain't gonna use it!!

Now watch where you step here...

Do you see the size of the spines on that cactus??? I didn't think that stuff would even grow outside in Michigan, but here it is.

There's one of them pesty chickens. I don't know what they got them nasty things for. All they do is sneak up on a guy when he's trying to catch 40 winks in the nice warm sun, and then wham, they peck you, don't laugh, they bite hard!!!

Oh, stuff it. Noisey beast....why don't you do something usefull...Like cleaning out around that darn cactus so a guy can see it better.

Here's the chicken coop. It looks a lot nicer since the finished it.

Can you believe they spent a whole day burying electric cable, and burying that metal post just for that silly little light.

Them goofy birds are out picking though the leaves they put all over the garden. Sure makes it harder to use as a huge litterbox now.

Looks like they're all busy lets sneak inside...Shhhh!

DANG, there's still one in here.

Them chicken sure leave some strange looking poop in them litter boxes. And the vile things don't even cover it up when they're done.

Then my owners actually pick that stuff up and take it inside and store it. Merlin told me they eat it....that's just too sick to be true. He thinks he's sooo smart. Dumbass!

The rabbits are in here too. I like to watch them.

And they are sloppy eaters so I always get some of their leftovers. Tasty stuff and I get it all to myself, unless that big black dog comes in here too!

Ol' Freddy won't come inside. He just don't know what he's missing.

Well thats about it for today, its getting dark and time to go in for dinner.



Hey, that light wasn't such a stupid idea after all.

Ah, desert!!! If only they would let him out of that cell. I don't know what he did, or how long his sentence is, but I'll be waiting........

My River - Part #1

Cass City has always been my HOME. I may have lived elsewhere, but it was never home. Many things make this small town my home, the river is one of the main ones.

I had a friend whose big brother had a drum set in the basement of their house. He taught me how to play them by ear, playing along with records or the radio. This song was the last song I ever played on a drum set. I used to get lost in this song because it was the same way I felt about the Cass River. I got a little over exuberant and the neighbors complained about the noise.

Yellow River by CHRISTIE.

So long boy you can take my place, got my papers I've got my pay

So pack my bags and I'll be on my way to yellow river

Put my guns down the war is won

Fill my glass high the time has come

I'm going back to the place that I love yellow river.

Yellow river yellow river is in my mind and in my eyes

Yellow river yellow river is in my blood it's the place I love

Got no time for explanation got no time to lose

Tomorrow night you'll find me Sleeping underneath the moon

at yellow river.

Cannon fire lingers in my mind I'm so glad that I'm still alive

And I've been gone for such a long time from yellow river

I remember the nights were cool I can still see the water pool

And I remember the girl that I knew from yellow river.

Yellow river yellow river is in my mind and in my eyes

Yellow river yellow river is in my blood it's the place I love

Got no time for explanation got no time to lose

Tomorrow night you'll find me Sleeping underneath the moon

at yellow river.

Yellow river yellow river is in my mind and in my eyes

Yellow river yellow river is in my blood it's the place I love

If you have never heard this song search for it on the internet and give it a listen.

Cemetery Road Bridge Across the Cass River

I don't know when this photo was taken (pre-1963 & during a summer drought), but at the time I remember it, it looked pretty much the same. Cemetery Road was still a dirt road that ran south out of Cass City. It ran through some really low ground before you got to the bridge and in the spring it was a muddy rut filled mess.
I spent many hours fishing off this bridge with my dad's old fishing pole with an old bait casting reel with the heavy black Dacron fishing line, old nuts and bolts for sinkers, and rusty old hooks, some big enough to catch Moby Dick.

This bridge was torn down shortly after I discovered fishing on the Cass. At that time nobody else fished it and many local people didn't even believe there were fish in it.

But there were. Northern Pike, Chain Pickerel, Large and Smallmouth Bass, Sunfish, Bullheads, Carp, White Suckers, Red Horse Suckers, and my personal favorite Rock Bass. There was also a good population of Bullfrogs, Leopard, Woodland, and those tiny little Spring Peeper Frogs. Plenty of Toads, Snapping and Painted Turtles, and even Mudpuppies. With Gardener, Corn, Grass,and Redbelly Snakes along the banks. Quietness paid off and White Tail Deer, Raccoon, Opossum, Red and Fox Squirrels, Ducks, Geese, and assorted waterfowl could be seen. A real boy's paradise.

Then it was decided by the powers that be, to pave Cemetery Road and to install a new bridge.

