Transitioning to Spring in the Southern U. S.

Some people say that the ground hog is a good teller for
 the coming of spring.  Form me it is the dandelion.
 It is the true harbinger  of spring in our part of the
country. (Flowers and tender young greens are great
in a salad...try it sometime)

Across most of the country it is winter but, here in Mississippi we are beginning our transition to spring of the year.  To say that our weather is unpredictable this time of year is like saying the sun rises in the morning. That goes with out saying.

Saturday, Dre' and I went to the season opener for Florence High School baseball.  You would expect that to be a nice spring day.  It wasn't.  The day was cold and blustery.  The temperature was in the upper 30s and the wind was, too.  The good thing was there was not a single wisp of a cloud in the sky all day.  The  bad thing was the wind never let up.  It was cold.  The boys of spring scored first in the first game and won it handily 50-1.  The JV game did not go as well and then the second game of the double header ended in a tie.  All-in-all it was a great day for baseball.  Any day is a great day for baseball in my eyes.

Back to the spring transition.  Last week I saw my first robin on its way back up north.  It and a friend were poking around for worms.  I saw one on Tuesday and have seen at least one each day since then.

Robin redbreast.

The temperature here today is in the 60s and expected to stay there all day since the wind is blowing briskly out of the southwest. A southwest wind usually brings rain this time of year and this time it is no different. The rain is supposed to start here around 3:00 p.m. this afternoon and continue with increasing intensity through out the night. Early this morning I went and bought hay for the horses and placed it in the pasture for them.  They always seem excited when I arrive with hay.  It is sort of like bringing suckers or candy to the kids.  They are excited to see it when it arrives and then settle into a more regular routine of eating, drinking and sleeping the day away. I guess it is not exactly the same.  They don't end up asleep on the floor with a sucker stuck in their hair but it is sort of similar...they do get excited about it. I think it is just the security of having hay available all of the time that gives them a "warm and fuzzy" feeling in their bellies. This time of year is fix-up and clean-up time in the country.  I had a short in the electrical system in my truck that was making it less than dependable in the cranking category but, I repaired that yesterday and it cranks first time, every time now.  It was an easy fix but it is always tough to take the time to fix it.  I also worked on the tailgate.  I had a panel that shaking and rattling as I rode down the road.  It is now repaired, too.

Wild flowers and weeds showing up all around us.

Yesterday afternoon I got out and cranked the old chainsaw and worked on clearing off the place for the new chicken coop and yard that I am planning to build.  We have decided that with the cost of everything rising so rapidly that it would be a good idea to have our own laying hens.  We think we want about 15 or 20 of them and they will be strictly for laying not for meat.  These ladies when they get here will get the royal treatment.  I plan on getting some already laying hens and some pullets to start on their road to maturity.  We are all excited about the possibility of raising our own eggs and having a few more animals around to share the place with.

Today is a holiday but I stayed home to work and am actually taking a lunch break now to update my blog. I had hoped to take the day off but with the iffy weather I decided to work from home all day.  Lunch hour is about over and I need to get back to work so, I hope that spring is on its way to where ever you are.

I am always writing and would really like to hear from you.  Email me sometime and tell me what you think of my blog.  You can also follow me on twitter @acountryjournal .

Fresh Veggie Dinner

Yesterday's dinner. Smoked ribs, home grown collards, wild dandelion salad with flowers and broccoli flowers. Follow me on twitter @acountryjournal

Greenhouse working well.  Eating fresh veggies in the middle of winter.

Until next time...John.

Early Morning Walk

Earlier in the week I found the time to take a short walk in the woods. It was one of those winter mornings when the temperature from the day before had been warm and the night was cool. The conditions were perfect for fog and it hung in the trees like a damp curtain softening the light and muffling the sound. I didn't have my camera but I did have my iPhone. I snapped a couple of shots of the sights. I wish I could have recorded the symphony of frogs singing their high pitched song to the trees.

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This post originated from my iPad so I couldn't write captions to the photos. The first and second photos are garden spider webs n the ground. The are covered withe the mist of fog and look like delicate lace.

The third photo is of the fog hanging in the trees. If you look carefully at the base of the trees you will see some of the spider webs dotting the ground with their complexity.

Until next time...John

2nd Largest Livestock Show in the Country

The wagon train slowly makes its way to Dixie National.

