It Has Been a Long Time Since My Last Post

It has been a while but it has been quite a while since I last wrote in my blog, I don’t know if any of you missed it but, I did.  It is very therapeutic for me to write and share my feelings.  I have said this before but sometimes life just gets in the way of my writing.  I will try to do better but I am not going to make any promises. 

I don’t know where to start in trying to catch you up on what has been going on around here.  I guess I need to crow a little bit…like ole Peter Jennings our rooster.  I made a prediction based on my grandfather, Pop’s methods of predicting weather. I predicted that the first killing frost would be the week of November 11^th and guess what the old goldenrod theory was true to form.  It was that week.  Now that I am done bragging I can move on.  Wait, Mark Twain once said there is no such thing as bragging.  You are either lying or telling the truth.  And because you can’t see it, there is a big smile on my face.

  

We have had some really cold weather for this time of year.  Last week the temperature at our home in the country fell to 24 degrees F.  That is about 10 or 15 degrees cooler than it should be.  I am not complaining though because that gave me the opportunity to light the first fire of the year in our fireplace.  I had laid the fire a couple of weeks ago and all that was needed was to add flame to the tender in the base of the fireplace and let it go.  Soon after lighting it, the warmth had filled the room and the hearth became the heart of our home again.  You know the real heart of our home is my wife, best friend and partner Dre’ but as inanimate objects go that fireplace hearth and its warmth fills the house physically with what Dre’ adds emotionally.  Now, the weather has warmed a little as it always does here and yesterday I was sweating in the pasture mending a fence the horses had broken.  If you live here in the southern United States like we do you are accustom to the weather changes this time of year.  It never stays cold long here; even in the dead of winter.  So, relatively cold mornings and mild days are pretty much the norm here. 

Since my last post, I have enlarged the hen house and in doing so, cut my hand with a power saw. I needed stitches but I made the decision that I would apply some butterfly bandages to it and keep working.  It has healed well and the hens and rooster have a very warm and dry to spend the cold weather.  I have been working to fatten up the horses and donkey for the winter and that has been a very successful effort.  They are fat and happy and ready for the weather to come. I have some firewood but lots of dry wood on the ground that is ready to be cut to size and stacked.  Ben Franklin said that firewood warms you twice: once when you cut it and again when you burn it.   So, I should have some warm days ahead of me. 

A wet fall means lots of mushrooms....I just
 wish I knew enough about them to tell the
 good from the bad ones.

I have picked the last tomatoes from our garden, put up zucchini, picked peppers and bottled pepper sauce and dried some of them. There are a few greens out there to be picked but I don’t have a winter garden planted.  It has just been too busy to even do that. 

We, as a family, are deep into the soccer season.  Holden played on a recreational team and now is playing on a Division 2 select team and an indoor team.  He is a keeper like his big brother and even bigger half-brother before him.  I know I am his father but he is a really good keeper.  He practices constantly and really eats drinks and even breathes soccer.  He is truly dedicated to the sport.  Logan is playing on the High School Team.  He has seen some playing time in the Varsity games and as a ninth grader is the starting keeper on the JV team.  He too is dedicated to sport.  He is in great shape.  He is about five foot nine inches tall and 170 pounds of muscle.  He is really in good shape and that is what he strives for.  He is also hitting the books a lot harder.  His grades are above average and I think the reason is that he sees that he could possibly see an athletic scholarship coming his way.  Add to that the fact that Dre’ is the president of the soccer booster association and our lives pretty much revolve around our family and their love of a sport.  That explains also why I have not had much time to write in this blog. 

The last of my 2012 mead being bottled.
You can see my home made siphon device
that doesn't siphon the sediment
off the bottom of the carboy.

