Standing Tall: Man creates colorful totems, other unique yard art

 Here's the way a cedar pole becomes a totem pole in the hands of Don Combs of Kildare, Texas.
Here's the way a cedar pole becomes a totem pole in the hands of Don Combs of Kildare, Texas.

It's worthwhile every so often to visit Don Combs out in the neighborhood around Kildare along Farm to Market 125 south from Linden.

It's here you will see a tall totem pole in the residence's front yard, along with an outhouse.

That's Combs' place, all right.

The outhouse shed will usually have a welcoming sign on it, so you will know Don wants you to turn into the yard, drive to his wood workshop out back and talk.

After all, how many people do you know who make and sell totem poles for a living? Don does and has a good time doing so.

Everything's for sale here but little if anything is antique or authentic. This is a jokester's palace. Don likes to laugh.

He's a little like the totem poles he makes. Decorative, a bit of a cartoon.

Don works hard at his totem poles, however. These are, perhaps, 7-feet high, 300-pound cedar logs that will be trimmed out first with a saw and then very brightly painted.

They sell for about $300 to $400 each, but will last in your yard well more than 20 years.

Other wooden and glass novelty items are all around and for sale. One example might be the Mason jar mounted on a handle to be called the "hillbilly's wine glass." 

Another is the fire ant whose body parts are made of three golf balls in a row.

Don is one of Cass County's more colorful characters. He's a practical man. He's been a trapper, truck driver, Mexican food chef, country guitar player and longtime gardener who loves to sell preserves and other canned items from the garden he tends.

He has a lot of comical, maybe even Tall Texan, stories to tell. One of the most is his answer to the question, "How do your train your coon dog not to chase an armadillo?"

"Nothin' much can hurt an armadillo the way they roll up into that hard-shell ball," he begins. "But if your dog goes for them and won't stop, get a 55-gallon drum, put 'em both inside and roll 'em down a hill."

That hard ball of a mad armadillo bowling with every bounce down on a dog in a barrel just beats everything out of that dog, Combs says.

"They won't never even look at an armadillo again," he said.

You've got to drive out to Kildare, however. 

Combs is outside good reception for the cellphone, so you can't call, which is actually OK for him. He'd likely stay on the phone too long, and then those totem pole faces might get really frightful.

So drive out for the stories and poles.

Here are a few pictures from his latest model totems. He had a few extra things made ready for sale during Christmas, and some are still for sale in the new year.

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