Winter is a time for getting ready for the next season in the country. The spring like weather we have been having is really making me long for spring right now. But, let's not hurry through the time of the year that brings us one of the best livestock shows in the country. In late January through the first half of February, Jackson, Mississippi host The Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo. For the better part of a month the Mississippi State Fairgrounds are literally teaming with horses, cattle, goats, sheep, hogs, cowboys, farmers, cowgirls, pickup trucks, livestock and trailers, all amidst a small city of campers, vendors, and even a tent with pool tables and a saloon for those who enjoy a cold beer, some lively conversation and a jukebox playing the best country music as background for all this activity.

Earlier in the week I happened to driving by the fairgrounds just in time to see a portion of the wagon train arriving after their trip from south Mississippi.

Cowboys and their horses wait in line for hot tamales.

This huge show brings folks from virtually every state in the U.S., Canada and Mexico not to mention other countries from around the world that are often represented by participants in the competition here. Well over a 100,000 people either participate or come to see the happenings at the show each year. As far as I know, I have never failed to attend a DNLS. Since its beginning 48 years ago I have attended.

I can remember rising before daylight and riding to the show with my dad. We would make a day of it. It was always a good day for us. My father wasn't the most talkative person at times but we shared hundreds of great moments through the years at Dixie National. We almost always would make it to the Appaloosa horse show, the Paint and Quarter Horse Show and the annual horse sale. Back then we would sit in the arena and watch for hours. We would judge the horses and keep score cards and complain when the judges didn't agree with us. We talked to cowboys and horse people from all over. When I was just a kid I made friends from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming; to name just a few states. In fact, after talking to a group of young friends from Wyoming in the late 1960s I decided I would attend The University of Wyoming when I went to college. Well, having grown up at least in part in Oxford, I did come to my senses and attended and earned my BA degree in journalism from The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).

A young lady making a phone
call outside
the Foot Court (saloon) tent.

As a kid and later as a young adult I spent a lot of time around this and other livestock and horse shows...it has always been a part of my life. These things anchor me to my heritage. They allow my roots to stay deep in the Mississippi soil even though I am not a farmer. This year when I visit the show I am certain memories of my childhood spent with my father, my uncle Jimmy and from time to time other family members will bound back to me. There were times in my teen years that I would find my way to this and other horse shows as a retreat from the daily grind.

I once made a 1200 mile trip, one way, for a 3.3 second ride on a bareback bronc. I had a horrible bronc ride but made a bunch of new friends while sitting on the tailgate of my old '67 Ford pickup watching better cowboys than me ride for the prizes that weekend.

Inside the tent people gather for food, sport and
conversation.

Yep, shows like this have always been a part of my life and I hope they always will. When you bring people with common interest, from all around rural America, and gather them together in one place, the very best of them is exposed and shared.

We are a country folks and this is a country event. There is another week left in this year's show. If you are within a comfortable drive you should come and witness this for yourself.  If you come just once you will return year after year.

The Equine Expo is next week and weekend. This is a must see and must do for anyone interested in country living. Each year hundreds of vendors display and sell tens of thousands of products ranging from tractors to watering troughs, western jewelry, saddles and tack and all types of western clothing. There are luxurious horse trailers and trucks and even western style furniture. Last year a cowboy coffin was on sale and, believe it or not it was the topic of a lot of conversation.

I have probably written enough words for today.  I hope you enjoy the photos I have included.  They are just snapshots from my iPhone but I think they depict the atmosphere of this family-friendly event.

Until next time...John.

The tamales were fabulous and worth the wait in line.

Young man giving some pointers to an old pro.

There was a place at the beer bar for another cowboy.

Finished the time in the food tent with a shared
funnel cake. It was called a Reeses' Peanut Butter
funnel cake.  It was served with powdered sugar, peanut
butter and chocolate.

Inside the livestock barn, people visit and groom and feed
their cattle.

Up Close and personal. This huge guy was gentle as a kitten.

Lined up waiting for their showers.

This guy looks like he is thinking "what are you looking
at?"

What I like...a goat with attitude. 

Holden admiring some pretty saddles.

Wouldn't be a rodeo without Wrangler.

My favorite tent at Dixie National.  There are bargains
on tack by the thousands.

Rows and rows of new and used saddles for prices you won't believe.

Plenty of bling for the cowgirls adorns the racks in the vendor's tents.

Pretty good comment about riding the Rodeo.

Ready to ride!

