Phyllis and I built a medical center for a group of doctors in Victorville. The medical center was named, “Viewpoint” because of its hilltop location. We built…
1985
Day 1, Sunday Sept. 15
Left home about 12:30. Went to H & E to return fly-killer and had lunch at Sizzler. Spent first night in Bishop camp ground…
Any call made in the High desert in the 50s was a tough call. Phone service in the High Desert was virtually non existent! There was no area code. The few…
When our son Jim was 16 years old, he worked at the Texaco station on Highway 18 in Apple Valley. This gas station was unique in that it serviced automobiles…
As a landlord, I have usually handled tenant relations in a fairly conventional manner; however, on occasion I have made some rather unusual or innovative…
In 1979, when our motorhome was brand new, Glen and Katy and Phyllis and I took a trip to Mexico. Phyllis and I traveled in our new motorhome and Glen and Katy…
In early summer 1935, a mere 75 years ago when I was 16 years old, I spent a week working as a helper to my 21 year old brother Joe in the Azucar Mine, which…
I’ve done a lot of things in my life and some of them were pretty smart.
BUT!
The smartest thing that I ever did was marry Phyllis, and be able to spend…
In early summer 1936, just after graduating from high school at age 17, I took my first foray into the big world to make my fortune. I did this under the wing…
The relationship and the marriage and the life of Phyllis and Brian was an equal partnership! I know, because I was heard to say on more than one occasion,…
In 1964 Mike Montejo, a tile contractor who did tile work for us, told us that his wife Happy Montejo, who was a real estate broker, had a couple of lots for…
In 1975 Phyllis and I bought a houseboat. Phyllis had been wanting a houseboat. Phyllis liked to be “right on the water.” When we went traveling in our…
It is September 3rd 2009. In six days it will be nine months since my beautiful, wonderful Phyllis was taken from me.
I have been told about how the hurt and…
In the late spring of 1944 I was drafted into the Navy. Draftees always went into the Army. The Navy was all volunteer. I was drafted into the Navy because I…
I designed Phyllis’ grave marker. It is really “our” grave marker because I’m on it too. All that is missing for me is my “date of death,” which at present is…
Phyllis and I first met Pete and Peggy Sartor in the late 50s or early 60s. We built a home for them on Rodeo Drive in Victorville. Peggy still lives in this…
About twenty years ago, in the late 80s or early 90s Phyllis and I took a motorhome trip. It turned out to be a special motorhome trip. We had been on many…
About 10:30 one morning in the early ‘80s our next door neighbor, John Kierstead, walked into our living room and said, “Good morning, Brian whatcha been up…
During my lifetime and particularly during a period that extended from my early adolescence to mid-adulthood and tapered off during my middle age, I did a lot…
Lassie was a dog. A very wonderful Dog. A loving dog with the sweetest disposition that a dog could have. She was our dog in our earliest days in Apple Valley,…
Thirty or thirty-five-years ago Phyllis and I built a house for a couple named Culp. The house had an unglazed terra cotta tile floor in the living room,…
In 1953 Phyllis and I bought our first boat. It was a 14 foot ski boat with a 45 horse power Mercury outboard motor. We bought the boat and the motor and the…
All my life I’ve been good at chin ups. For the uninitiated, a chin up is the act of raising one’s body weight, with the arms, from a hanging position on a…
I started innovating at an early age. I was a fast learner in design and the use of tools. Sometimes it seemed that I didn’t even have to learn. It seemed like…
In 1936, the year that I graduated from high school, George Walker and I and Stanley Davis, known as “Stinky,” went to the desert in Stinky’s sister’s car.…
In the spring of 1937, I was 18 years old, out of high school and looking for a job. At an office of The Federal Reemployment Agency, an agency set up by the…
At age 20 I got a job at Lockheed Aircraft. This was just about the time that the United States got involved in World War II. The war production and the…
This is two stories in one. They tie together. We were water skiing at Lake Isabella with our little P14 with the 45 horse outboard motor. Our skier had fallen…
One evening in 1940 or 1941 I had brought my brother Joe’s car home to do some brake work for him. This was before Phyllis and I were married, and I was still…
I have been really inebriated twice in my life—once at age 17 when I was learning about wine, and once at age 25, when I was learning about whiskey, and was…
We were on a Caribbean cruse on a big sailing vessel with auxiliary diesel power. The ship was anchored off shore. The shore boat was loading to take a group…
I learned to swim at age 17. Despite the late start, I got to be a pretty good swimmer. On two occasions my swimming ability almost got me in serious…
Way back in the ‘30s, motor vehicle laws were much less restrictive. You could do just about anything that you wanted to do as long as you didn’t drive too…
This story is listed in the category of “Dumb things I have done.” I also have a category entitled “Unusual or Innovative things I have done.” Sometimes these…
All my life I have been a little cavalier about encounters with electricity.