Last weekend I had big plans to post but we got home from a soccer match on Saturday night and had no water at the house.  It didn’t take very long to figure out that our waterline had a break in it so we, went up to the highway and turned off the water until I could get it repaired.  The next morning I arose, dressed and went for a walk through the woods to where our water meter is.  The waterline is ½ mile long and I walked up there and back four times.  After four miles of walking, searching for the evidence of a leak, I decided to give up and call a plumber but, on my way back to the house I stepped in a wet spot along the driveway and after a little searching I found the source of our problem.  A rood had pine root had grown under the line and snapped a joint right in two.  The hard part was done. All that stood between us and our running water was a small repair.  I dug the whole and assessed my needs.  I went to the building supply and got the pipe and parts I needed and was back working on the pipe in a few minutes.  In all it took about three hours to find and repair the line and have water running at our house again.  Wait, I did tell you about the injury I incurred with this job. All of my jobs around the house have to be accompanied by an injury…or at least that is what Dre’ and my fellow workers say.  In this case they were right. 

The last three bottles being prepared for
the "mead" rack.

The broken line was in the proximity of a fire ant bed.  Fire ants, a dismal unwanted invader in our area, are known for their aggressiveness and nasty, venomous bites.  I, thank goodness, am not allergic to them because I was bitten by over 100 of the satanic little bastards.  On top of that I must have found myself in poison ivy.  I have had a very uncomfortable week enduring small blisters, itching and pain that goes along with the two plagues I encountered.  My arms look as if I have the pox or the plague or something like that.  It has been pretty uncomfortable.

I am hoping that some of the things that have been sort of up in the air will soon settle down so I can spend more time writing.  For now though, I have had four major interruptions since I began typing this.  I started at about noon today and it is 8:05 as I am finishing it. 

Until next time…John

Looking Back Over Last Week

Dre’ and Logan were out of town last weekend.  They were in Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley for a DECA conference for her business students at high school.  Holden and I started the week as usual but sans them which we didn’t like. I started the work week off with a trip south.  I got up Monday morning, took Holden to school and then took off to Picayune, Mississippi to pick up our new beagle pup from the animal shelter down there.  I met Rhonda and her friend and was introduced to Elvis the beagle.  No, we didn't name him. That was his name when I got there but since most of our animals are named after musicians, singers and the like, we decided that his name should remain Elvis.  So, we started the week by adding a new member to our family.  He is a

precious pup of about 12 weeks and he as already endeared himself to us.  He is already a member of the family in good standing.  Because of what my job is, I was able to handle about 95% of my daily work remotely so the I didn’t fall behind at the job.  On to the rest of the week…

I noticed on the 30^th of September that the goldenrods were in what I would consider, full bloom so, that means that we are approximately 6 weeks from the first killing frost. I am counting on the first frost being around the week of November 11^th.  We may have a light frost between now and then but we shouldn’t see our first killing frost until then.  I also saw some wooky worms around.  Their coats were thick and full but they were different from any I have ever seen in that their fur was lighter in color than I have ever seen.  It was a pale tan; almost white.  I have no idea what that sign means.  I have always heard that brown means mild winter and black means cold.  I sure hope these things aren’t like snow shoe hares and they turn white when the snows are coming. 

The work week was uneventful, but things around the home place are beginning to look a little more like the season we are in. 

Signs of What’s to Come.

 Most of the crepe myrtle leaves have turned yellow and fallen from the branches.  The fall wild flowers are blooming everywhere and even some of the trees are unveiling their fall cloaks.  The sweet gum trees are in the very first stages of donning their yellow leaves and the smaller trees that dot the forest around our home are also showing color.  The dogwoods, the cypress and even the non-native trees are changing from green to yellow and red.  Most of the fruit bearing trees have begun their transition as well.  The plums, the apples and the peach trees in our area are showing signs of change.  None of the bigger, stronger trees have changed yet, but the oaks and the hickories are beginning to show their first signs, too. 

Because the weather has been so warm, the grass remains green in our area.  It would have long since stopped had it not been for the wet weather we have had here recently.  (Note: as I write this, I am sitting on our front porch enjoying the soft rain and a hot cup of coffee. The wind has just switched  to out of the north and I can feel the temperature starting to drop…I love it.)  A few weeks ago we moved our horses to the back pasture to let them graze in it for a while and to allow the small front pasture they had  been in rest for a while.  That front pasture has grass growing in it that looks more like spring growth than fall growth.  Usually by this time I am through with the lawn care for the season but I know I have at least one more lawn cutting in my future before the onset of colder weather. 

