2024-04-16 14:08
She’s 10 years old. Lovely as lovely can be. Long hair, down to the middle of her back. Blue eyes that see more than we will ever know. She bounces around like… Read More
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Mike Windham - My Thoughts Exactly Blog
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Mike Windham writes about what he sees and what he thinks. Life through the eyes of a lifetime Southerner. Mostly his stories are essays about other people he's known, he's worked with and met in more than sixty years of travel and working.
2023-09-07 20:01
This is hard to write. I’ve been a big Jimmy Buffett fan since “Come Monday” hit the air waves in 1974. I bought my first Jimmy Buffett album in 1975. Since then, it’… Read More
2023-08-25 15:59
It was a lazy Saturday. The last weekend before school started. We had three Granddaughters for the day. One is twelve and starting to wear make-up, the o… Read More
2023-08-05 13:20
I think I got a piece of grit in my eye yesterday. I was standing on our street, watching our RV go down the road. It won’t come back. I held a copy of the Bill of Sa… Read More
2023-07-28 16:17
My wife warned me about writing this. I said “No, I think I need to talk about it.”
I’m not going to apologize. My heart was hurting.
Here goes.
In my… Read More
2023-07-25 15:13
I graduated high school a long time ago.
Every ten years, we’ve had a class reunion. It’s a ritual. It’s a pilgrimage. We go back to touch our younger days.
A lot of… Read More
2022-12-02 15:20
It’s the week after Thanksgiving.
Once again, our house is quiet. The television is off. Who schedules World Cup Soccer in Thanksgiving week. I don’t c… Read More
2022-11-17 15:33
Somewhere in the Atlantic, an hour or two before daylight.
We’re headed for home this morning. We’re supposed to get to the dock around 6:30 am. I’m ready to… Read More
2022-10-21 14:47
My Dad and I became buddies when I was in Kindergarten. He worked on the oil rigs in South Mississippi and Louisiana. He was the “Boss.” He took me to work with… Read More
2022-10-19 21:14
You’re reading this because I took a typing class my last semester of high school. I think there was one other boy in our class. The room was filled with aspiring secretari… Read More
2022-10-08 15:43
She wrote “I’m older than I ever dreamed I would be. And my life’s lessons taught me many things.”
When I read this last week, I sent her a note, sayin… Read More
2022-09-28 21:21
I met the Captain in the middle of the Ocean. He was the man in charge of a $600 million dollar drill ship. We were drilling for oil. He had 180 men on board. His job… Read More
2022-09-22 16:23
Have you ever noticed the sounds of a soccer game?
I have never played a single minute of soccer. I grew up in South Mississip… Read More
2022-09-12 15:00
I don’t know what happened. Somewhere between my senior year in high school and today a few words got lost. I can’t seem to find them.What happened to the Misters and the Mrs.? T… Read More
2022-09-08 16:02
I have had the Covid.
A week ago, I was on a cruise ship, over 1500 passengers and another thousand crew members. Literally, we were from all over the world. We spent more tha… Read More
2022-09-06 17:03
We just went on a sea cruise. Eight days and nights on a really big ship. Nothing at all like the folks on Gilligan’s Island.
There were a whole lot of different people… Read More
2022-09-02 18:20
He was ten years old. This was back in the olden days, when kids collected stuff other than paper stickers and cell phones. He had a single blade Barlow knife. He had… Read More
2022-08-18 16:41
In one of our bedrooms is an old mantle clock. It doesn’t run. It means nothing to any other person in my family. I like it.
 … Read More
2022-08-15 14:26
Lazy. That’s what I’ve become. And, I hate that word. Always have. I don’t know if I always will. After all, it’s hard to hate what you… Read More
2022-08-11 17:58
Do you remember when cheap toys came from Japan or China?
We had a Woolworth’s and a Morgan-Lindsay store where I grew up. Some called them “Five and Dime” s… Read More
2022-08-09 23:14
Did you ever have a sack of marbles?
I did.
When I was a kid I g… Read More
2022-08-03 22:17
April 18, 2022
Boys and girls are different. I’m talking about girls and cartwheels.
&nbs… Read More
2022-01-24 14:55
I had to say goodbye to a dear friend this week. Sometimes life is just hard. At other times, it’s bitter. Then there are those days when life is sad. Really sa… Read More
2021-12-21 17:02
My doctor sent me to the sleep clinic. I needed a sleep study she said. I didn’t believe her. Sleep is easy for me.
“It may be hard on your heart,” she said… Read More
2021-12-19 15:12
It looks like nothing. Certainly not that impressive. Just a black chain link fence, it may be 100 yards long, about eight feet tall. It stretches from one end of the parking lot to… Read More
2021-12-11 17:00
I wonder.