Having considerable knowledge of electricity has helped me maintain a healthy…
In 1942, the year that Phyllis and I got married, I was working at Lockheed Aircraft as a Group Supervisor. I had supervision of about 50 people. My section…
A long about 1980, Glenn and Katy and Phyllis and I were traveling in Mexico, in Baja California. Baja was quite undeveloped then, with almost no paved roads…
In the early days of water skiing my good and old friend, Don George, and I were water skiing on the Colorado River. We had no observer as this was not yet a…
For years I have heard that batteries could explode. The action of a
battery involves breaking water down into hydrogen and oxygen which is an explosive mix so…
In early summer 1935, when I was 16, my mother and my 21 year old brother, Joe and I took a trip from Alhambra to Louisiana to visit family members there. We…
Sometime in the 60s I built a swimming pool for Glenn and Katy
Mc Connell. Glen and Katy ran the local lumber yard and were good friends of ours. We had…
Phyllis and I were on a Caribbean cruse with a group of old friends. Included in the group were our son Jim, who was single at the time and the daughter of a…
In the spring of 1937 I was working as a welder at the General Motors assembly plant in Torrance, CA. In early summer the plant closed for a week in…
Phyllis worked in the office as a receptionist, a secretary, a bookkeeper and a good buddy to anyone who came in and wanted to talk, of which there were many.…
In the fall of 1958, after going through quite a period of suffering from “female trouble,” Phyllis reluctantly decided that surgery was the only solution. She…
This is two stories in one. They tie together. We were water skiing at Lake Isabella with our little P14 with the 45 horse outboard motor. Our skier had fallen…
Phyllis and her stepmother, Maxine, had a very good relationship. They were good friends and Phyllis and I looked after Maxine after Phyllis’ father died. We…
Over the years both Phyllis and I, when the weather allowed, went barefoot around the house quite a bit.
Since my feet were bare quite a lot, I developed…
Read at Glenn McConnell’s funeral
HOW DO I REMEMBER GLENN?DOWN AT THE LUMBER YARD
I REALLY CAN’T REMEMBER WHEN
I’VE SEEN A FELLOW WORK SO HARD
HE’D TALK TO…
I BOUGHT A CARD FOR YOU TODAY
BUT THERE’S NO WAY A CARD CAN SAY
THE LOVE MY HEART HOLDS FOR YOU
ON THIS ANNIVERSARY FORTY TWO
IT CAN’T DESCRIBE THE…
I LOOKED AROUND TO FIND A CARDALL FULL OF MUSH AND GOO.
FOR I WAS TRYING VERY HARD
TO SHOW MY SENTIMENT FOR YOU.
THERE WAS NO CARD THAT I COULD FIND THAT…
49 YEARS!
WE’VE BEEN MARRIED FORTY NINEAND IT’S FINE
WE COULD SAY THAT IT’S A SIGNTHAT WE ALIGNSUN WILL SHINETOE THE LINE
AIN’T IT FINE?
WE’VE BEEN…
Date: 50 Years Plus 4 Days
WHILE THOUGHTS OF THE PAST AND OUR MEMORIES FILL US
I LOOK AT MY WIFEAND I CALL OUT “HEY PILLUS”
FOR THAT’S WHAT SHE’S CALLED…
OF ALL THE GOOD THINGS THAT I EVER DID DO,
THE VERY BESTWAS MARRYING YOU,
AND:
OF ALL THE GOOD THINGSTHAT I’VE EVER DONE,
MARRYING YOUWAS THE VERY BEST…
Photocopy from Anniversary Poems Notebook
Photocopy from Anniversary Poems Notebook
Photocopy from Anniversary Poems Notebook
Photocopy from Anniversary Poems Notebook
Photocopy from Anniversary Poems Notebook
Photocopy of My Card for Phyllis
ONE YEAR AGO I WROTE A POEM,FOR ANNIVERSARY 63,
IT WAS A REAL NICE POEM,
AS NICE AS IT COULD BE,
BUT WHEN I OFFERED IT TO YOU,
I FOUND TO MY DISMAY,
WE’D…
MY LOVE FOR YOU WAS MEANT TO BE,FOR ALL OF TIME – ETERNITY.
