I had my heart set on it.My mouth was watering thinking about what was to come.My taste buds were at full attention.In short I could hardly wait for supper.
Chili.
Yes chili and a toasted/grilled cheese sandwich was the alternative for supper tonight.I noticed this as soon as my fuzzy eyes could focus on the expanded menu this morning.
Chili or baked fish let me think this over hmmm chili of course was my choice.Didn't even have to think that one over.
More I thought about that delicious homemade chili the hunger set in deep.Two bowls was my idea of a filling supper.
Told my CNA to please put in my order.In fact I told another CNA to check on my request just to make sure.
I was chili hungry and didn't want to leave anything to chance.
Watching the clock as it moved ever so slowly making it's way to 5 pm supper time.
It's finally time.The supper cart has arrived.Soon I would be devouring those bowls of chili.
You must not like fish the CNA who delivered my tray said you have a hot dog.
Wait.A hot dog?A hot dog with my chili right?That's what you mean yes?
No.
As that farmer McDonald in the Geico commercial who is in the spelling contest and his word is cow spell cow...cow...spells cow right but add a eieio at the end like in the song who realizes his mistake says dagnabbit I just realized no chili no two bowls of chili no two bowls of chili with a toasted/grilled cheese sandwich for me cause the Hospital didn't send any.
Any way today is National Hot Dog Day and I got two with classic Lays chips.All is not lost.
Summertime sitting on the porch just a swinging in the swing that is what I'm thinking about this morning.
How high can you make it go.That dreaded fear in back of your mind that the chains on the swing might break and that thought brings you down to a more safer swinging speed.
Just sitting on a summer afternoon watching the sun set talking with someone who you enjoy the conversation with.
That was Daddy's and mine time.After supper let's go to the porch he would say and off with my cup of fresh brewed Folgers coffee and little Hav-A-Tampa cigar we went Daddy with his snuff or chewing tobacco.No serious talk just enjoying the company.
A time when neighbors stopped by for chats and people driving by that you waved at.
Night time summer porch swinging memories made of this.Fireflies and the sound of crickets and cicadas mixed with the smell of honeysuckle and formosa.
When I get to Heaven I hope there is a big porch with a swing waiting on me.
Focusing my fuzzy vision on the outside I see it's raining.
Good.Gardens need it and I need their acidy red ripe tomatoes.
I really enjoy red ripe home grown tomatoes but there is a problem.
Maybe I'm allergic to them.Soon as one is eaten my face starts tingling,then itching then I break out in this red rash that slowly covers my face.Just my face no were else.
This last for a few days then it looks like I've been in the sun and my skin peels.
I have been warned that my throat could close up,tongue swell and eyes close shut.Benadryl helps but that makes me sleep for a couple of days.
Maybe Momma was right I am hard headed and stubborn but I really like tomatoes.
It does get embarrassing when people stare at you and ask what's wrong with your face.
I have just one question.
Why can't it be broccoli or cauliflower or baked fish and chicken that I'm allergic to.
He was a first class do gooder goody two shoes type always telling the other kids what and not to do.You can't do that I remember little Timmy tell another follow me awe struck zombie once.
Often I wished that when Little Timmy got his self in a jam Lassie wouldn't be so quick to the rescue.
Lassie would get a cup of that excellent coffee from McDonalds and one of those little Hav-A-Tampa cigars and sit back in HIS(yes all the Lassies were boy dogs playing female parts)Lazy Boy recliner and just let Little Timmy sweat it out for awhile.
I seen a Lady who works here at the OFH who almost daily walks past my window to the kitchen were she works pass by in my dream.
This time it was different.She was toting a food tray like our meals are served on.On this food tray I seen little boxes of Krystal hamburgers neatly lined up and I think boxes of fries.
Maybe yours truly has fell off that cliff of sanity and is spiraling out of control into that deep canyon of craziness.
Or maybe I was just hungry and wanted some Krystal's.
Things that go on at the OFH(old folks home) one needs some type of protection.
That little ole gray haired lady in the wheelchair who tried assassinating me with a cup full of ice water is back from being evaluated but I haven't seen her cruising the halls and by ways of the OFH yet.