154^th Annual Mississippi State Fair

On Wednesday, our Mississippi State Fair opened its 2013 run.  The fairgrounds are crowded with livestock, exhibits, food vendors and the scores of thousands of visitors that have come to see the spectacle that the fair always is.  If I am not mistaken, this is the 154^th year that the State Fair has been celebrated in Jackson, Mississippi.  That is a pretty long run for any show. 

When the fair comes to town it always brings back memories of my childhood.  The little town that my family lived in when I was born was very much an agrarian based community.  There were 52 dairies in the county where we lived back then…there is not one left but, back then the fair was really important to us.  We were given excused absences from school to attend and show animals if we had them.  Back then the midway was not paved and it and all of the eating places that lined the midway were covered in sawdust.  When it rained the sawdust was wet but not muddy.  The fair is special now but it was really special then.  The smell of fair food cooking filled the air and it always stirred your memory of the fun we had in years past as it prepped us for the fun to come in the days ahead.  In those “olden” days you could only indulge in those special fair treats when the fair came to town.  It is not like than now.  You can get almost any kind of food now but if you wanted fair food like roasted corn or an Italian sausage sandwich, a pronto pup, a funnel cake or taffy and a footlong hot dog back then, you had to wait ‘till the fair came to town.   It was special.  That specialness has sort of faded but the memories keep us going back to the fair year after year. 

A Few Photos of the Changing Season

Very Quick

Went out in the rain to feed my hens and my hens looked like they were dancing "chick to chick"

This is a Haunting Ad By Chipotle's Restaurant Chain 

Very Thought Provoking & Sad. 

Click on the links below the picture to view the video.

Here is the YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScSE

This is the link to Rodale's article and the video...Please share this post with your friends.   

http://www.rodalenews.com/chipotle-scarecrow-ad?cm_mmc=TheDailyFixNL-_-1443140-_-09242013-_-Chipotles_Haunting_New_Anti-Factory-Farming_Ad 

Promote your local producers and small family farms.

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A Tree

...only God can make a tree.

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed 

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray,

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

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Another Perfect Day in the Country

There haven't been many more perfect days than today. I have a feeling that when our Creator flung this stuff together and called in terrafirma it was on a day like today.  The sun is shining, there is a cool breeze blowing and all seems right in the world.  I arose this morning a little after sunrise and went outside to do my morning chores. It was GLORIOUS.

This may be really difficult to understand because the responsibility of feeding and caring for animals is just that a great responsibility but, it is a task I really enjoy. I go out and call each animal by name. They come running to me and after I feed them I talk to them, rub and pat them and find out how each and every one of them is feeling that day. All are fat and healthy and should be happy to be an animal on the Rocking H Farm.

The cloudless autumn sky as viewed from our front porch.

Not a cloud between us and the heavens on this,
the first day of autumn.

Today is the first day of autumn and it is evident in the weather and in all that surrounds us here in our little world that is slightly removed from outside civilization.  Literally, there is not a cloud...no not even the wisp of a cloud in the azure sky overhead. As I sit here I think of all that I have to do to get ready for the cooler months ahead.  I need to gather more firewood, and finish getting the fall and winter garden ready.  I need to harvest our small potato crop and all of the other thing that need to be done in regard to our small vegetable garden.  If I can make the time at my real job, I plan on taking a few days off to build a green house so we can enjoy fresh veggies all winter.  I have gotten plans from the internet that I think will be relatively simple to build, not to mention inexpensive.  I mean what would the sense be in growing your own vegetables if the cost of a bowl of lettuce cost you $17.00 after expenses.  I guess you can tell, I am never at a loss for projects around here.  As soon as I mark one off the list, another one is added to it.  The funny thing is, I love it!

A Little More About the First Day of Fall

Sitting on my front porch I have seen at least o dozen different species of birds: hummingbirds, cardinals, red headed woodpeckers, chickadees, sparrow, eastern bluebirds, crows, blue jays, a red tail hawk, wrens, chimney swifts, mockingbirds and more.They are very active because of the cooler weather and the change of seasons I am sure but, they are darting around the yard and pastures and singing to the top of their lungs while feeding frantically on the seeds and insects that are abundant this time of year.  I mentioned that there is a red tail hawk.  If I had to guess I would guess that that is one of the mating pair that winters near our home here in the woods in central Mississippi.  I have seen it but but only at a distance.  This half of the pair has come ahead of the other one to see if all is good at their winter home.  It seems to be because this hawk is soaring overhead and sailing from tree to tree calling with its high-pitched scream in the brilliant blue sky above.