I’VE LOVED YOU AS YOUNG LOVERS MUST,WITH FORCE OF PASSION – NEED – AND LUST.
I’VE LOVED YOU AS…
TO MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE ON OUR 63RDWEDDING ANNIVERSARY
MY LOVING WIFE
AS YOU CAN SEE,
YOU’VE SHARED MY LIFEFOR 63.
ALL THIS TIME
WE’VE JUST BEEN…
TO MY PILLUS
FOR SIXTY FOUR
WONDERFUL YEARS
OF MARRIAGE
AT OUR ANNIVERSARY 64,
IT’S STILL MY PILLUS I ADORE.
HOW BLESSED AM I TO SPEND MY LIFE,HAVING…
TO MY PHYLLIS:FOR 65 YEARS OF HAPPINESS
WE KNEW THE THRILL OF LOVE’S BEGINNING
WE PLAYED A GAME WE BOTH WERE WINNING
THE GAME THAT WE PLAYED. WENT THIS…
TO PHYLLIS, MY LOVEFOR OUR ANNIVERSARY 66
PHYLLIS, MY LOVE, DO YOU KNOW THAT IT’S TRUE SEVENTY FOUR, PERCENT OF MY LIFE, I,VE BEEN MARRIED TO YOU?
THOUGH…
KIWANIANS COME IN MANY FORMSBIG AND TALL AND LITTLE
THERE’S THEM THAT’S THINAND THEM THAT’S FATAND THEM THAT’S IN THE MIDDLE
TIME WAS WHEN WE OF MASCULINE…
WE THOUGHT THE MEETING WOULD BE MERRY
IF WE WOULD BRING OUR SECRETARY
WITHOUT THESE GALS WE COULD NOT LIVEBECAUSE THEY HAVE SO MUCH TO GIVE
PBUT, WAIT A…
TODAY OUR HEARTS ARE FILLED WITH JOY CAUSE ALL THESE GIRLS AND JUST ONE BOY
MADE ALL THESE PIES OF EVERY SIZE AND BROUGHT THEM HERE TO SELL YOU GUYS
SO…
POEM ABOUT MYSTERY TRIP 2002
TO CATALINA ISLAND
(This poem will make up in quantity what it lacks in quality)
Now that this trip of mystery,
Has been…
WHEN TIRED OF STANDING ON HIS FEET
YOU’LL FIND HIM SITTING ON HIS SEAT
LINUS CANE IS NOT IN VAIN
IT IS A USEFUL TOOL
WHEN HE’S TIRED OR FEELS IN PAIN
HE’LL…
This jingle was written for Joe Mc Kaskle after he ram rodded the sale of over 1,000 apple trees.
HIS NAME IS JOE
HE’S ON THE GO
HE REALLY FILLED OUR…
Tom Irwin has joined us I feel
For a reason I’ll shortly reveal
He had no chance of eating
With his wife at the meeting
And him sitting home with no meal
This poem is preceded by talk about Bill’s value to the club and about how if he fell short in anything he could just make it up in sheer size.
POEM
A big…
Our observations are influenced by our expectations.
Be sure to notice the nice days. There are lots of them.
Consider your gut feelings. There may be a…
Trust yourself. Be worthy of the trust.
Respect yourself. Act accordingly. You will be respected.
Plan your day. Plan your life. Plan to change your plans,…
True patriotism does not include the saying “my country right or wrong.”
True patriotism is an endeavor to make your country right.
True patriotism is the…
The stuff in her purse will expand to fill the available space.
The stuff in your storage shed will expand to fill the available space.
Some times it’s…
Growth! Automatically considered good! Like Mom, Apple Pie, 4th of July, The Flag.
But growth isn’t just automatically good! Growth can be just what we need…
No one is completely honest.
The difference between a white lie and a whopper is a matter of degree.
People who are generally honest lie about their gas…
Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Answer the question that was asked.
Learn to answer a “yes or no” question.
Don’t give a “why” answer to a “yes…
A woman will believe anything that anyone except her husband tells her.
We tend to believe what we want to believe.