Then we have the groaners,moaners,complainers,rude ones,inconsiderate ones who(I know you are getting tired of hearing this one)grab the TV remote and changes the channel from what other people are interested in and watching.
Then we have some who suffer from that awful ailment of grand disillusion about their self worth.No you ain't that great or yes really I'm not impressed.
So the tin foil hat really comes in handy.Mine is always close by.Like in that movie Signs were the two little kids make and wear hats of tin foil so those monster aliens can't read their minds.
If it worked for them maybe it will for me.
Not worried about monster aliens but little ole gray haired ladies in wheelchairs.
Back in the old days when America was freer and had less laws things were different.
Everyone it seems is going to Florida or has been lately.I miss the smell of sea water and Coppertone sun tan lotion,the crashing of Atlantic ocean waves on the shore.I have all the qualities to be a first class beach bum.
All that go south to the Sunshine/Bikini state I ask for just one small favor.
Please bring me back a baby alligator so I can put it in one of Twin Fountains water fountains out front at the gazebo.
Seems that custom of stopping on a Florida road and buying a sack full of oranges or a coconut and baby alligators to take home is a thing of the past.
It's now as they say "ginst the law".
Not the oranges or coconuts or those high priced T shirts with the funny sayings but the baby gators.
Daddy would go deep sea fishing a few times each year and my request was always the same "bring me a baby gator Daddy",nope never happened just a bag of oranges or that coconut that kept me busy all day trying to crack'em.
Now that I'm older I think what would I have done with a baby gator anyway.
Maybe that's where that 10 foot gator that was killed up the road in the river came from.
Some pesky kid like me asking his Daddy"bring me a baby gator home".
Yesterday, Wednesday for supper I had baked chicken wings,today,Thursday at lunch I had fried chicken wings,both were enjoyed,supper rolls around and guess what was on my plate,not chicken wings but chicken tenders.
Now chicken three meals in a row is a bit much.I would even get tired eating a thin well done T bone from Piggly Wiggly three times in a row.
I switched my chicken delight for beefy cheesy mac and it was thoroughly enjoyed.
Chicken I know is cheap as far as meat goes but enough already besides what I read in my defense of not being a chickentarian is that chicks today are pumped with steroids and other nasty things so they grow bigger faster.
Took a peek at the menu for Friday's lunch,yep you're ahead of me,chicken tenders.
I just woke up and it’s after midnight.I hope it was just a dream.
Around 10ish pm I fell asleep listening to a 10 hour loop of rain and thunder on YouTube.This is my nightly routine,ear buds in,an all night loop of something is chosen to mask the noises here at the old folks home.I usually just peacefully drift off into deep slumber.
Maybe it was just that snack I had of a tomato and banana pepper or the 3 peanut butter crackers just before sleep that caused this little "dream"?
Or did something,someone really grab my wrist as it hung over the side of the bed?
Many times before falling asleep my hand hanging over the side I’ve thought what if there is something under…
Things I learned the hard way:
1.Women are always right,never argue,you can't win.
2.If a muffler falls off a lawn mower leave it be,it is hot.
3.A dog wagging it's tail will bite.
4.There is a thing called to much of a good thing.
5.Have I mentioned women are always right?
6.Smiling faces don't always mean someone can be trusted.
7.If it looks like a duck,walks like a duck,quacks like a duck it ain't no chicken.
8.Health nuts no matter what will also die someday.
9.Here is where you can post what you learned the hard way.
10.Women are always right.
True story...astronauts had a problem writing in space...NASA spent a million dollars to fix the problem...cosmonauts had the same problem...they fixed it for one dollar...they used a pencil.
Riding a horse,six shooter on my hip, eating beans around the camp fire,sleeping under the stars.
Freedom to go where ever my horse leads no schedule to keep.
Cowboys were wise and smart.Someone asked an old cowboy once what was his horse's name.The cowboy answered you never give something a name that you might have to eat someday.Wise.Cowboys carried a bottle of whiskey in their saddlebags in case of snake bite.They also carried a snake with them.Smart.
Then I think this would get old after a few days.
No AC on hot days.Sleeping in the cold rain.Beans,beans and more beans all the time.
