I've been everywhere man

I enjoyed my short stay in Memphis at an air BnB over a recording studio. I was able to do some laundry and walk to dinner. But then I realized I hadn't brought my wallet, and a good thing as man on the street wanted to chat about how he's being defrauded by credit cards and the government, and maybe he needs to call the FBI; he needs to get his money. I said you make a very good point, and I turned to walk back to get my purse. I drove back to the

restaurant so as not to have any more discussions with him.

I was going to grab some quick photos of Graceland, because at $45 a pop for a ticket, I was not going in. However, when I got there, you cannot see the home without entering the grounds so that that was a bust.

From there it was over the Mississippi River again and crossing into Arkansas again. My destination was the childhood home of Johnny Cash.

My dad who passed away in 2014, was a big Johnny Cash fan, which seemed a little off brand for him, since other artists in his collection including Peter, Paul, and Mary, Carly Simon, Andy Williams, and Glen Campbell. But I think Dad liked Johnny because he was a story teller. And he liked playful songs like a "Boy Named Sue."

Johnny Cash's boyhood home is in Dyess, AR. This was a government planned community established in 1934 after the great depression as a way to help people get back on their feet. There were requirements to be selected for the program according to the guides-- married, have children, and willing to farm. However, other sources cite that being under 50, destitute due to no fault of their own, and being white were the requirements. The instigator of the project was William Dyess, director of the Arkansas Relief Organization. more than 15,000 acres would be divided into 500 homestead lots. There were a few versions of homes that could be build in a matter of days and all had to be white with a choice of three colors for ths shutters.

It is said the Mrs. Cash cried when she first entered the home because she had never been in a new home, nor one so nice. It is much larger then Elvis' birthplace, but there were nine people living here! Mrs. Cash never painted the walls and wasn't one much for clutter. With the help of Johnny's siblings the home has been restored to very much how it was andeven has the family piano that Mrs. Cash played. It was rescued from the church where it had been donated prior to closing of the church. The house itself if one six of the original 500 remaining.

I learned that Johnny, like Elvis, lost a brother except his was older and his idol. He never forgot Jack. Legend has it that Johnny's real name was JR but that was unacceptable when he joined the army so they changed it to John, and when he became a singer, it was changed to Johnny to make him more interesting.

The night stand in the photo above, is one that Johnny made for his mom in shop class. A replica is in the home. His high school year book was about as sparse as mine with 15 graduates. The town of Dyess has almost died out since the government pulled funding for it when WWII started, and the land was hard to farm. As the guides said, the ground is gumbo. it gets very wet during the spring rains and then hardens. The houses were on cement blocks which would sink and shift and then re-harden at angles and eventually ruining a lot of the homes. Also a huge flood in 1937, was devastating to the area and the inspiration for Johnny's song "Five fee high and rising."

Now tourists from all over the world come to visit the home in literally the middle of nowhere. The guides mentioned a large group from Norway who said there is a replica of the home there, and a huge fan following. Who woulda thought?

From there my next stop was Kirkwood, MO (St. Louis) to visit a summer neighbor. I call her Dame Diana Thomas, she's 95 and a national treasure. She recently remarried after being widowed for some time, to her 97 year old suitor. She had makings for a manhattan which i usually drink at her cabin in the summer, and she and Bill wanted to hear all about my trip. I wanted to hear more do Diana's lake memories and Bill's experiences in WWII, but I get it. They don't have a lot of visitors, so my visit was a chance to converse about fresh topics. And like a dunce, I didn't take any photos....