Snakes and Snails

It's been hotter than blazes around here. This week it got up to 100 degrees. It's so hot that the grass has stopped growing and started turning brown in spots. It's so hot that I've been putting out lots of water for the dogs and cats and filling the birdbath every day. I even put a dish of water out for the little critters that creep around on the ground. I got that idea from Scout. He has a little dish sitting on the ground with water for the frog that lives under his porch.


So many critters are suffering from the heat. It only stands to reason that they will turn up wherever they can find water. Scout and Kim have a swimming pool in the backyard. This king snake probably smelled the water or was searching for food in the surrounding undergrowth.

My boy Scout likes to be a snake wrangler. Okefenokee Joe (http://www.okefenokeejoe.com/) came to Dug Gap School and gave a demonstration about snakes when he was in kindergarten. Scout has been charmed ever since.


Scout probably got his love of snakes from my grandfather. He was notorious for not killing snakes. Grampa thought everything was good and he didn't eliminate snakes in his philosophy. Grampa had a pet little snake that lived in a rock wall in his yard. Momma saw it one time and tried to kill it but Grampa stepped in and told her not to hurt his little snake. He said he had burned some brush near the wall and he thought he had blinded the snake. He felt sorry for it and would feed it grubs and insects when he saw it. He said it was his friend.

My grandparents moved from town to Crow Valley later. They lived there several years before a dam was built near them. Grampa's property was below the spillway. Grampa and Gramma loved fishing at the bottom of the dam. Grampa also liked fishing in the lake. 


Grampa said he went to the top of the dam to go fishing one day and saw a stringer at the edge of the water. Someone had left their stringer of fish in the water. A snake had tried to swallow a fish on the line and the fish was stuck in it's throat. Grampa picked up the snake and the fish and tried to work the fish out of the snakes mouth. He said he worked slow so as not to hurt the snake until he was able to get the fish dislodged from the snakes mouth. 


He put the snake back in the water until it got it's strength back. It finally swam away from the bank, away from him. He said the funniest thing happened. The snake turned around and swam nearly up to him and swam in place with it's head sticking out of the water. It just looked at him. It began to swim away again and got a little farther but stopped and turned around and swam back to the bank where Grampa was standing. It swam in place with it's head raised above the water looking him in the eye again. It swam away again but stopped, again and swam back to him one more time to look at him. It finally turned around and swam away.


Grampa said he thought the little snake came back to thank him for saving his life. He was so proud of saving the snake's life. 


Momma laughed and said she bet the snake wasn't thanking him for saving his life. She bet the snake was sizing him up and wondering if he could swallow Grampa.


We all had a good laugh over that but I think Grampa was right. The snake understood that Grampa saved his life and wanted to thank him. Animals may not think like we do but they do understand more than we give them credit for.


God put everything here for a purpose and that day Grampa's purpose was to save that snake's life. That's kind of cool if you think about it. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Things I Should of Said

When that guy called me "Bitch" instead of getting mad and calling him a "Bastard" I should have responded, "Bitch? ... I'm not your mother."

Don't you hate it when you miss an opportunity like that? I know I do. Sometimes it's taken me years to come up with a good response I should have used during an encounter. I wish I was quicker on my feet. I just forget that you always have to be on your toes and prepared for an attack at any time. 

I imagine there will be many more of those episodes in my life because I'm not the kind of person to stand around and take it when anyone starts belittling me. I hate bullies and I hate ignorant people that start name calling anyone just because they don't agree with them, especially men. 

Some men have those alpha male episodes where they pace around beating their chests saying, "Look at me! I am a man! You have to listen to me!" They become enraged at any woman who dares to stand up for themselves and say what they thing. If anyone disagrees with those alpha males, they can't handle it. They want to lash out and attack. They're very scary. I know because I've been at the receiving end of too many fights.

One time I was on Walnut Avenue at a red light getting ready to turn left into the old Walmart when the light changed to yellow and I didn't go. My car was unreliable and I wasn't about to floor it to turn into oncoming traffic so I waited on the light to turn green. A man got out of his car parked in the turning lane behind me and came up to my window and started yelling at me because I hadn't turned on yellow. He was irate. I could see a young child in his car which he had left sitting in the road with the door open. The crazy man actually got out of his car to confront me, leaving his little kid in the car! I couldn't believe it.

Another time the kids and I were at Walmart getting ready to leave when a man and his wife and kid walked out of the store pushing a shopping cart. The woman started putting her child in the car and the man pushed the buggy behind my car and jumped in the driver's seat. His thoughtlessness made me so mad that I got out of the car and pushed the buggy aside. I shot him a bird as I drove away.

The lanes were crowded and I had to go around the parking lot. I saw the man cutting across the parking lot towards me in a rage. His neck muscles were bulged out and his face was red. He wanted to come throttle me. I recognized the look. I maneuvered around and got out of the parking lot before he could reach the car. I couldn't imagine how the scene would have played out if he had reached me but one of us would have gone to jail. Probably him, for murder.

I have an ability to rub people the wrong way, especially if I think they are being thoughtless or inconsiderate. I usually let them know what I am thinking. That's how I got into it with some guy on Facebook who called me a bitch. I really should have taken it as a compliment. He couldn't fathom an open minded woman like me. 

I believed the teachers when they taught us that we were born in the land of the free, and the home of the brave. I think America's greatest gift and most sacred right is freedom of speech. I exercise my first amendment rights often. America is great because we have the freedom to express our opinions. I respect people's right to express their opinions even if I don't agree with them, but that doesn't mean I will keep my opinion to myself.

