A Man named Hoss

Soon after I started my blog ‘Past Imperfect’, over three years ago, I got the following comment from Hoss aka Old Horsetail Snake aka Gene Maudlin:

‘I was here, Ms. Perfect. And will return. You must be pretty close to my age bracket (I'm 75+).’ Jan 16 2006


Hoss was always kind and helpful to new bloggers and I was one of a large number in his thrall. Of course I visited his blog and was hooked and intrigued by his humour and unusual story. He was in an old folk’s home with his wife who later opted for an assisted suicide, which is legal in Oregon where Hoss lived. Hoss wrote most movingly about his wife and many bloggers wrote to express their sympathy.

Then he was re-united with his previous wife Sylvia or Scamp, mother of his children, left the old folks home and they set up home together. This was a life affirming love story and although he had been given a negative prognosis, together they made his last years happy and fulfilling, travelling to Hawaii in spite of all the medical paraphernalia he required as his illness progressed. Throughout Hoss wrote brilliant laugh-out loud posts and until recently carried on visiting all his many followers.

On March 7th Hoss, now in a hospice, chose to use Oregon’s Death with Dignity. My deepest sympathy to Sylvia, Hoss’s children and family and all who loved him.

May he rest in peace.
Lowell Gene Maudlin
1930 - 2009


His good friend Vicki - A Mark on my Wall - http://amarkonmywall.wordpress.com/ has written more fully about Hoss and his correspondence with her, which is well worth reading, as are Hoss’s archives at http://oldhorsetailsnake.blogspot.com/

Blue Anchor Bay

On the coast between Watchet in the east and Minehead in the west lies Blue Anchor – a fisherman’s haunt. We seem to have developed the habit, now the weather is more clement, of having lunch out at the week-end. We settled on the Carew Arms in Crowcombe which has been well and truly documented in this blog, so I persuaded MTL to go via Blue Anchor in the hope of finding something to photograph.

The day was grey so my spirits lightened when I saw a glorious mimosa in full bloom but I knew better than to ask MTL to stop – I could see it would be dangerous. Sure enough about a mile further on there were bunches of flowers where some poor soul had been killed in a road accident. I saw another smaller mimosa but we kept going until we reached the parking by the sea. Funny how one is influenced by one’s parents; mum hated cats and loved mimosa. I’m wary with cats and have always coveted a mimosa tree. Mum tried a couple of times to buy me one, but it never worked out, although the garden has many of her gifts. In turn she was influenced by her father who remembered the trees from his time in Portugal when he was an engineer.

At the small café I saw these two great St Bernards and asked the owner if I could snap them. He agreed and then shyly moved out of shot. They were very friendly aged one and seven but he warned me they would cover me in slobber. I decided to do a brisk walk back to the second mimosa and it was just by the accident shrine. Another swift walk and I was back in the car and off to lunch. Delicious sole with accessories and hot chocolate brownie with ice cream – I eschewed the clotted variety as some sort of fruitless gesture.

Minehead to the west.

Watchet to the east.

The little cafe

One of the customers.
Below are the mimosa tree, an oldfashioned plant I used to have in Kent and the signalbox at Blue Anchor. The photos jumped out before I could label tham.

Tears before Bedtime

Tonight I was swept by great waves of emotion and the tears flowed. I was watching 'Let's Dance' for Comic Relief and two characters from 'The Bill' - which I don't watch, did it for me with 'River Dance'. Am I going barmy?

Blast from the Past


In the thirties we had a Depression but we also had 'Our Gracie' - Gracie Fields a lass from Rochdale who became world famous. This was Lancashire in 1934. I remember those great bales of cotton being hoisted at Lolly Mill

'Dad if you swallowed that much chewing gum - would you die?'

Alas - all gone now.
'Depression? Eeeeeh lad - tha doesn't know tha's born!

And Another Thing…


‘If sex is such a natural phenomenon how come there are so many books on how to do it.’
Bette Midler


‘Life ‘wrote a friend of mine ‘is a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.’
E M Forster


‘It’s hard for me to get used to these changing times I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.’
George Burns


‘I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night.’
Marie Corelli


‘By all means marry. If you get a good wife you’ll be happy; if you get a bad one you’ll become a philosopher.’
Socrates


‘Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it’
Harold Shubert


‘Happiness is having a large, loving , caring, close-knit family in another city.’
George Burns.


‘Parents are not interested in justice, they’re interested in quiet.’
Bill Cosby


‘Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.’
Jeff Valdez


‘I don’t know whether nice people tend to grow roses or growing roses makes nice people.’
Roland A Browne


Advance Banter: the QI Book of Quotations by John Lloyd& John Mitchinson