Rethinking my situation I'm better off right where I am.
Lord help us that's just what we need around the OFH(old folks home).
Reading about this super moon it is said to increase chances of natural disasters like hurricanes,tornadoes,floods,earthquakes on and on.
Three in a row they will be.30% larger in size than normal.
Just to be on the safe side I'm preparing for it now.Yours truly is stocking up on tin foil,duct tape and those old fashioned Bobbie pins like Momma always used.Why I''m doing this I have no idea but I am just compelled to do something instead of sitting,waiting on all the heck that will bust out here at the OFH.
Like that guy in Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind who was building a mountain with his mashed potatoes said"this means something"same thing for me with the tin foil,duct tape and the old fashioned Bobbie pins.
Could the world exist without these two modern creations?
Right up there with the wheel and fire they rank in my humble opinion.
Invented in 1953, Water Displacement, 40th formula yes that's what WD-40 stands for,will do everything from cranking your lawn mower to removing bubble gum from a kid's hair. Duct tape was invented in 1942 for military use.Because it waterproofed items it is also called duck tape. Often I see people around the old folks home their heads wrapped tightly with duct tape cause you just know at any time now their head will explode. The tape keeps down the mess.
Breakfast is over and what to do now is the pending question for me.I just ate my grits and fried egg saving my biscuit and sausage and OJ for later.
Sleep,watch TV on my computer,write or stare out the big window.
Ambulance has just left with a resident across the hall from room 31.
Meal times around the old folks home is a popular time for the ambulance to show up.That seems to be the time people get sick.Before meals I must add,it's not the food making them sick.
Just had a drive by,Gary cruising the halls without speaking.
BBQ chicken legs for lunch uggh but homemade veggie soup and a grilled cheese for supper the menu says so not all is lost.
For some reason that song from the kids TV show New Zoo Review is stuck in my head.
It was an amusement park located on Stewart Avenue(now called Metropolitan Avenue)downtown Atlanta when I was a kid.
Maybe from the late 50's till the mid 60's it was open.
Rides like Crazy Rat,games and that great amusement park food.
I always spent my time playing skeet ball trying to win a prize.It was said by some I was gambling,playing a game of chance because most of my trips there were on Church outings.
Baptist can be strict.
But some like to nit pick the little things like that but over look the big stuff like loving and caring.
I didn't know at the time,never did I pay attention but Fun Town was segregated.I was just there for fun.
Martin Luther King I read while searching for information on Fun Town mentioned it in a speech.He said his daughter had wanted to go to Fun Town but she could not because it was white only.
I remember playing the horse racing game(maybe I was a little gambler)there was a bowling alley and seems like maybe a pool.
1966 Fun Town closed it's doors.Way before Six Flags came to Georgia.
Stewart Avenue became famous for car lots,later on a place for criminal behavior,if you were looking for something it could be found there.
What would I do without this big window next to my bed.My window on the world.A small part of it anyway.
Highway US 29 runs from Pensacola,Florida all the way to Maine.
Seems I've always been close by no matter where I lived to lay in bed on those muggy summer nights and hear the whine of the big 18 wheelers going north or south on 29.
In my room.A place of quiet peacefulness.With the blinds closed ear buds on I'm in my own little personal place of sanctuary.
Sometimes that's were I want to be at the old folks home.
Were I don't have to deal with the OT'S (old timers) when they get started up.
It can be very difficult living with people who have short term memory loss.
Maybe well I know that's what wrong with my roomie who constantly changes the TV channel.He just doesn't remember or when he says the same thing over and over.
Scary I'm older than him.
Maybe I repeat myself over and over maybe I repeat myself over...
Things that don't make sense:
1.Wearing a belt with suspenders.
2.Iced coffee.
3.Wearing short pants with snow on the ground(postal workers) white men at any time.
4.Turkeytarians.
5 Health nuts(you're going to die anyway).
6.Painted bricks.
7.Jogging.
8.Why no indisputable photo/video of UFO's with all the phones with cameras.
9.Have I mentioned turkeytarians yet?
10.Shaving cause it just grows back.
Sons of Southern Straight Shooters as we are affectionately called.My assignment with the SSSS was to cause confusion and mayhem to our Brothers and Sisters north of Hogansville,Georgia.
