Sun Records

The year was 1956, and I was quickly falling in love with the breath of fresh air in music that was known as "rockabilly". I loved the drive, the excitement, the uniqueness of it.

At the center of the new wave in American music was a little recording studio on Union Avenue in Memphis called Sun Records. The man behind this movement was Sam Phillips. Operating out of this studio, Mr. Phillips signed some of the most talented and famous new artists of the century....Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins.

I was in Memphis on business a couple of years ago and stopped by to see this historic building. It's just a couple of blocks over from Beale Street. You can take a tour of the facility and hear the wonderful stories of the country and R&R greats who passed through there.

America's Death

All now is gone in the heat of the blast
And the mushrooming afterglow;
Her future is now a thing of the past
As time moves from rapid to slow.

The land that was once the world's best hope
Is forever now ruined for all;
Her promise of greatness and unbridled scope
Now slumbers in ashes and pall.

Now swept away is the Mayflower's trek
With its sailors of strength and of vision
Gone now alway in the ruin and wreck
Of her leadership's gross dereliction.

Away from us now is the genius of man
Who created the great Constitution;
Who, with Jefferson, vowed "We can!"
And proposed to propel a great nation.

Gone now as well are the dim memories
Of Longfellow, Sandburg and Poe;
Of Paul Revere's Ride and Annabelle Lee
And Chicago's hot, brawny torso.

A nation which stood for hundreds of years...
A nation which served as a beacon
To those who toiled with blood, sweat and tears
And offered the promise of freedom.

A nation which fought both with Blue and with Gray,
Spilling volumes of heroic blood;
Which mightily strove for equality's way,
Damming prejudice's historic flood.

Who fought two World Wars for the good of mankind,
Who gave the world lasers and drugs;
Whose generous nature's now Gone With the Wind...
Whose great deeds are now but a shrug.

Away, yes away! Away now forever!
Awash and forgot, gone the whole lot...
The prince's and pirate's and poet's endeavor
Erased in the blast of the shot!

Sons and daughters, grandaughters and sons,
So loved by their fathers and mothers;
Now sleep like the dead under dust by the tons
Or exist in a hell like no other.

This is what happens when vigilance wanes;
The end price of failing to lead...
America's greatness now fallen and slain
While CHINA advances HER creed!

(C) 1998 Clint Ellison

Clinton Patrick (My Grandson)

A son of the South (Well, do shut my mouth!)
So gently born and lovingly bred;
While through your bloodline a common thread
Links hopes for success of heart and head.

Gorgeous blue eyes (Hear the ladies' sighs!)
Reflecting beauty and honor bright;
Prisms of innocence, pale and light,
Beguiling masculine strength and might.

Oh!---what a smile! (Come 'ere honey chile'!)
Infectious in its daily display;
Laughter and frolic, always at play...
But ne'er far away from boyhood's fast fray.

Eire's patron saint (not weakly or faint)
Guards o'er your life through and through;
With mom and dad's love (and grandparents, too!),
May all of your dreams become true!

(C) 2001 Clint Ellison

William Ellison

My great-grandfather was William Ellison. Following the Civil War, in which he proudly served the CSA (24th Mississippi Infantry), he and his wife Burnetta moved to the town of Bazette, Texas. Bazette no longer exists, but it is now a rural area about 20 miles east of Corsicana.

After arriving at Bazette, William and Burnetta built a large family. He became a leader in the post-war community and was appointed their first postmaster. He later donated land to the local Baptist church, which still exists today. He and much of his family are buried in the lovely churchyard behind the church building.

This picture was taken a few years ago when my daughters, Diane & Debbie, came to visit. They are posed by a historical marker in front of the church. My grandfather and his donation of land are mentioned on the marker.

Summer Heat Wave

Here in north Texas, we are in the midst of the "dog days", with temps at 100 degrees+ every day. Today, we expect a high of 106. I thought you might enjoy these pics from last winter.....

The Crater

Fifty thousand years ago---give or take a few millennia---a meteor struck our planet just east of Flagstaff, Arizona. It created a giant crater 550 feet deep, one mile wide and 2.4miles in circumference.

Cindy and I had a chance to view this wondrous work of nature on one of our recent jaunts out west. It is the most remarkable sight I have ever seen. And yes, I have been to the Grand Canyon.

North Texas Sunrises and Sunsets

Just about the first thing Cindy and I noticed when we moved to the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex seven years ago was the incredible beauty of the sunrises and sunsets.

I remember the first day we were here---we were staying in a hotel, and at the end of a busy afternoon working with a realtor looking at homes, we walked to a restaurant adjacent to our hotel and were astounded by the raging colors of the western sky.

We stood there, fixated on the wonder of the rapidly changing hues and brilliance of the clouds. A passerby remarked to us that almost every day features an atmospheric show like that. They were correct. I don't know if it is because of the dust content of the western breeze or the color of the land beneath the clouds, or just God's preference that Texas have beautiful shows at dusk and dawn; but the skies of Texas remind us of the beauty of our earth and the wonders it contains.