Past, Present and Future

In 1972 I drove to Memphis Tennessee to go to the Memphis Memorial Stadium to see my first outdoor concert ever.  It was a Three Dog Night concert with Buddy Miles starting the show off.  After that, the crowd was electrified by Black Oak Arkansas.  This morning I am listening to Jim Dandy and Black Oak Arkansas on Spotify as I write this blog post.  A little about that concert and then I will continue with the country blog.

Jim Dandy
Black Oak Arkansas

I had just graduated from high school and was going to be starting college in the fall where I would be studying journalism a field my parents supported but one my father told me I would not be able to make a good living in.  The concert was on June 21st if I remember correctly and me and my girlfriend at the time drove up to Memphis early that afternoon to see one of the top bands of the time and be a part of Rock and Roll.  I remember that Three Dog Night was every bit as good as we thought they would be.  They played some of the songs from their new LP and the concert was fantastic.  There was a big screen jumbo tron of some type and it was the first time I had ever seen anything like that.  As good as Three Dog Night was the two performances before them were that much better.  Buddy Miles came out to the center of the filed wearing a flowing cape.  It was the first day of summer in Memphis and already steaming hot.  The cape was not something we expected.  After striding out and mounting the stage he made his way to his drums and spread his arms like an eagle, flaring the cape to its maximum extent.  The cape looked like beautiful butterfly wings, brightly colored and flapping in the west Tennessee breeze.  The crowd went wild and that set the stage for the event.  I don't think we sat down the whole concert.  After Miles brought the house to its feet, Black Oak Arkansas took the stage and brought the house down.  Jim Dandy walked out taking long strides in his buckskin moccasin boots that came up to his knees, white, skin-tight pants wearing no shirt. His long, chest length hair flowed in the same wind that lifted Buddy Miles' cape in the stirring start of this rock and roll event.  He was using a long walking stick that was taller than he was to make his way across the field as he charged the stage and performed in a way that I had not seen any other band ever perform.  If I remember he started the set with Jim Dandy to the Rescue and from there it only got better.  By the time they finished their performance Three Dog Night was playing to an audience in a frenzy.  Music pretty much makes me feel that same way to this day.  I can tell you music what was playing in the background of my life through every stage of my life.  Music of all genre has and always will be an integral part of my enjoyment of life.  Now as I am writing this blog I am still listening to Black Oak Arkansas from the 1970s. Still fantastic Southern Rock.

Now on to the country life.  Last night I pulled up the poultry sites on the web and began researching my chicken decisions for the spring.  I have not raised hens since I was a little boy in Madison, Mississippi and at that time we were raising them for eggs and meat.  As we enter into this venture we will be raising them only for eggs and the enjoyment of having them around our house.  I have done a good deal of thinking an planning and even checked with local sources to see when their young chicks would be arriving and going on sale.

Hens are pretty weather hardy and very tolerable of both heat and cold but chicks as do all babies, need a lot of care for the first few weeks. The chicks will start arriving in the feed and seed stores and co-ops around here the end of this month.  Depending on the weather at the time I hope to start purchasing them at that time.  I am going to purchase some hens that are already laying along with some chicks.  I have some work to do to get our place "chicken" ready but I don't think that will be that difficult or expensive.  It is my intent to take photos of all that I am doing so I can share them with you here on this blog

I have found a number of great documents from Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Mississippi about raising an egg flock.  Some of the best documents come from The 4-H Club. This is the link to MSU (Mississippi State University) 4-H poultry doc. http://msucares.com/4h_Youth/4hindex.html and another from Maryland http://extension.umd.edu/publications/PDFs/MEP300.pdf .

I am about to leave and go watch the State 4-A Girls' Mississippi Soccer Championship so I have to stop writing for a now. The whole family will be going to cheer on the Florence High School Girls Soccer team to their second straight State Championship.

Oh, by the way.  Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog did not see his shadow. He predicts there will be an early spring.  :-)

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Until next time...John

Early Saturday Morning

I awoke to a cold morning today. I rebuilt the fire in the fireplace and the house is warming nicely. The sun has already risen over the horizon and a new day has started. If the ground hog were here he would have definitely seen his shadow and we would be looking at six more weeks of winter, I haven't heard if old Phil saw his shadow up in Pennsylvania but, I am anxious to find out what his prediction is.

High school soccer ended this week and school baseball started this week so I am about take Logan to baseball practice at the school. I am trying to accomplish a lazy/busy weekend. That won't be easy. Hope to update you on some great documents I found on the Internet re: raising chickens for eggs and vegetable gardening.

Until next time...John