This means something

Bridge over troubled waters.I have a fear.Why I cant explain.I do not like bridges especially ones over water.Seems I remember as a child traveling over a super high bridge some where at sometime.Maybe it was just a dream or could it be I had a bad experience on a bridge in another life if there is such a thing.Bridges over water are like a roller coaster ride for me.I read of bridges falling.Being hit by ships.People and cars into the water.I think about that every time a bridge is crossed.Like the guy said in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind making a mountain out of his mashed potatoes this means something.

New fangle way

Here I sit in front of a blank sheet of paper pen in hand and nothing to write about.Well sorta.These days does anyone use paper and pen for any thing.Really I can't even read my own hand writing I'm so out of practice.The computer screen and keyboard have replaced a lot of skills we grew up with.As kids we practiced our penmanship to perfection.Now mine looks like chicken scratch.That is progress I guess.But I'm not complaining.I sure like writing this new fangle way using a computer.

Info

Scroll all the way down to bottom of page,click on older post,that will take you to all of the posts.Also click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Be more animal like

This has been on my mind lately.I watch the birds at the bird feeder and lessons could be learned from them.A male bird was taking care of his mate by bringing her seeds from the feeder.She was sitting on top of the post just a chattering as her mate worked gathering seeds.I have read that some birds have only one mate throughout life.They even mourn when the other passes away.Elephants do the same I think.I know certain breeds of ducks do this and maybe other animals do also.If only us humans would be more animal like in this respect.

I apologize

I'm sorry for being so bright eyed and bushy tailed this early in the morning but I feel good today.Just thankful for being here and having another chance at life.Had my breakfast and some good company to get the day started.Sky is sunny and the birds are fussing at the bird feeder.It's Memorial Day and most likely a hot one.Someone said this morning that they seen the temp on a downtown thermometer and it was 98 degrees yesterday.Again I apologize for being in such a good mood.My wish for you today is happiness and peace.

Dope money

Dope money.It was used to buy off the dope wagon.Maybe I should explain.Only old timers will know what I'm talking about.Years ago in the cotton mills where Momma and Daddy worked there was a snack wagon that was pushed through the mill selling Cokes,chips,crackers etc.In the beginning Cokes,CoColas where made with a little bit of the drug cocaine in them.So people gave them the name dope.The name just stuck.So in the mill people would carry dope money(snack money)to buy things off the dope wagon(snack wagon).

Snakes and pecans

Wow.94 degrees as I write this.Summer is still about a month away and it's so hot.Maybe there is something to that global warming thing.Winter skipped Georgia this year.Sure there where a few cold days but for the most part a mild season.I hear it will be a big year for creepy crawlies,snakes .The early warm weather has them on the move and they have a bad attitude.Someone said once that snakes and pecans have something in common.Every few years you have a bumper crop of both.Tales of snakes getting into your house please shoot me on the spot.Snakes are ok at a distance,where I can see them but if I think one is close by out of sight that is a bit scary.There are only 4 types of venomous snakes native to Georgia,rattlers,copperheads,cotton mouths and the coral snake.One way to tell if a snake is venomous is look them in the eyes.If the eyes are round don't worry about them.I'm not getting that close to check out their eyes myself.

Troubling times

I almost made a mistake.There for a few minutes this morning I was getting political and started to write about something I really have no knowledge of.I will stick to things understood by me and not go down that road.All I will say is God must be ashamed of what is going on in the world.Once he had enough of it and started the world all over again.He must have patience not to do it again.These are troubling times.

Damper on things

This brings back memories of good times.That is me front row 2nd from right in the red coat.I was 13 and everything was fresh and brand new.One of the girls in this photo I had my first date with.Well sorta.We went to the show to see the movie Flipper.Me,her and her 2 brothers.That did put a damper on things.I counted 4 girls in this photo that one time or another I had crushes on.

Good and bad

The temp hit 90 today according to my unofficial thermometer.I was inside all day so cool and comfy it was to me.Yes a day wasted for me not a thing was done.I did get a phone call from my oldest friend Terry C or Top Cat today.It was nice talking with my old friend.So much has changed in both our lives over the years.The years bring good and bad for us all.Not much can be done to change somethings.I think everyone has things that given a second chance they would do different or better.I know that is true for me.Maybe I would have listened a bit closer.Been a little more sympathetic to other people.I would have tried seeing things from their view point.Now I wouldn't let my pride get in the way of relationships.Someone told me once pride cometh before the fall.Stubborn and hard headed use to be me.I have learned from mistakes.A better person all of this has made me.Least I hope.