I watched a little while ago as the old white-faced fox squirrel that lives in a giant oak tree in our front pasture frantically gathered some of the first fallen acorns under our pin oak tree in the front yard.

Yep, fall is here and the weather is changing.  It won't be long until we have to pull out a sweater to sit on the porch or go for a long walk here in the country.

I thought I would share the following poem with you because today is the first day of fall.

Early Fall

I like best the early fall...
Shorter days, cool breezes and all. 
Flowing leaves, open windows, 
Refreshing thoughts replace old woes.
Summer's end means back to school
Hit the books, watch out for the "ghoul."
Baring trees display the sky...
Enjoy the night with stars on high!

Pene  Burkey

I will finish up this short post with words from Nathaniel Hawthorne.  He once said, "I cannont endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.  So i spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air. 

Until next time...John

P.S. I just heard the voices of two hawks as I was closing this blog so, the mating pair is back and another cycle of nature is complete.  Happy first day of autumn to you all.

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Red Sky in Morning, Sailor Take Warning

I rise in the morning a couple of hours before the sun does and by the time I went outside to feed the chickens, horses, etc. the sky was ablaze with hundreds of red hues. Most of the time, according to legend and lore, a red sky in morning means sailor should take the warning.   Usually this means we will have rain coming in the next 24 hours.  

This morning we witnessed a brilliant red sky but of course, several days ago we experienced a beautiful red sky in the morning and we saw absolutely no rain. So that morning the red sky only meant we got a beautiful view that morning.  Because the lore failed me a few days ago, if decided to follow a more technological approach  and I looked at the weather forecast and pulled up weather radar on my iPhone and  I think the lore about the sky will, this morning, be correct. I am including a screenshot from my iPhone so you can see the weather that is apparently in store for us in the central Mississippi today. I think we are in for a s stormy Friday.The day started warm and muggy.  I think the humidity also means we will have a stormy day but the bad weather is riding in on cool front so we may be experiencing slightly cooler temperatures tonight and this weekend . 

I don’t know if I have ever mentioned it but, the old Jeep I drive does not have air conditioning.  99.9% of the time this does not bother me. I am accustomed to the heat and humidity of our summers and in the winter, the vehicle has a very good, warm heater.  B

ut, when it is rainy in the summer it is sometime uncomfortable. Because my old convertible top was beginning to show some signs of wear (really it was showing a lot of wear), I recently decided to remove it and put my hard top on for the winter.  I have had this top for years and have never used it. The unfortunate thing is that the doors that fit the soft top don’t fit the hard top so, I don’t have doors on my Jeep right now.   To make a long story short, I am pretty confident I will be getting wet today on my drive home. This time of year it won't be cold.   It'll be cool and I might be a little uncomfortable but it won't be a bad ride. Actually, I think it will be kind of nice affording me a chance to feel nature on my skin in the form of a late summer rain. 

Until next time…John

Good Words to Live By

I think we should all strive for this. I know I am trying.

Morning Solitude

My morning spot for coffee, reading, meditation, prayer and enjoying nature. I firmly believe we should count our blessings and not our problems.  

Summer is coming to an end and with the new season will be new possibilities and great beginnings.

Until next time...John

@acountryjournal

Sour Milk to Fresh Cheese in About 30 Minutes

We have a small refrigerator that we bought when we were remodeling our kitchen several years ago. When we finished the kitchen we kept the small fridge for that extra gallon of milk you need with growing boys in the house, beer, sodas and other assorted things.  A few weeks ago we put an extra gallon of milk in it and then forgot it was there.  I found it earlier this week and decided rather than throw it away, I would find a use for it. I found a recipe on the Internet that pointed me in the right path to home cheese making. i decided to change it a little to see if I could put my own special touch on cheese making.