Believe only what you believe is…
If you can’t keep a secret, don’t expect someone else to keep it for you.
It’s only a secret if no one but you knows it.
If you don’t want someone to hear…
Failure to communicate is the cause of untold problems.
Communication is the communicator’s responsibility.
The communicator should speak in syllables not…
Learn to treat other drivers as well as you would treat other pedestrians.
Try to think kindly of other drivers.
When you meet other drivers socially they…
Try to be as nice to your loved ones as you are to strangers.
Don’t try to remake your mate, neither of you will like the result.
Husbands shouldn’t tell…
Formal education is great, but the real world sorts out the things that you really need to know.
When college grad friends ask, “Where did you go to…
Businesses dump their problems on their customers. (Consider speed bumps, nasty little price stickers, inaccessible packaging).
You know you’re in a high…
Don’t let your mouth get you in trouble.
What is said cannot be unsaid.
If you don’t want someone to hear what you said about them, don’t say it.
When…
Make rules for yourself. Follow the rules.
Be self confident.
Trust yourself. Be worthy of the trust.
Respect yourself. Act accordingly. You will be…
Don’t defend an opinion just because you already have it.
Make each opinion stand on its own
If an opinion can’t stand the real world test, discard…
Mistakes: Try to avoid them. Expect to make them. Plan to correct them.
You are considered a good mechanic when you can fix your own screw ups.
You are unique if you never screw up.
The only one who never screws up is the one…
Rule: Don’t just “put things down,” glasses, cell phone, coat, purse, hearing aid. Place them so that when you leave they will have to go with you.
If you put something on the desk, you will likely lose it.
If you put it away you are almost sure to forget where it is.
If it’s lost, you’ll likely pick…
If there is a 50-50 chance of getting something right, 9 times out of 10 you’ll get it wrong.
If there’s a wrong way to do it, you’ll probably find…
It’s more important to know how to find out, than it is to know.
The things that we don’t know greatly exceed the things that we know.
You are only truly…
The greatest aid in getting anything done is the belief that you can do it.
Don’t take no for an answer until there are no other options.
Success is not…
When the more important things are done we should reform the language:
Eliminate all double letters. Mississippi would be Misisipi!
No consonant would have…
In 1992 Brian started a notebook of “BK’s Old Sayings and Sage Advice” and added to it over the years. These entries were revised, improved and embellished for…
In late summer of 2008 Phyllis said that she would like to host another Kiwanis installation. This is a special Kiwanis dinner meeting where the following…
For quite some time as an ongoing thing I made bouquets for Phyllis from the flowers and greenery and native growth in our yard.
Last fall, two or three…
When I started these writings I had planned to tell my memories just as they were so that they would be real memories not doctored up, watered down versions of…
MY LITTLE MARGIE, AS A TOT,CALLED ME DADDY QUITE A LOT
MY GROWING MARGIE, AS A TEEN,CALLED ME DADDY IN BETWEEN
MY ADULT MARGIE, FULLY GROWN,CALLED ME DADDY…
I bought my first car, a 1921 Model T Ford, when I was 13 years old and spent most of the summer working on it so it would be ready to drive. When I turned 14…
I was making something and I needed a piece of smooth plastic about four inches square and about one eight inch thick. I had been through all the stuff in the…
In the mid 30s I worked for Uncle Fred quite a lot. Uncle Fred manufactured small gas heaters in a small, family operated business located in the basement and…
By Myron K. Bore
THE FIRST TIME THAT I MET DIEENSHE WAS ONLY SEVENTEENAND SURE TO BE A BEAUTY QUEEN.