Dog gone

Dog climbs fence.Dog runs off.Dog is crazy.Dog bites neighbor.Cops come see me.Dog catcher come see me.Dog catcher takes dog .Dog in dog poky for 10 days.Dog catcher writes me a $100 citation.I go to court November 2nd.I pay fine.I not like poky.Dog gone

Earthquakes,floods and bean burritos

Someone said something today that got me thinking.Sweets before bed time gave them nightmares.That jogged my memory back to a few years ago.Back in the early 1990's I was living alone and really cooking wasn't my favorite thing to do.Not so much not liking to cook but the clean up that followed.When I used a dish,pot or bowl soon as I was finished it was washed.So being a single person a lot of frozen quick meals where always in the freezer.Many nights before bed I popped a couple of bean burritos in the oven for my midnight snack.I always noticed one thing.When ever I had bean burritos for that last meal I would dream,not just blah blah dreams but mine were vivid kaleidoscopes of things going on.Often I would dream of earthquakes and floods.The ground would open up and I could see it swallow up people,buildings etc.Same thing with floods,tidal waves.I figured out I wasn't being prophetic,it was just those bean burritos not agreeing with me.

Someone special

The tall man being Baptized is my Grandpa Haynes.Lee Anderson Haynes.I only knew him for a short time but quickly I learned to love him.Even at 3 years of age I knew he was a

special person.In his younger years the story goes that Grandpa was a bootlegger/moonshiner in the wilds of Alabama in what is now called the Talledega National Forest.Stories of him coming home on a wagon with croker sacks of money have been told.Another story is that one night he came home and had been shot in the mouth.A few days later while at the breakfast table the bullet fell out I'm told.How and why he had been shot I never heard.A farmer in his later years.I remember he had a small farm with cows,hogs,chickens and an old mule named Grey John.He never met a stranger I've heard always joking and teasing people.One person he didn't like and why I don't know was President Roosevelt.Peaches and cream sitting around the breakfast table I fondly remember.Sitting on the back porch with him and my aunts and uncles hearing him talk while Grandma Haynes churned butter is a memory that is so precious to me.I never had the pleasure of meeting Grandpa Smith he died when my Mom was just 5 years old.Grandpa Haynes always made me feel special and to me he was special.

All things considered

I can't sleep so I will write.My brain is in high gear tonight running at warp speed.There are times I just have the need to put something into words.Nothing in particular is bothering me so that's not the problem.All sorts of things are being thought about.A little sadness has crept into the picture and it's not me that's the focus of it.The feeling of fear and anxiety someone else is going through is on my mind tonight.I don't know them well at all just a speaking acquaintance but what they are going through must be terrifying.All things considered I am lucky.Why things have to be this way is not understood at times.Truly I believe God is in control and everything is His will.A purpose for everything even if it's not understood or the results are not what we want.I don't question God's reasoning He is in charge.I read in the Bible that one day everything will be understood.

Things that just don't sound right

Strange things.Laying here in bed looking out the big window I see in the royal blue sky the crescent moon and the bright light of the planet Venus.Today thoughts of strange things that have happened here in LaGrange/Troup County Georgia have been on my mind.Things that just don't sound right.Years ago a man committed suicide.Least that is what the corner said but the strange thing the gun supposedly used was never found.There was a little riff between Police and the corner over that one.And this one is just not only strange but just plain off the wall a man with a 357 magnum pistol here shot down an Army helicopter flying over him back in the 70's.Seems he shot through the underside of the helicopter hitting the pilot forcing a crash landing.Then there is the story of the light in the woods.Up Highway 27 near the Troup/Heard county line at Blueberry Hill out in the woods people started seeing a light in the trees.I was a little kid at that time and my folks loaded up the old 55 Pontiac Cheftain station wagon with my cousins and off we went looking for the light on a dark summer night.Parking on side of the road there was quite a crowd there also to view this phenomena.Well as luck would be nothing was seen but we did have the pleasure of meeting a man who said he was the keeper of the light and it had asked him for a drink of water please.Least the light or what ever was polite.

