Tailgate News NOVEMBER 7, 2014.qxd

Memorable Moment: The time I got stranded on the St. Louis Interstate
By JOHN NELSON
Tailgate News Editor
I write to you on election day,
Tuesday, Nov. 4. I don’t know any
results yet for Gurdon, Haskell or
the counties or states.
So this is some pre-election
result musing about a trip I took
long ago. I was on my way home
from Florida via Tyler, Texas and
somehow ended up on Interstate
55 outside of St. Louis - searching
for my Indianapolis exit to our
farm.
I grew up with my Dad’s parents, John H. and Marvel M.
Nelson, on a farm 2.5 miles west
of Hagerstown, Indiana on
Highway 38. I was headed home
to that farm just before I turned
20 years old back in the fall of
1980. Times were a bit chaotic
back then for me, but all of the
weird stuff I went through gives
me a host of fond memories.
First let it be known that I
freely admit I was a moody, and
probably crazy, child back then. I
saw life as a high-geared frenzy
and I wanted to be on that shooting star every chance I got. Life in
the Fast Lane was not a song to
me, it was a way of life. I had no
idea I would end up a professional writer at that point in my life. I
just knew I wanted to finish college, as I had already finished
nearly two years of retirement
and only one year of college so
far.
I was not a lazy kid. On the
contrary I had endless energy
and guts to the point of realizing
within myself that if I did not slow
it down I would surely burn my life
out pretty quickly. This is why I
made my decision to break ties
with Florida, Amway, white slavery police work and my dear
sweet live-in Alice.
Alice was a wonderful girlfriend, but I was 19 and she was
36. I just could not see that age
difference in the long run. Amway
made me a little money and it
might have made me more if I
would have stuck around.
The white slavery spinner
thing I did helped a few young
dancing girls get off of drugs and
back home to a safer path, but it
was a dangerous gig.
I realized when the cops
offered to send me to police
academy down in Florida that the
whole thing was getting too permanent and too serious. After all,
I was on a retirement sabbatical,
according to my grandfather.
Grandpa Nelson said a man
ought to retire before he chose
the line of work he would be stuck
with the rest of his life. I did that. I
am glad. Since I became a professional writer, and advertising
agency owner and producer, all of
my former experiences seem like
good fodder to draw upon for stories and sales talk.
As a matter of fact, I am
thinking of some Florida experiences as we speak and already
getting in a much better mood.
ST. LOUIS AND
THE FLAT TIRE
I left Florida in September of
1980 and headed for Tyler, Texas
to spend a week or so with a girl
named Linda Motes before coming on home to Hagerstown,
Indiana. Wow, Linda was great.
But once again, I was not ready
for settling down until I finished
my college.
So I said my goodbyes to
Linda and headed home. I drove
north for awhile and got on
Interstate 55, searching for the
Interstate 70 exit to go toward
Indy. Then I heard the old familiar
boom. I knew that boom. It was
blown tire and I had my material
world in a U-Haul and trunk
above and behind that boom.
I pulled over and began the
painful process of retrieving my
spare and changing a tire with
semi trucks about 2 feet from
my body. It moved the jack a
few times, that wind those
truckers produced. But the
thing held. It did not knock it
out from under the car.
I got the tire changed.
Usually when this happened, on
my now 45-state journey, the
cops would show up and ask if I
needed any help about the time I
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light a cigarette and grab my cold
coffee for a swig, you guessed it.
All was right with the world and
that was yet another Memorable
Moment.
Congratulations Gurdon
Mayoral Elect Sherry
Kelley and Haskell
Mayoral Elect Janie
Lyman. Best of luck as
you lead your communities this coming January.
The Tailgate News staff
469-585-9333
or Gurdon: 870-353-8201
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got the tire changed. No cops that
day. So I got it changed, took my
rubber hammer and got the hub
cap back on and started my
sewing machine.
I owned a 1974 Dodge Dart
Swinger with a slant 6 engine. It
sounded like a sewing machine,
but it was strong. Those old
engines were built to last. I put
454,000 miles on mine and sold it
for $500. My Grandpa paid
$3,400 for it new.
Well I got the tire changed
and headed on my way, after
reloading all the stuff into the
trunk etc. When I sat down to
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THE TAILGATE NEWS; southarktailgatenews.com *NOVEMBER 7, 2014
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