I watched the demolition of that old beam and girder bridge with great sadness. Not only was I loosing my favorite fishing spot for the summer, but a friend too. Yes, I said friend. How can a red lead covered piece of steel be a friend you ask? Well I spent many long days fishing off that bridge. Listening to the wind whistling though the girders. The sounds and shaking as vehicles crossed it. Fantasizing about the monster fish hiding in it's shadows. Yes for a young imaginative boy, it's possible.

They cut it's roadbed into 3 pieces, they cut notches out of the spanning I-beans, removed the crossbeams, and tried to shake it down with a crane. It withstood it all, and I cheered for the bridge. Then they attached a huge wrecking ball to the crane and dropped it repeatedly on the cut sections. The bridge shook it all off and I cheered some more. Finally they drove the crane out to the middle of the bridge and used the wrecking ball some more. It was more than my poor old friend could take and it slowly and painfully screaming lowered itself to the riverbed it had shadowed for so long. I turned around and cried most of the 1/2 mile walk back home.

It was replaced with this bridge. Nowhere near as pretty and lacking any character. This photo was taken on the west side of the bridge close to where the old photo was taken. Trees, growth and NO TRESPASSING signs prevented me from getting a shot from the original position.




A view from the present bridge looking east to where the north and south branches of the Cass River meet.

A closer view from the bridge of the meeting spot. That red pole barn sits on the north bank of the south branch. You will see more of it in Part #2.

This view is looking west from the bridge.

And finally a view from the south end of the bridge looking towards town. Before they paved the road, they built the roadbed up 4 to 5 feet, double that at the approach.

My First Dog REBEL pt.2

These photo's are in poor shape, as they were mostly taken with an Poloroid Instamatic camera and have degraded through the years, and some were way out of focus. I have tried to clear them up as much as possible. I had to search though way too many photos to find these and that is why it has been such a long time from the posting of part #1.

This photo was Reb at his ungainly puppy stage, all legs and ears, and full of "pee and vinegar". I was trying to get a picture of him sitting, but it was impossible to get him to "stay" long enough to snap a shot.

And speaking of ears, just look at those monsters. This is one of my favorite photos. We were watching TV together. He was the only dog I have ever had that liked to watch TV. Not everything, but a few programs he would watch from beginning to end, usually from this vantage point. As you can see he wasn't even distracted by my wife taking this picture. (and that was way before we had a color TV) Also this photo showed his colors about the best.

In these 2 blurry photos you can see on the right side the 2x4 we used in training Rebel not to get hit. We worked our way up from sticks and eventually to a wooden baseball bat. He got to be real good at disarming his attacker. He was about 1 yr. old here.

Just look at those distinctive markings! And that face! everybody say, "Awwwww".

This last photo is one of a pair of pics of Angie and Rebel. Ang was 6 weeks old and Reb was 9mo. old. We had a very hard time propping Ang up long enough to snap these. The other one is lost somewhere, but was of Rebel lying length wise on the couch and Ang was sitting against his belly and propped up by his hind legs. These 2 photos cemented my friendship with a crotchety old farmer who was a customer at my work.

"Rollie"(pronounced roll-e) Limburger by name. As I stated previously, my brother and I worked at the feed-end of the Wickes Grain Elevator, and we were in the process of trying to get back customers from other local feed plants. This meant being fast, efficient, courteous, knowledgeable and most of all friendly towards our customers. Being raised in the era when respecting your elders and the customer was always right, helped a lot. The first day I met Rollie, he tried my patience mightily, I just could NOT do anything right in his eyes, and he gave me grief about everything. But I did my best to please him, and bit my tongue, almost through. My brother was not around at the time and when he returned I told him about this farmer and his attitude. John said I did the right thing and to try harder next time as we needed all of the customers we could get.

When I first started working there we were lucky to see 4 customers a day. We spent our spare time cleaning and repairing the old place and helping out Ol' Dan on the navy bean end, or in the seed warehouse. We also had our own feed warehouse to keep up which meant pest control, stock inventory and ordering and rotation. Occasionally we would even help out at the grain storage facility downtown and help load up and chemicals for custom application. We also loaded bulk fertilizer and coal for customers and after hours delivery, soon this was to include bulk feed delivery also.

John and I did a great job and soon word had spread through the farming community that the Cass City grain elevator was THE place to get feed ground. This also caused more business in the rest of the facility. Soon we were busy all the time. We quit shutting down for lunch and switched off taking our breaks. The boss soon took advantage of me living practically next door and soon I had farmers calling on me at home, for emergency needs, after hours and on the weekends.

Now back to Rollie, for months I did my best to please this man and my brother always seemed to magically disappear whenever he showed up. This one day he finally got my goat good and I lost all control and chewed him a new one. The whole time I was ranting at him he just stood there looking up at me with this dumb expression on his face. I mean I went up one side and down the other, let him have it with both barrels. The veins were showing and the arms were waving and I am sure half the town heard me....the BOSS sure did. He stuck his head out the door and started hollering at me...I just knew I was fired!