YES THAT’S RIGHT SHE DIDN’T DALLY,SHE BECAME MISS APPLE…
AFFLICTED EAR WHEN AN EAR IS AFFLICTED
IT CAN BE PREDICTED
THAT SOUNDS, ONCE SHARP AND CLEAR,ARE AMONG THE THINGS YOU HARDLY HEAR
EVEN WHEN THE SOURCE IS…
NOW DAYS WE DODDER TO THE DOOR
WE USED TO STRIDE WITH EASE
WE JUST AIN’T GOT IT ANYMORE
WE JUST HAVE MEMORIES
THEN WE DODDER TO THE CARTHEY LET US HAVE A…
WE LIKE OUR BASIC COFFEE POTBUT NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT IT’S GOT
WE LIKE IT MOST FOR WHAT IT’S NOT
IT’S JUST A BASIC COFFEE POT
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO…
SOMETIMES IF YOU’RE NOT A DUNCE
YOU’LL WRITE A POEM ALL AT ONCE
BUT GENERALLY, TO MAKE A RHYMEYOU MUST WORK IT OUT IN LONGER TIME
WHEN ASKED FOR A POEM OF…
Author – actress – benefactress
That’s how we perceive her
And when she speaks to us today
You know we will believe her
For Dale’s a doer, and she…
WHEN I WAS BORN – SO I’VE BEEN TOLDWILLARD WAS ALREADY FOUR YEARS OLD
MY AGE WAS ZERO – AND IT’S PLAIN TO SEEWILLARD WAS INFINITELY OLDER THAN ME
BUT WE…
Phyllis had a cute little characteristic which I have never seen in anyone else. Sometimes she would laugh while she was talking. It made her kind of hard to…
SIX MONTHS HAVE PAST, JUST HALF A YEARSINCE YOU WERE TAKEN FROM ME DEAR
THOUGH THESE MONTHS ARE PAST AND GONETHE PAIN AND SADNESS LINGER ON
ALL THROUGH THE…
2009
WE HAD IT ALL
“We had it all.” Those words tell it.
There’s no way I can tell all of the things we had. There were so many. These are a few of…
My beautiful Phyllis died December 12, 2008, from Alzheimer’s disease. The disease was kinder to Phyllis than it usually is to its victims, in that her decline…
2008
This hurt was certainly not intended by me. Rather than causing hurt it was my intention to protect her. I may have misinterpreted the remark that she…
2005
In late September 2005, Phyllis and I and a whole lot of other people attended a fund raiser sponsored by the High Desert Community Foundation, of which…
This is not a fun story, as most of them have been, but it is part of the memories.
On November 5, 2005, Phyllis had a shoulder replacement. She had been…
1997
In 1972 Phyllis and I built a house for Lenny Brewster. It is a big, rambling, rustic, ranch house on a hill on 13 acres of native desert. Lenny and I…
1996
This is one of my favorite stories because it was one of Phyllis’ favorite stories. She liked to tell the story of how she got the dogs and when she…
1954
This story begins with seemingly unrelated events coming together to cause what happened to happen.
Event number one:
In 1940, when Phyllis was 16,…
1951
This story is not entirely about Phyllis; although, she was involved in the potato farm right up to her ears in the way that it affected her family…
Daughter Margie has reminded me that Phyllis and my life together was not all mush and goo, as may have been suggested in some of my writings. Yes, we…
1949
So far there have been several stories that start with: “This is probably not the kind of story that a 90 year old should be telling to his children or…
1947
Just before I was discharged from the Navy, Phyllis and Margie had gone to live with my parents. My parents lived in a rented caretaker house on a big…
1944
When I was drafted into the Navy in 1944, the first stop, as with all recruits, was Boot Camp. In boot camp the main objective was to teach the recruits…
1944
The story that I am going to tell about this memory of Phyllis is a tribute to her love, loyalty and demonstrated devotion to me. Som may find it too…
1942
This is a story that I’m ashamed of, but I’ll tell it anyway because it’s part of the memories and it had a happy ending.
Shortly after our marriage,…
1942
My first meeting with my future father-in-law was handled by me in a less than ideal fashion. Since I was the brother of his ex wife’s husband, Phyllis…
1941
This is another tale that 90 year olds usually don’t tell to their children or grandchildren, but since this group of stories is entitled “Memories of…
1940
This is a story that 90 year olds do not usually tell to their children and grandchildren, but my memories of Phyllis would be sadly incomplete with out…
I first met Phyllis’ mother Marge the same time that I first met Phyllis. Marge was a divorcee, age 31, who my brother, Joe age 21, was dating. I met her…
1937
There came a time when Phyllis and I began to notice each other. When I noticed that I was noticing Phyllis, I thought “But she’s just a kid!” And when…
Frequently people notice that when the conversation turns to Phyllis, I tear up and choke up, and they will say, “Oh, I’m sorry.” They feel that they have…
2009
It is March 2009 and Phyllis has been gone for almost 3 months and I still can’t talk about her. I can say things like, “Phyllis used to sit here” or…
Anniversary 67, I face it alone
For the love of my life forever is gone
My life now is full of sadness and grief
But the wonderful memories, do bring some…