Them Yankees.
Things I would do like upon their entry into the great state of Georgia give them the official are you a Yankee test.
What is that thing that is fury,wags it's tail and goes bow wow?If their answer was dog I knew further investigation was needed.The correct answer should have been dawggg.
Sweet milk or buttermilk with your bowl of cornbread?If they said ewww and gaged you knew on the spot they were Yankees.
Peanuts in your Co Cola or peanuts with your Co cola?This reveals much of our teste's personality.Peanuts in your Co Cola is the correct answer.
Who was the King and what was the number of his car and you get bonus points for naming the correct color of his car?Any answer other than Richard Petty and Petty blue for his car would be an abomination.Long live the King.
By the way.You do know who the Intimidator was don't you?If you don't that would get even a Southern born and raised redneck exiled from 3 states in Dixie and the District of Columbia.
Potted meat,Vienna's and moon pies.If those items are not in your food cabinet chances are you're not from these parts.
In closing I must admit.Those people North of Hogansville,Georgia ain't all that bad,really.
I welcome my Brothers and Sisters from the North with open arms.
And in closing Dear Loved ones,when that great day arrives and you truly realize that Georgia is the greatest State in this here Union,I will personally buy you a Greyhound bus ticket and we shall travel down I-85 to Montgomery,Alabama to the steps of the state Capitol where we shall kneel at the feet of Ole Jeff Davis's stature and give blessings and thanks for being the Chosen Ones living in the Great State of Georgia.
Minding my own beeswax not bothering any soul I see her from the corner of my eye.
It's like I hear that movie Jaws theme in my brain.But this time the shark I mean the little old gray wisp of a woman is cruising fast towards me.My mind is racing what is she up to.
Like a Ninja or a Mafia hired hit women she grabs my ice water off the table and with such uncaring callous emotion and the most hateful look on her face she splatters me with that cold water.
Not a word was spoken between us as she swiftly fled the scene in her wheelchair.
Yes people the old folks home is full of these Mafia Ninja type little old ladies.
Started out with a scratchy throat then a sore throat.That part is gone...I hope.
The head in a vise feeling has kicked in.
Coughing and sneezing.
If I had a fever which I think last night I did is gone.Right now the back of my head is wet with sweat.A few minutes ago after a spell of coughing nausea set in but after turning the AC on big boy is hot setting I'm better.
Maybe a few days down to the Bikini State for some sun and surf I bet.
Laying out on the beach cooking yourself.I can smell Banana Boat suntan lotion now or is Coppertone still around?
The water looks so good and inviting doesn't it?
The warm salty Atlantic or the close by Redneck Rivera of the South Panama City on the Gulf.
Go ahead I know you want to do it.Take a little swim.Wade into the crashing waves.Buy one of those plastic floats and just drift peacefully in the water.
But far be it for me to ruin your vacation no not I.
Day is done.It's through.Not dark yet but very soon.
In bed looking out the window at the green sky.Yep green.Always heard that means hail is close by.A little thunder storm and rain did move through our neck of the woods a few hours ago.Looking toward the west stray light of the setting sun is peaking through scattered clouds.
A small rumble of noise is still heard but for the old folks home it's fairly tame and quiet.
Lunch and supper were a bust.Mr. Charles brought me a tomato sandwich which got me through lunch. I've asked for a pimento or peanut sandwich with Cheetos or real chips not those baked kind.That will get me by till breakfast.
That's the highlights of my life today.Hope your was good.
Till we meet again happy trails to you...nope can't use that,Roy and Dale Rogers sang that at the end of every show.
So I will say what the Italians would always say after talking to them on Amateur Radio...Ciao.
Guess I did cause a coffee cup is sitting here.Took a little nap and couldn't remember when waking up.
Things like this are happening more frequently.
I've always had trouble with names this is nothing new but at times it's getting worse.Trouble spelling I have noticed but really never have I been a spelling bee champ.I'm so thankful for this Yankee spell checker.But sometimes Southern words don't compute.
Where are you from dummy, Georgia,my Yankee spell checker will smartly ask,why yes as a matter of fact I am from Georgia is my answer.