I don’t know her name. I didn’t get to ask her. She was too busy.
She was dressed in black. She was wearing those soft-sole work shoes you get f… Read More
2021-11-29 20:01
I knew it was going to happen. Years ago I watched it happen a time or two with other men. I just didn’t think much about it happening to me.
For over 15 years, my son a… Read More
2021-11-28 15:18
I’m standing in line at the grocery store. It’s the afternoon before Thanksgiving. I have my Granddaughter with me.
I’m running an errand for the women… Read More
2021-08-30 22:55
Early morning this past week.
My wife sat down across the table. She was holding a coffee cup. It was familiar in a “long lost way.”
I looked at it, thinking, h… Read More
2021-08-26 13:03
It’s hot!
Not just your regular Mississippi Dog Days of Summer hot, but …well, I don’t rightly know how to describe how hot it’s been. Hotter than a firecra… Read More
2021-08-21 13:54
Once upon a time I had all the time in the world. Time for her parents, time for my parents and I made plenty of time for our children.
Time doesn’t wait, does it?
No… Read More
2021-08-19 13:17
Good Manners are getting hard to find. Good manners are almost impossible to keep.
In my world, manners are important. I like to say “Yes Sir”, “No Mam&rdquo&hell…Read More
2021-08-17 12:13
Two of my Granddaughters got new beds. The beds that come in a box. The beds Fed-Ex delivers one Thursday afternoon and then runs, like a kid playing trick or t… Read More
2021-08-14 13:47
Good County cooking is hard to find. We were pressing our luck.
It’s just one more small town. A big two story courthouse in the center of the square. Lawyers off… Read More
2021-08-13 15:56
I grew up watching bi-winged crop dusters spread DDT across the tops of cotton fields in Louisiana.
Daring pilots, dodging tree lines and power lines, attacking boll weevils and bu… Read More
2020-03-30 18:14
Some kids still grow up too fast.
I watched this kid busy at work the other night.
He can’t be more than twelve years old. His voice hasn’t cracked. When he yells, it&rsquo&hell…Read More
2019-12-15 21:24
There’s a lot of love in the air right now.
It’s easy to see, if you look.
They were a couple. Standing in the cold, shivering, ringing a bell next to a kettle… Read More
2019-12-02 19:53
It’s quiet this morning. So quiet you can hear the dust fall and the dog hair settle on the carpet.
It’s Monday after Thanksgiving. The kids have packed up and… Read More
2019-11-26 18:04
I cut a tree down last week. Not a good tree. Not a bad tree. A lone cottonwood tree, struck by lightning a couple of years ago. Last week it had no bark. It wa… Read More
2019-11-22 16:44
I started using my Dad’s tools when I was five years old. He’d say I used his hammer and a screw driver to tear things apart. I didn’t know any better.
I took a… Read More
2019-11-07 14:13
Pen in hand. Empty Journal in front of me. Time to write some more. It’s always something I’ve tried to do on a regular basis.
I just returned from a week&rsquo&hell…Read More
2019-10-22 14:19
My father died ten years ago. I miss him every day. I also forget about him more often than I want. His memory is fading and I hate that.
I’ve tried to hold on to thi… Read More
2019-10-19 13:18
It’s fall. Football. Homecoming.
Where I went to high school, we did homecoming big. Not just a little big, but real big. It was sort of a show back fifty years… Read More
2019-10-13 22:18
We’ve been moving. Down scaling, preparing for the winter of our lives.
“Let’s move closer to the children.” I said. thinking about grandchildren.
We sold… Read More
2019-10-01 14:37
I bought this old rocker at an auction. My wife looked at me after I bid on it.
“Crazy!” is what she was telling me, without saying a word.
Now, this rocker was old and dirty, st… Read More
2019-09-28 19:39
I’ve just got to say she makes a mean carrot cake.
I expected it to taste good. It certainly looked good. Sitting there in a little white box, cream cheese icing. A hand full of choppe… Read More
2019-05-02 16:44
I’m trying to get rid of an old baseball cap. It’s difficult. No, it’s hard. I’ve tried to throw it away. I’ve put it aside, in the Salv… Read More
2019-04-16 13:32
Two days. Two Cafes. Two cups of coffee. And two different conversations, overheard because two girls were talking too loud or just not caring if someone else heard what th… Read More
2019-04-08 14:21
I love to watch the little girls play together. There are four of them. They’re spread out over three years. Sometimes, it seems they’re only a heartbeat away f… Read More
2019-03-18 22:04
My Grandfather was a Methodist. My Grandmother was a Baptist. Not just any kind of Baptist, but a devout, tee-totaling, bible-reading, underlined in red, scripture quoting, hard… Read More
2019-02-23 16:10
I think he’s a cowboy. I didn’t meet the man. I didn’t talk to him. I just watched him live a few minutes of his life.
