A Country Journal : 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.