You know it could be a lot worse.
I could have said Alabama.
Now before ya'll folks over there in Alabama get all fussy and have a hissy fit you know we love you,shoot I got kin over there that never made it out and daily I pray for them.I'm man enough to admit it once I was a resident of Alabama.
In closing all I can say is chin up my Alabama Brethren and Sisters,follow the rising sun,that will lead you to the great state of Georgia.
Just the other day I was 3 living in Roanoke,Alabama staying with Grand Pa and Grand Ma while my parents worked the 2 till 10 pm shift in the cotton mills in LaGrange.
Then at 6 so long ago in 1958 I was in Mrs. Porter's 1st grade class.Getting gold stars for writing my name.
Age 10 another chapter of my life began.East Newnan,Georgia were I learned of happiness,love,sadness and disappointment.
Could it be I'm now 18 living during changing times in the town were 10th Street was home for hippies.
21 back home,LaGrange,it will always be,good or bad.
I knew at 39 a grown up I had become.
Now in what some call the fall of my life at 62 I look forward to being a child again.
I'm 8 years old again running up and down Juniper Street barefooted in summer care free.
I'm tired and sleepy this same dream is wearing me out.
It's like in that movie Ground Hog Day.
This is the dream.
I'm standing in front of an elevator.The door opens.On I get and up it goes.Reaching were ever it got I stay on and ride it back down.Getting off were I started.
I wait till the door opens,step inside and ride it again.
What ever this dream means,maybe nothing at all,but it sure is wearing me out up down all night long.
I did have a terrifying moment on an elevator once.Were the Troup County Historical place is on the corner of Main Street once years ago back in the 50's it was a bank.I was maybe 5 years old with Daddy and on the elevator up to the next floor we went(only 2 stories)Daddy got off but the door shut quickly and back down I went.Busting into tears it did so scare me.A nice man rescued me and took me back to were Daddy was.
Still to this day elevators are not my favorite rides.
Click Click has been warned about not being fair with the TV remote.Hogging it,snatching it away,and worse of all continuous switching from one channel to another.
He is just plain out rude and inconsiderate.
In the past cuss outs by other residents have occurred.
For breakfast each day he had the same meal.Sausage biscuit with jelly,dressed up he called it and a bowl of grits and OJ.
Now his other 2 meals,lunch and supper he wanted cake,lemon pies, fig bars or the ever present box of oatmeal cakes.
Sometimes his cakes and pies were placed in the fridge you know just to protect them from ants which also love sweet stuff.
Now Mr B would fuss if offered real food.Boiled food and vegetables and fruit would give you indigestion and kill you cause his Brother had died from eating bananas.
He always had a piece of peppermint candy in his mouth.I joked once about the results of a blood test he took once.Seems the hospital lab staff testing the blood were confused and bewildered.95% peppermint and 5% blood were the result of his test.
He would ask for his sweets and being told they were in the fridge to prevent ants from getting them he remarked yeah those two legged ants.Took me awhile to catch on that he meant humans.
I have been promised home cooked collards,potato salad and cornbread by a friend for tomorrow.
Last night on my way to the shower I over heard some CNA'S talking about what they had ordered for supper.Ya'll making me hungry I said.One brought me some fries they had left over really waffle fries from Chic Fillet.They were great.
Nurse giving me my insulin shot last night showed me pictures on her phone of catfish she caught.Asked if I liked fish and I was honest and said not to much but I dearly crave the trimmings of fries,onion rings and hush puppies.So maybe let's just keep our fingers crossed and our forks out and ready.
Yeah you probably know the routine...got any kind of food left over don't trash it bring it to me.
You know the one that you find in your hamburger sack after you thought they were all gone.
Ain't that one the best?
Same way with peanuts in the shell.
Admit it you have done this,scrounging around between the couch cushions looking for loose change or the TV remote and you hit the jackpot and find that one solitude peanut in the shell and it's the best tasting thing and you crave for more.
Thursday had always been library day at school and I got out of the class room for awhile.
Thursday was pay day for Daddy and our routine was we went grocery shopping.There was that revolving $1 toy rack with wonderful cheap toys like a pack of army men or a cool plastic pistol etc.