First I poured the sour milk in a large sauce pan and heated it slowly. I didn't use a thermometer but I heated it gradually bringing the heat of the milk up to a very warm temperature but no where near boiling. The heating process is done in order to separate the curd from the whey. You will know when the separation occurs...the curd looks like like large chunks of cottage cheese and the whey is a yellowish translucent liquid. Whey looks nothing like milk so you will know when it has separated and ready to remove from the heat. Don't heat it too long because that will result in a bitter end product I am told.

Ytyttt

I then removed the curds and whey from the heat and waited about five minutes. I didn't have any cheesecloth so I got a cloth napkin and placed it in a strainer and placed the strainer in a large mixing bowl. I then slowly poured the contents of the pot into the cloth lined strainer.  I picked the napkin up and allowed the mixture to drip.  I squeezed it some to remove some of the liquid so my cheeze would be a little harder. Then I took a string and twisted the cheese inside the napkin, tied a string around the napkin and then tied it to a cabinet knob and suspended it over the bowl for twenty minutes to let it drain a little more. 

After twenty minutes I formed the  crumbly cheese into a ball and placed it in a microwave proof dish and heated for five minutes on about 40%. I then removed it from it from the microwave after letting it cool or a few seconds, kneaded it until it was one piece and no longer crumbly.  I then formed it into a ball and dipped it into the whey for a second or two.  Then I placed in a simple brine made of two cups of water and two tablespoons of table salt. After about a minute, I removed it from the brine and placed it in a container in the refrigerator.  A waited about an hour and tasted it ... Pretty good for the first time. If you want a feta-like cheese you can store it in the brine. 

Now what can you do with the whey? Don't waste it.  I mixed it with chicken feed and fed it to our chickens and they loved it. 

Ok, now you know...making cheese is easy and quick.  I think I am about to cut a small piece and enjoy it with a glass of homemade mead.

Until next time...John 

The Autumnal Equinox is Just Over a Week Away

The end of summer is approaching but, I don't like to think about endiings.  I would rather think about beginnings.  I want to look ahead so, at this time of year when some are thinking of the end of summer, I am busy thinking about what lies ahead in the next season.  Autumn or fall as we call it in the United States is a time of changing.  We are of course changing seasons as based on the Sun and our rotation around it and the way our little old Earth tilts to and fro as we go barreling around the sun at over 66,000 mph. It is also a time for the leaves to change and for us to change from our most productive farming season o one that is slower but can still be productive to those of us interested in fall gardens.  For photographers, poets and those that just love the color of life, autumn means changing leaves and warm colors as we mock the trees' colors in our clothes and our home decor.  

There are a number of things that mark the change of seasons we are about to experience and here is a list of a few of those things:

Sweet gum tree leaves begin to change from deep green to yellow (beginning to see the yellow in the forest around our home.)

Sumac leaves begin transform to brilliant red (one of the first to show her fall color, sumac has begun to change and change quickly she is.)

Wild flowers bloom in sky blue, purple and scores of shades of yellow and white (This always starts in August and now many of these are in full bloom.)

Golden Rod first begins to bloom in August but covers much of the southern United States in brilliant yellow by early October. (I saw the first goldenrod blooming in Late August but it still isn't at its peak yet. When it is I will tell you because you can bet that the first frost in our area will occur six weeks after that event)

Most of the primary row crops in Mississippi are harvested, Cotton, Corn, Soybeans, Rice, etc. are all being taken from the fields to the marketplace.  (Though I don't live in a part of the state where the large farms and plantations are located I know these crops are being harvested now. Some of them are late this year because we had a long cool spring that delayed the growing season)

River Birch trees drop their leaves in far greater volume than usual (This has begun.  Our trees have lost about half of their leaves.  They drop leaves all summer but now they are shedding all of their leaves )

Pecan trees begin to lose their leaves and the pecan harvest begins (not seeing this yet)

The night skies in every small town are lit brilliantly every Friday night by the stadium lights from high school football games. (Yes, we are well into the high school football season.)

People sleep with their windows open to take advantage of the cool nights. (This weekend the temperature in our town is supposed to drop into the upper 50s F. so that will begin this weeend.)

Farmers' markets start selling pumpkins. ( I haven't seen them yet but I bet I will either this weekend or next.)