Chattahoochee

The Chattahoochee river.I remember seeing the river so low that you could walk across it on the rocks.I've seen it over run it's banks and flood West Point ,Georgia back in the 1960's.The river runs about 430 miles and you can float on it from Columbus ,Ga to the Gulf of Mexico.The name Chattahoochee is an Indian name meaning flowering rocks.The Indians also cursed the river saying it would take many a man's life.My Uncle Arnold had a cabin on the river and as a little boy Daddy,Arnold and me spent the night there once.It was a one room rustic cabin built high up on rocks because it was only a few feet from the river bank.I was introduced to that delicacy called fried frog legs that night.Watching them dance around the frying pan I choose to have a hot dog instead.Back in the 1970's the river was dammed up here creating Lake West Point.It was for flood control.The Army Corps of Engineers over see the dam.You can still drive up Highway 27 to Franklin,Ga and still see the river run free.And yes the Indians where good at their curse on the Chattahoochee.Since the river was dammed up nearly a hundred or more people have lost their lives here on it.

Embarrassing condition

Senior moments.Sheesh I have had two episodes lately.The latest was today I forgot where my hat was and as you probably guessed it was already on my head.The other day I was listening to music on the computer and for some reason I noticed nothing was being heard.I checked the volume on the computer settings but every thing looked good.Desperate I was thinking of running a complete diagnostic check.Then crazy me noticed by chance that the reason nothing was being heard was that I had taken off my headphones.Seems I'm not alone.Telling others about this little episode of senior moments they admitted they also suffer from this embarrassing condition.

That place,you know

Boy I feel queasy.Hate this feeling.Lunch did not look great to me.For supper I just ate a baked potato.I did load it up with butter,sour cream,salt and pepper.It is so hot today.Muggy.AC is on but still hot in here.Maybe a steady cooling rain would make me feel better least cool things off some.Enough on that subject.What I had planned on writing about was a day or so ago someone made the comment that I sounded like I was from you know up there,yep that place,the North.Rest assured I'm not.Born and raised right here in LaGrange,Ga America's greatest little city,the place of elms and roses.You know maybe it's possible I do sound a little like you know,that place,the North.I have a honest excuse for it.For almost seven years I lived in the same house with you know ,people from,yep that place,the North.Yes we did have a communication problem in the beginning but it worked it's way out.I started talking like them,you know,people from,yep the North and they adapted well and sound like born Southerners now.I have to be on guard not to slip into my old way of talking,saying words like winder(window)doe(door)flo(floor)cheer(chair).Yep,if you had told me that I would end up talking like,you know,that place,yep the North,I would have told youse guys that youse was wrong in a NY miniute.

Let your fingers do the walking

Everything in one box.That is what my computer is to me.A way to communicate with people with email or instant messenger,no need for newspapers printed on paper anymore they are read online.Who needs a TV.I listen to everything that's on radio with the computer these days.We are truly in the digital age.I remember back in the 1970's hearing about something called email.How could that be I wondered.Now people even date by computer,shop online,is there a need for stores anymore.I heard of a thing called video phone years ago it never caught on but today I guess that cams on computers has taken that to another level.Do your banking and pay your bills online.No need for a stamp or automobile now.Let your fingers do the walking like the old yellow page commercial use to say.The computer has changed our life style.I just hope it's for the best.

You almost won

Congratulations you almost won.I got that letter once.A store downtown LaGrange was giving away a bike for Christmas.I registered and really forgot all about it.A letter came in the mail for me.Noticing who it was from my memory was jogged and thinking to myself this is good news.With childish excitement the letter was opened.I won a bike kept running through my mind.Well you know how it goes.The letter was informing me I almost won the bike.Still to this day often I think of that little disappointment in life.

Everything has a purpose

Rainy day here in West Central Georgia.It's ok with me kinda suits me today.Even with the dark clouds and rain the little solar powered butterfly in the window is happy and just dances up a storm.Got to be a moral to that and maybe in a minute it will come to me.Birds sitting on power lines seem to be enjoying the rain.It's not hard rain just a little more steady than a drizzle.Everything has a purpose and this rain is needed.Folks with gardens are happy with all the rain of the past few days I bet.I should be also cause I have tomatoes in the waiting from people who have gardens.White loaf bread,mayo,sliced home grown tangy tomato,salt and pepper.Tomato sandwich.So simple and hard to mess up and delicious.