Thursday was eat out day.Hamburger,potato chips and chocolate milk.
We all see things out of the corner of our eyes that are not payed much attention to.
Or looking right at them maybe things are not as they seem.
That bird circling above your head,the bumble bee that just buzzed by you,a dragon fly which really looks like a little helicopter keeps hanging around.
I'm not paranoid but just think about this.The news media is full of stories about the NSA listening to ordinary law abiding citizens's cell phone calls and intercepting their e mails.
Ponder this.
Maybe the government has taken it one step farther.Those birds,bees and dragon flies just might be ...here we go...DRONES...equipped with tiny cameras and listening devices.
As our day comes to an end here at the home I hear a small rumble starting to build in intensity.
I want to go to bed,over,over,over and over this little pint size woman is repeating.
I got sea sick again by watching the remote controller of the all mighty TV just switch from one channel to the next.
I was amazingly shocked by one of my roomies this morning when they got him up for breakfast he didn't use that blank blank word taking the Lord's name in vain.
Well we still have bed time for him coming up soon so the verdict on whether he can get through the day without cussing out the CNA we will just have to wait and see.
They must have put that Lady to bed,don't hear her now,all is quiet ,sorta at the old folks home.
Saturday night/Sunday morning a week ago about 1 am kindness of the 1st degree was seen.
My roommate Mr B is not doing very well at all.
He has just about forgone eating.Maybe a spoon full of food a week and that's it.Insure drinks are keeping him alive I think.His voice is so weak I can't understand much of what he is saying.Mr B will be 97 August 17th if...
Back to that night spoken of.His blood pressure was taken and it was extremely low.I guess it was presumed he was 1 leg in this world 1 leg in another.
The act of kindness and compassion.
A nurse,Ms Theresa pull up a chair next to his bed and just sat there holding his hand,speaking softly to him.I was deeply touched by that act of human caring and kindness.
When my time comes I sure hope there is someone to hold my hand.
You hit me to hard.He called me a name.I'm going to tell...
Now this is not 6 year old kids I'm talking about but 300 pound 6 ft 7 inch tall professional football players.
I kid you not.
The past few seasons of professional football has reduced the game played by rough tough men into players who want to be playing tag instead of tackle football.
I wonder what the old school players of seasons gone by would think of this mumbo jumbo stuff called football that's being played today.
Knute Rockne is spinning in his grave I bet.
And another thing I wish them sissified over grown pampered boys would stop that habit of skipping around like little girls playing hop scotch when they do something spectacular.
Football like Ham Radio has been dumbed down so far it's not fun any more.
You know what...I'm gonna take my ball and leave and Momma will hear of this.
Just like that little guy in the movie The Sixth Sense who saw dead people I also see people not dead ones but I see people with money.
Now that summer is here and the living is easy from my window I've noticed something.
People or some of them have got lots of extra spendable cash.
Just seen a new pickup truck pulling a big ole red and white boat.Not a little aluminium bass boat but a double decker type cruiser I guess it could be called.You could live on it with luxury for sure.
Everyday I see big fancy motorcycles Harley types all decked out in beautiful paint and chrome.Just about every other vehicle passing by my window is a Harley and those things ain't cheap.
Things have changed since I was scurrying up and down ladders with a 3 inch pipe on my shoulder at the mill.Don't get me wrong the money was good,you could survive but there was none left over for these nice things people have now.
Guess Daddy was right again when he said the more money you make the more you spend.
Plus having a large spending limit on your credit card helps.
Children can be cruel but old folks can be down right mean and hateful.
From my advantage point in front of the TV things noticed and heard that your Grand Ma and Grand Pa say and do.
Piano man was banging away on the Steinway and this little bitty gray panther shuffles up to him and matter factly told him to stop and I mean it she said.
Another one of them told him awhile back to shut up and I wish your hands would fall off.
Get out of my blanky blank way is a common quotation spoken around the old folks home.
Yesterday I witnessed so called love birds threaten each other with extreme physical violence.
Once I was conned by a 101 year old Lady into being her partner in crime.She cruised up to me,walking no less,handed me a bottle of Insure wrapped in a wash cloth telling me to hold this while she went to the store.Least she did offer to share her bottle of stolen loot.