Forest burst forth with colors red, yellow, orange and deep almost purple red. (Not yet but see some of the other signs above)

The sky looks bluer and the sunsets get redder. (The sky has begun to deepen its color because of the dry air but I have not seen the first sunset ignite the evening sky yet.)

The wind blows out of the north more often. (a north wind is predicted for this weekend.)

Oak trees begin to drop their acorns (this is just beginning to happen)

Spider webs hang from everything in the pastures, woods, and shrubbery as they do their late year "harvesting of prey" before the frost sends them underground or where ever it is they go for the winter. ( This is taking place.  I hate spiders and seems like every morning when I go out to feed the chickens and horses I wander through a spider's web.  I have been bitten by a black widow and don't want another encounter with a spider.)

The ducks and geese fly south for the winter (a friend of mine said that the past two  mornings he has seen a couple of flights of green winged teal scouting the lakes in the area near his home.)

Wood smoke is in the air. (Haven't smelled burning leaves yet but that is primarily because we haven't had much rain lately and folks are being cautious with open fire and the dry terrain.)

If you are lucky on an afternoon with a light breeze you can look up and see monarch butterflies making their way south to Mexico. (this is very rare to see but if you are going to see them it will be in October.)

Our pet pig Scooter will start adding to his "nest" (He has a nice warm house but he will gather sticks and straw...just like the three little pigs... and add a warm bed to his house. (He hasn't started this process yet. but, he has started putting on his long, coarse winter coat)

Festivals are celebrated all across the south where everyone can buy canned goods, baked goods, arts and crafts and even early Christmas gifts if you are so inclined and can plan that far ahead. Some of these festivals we attend here in our part of the country are CelticFest, A Day in the Country, German Fest, Wells Fest, Florence Day and more. (CelticFest was last weekend so the festival season is "on")

The Fairgrounds start showing signs of the Annual State Fair that has been held in the fall of the year in Jackson for more than 150 years (First you see the taffy booths begin to setup and then the pronto pup booths. After that the beer tents are placed along the midway and slowly but surely the fairgrounds fill with booths, tents, and just a day or two before the fair begins the rides arrive and are assembled. The taffy booths and the pronto pup booths are in place, now.)

There are scores and scores of these and other signs but, I have only listed few of the things that highlight and foretell the coming of another new season.

As I wrote earlier, it is still summer in Mississippi.   We are beginning to feel the change of seasons.  If I look closely, I can see the signs.  This weekend the temperatures are predicted to be a little cooler so I know that autumn and her grandeur are not far off.  I am already thinking about that first cold morning when I can go to my front porch, sit in a rocking chair with a hot cup of coffee and smell the wood smoke from a distant fireplace as drifts across the woods.

Until next time...John

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Just Logged My First Blog Visitor from the Maldives...That Makes 34 Countries!

Below is a list of all of the countries from which visitors to our blog have come.  New ones appear in Red.

Thank you for reading what I write.  I hope you will share them with your friends and families.

Click "Join this Site" on the right of this page and, I will notify you each time I update my blog.



Catch what I have to say by following me on Twitter @acountryjournal 

United States
Argentina

Australia

Bangladesh

Canada

China

Costa Rica

Czech Republic

Denmark

Egypt

France
Germany

Hungary

India
Indonesia

Jordan

Lithuania
Maldives
Netherlands

New Zealand

Poland
Portugal

Russia

Romania

Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Serbia

Slovakia
South Africa
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Venezuela

Until next time...John

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Opening Day of Dove Season...Translation...The First Day of Autumn

In the southern United States, autumn doesn’t begin on a calendar or when the moon is located in the proper place in the sky.  It doesn’t depend on the Autumnal Equinox.  No, it begins on the opening day of dove season.  

It is a good three weeks until the calendar tells us we are ready for the seasons to change but yesterday was "opening day."  The college football season is underway and we have now been on our first hunt of the year. Opening day of dove season is as much a social event for the whole family, with as many as five generations joining in the activities that start early and last until well after dark. Because yesterday was Sunday and, in our state, dove season can’t open on Sunday morning while folks are in church, shooting was delayed until 2:00 p.m.  So everyone in our hunt gathered for a lunch on the lawn.  Barbeque pork and baked beans, cornbread salad, slaw, crab dip and more than a score of other dishes awaited everyone. There were at least a half dozen desserts for us to enjoy but the real main dish was the hunt.