Closest thing to Gods love

It's a rainy night in Georgia.Back in bed after a long day just looking out the big window watching traffic on Highway 29.Supper was excellent.Country fried steak,scalloped potatoes,green beans,cucumber salad and apple pie with hot coffee to round it out.Tomorrow is Mothers Day 2012.Thoughts of Momma have flashed into my head off and on all day.I keep remembering when as a little boy how on Saturdays we would go shopping downtown,she would always have her hair done and afterwards we would eat at the Plantation on Bull Street or at the soda fountain at Holmes Drug Store on Main.Or the time when I was sick with some type of virus and she got down on the bathroom floor with me,holding me,crying with me as I threw up.Momma I guess was the only person I'm 100% sure of that loved me.That was something never doubted and guess taken for granted.Someone said once that a Mothers love is the closest thing to Gods love that we will ever have here on earth.So true.

My name is

All my life it seems people have had trouble pronouncing my name.Most of the time when I'm asked what my name is I just spell it.My name is Haynes.Most call or spell it Hays,Haines or Hanes.The y is silent so guess it is a easy name to mispronounce.Never have I took offense by being called the wrong name and rarely do I correct anyone when it's mispronounced.Why the name is spelled like it is I have no idea.So just call me anything I answer to many names.

Fun on $1.25

Fun on $1.25.Every week that was my allowance or mad money as Momma called it.It was for chores I did around the house.I would take that $1.25 and go to Buy Wise Drug's in Newnan,Georgia where I lived as a kid and buy a model car,the kind that where 1/24 scale plastic that you had to put togather.AMC,Revell where the most popular brands to buy.Testors glue and paint where the only items needed for assembly.It took patience and a steady hand putting those models togather but it was such an enjoyment.If I had been smart they would have been saved.

Creepy crawler

I have no idea what to write about.No earth shattering news to report.Everything is just so so lately.Well that's not quite right.I think,maybe it was,yes I'm sure I seen a little baby creepy crawler the other day at the rock water fountain.A snake.Lizards are over populated at the water fountain but this snake is a first for me.Brown,tiny, I first mistaken it for a worm.But it crawled like a snake and best I could tell it had a tongue that flickered in and out.It crawled or squirmed right towards me.Never did I feel threaten by little no shoulders.Now as I'm writing this I have this thought.Where there is a baby creepy crawler there must be a Momma creepy crawler.So on my next outing to the wilds of the water fountain my eyes will be keen on the lookout for more creepy crawlers.

Strange goings on

Strange goings on on Highway 219 north between Troup and Heard Country.Looking on the internet as far back as 1938 people where noticing things out of the normal.Lights in the sky,things in the sky.I remember a story about a family's car being invaded by a strange light inside with them.The road has a stretch of land that is nothing but swamp.I have to admit it must be a spooky place at night in dead darkness.Not many homes on that road that I remember.I read that years ago maybe in the 1950's a military helicopter crashed in that neck of the woods.I personally remember back in the 1990's a military jet exploded killing the pilot while supposedly chasing some type of aircraft in the area.Least that is what witnesses said I can't prove or disapprove any of this.I know for a fact once when driving back down 219 from Heard County up in the sky I seen a silver round object moving at a fast clip. Wasn't like any plane I ever seen before.Strange thing was I watched an object just like it hovering above downtown LaGrange a few days before.So maybe nothing strange is going on but there sure are lots that hasn't been explained about Highway 219.

Adapt

Adapt to the situation.Be like chameleon lizard.Life gives you lemons............One's outlook on life can be your own.Make it good or make bad.Your choice be happy or miserable.I'm not saying everything that happens you have to like but the way it's handled can be controlled.Just try looking at the good in every thing not only the bad.Believe me that makes life more bearable and interesting.

Hell on earth

Never have I worried much about myself.Seems I have done alot of worrying but it was always about others.Lately I have this fear.Momma wasn't much older than me when she started having memory problems.Alzheimer's or dementia was the final diagnosis.Lord I have prayed don't let me end up that way.It is one of the saddest things in the world to lose your mind I think.That thought is stuck in the back of my brain.I see people with dementia daily.Their constant walking or repeated questions over and over and it breaks my heart.These once most likely vibrant people reduced to not more than a shell of a the person they use to be.I know how their families feel.Mental anguish has to be hell on earth.