Then Rollie threw an arm around me told told the boss to shut up and go back inside!!!

Now it was my turn to stand there with a dumb expression on my face. Rollie gave me a hug and was laughing, cackling really, so hard he had tears streaming down his face. He said, "Boy....I had just about given up on you.....It's about time you acted like a man.....I have never seem anyone with as much patience as you."

I found out that day that this man wanted someone to be just as cranky towards him as he was to them. So I gave him what he wanted...in spades, it was the beginning of a great friendship between us.

I had told him about getting a German Shepherd pup for my soon to be born first child and he immediately started ranting about me being a fool and just how dangerous those "killer dogs" were and how they couldn't be trusted.

Years before, his sister's family had had one and it turned on her young son and almost took his face off. The boy almost died and probably would have if her husband hadn't been there to pull the dog off him and kill it.

I tried to explain to him that yes, years ago, with the popularity of the German Shepherd that came from the famous movie and TV dogs that the breed had been degenerated by all of the back yard breeders, puppy mills and unscrupulous professional breeders, that many problems in the temperament of these animals had resulted. He was having none of this, to him no matter what, they were still untrustworthy and "KILLERS" and if I was smart I would get rid of my dog before my child was born. Why, didn't I watch the news or read the papers, they were full of dog attacks.

So when I showed him the photos of my daughter Angie and Rebel, he went into another rant and called me a "stupid city boy" and I called him a "dumb old farmer". I figured he would have had a heart attack if I would have told him how we introduced Reb to Ang.

When I brought Lynn and Angie home from the hospital, I had her sit on the couch with the baby in her arms and then had Reb sit in front of her on the floor. He was desperate for Lynn's attention so I had her pet him and talk to him and let him sniff her and eventually the bundled up baby. Then she slowly uncovered Ang. Rebel immediately calmed down, and delicately sniffed at Ang. He would look at Lynn, nuzzle her hand and then sniff Ang some more.

All the while I kept a hand on Rebels collar, I was NOT a fool. Eventually I let go of the collar and Reb kept his sitting stance, content to be close to Lynn, the baby, and me. Then I spread one of the baby blankets on the floor and under a mother's protest, laid Ang on the blanket and undressed her. Rebel came over and checked her all out. Then laid down next to her with his head on his paws watching the new addition to our family. After a few minutes I redressed her and laid her in her bassinet. Reb followed and took a peek to see where I put the baby, then followed me back into the living room to welcome Lynn home with a little more enthusiasm.

Reb was ALWAYS careful around Angie. And he loved nothing more than being next to her. If she cried longer than he thought was necessary, he would bark to alert us. If he was penned up in the kitchen at night we had to bring her to show him all was well to shut him up.

Rebel loved having Angie on the floor with him, and when she got older, he was one of her favorite toys. She would roll to him and pull his hair, stick her fingers in his nostrils and mouth, and even chew on his ears. Whenever Reb had enough of this he would carefully get up and move. Sometimes it was chase around the room until he would jump up on the couch to escape.

About six months after Angie was born the corporate office decided to close down the feed plant in Cass City. One Friday after work when the boss was giving me my check, he also told me I was laid off. Permanently. This was devastating as the following Monday we were supposed to be signing the closing papers on a new house. I had to go home and tell Lynn and then call the realtor and loan institution to inform them that the deal was off. As you might guess I didn't get much sleep that night, trying to figure out my families future.

I awoke at 6am the nest morning to Rebel barking and someone knocking on the door. I hurriedly dressed and answered the door to find Rollie standing there. Before I could say anything he hollered at Rebel to shut up (which he DID) and said let's get to work!!!

I figured he had a load of feed to grind and told him I no longer worked at the elevator.

He said, "I know that, but I need someone to help bale hay, and since you aren't doing nothing, get your shoes on and let's go, you got a family to support!" I invited him in but he took one look at Reb and said, "Nope, I'm going to Veronica's (restaurant) for coffee, meet me there."

Evidently I was the last one to know I was being laid off. The boss had kept me on as long as he could knowing that I was trying to buy a house. Luckily for me the main office made him get rid of me when they did, and I hadn't signed the papers yet. I guess he had been fighting with them to try to keep us going because of all of the business we had brought in, which he knew he would loose to our competition still grinding feed.

I worked for Rollie all summer baling hay and when I wasn't working for him it was for someone he knew. He tried his best to keep me employed.

Years later I was very sad to learn that he had died and was buried before I found out.