We all enjoyed the feast and then sat around in lawn chairs and swapped stories of days gone past…some true, some embellished and some out and out fairy tales (lies) until the time was right for the hunt. That went on for a couple of hours and then one by one we decided to take our spots in the field. 

Dove hunting is like no other hunting.  It often times is a waiting game.  You can prepare a field by mowing it close to the ground and disking it slightly and, you can even put out decoys to lure the birds in from the sky but there is almost nothing else you can do but wait for the birds to come in.  Well, yesterday they did just that they came in by the dozen.  Almost immediately they started flying and we were able to get a lot of shooting in.  For those that don’t know, this little bird is capable of flying at speeds up to 55 mph or 88kph and, with a tail wind, they can exceed that.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  Yeah sure, there are those few hunters that are such great shots that they can get the limit with the same number of shells but for those of us that are average with a shotgun,  the bird has the definite advantage over us.

    

Yesterday was an extremely warm day to be sitting in the sun all afternoon, but the excitement of the hunt made it worthwhile. The temperature was in the upper nineties and the heat index was hovering around 100 degrees F but Holden, Logan and I sat there patiently to shoot our limit of birds.  We sat there in the hot September sun from 2:00 until 6:30 p.m. when we went back to tell more tales and talk about all the great shots we made as well as share the stories of the ones that flew past us unharmed.  The food was brought back out and more desserts were eaten, then all the hunters posed with the days bounty of birds. 

The festivities went into the night and the young guys planned the next day’s hunt while the older generations sat and visited about yesterday, today and tomorrow.

 

Another opening day has come and gone but next year we can add stories from this hunt to those we tell around the lawn as we gather for the 2014 celebration of this passage of seasons. 

People Should Act "Nice" as My Mama Used to Say

When I was a young man, I charged into every event.  I did things without thinking.  I would go headlong into an event, problem or anything else for that matter with a reckless abandon that somestimes proved successful, sometimes proved memorable and other times was just down right disasterous.  The older I get, the more I think about my actions.  This is only natural.  Through life we see how our actions effect others and we adjust our actions to create the reactions we most like to see.  So, the older I get, the more I think before I speak or act.  I know that what I do will cause some sort of a reaction somewhere in my life.  Like the butterfly flapping its wings on the othe side of the ocean and that breeze can snowballs into a full blown hurricane, what I say in a whisper can easily end up in a hurt feeling, a bruised ego or worse a life that will never stop feeling the hurt of a moment without forethought.

...interesting that this was waiting on me when I went to get in my Jeep this morning.  It is a harmless garter snake but, a snake none the less.

While I think about this, I wonder how many people think that if you are discourteous you will get more done than if you are just nice, kind and courteous? I had an encounter with someone whom I have know for years.  I even did work with her father in a former business I was in but for some reason when she has a problem she seems to feel that by acting bitter and abruptly to others she will get more accomplished.  Well that may work some places in the world but this is not one of them.  The south still rewards those who are kind to others.  Is this Karma or is it just the natural result of action / reaction.  For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.  Karma?  Who knows.  Nature working through life? Absolutely! 

Benjamin Franklin once said "a word spoke is an arrow let fly."  Once we let a word fly from our mouth it cannot be unspoken nor taken back.  A thousand apologies can explain our sorrow for having spoken it but cannot unspeak it or make it become forgotten.

Until next time...John

I 

Early Saturday Morning

This morning is warm and muggy. The high humidity makes 70 degrees feel much warmer but the small fan blowing on me keeps the Mosquitos away and cools my skin. The beautiful waning moon is setting  on the opposite side of our house from our porch but, her silvery blue light shines  on everything in our lawn, casting soft long shadows off to the east where the sun is waiting to rise. The rooster crows and the day is about to begin.  Earlier there was nothing but quiet but silence has given way to the chirping of the morning birds. An occasional truck can be heard on the highway a half mile down our drive. A low, lonsome train whistle echos through the morning silence miles off in the distance. Morning is here and another day, a gift to us, is about to begin. 

Until next time...John