I was sitting at a table, drinking… Read More
2018-11-05 17:12
I’m in Cuba. It’s my second trip. Yes, I plan to return. I think I’m helping people who need help.
In the smaller cities, out of the limelight, away from… Read More
2018-10-22 11:43
This morning is the day after. The party’s over. We’re heading home.
My first thought upon awakening this morning was a simple prayer. “Thank… Read More
2018-10-18 15:07
I sold off some more of my Dad’s life last week.
I sat there at the auction, watching the bidders compete, putting prices on things I once thought were invaluable to me.
It wasn… Read More
2018-08-06 13:57
My Mom’s stuff.
We had to do it. There was just too much to keep. It had to be sold. Now it’s a done deal.
Saturday night, promptly at 5:30, the auctionee… Read More
2018-07-17 14:42
We own 15 acres. We call it “The Farm.” This is where Sue and I live for now. It’s about 5 miles from the four-lane. It’s fifteen miles from town.
I love… Read More
2018-07-06 20:36
The blue tarps covered a thousand different roofs. They had told us about the devastation. The stories will break your heart, someone told me.
Hurricanes sweep across the islands… Read More
2018-06-11 20:20
They’re going to cut down our oak tree in a few days. The order has been given. She’s over a hundred years old. And, one day soon, the chain saws will dig in an… Read More
2018-06-02 13:02
I remember his car, a green Cadillac. Half as long as a city block like they used to say.
He always parked in front of the Inez Hotel. He was there every morning, around ten o&rs&hell…Read More
2018-05-30 14:01
It’s graduation time. Happens every spring. Ten million kids grasp a piece of paper, shake hands and face the world.
We went to a special graduation. A proud on… Read More
2018-05-25 15:10
Warning: This may sound like a commercial. Don’t worry, it is.
We left Louisville at 7 am. Homeward bound to Mississippi. Didn’t want to do the Interstate… Read More
2018-05-12 12:24
The two men sat facing each other. The table is on the far end of the carport. You can hear the traffic in the highway a quarter mile away.
There’s two glasses. Two b… Read More
2018-05-09 15:11
I wish I still had the simple thoughts of childhood. My Grandchildren keep reminding me.
The dandelions were the first flower she noticed. The field was full of them. She r… Read More
2018-05-01 15:04
“Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never loseFor we we… Read More
2018-04-28 14:25
The sun is bright. It’s spring time. The water is warming up. You can hear the frogs again.
The man at the coffee shop says the fish are biting again.
The moon is rig… Read More
2018-04-25 13:22
This is Number 101.
There are those of us who enjoy writing. We can’t explain why. Most often, we don’t even try.
My name is Mike…..I am a writer.
My first job… Read More
2018-04-23 14:53
Caleb is a good ole boy. A big, healthy man, thirty years old or close to it. Broad shoulders and a strong back. He’s got a wife and three kids. Not a speck of… Read More
2018-04-17 14:12
The two of us have known each other since elementary school. He’s a friend.
It started when we sat beside each other on the church bus. Heading off to summer camp.&nb&hell…Read More
2018-04-11 13:35
Ok folks, I want to warn you, today I’m thinking about a liberal. Consider yourself fore-warned. This “thinking about a liberal” thing is not something I enjoy.
I saw… Read More
2018-04-09 14:37
A flea market, on the side of the road. We stopped to look. The parking lot was gravel. The pot holes were full of muddy water.
I like to talk to the old men who gather &nb&hell…Read More
2018-04-02 13:54
He was pushing a buggy half full of groceries in the Piggly Wiggly. Down one aisle, turn and up the next.
Two three year old twin boys in the cart, standing, reaching for Pop Tarts and… Read More
2018-03-29 13:28
I hold them every chance I get.
The two little girls enjoy their playtime together. They are cousins. One will say “I’m four and a half.” The other says … Read More
2018-03-22 16:18
They tell me a four leaf clover is a sign of good luck.
There’s this lady I know. We went to high school together. She is always smiling, always bubbling over with happiness.&nbs&hell…Read More
2018-03-19 15:44
The kid was tall, lanky, wearing a black, hooded sweat shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. He stood in front of me. We were at the Dollar General.
He was buying Little Debbie brownie… Read More
2018-03-13 14:32
She said she didn’t have any secrets. I wanted to believe her. She started talking and I started listening.
