Fielder’s Choice - Barry Burleson


Thursday, September 22, 2011
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Fielder’s Choice
By Barry Burleson

Brave and crazy

I got an unusual text via my new cell phone Thursday.

“Missing all four tires and rims attached – stolen in the night. Yay me!” was her message with a photo attached. The picture showed the car, a 2006 Maxima car, on blocks, with all four tires and rims gone.

The info came from good friend Lisa Shaw, who lives at the corner of East College and Maury just a few blocks from downtown Holly Springs.

We’ve had our crime sprees in recent years in Holly Springs, but I’d never seen one quite like this before.

The car, parked on Maury beside her house, was jacked up on the driver’s side sometime during the night before, according to Lisa, and was sitting on the cinder blocks.

“That took some time and some bravery,” she said. “We have street traffic all day and all night.”

She said her dogs, inside the house, never barked.

“They usually hear everything,” Lisa said. “It was crazy.”

But my good friend always smiles and looks on the bright side.

“It could have been worse,” she said. “There were other things nearby that they could have taken.”

If anyone has information on the crime, contact the police department, 252-2122, or the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at 252-1311 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-729-2169.

This crime should make all of us take notice and be on the lookout for our property and that of our neighbors. It takes teamwork, the public and our law enforcement officials, to fight crime.

I typically wake up during the night two or three times. The past few nights I’ve been walking through the house and looking outside at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., whenever I awake.

Late Saturday night, just as I was going to bed, I heard a knock at the door.

As it turns out, it was no crime – just a group of kids having some fun. But it seems a bit early to start rolling yards. I thought this typically is reserved for the time period around Halloween.

Yard rolling is not as much fun to me now as it was when I was a teenager.

That’s because I have to clean it up.

Pam and I picked up some that night, about 11 p.m.

We picked up more Sunday.

Monday’s rain got most of the rest.

I would warn the children and their parents about being very careful. Plus, with crime going on in our city, residents will be a bit more “on edge” when it comes to people invading their property – fun or not.

Going back to Thursday, I got one of those phone calls that lifts your spirits on an otherwise not-so-good day.

The daughter of one of my former college teachers called me. She said she was going through her things during a move and came across a column I wrote many years ago about her mom.

“I just wanted to call and tell you thank you,” she said. “I stopped and read it again and it made me cry. It was a wonderful tribute to my mother, and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it.”

The late Leatrice Timmons was a terrific teacher and outstanding person. She was an associate professor of English at the University of North Alabama and the best ever as far as this former student is concerned.

I will never forget her and her teachings.

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