Yesterday a man was having prayer and this little thing of a woman rolled up to him saying I don't believe a word you said.Awkward laughter by the group and she was quietly rolled away from her harassing point.
So in closing my friends I do ask that you try to raise your Grannies better.Teach them manners and such.
A group from a local church comes by on Friday evenings about every 2 weeks or so.They were here today.
Singing was great so was the prayer.
I noticed a little kid maybe his age was seven maybe eight with them. He reminded me of myself at that age.Couldn't sit still it his chair.Bet he was bored and ready to go.
Seemed like every week Daddy was going to a revival and I had to tag along with him and other men from the church.
I would have rathered stayed home but being raised strict along I went.Best part of the whole deal for me was stopping at some cafe after the service for a meal.
But now that I'm older and supposedly wiser I look back on those nights at church with my Daddy as a sweet memory.I felt so secure and loved.
Bet that little kid I noticed today will have the same sweet memories when he is much older and wiser.
Hotter than when Mr Sherman burnt Atlanta and made his march to the sea.
Hottest day in two years yesterday the weatherman said.95 with a heat index of 105.
I could say it was so hot like David Letterman said about the squirrels in Central Park during a hot spell in NYC but I won't.
Summer will be here officially tomorrow but between me you and the fence post Georgia skipped spring and went straight to hot.
We have been sissified these days.When I was a boy if you had a floor fan to run consider yourself fortunate.
Back then folks left windows up doors open on muggy hot summer nights but that is a thing of the past now.Do that these days and hot weather would be the least of your problems.
AC in houses and cars(Daddy was ahead of the times he did have a car with AC sorta,a rusted out hole in the back seat floorboard) has made summer comfortable for us and it's a blessing.I was the ripe old age of 16 when Daddy got a window AC unit for the house and by the way that same year he got our first color TV.Life was so good back then a GE 25 incher floor model color tele and AC.I skipped school for a week just enjoying the good life.
Yes I have lived a charmed and blessed life.Daddy said when he was a kid laying in bed looking up he could see the stars,looking down he could see the chickens running around.
Against a pale blue sky ever so slow moving big fluffy clouds float above the blooming Magnolia trees.
The aroma of honeysuckle and Formosa at night with the peppering of fireflies on a clear moonless Georgia night.
Cicadas and crickets serenade with beautiful music while the lonely whipper will cries in the distance as the mocking bird tries cheering him up with her songs.
On a scale of 1 to 10 of this stuff is getting on my nerves scale it was about a 7.
People walking around confused and the resident in charge of the TV remote was clicking his merry soul away never staying on one channel long enough to figure out what the program was about.
There was this constant low rumble of noise of people talking,hollering,moaning.
Angry voices,happy voices a mixture of all.
Just another day at the fun house uh I mean old folks home.
Watching these political ads on the boob tube that is the idea I feel they are trying to hoodukle voters into believing.
I good him bad.
Admit it,the only time you hear from politicians is vote for me election time and send me some spend doodle so I can continue my great work.
Then like bears they hibernate for 2 to 4 years doing whatever politicians do then like clock work or like those sparrows flying back from that place in Mexico they pop up and toot their own horn about how they saved us from starvation,global warming,taxes on internet purchases and a small invasion from those nasty bad boy reptilian aliens.
Go ahead believe them.
If you do just a reminder,I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale real cheap and if you're interested I still have some Atlantic Ocean beach front lots that I will make a good deal on way out in Phoenix,Arizona.
A poor mill village child like me raised up in the shadows of those coal burning smokestacks and the ever present hum of twisters,winders and looms inside the mill has something that will last till the end of times.
This blog.
Just think a hundred years from now folks might find it on whatever will replace the internet and wonder who was this guy JohnLee and what was his problem.
Tangy,crispy, fried green tomatoes with homemade biscuits sounds real good to me this morning.
While I'm talking about food how bout some big white butter beans cooked slow on top of the stove till the soup gets that thick consistency.
Might as well add some chipped up fried to a delicious brown color potatoes.
Don't forget the sweet Vidalia onions.