I’ve been wanting to write this for a while. I&rsquo&hell…Read More
2018-03-08 16:13
It wasn’t much of a house. Wood Frame on concrete blocks. One bedroom. One bath. Kitchenette with a place for a washer.
It was our first home. Rented for $50 a month… Read More
2018-03-05 13:56
This happened about a month ago. I was listening to a man talk about his children. We’ll call him Frank.
“I am close to two of them, but the other, well, we just never got… Read More
2018-02-26 14:08
I was a twenty-five year old know-it-all at the time.
George was my boss. A big guy. He smoked like a locomotive. One cigarette after another. Winstons, Kools, Camels… Read More
2018-02-21 20:08
“Boss, I’m tired. Real tired, Boss.”
I think I’m lifting this from “The Green Mile” movie. My apologies.
I looked at a photo this morning of a… Read More
2018-02-16 17:25
He stumbled a bit as he walked between the tombstones. He put one hand atop one monument, then took a long step, reaching out with his arm to touch the next one.
He moved until he foun… Read More
2018-02-12 16:17
I’m back at another country auction. Ten miles from the highway, a half mile down a gravel road.
I love them. I have learned not to wave at friends and neighbors. Tha… Read More
2018-02-08 16:05
They buried her Monday afternoon. The preacher was one of Madge’s long-time friends. He had known her for years. Madge was the kind of person he liked to have in his… Read More
2018-02-05 14:25
It’s just a ream of white paper. Five hundred sheets, eight and a half by eleven, white. There are a couple of them on the shelf above this computer.
You can buy it b… Read More
2018-02-02 14:55
Back then we were busy being a regular family. I had a good job, Sue was settled in teaching and the three boys were growing as fast as hamburgers, hotdogs, scrambled eggs and cereal c… Read More
2018-01-30 15:34
I was on the road all day yesterday. Drove 200 miles one way. It was date night. She was waiting on me. I had to be there.
“On time!” she said.
My wife kn… Read More
2018-01-25 20:25
The bar is in Clarksdale. It’s just like a hundred thousand others. Dark, neon lights. The smell of stale beer and spilt whiskeys hang in the air. There’s… Read More
2018-01-22 13:40
My Dad always carried a pocket knife. Always.
When I was a youngster, he carried a big knife. A really big knife.
He used it to dig oak splinters out of a little boy’s fing… Read More
2018-01-19 17:47
It’s Monday morning and I’m a visitor.
I found a little restaurant on the north side of town. A row of picture windows across the front. It’s a concrete block b… Read More
2018-01-17 15:29
Sometimes you stumble into a character that just makes you stop and take a note or two.
He’s Gary. He runs a salvage yard in North Mississippi. He’s in charge of abou… Read More
2018-01-15 14:54
I didn’t get a Christmas card from him this year. Every day I looked and hoped, but I knew down deep in my heart this was going to be the year.
He’s a couple of years younger tha… Read More
2018-01-12 15:38
There’s a story with every car in the yard.
He was dirty, he had been working all morning, taking a transmission out of one car and removing a drive shaft from another, he said.
He poi… Read More
2018-01-08 14:52
I drove by her new house yesterday. It sits on a corner. Gravel in her driveway, little sprouts of grass starting to peak through, growing between the rocks. The sprinkler… Read More
2018-01-05 16:11
She had one of those worried looks on her face. Not quite a frown, definitely not a smile. Just a little makeup I think. Her hair cut to hang just above her shoulders. If y… Read More
2017-12-28 14:14
Pemmie’s an old dog. I don’t think there’s going to be any new tricks. The hair on her nose is turning white. She doesn’t run as fast as she did las… Read More
2017-12-25 20:39
Christmas Morning. I’m sitting here at my farm in Mississippi. The eastern sky is breaking into the morning’s light.
My coffee cup is on my left, I’m &nbs&hell…Read More
2017-12-23 20:00
The Wendy’s is just off the interstate, on the north side of Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Turn onto the blacktop, then turn at the red light,. It’s across the street from the C… Read More
2017-12-20 15:07
I hear my wife crying in her pillow. It’s four o’clock in the morning. I hear every tear drop fall, her shoulders are shaking. She takes in big, deep brea… Read More
2017-12-14 13:35
Last night I sat down to address Christmas Cards. I’ll mail them tomorrow.
I know, not everyone sends out Christmas Cards any more. It’s a lost art. Buying card… Read More
2017-09-20 20:06
I wish there had been more than just me.
It was December 1957. I was defending the town of Waterproof. I had set up on the west side of the levee. The enemy was on the rive… Read More
2017-09-12 13:10
We were at a meeting on his campus. He was showing us around, pointing to bushes, trees and buildings. Doing that sort of thing. He was an old football coach. He walk… Read More
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