The Red Flannel Rag

unbutton the fly on his overalls, take out his penis, lay it on the porch rail, and pee out

into the yard. We watched him and nearly died laughing as we stuffed our shirts in our

mouths. One day we noticed a notch in the porch railing, and we thought he had worn a

groove by laying his penis on the railing so many times. We called it the "pecker" notch.

The front yard had a very foul odor on hot summer days.

My dad, Norman Shifflett and Oscar Crawford standing in front of Grandpa Austin’s house, with Warnie standing on the porch near the “pecker notch.”

One Sunday our little brother, Warnie, who was just starting to talk, innocently

crawled up into Grandpa Austin's lap while he sat on the front porch. John and I

expected to see his little body flying high over the porch railing as we watched with

mouths agape. Instead, Grandpa, thinking no one was watching, placed his arm around

my little brother, who immediately started asking questions. "Why do you have those big

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