Let's go whole hog and might as well have some salty, fried stirk o lean with a mustard/red gravy combo for dipping your biscuit and strik o lean into .
That should do it can you think of anything else we need?
For a week now I have noticed a Dragon Fly outside my window each day.
If it's the same one each day I can't say.
Why it's there who knows but just maybe I have a theory or maybe wishful thinking.
This or those Dragon Flies hang around the hummingbird feeder outside my window.Could be they are just feeding off the sweet water.Maybe they just use the iron pole that the feeder hangs on as a resting place.
I did a short research search on them.Different cultures and parts of the world have different opinions on them.
I have always heard them called snake doctors.Snake fixers some call them.The opinions range from good to evil.
Native Americans said they were good,meant change and purity.
Some parts of the world they represent evil.
But this is my wishful thoughts on that Dragon Fly.
I had a friend that had a soulful connection with them.She wrote poems and stories about Dragon Flies.Seen her mourn about the death of one and the sad mate who visited the passed away Dragon Fly every day.
My friend has passed away.
Maybe just maybe that Dragon Fly is here to let me know all is good now with her.
Dancing with the rising sun.Back n forth forth n back.
When I first came to the old folks home the PT Lady Ms Debra gave me the flower for the window next to my bed.My right knee was froze up and any movement would cause pain almost to the point of tears.Ms Debra would come in everyday working on the knee.Her Indian name is Woman Who Not Only Pull Leg But Also Twist Knee.
Sometimes that flower will get so excited dancing in the sun it sounds just like a tick tock clock.
There should be a moral to this little story.Maybe it's no matter what happens in your life,sun or not,be happy.
6 years older than me I looked up to him as my big brother.He always let me tag along with him treating me like a big guy.
He called me a few years ago.A long chat we had talking about our family and old times.
Never did he mention he had the Haynes family curse of cancer.Like so many in our family it seems like the big C would take him out.
It has struck my generation now with several cousins passing away from it.
I had a dream about Mike and cousins Fred and Frank,brothers, all have passed on.Mike and Fred the same age and Frank and me separated by a month in age.
For some reason they came for me and a trip we took in that dream.
I don't believe in mixing Church and politics.Jesus never admitted being a Republican or Democrat.He did say"what's Cesar's is Cesar's whats mine is mine".Good enough for me.
Let others believe in what ever religion that's right for them.Long as they believe is what counts.Not denomination.
Love everybody,respect those who are different than yourself.Love the person but hate the sin.
Show compassion and charity to those less fortunate.Jesus said"if you have two coats give one away".You are leaving this world just like you came into it with nothing.
There are ten commandments.Follow them not the eleventh and twelfth that man thinks up.Ten are difficult enough.
So you think you know other's heart and what their tribulations are?I think not.Don't judge.As Jesus said"those without sin cast the first stone."
Hate those warning sirens.Here they are tested the 1st Saturday of each month at noon.Just heard it.
In April of 2011 I was living in Roanoke,Alabama during a tornado outbreak across the south.The siren was blasting continuous as rolling thunder with heavy rain and wind moved through.
It was around 10 pm and just laying in bed I thought maybe this could be the beginning of the end.
Strangely I wasn't scared just at peace with it all.
I thought of WW2 and Germany bombing England on those nightly raids,the air raid sirens and how that must have been a terrifying sound to hear.
Again as the sun shines brightly on this June day in Georgia it was just a test.
Momma told me the tale about when she was a kid at the old home place at Bethel and the light that floating toward them one night.
Seems Momma and her siblings were sitting on the porch of the old home place one summer night as her brother Arnold strummed on a guitar.
Now for those who don't know Bethel is the country.Way back in the boonies in the shadow of Mt Cheha,Alabama.This was farm land in those days.
This slow floating light from swamp land across the road was headed for them.
Reaching them,Arnold who never stopped his guitar strumming swung at the light with his guitar and poof it was gone.
What could it have been ?
Swamp gas maybe?
An orb?
Something un explainable?
Maybe they witnessed a paranormal event like a ghost in a long since deserted forgotten about grave yard way back deep in the woods and it just happened to be a music critic that just didn't like my Uncle's guitar playing?
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