Everyone is born and experiences different things in their lives that made them the way they have become today. No two people, even twins, experience the world the same and has the same experiences and reactions as each other about everything. Some people never voice an opinion about anything so you never know what they are thinking. Some people never shut up and never try to hear anyone else's opinion. Some people get along with everyone and never have disagreements with anyone. Some people shoot off their mouth and say what they think. Guess which category I fall in. 

I heard of a Facebook group that's name implied they would be discussing local politics. I joined it because I thought it would be fun to learn information about candidates and how they stood on the issues and what their experience was, you know, things like that. I couldn't find any information about the group and soon realized it was a new listing on Facebook. The moderator who created the group had a few interesting posts from real candidates talking about the election and their backgrounds. It was a lovely idea and it would have been successful except for the moderator's constant derision of the president and name calling of his supporters.

I counted three insulting words he used to describe me. There may have been more. He started off referring to Obama supporters as "damn morons". When he started confronting me about my support he progressed to calling me a "fool". He sarcastically apologized to me before ultimately calling me a "bitch" because I wouldn't take a damn bag of groceries for a friend of mine who is in a pickle. 

He and a couple of his groupies had been deriding people who took welfare and saying how sorry they were because they didn't get out and earn their own money. They were whining about how hard they had it and shouldn't have to pay taxes for people who "sit on their ass and won't work".

I tried to tell them there were plenty of people that needed help. I told them about a friend who is pregnant. She and her husband are about lose their rental house because he lost his job. They've been living on unemployment but it was about to run out and he couldn't find a job. They have two kids. I asked the moderator who would be able to help them. He offered them a bag of groceries. I said the husband needed a job and they needed someplace to stay. They weren't starving, yet.

The moderator and someone else offered in jest to buy them groceries or even make "my kids" sandwiches for lunch. I reckon they thought I was talking about myself. I think they thought I was on welfare or something and wanted to denigrate me and act all superior. Every now and then the moderator would say something sort of like an apology but it didn't ring true. The moderator got so angry with me for not agreeing to take his pitiful bag of groceries he screamed, "Bitch ...I tried to help you! ... blah, blah, blah". Call me bitch again and I'll show you a real bitch. You wouldn't like me if you made me mad.

I run into people all the time who complain about the government wasting their tax dollars supporting people on welfare. Nobody must know anyone they care about who is sick, or homeless, or without a job. They keep preaching that love and compassion we are so famous for in the south and falling back on the old "they can go to a shelter or a church for help". That is a cop out. Nobody wants to ask for charity from a religious group they don't belong to. And why should churches be burdened with the extra burden of feeding and housing the people who have lost everything and are just looking for a break so they can get their lives back on track. Most churches can't afford to shoulder that responsibility.

Our tax dollars go to a lot more than welfare. They don't give us an option to opt out on federal taxes that go towards war. Why should we be able to refuse to pay taxes that go toward helping people who are really in need of it?

When my aunt's husband died and her children were little social security sent her a check for each child every month until they turned eighteen. Without that money she would have been broke and destitute. Their house insurance paid off the house but if it hadn't been for social security she wouldn't have been able to take care of her children. She didn't even have a job. She didn't learn to drive a car until after my uncle died. 

There are so many people that have hard times in their lives. You can't plan for an illness or a death. You have no control over the economy or losing your job. When someone is using social security or welfare, that is no reason to look down on them and judge them. If not for the grace of God we might all be there then you'd appreciate any help you could get.

*******

I saw this on my Facebook message from Thursday and responded today.

I would like to add an addendum to the above:

• 
  
• • • Monitor:

      • Your turn. I don't actually know these ppl. So what do they need? Food, diapers?
      • Ma'am ppl are wanting to help. Please let me know what needs to be done?
    • 
      

      9 minutes ago

      Me:

      • A house and a job. When you can come up with that, let me know.
    • 
      

      7 minutes ago

      Monitor:

      • Are you serious? After I was called everything in the book for trying to help you/them the first time?
    • 
      

      about a minute ago

      Me:

      • When the hell did I call YOU everything in the book? YOU called me a "DAMN MORON, a FOOL, and a BITCH"! Get off your high horse and go bale some hay. You are such a hypocrite and you KNOW you don't give a damn about anyone, much less my friends, so don't worry about it. I'll try to find them some REAL HELP and not depend on small minded people like YOU who keep putting people down who need help. XXX you are the same age as my son and if he talked to me like you have I would have backhanded him so hard his teeth would rattle. Too bad your mother didn't teach you better manners. Drop it and please don't contact me again.
        
        

        Monitor:

        Wow... You have some hard life lessons ahead of you ma'am. I was trying to help. You can see that. If you ignore it then you are a fool. My mom is proud of the way I handled your situation. She is also proud I stand up for myself when someone like yourself tries to belittle me by acting like I think I'm better. Im not better, I know I'm not. If you knew, or would have listened to me you would know thus. Your high horse got you here. I'm fine with you being upset. I am upset with you. I feel I never had a chance with you. No matter what I said or did I wouldn't "care" in your book. I'm sorry that you were that closed minded. I'm not. I will never be. If you take government assistance so be it. I don't, that doesn't make me an evil arrogant fool. It just makes me Wes XXXXXX. I don't feel I'm better than you, I listen better, but I'm not better . if you'll got back and read thru the posts you'll see this. Good luck with your friend. I'm sorry I couldn't help. I really wanted to. Goodbye.
        
        

        2 seconds ago

        
        

        
        

        Me:

        XXX if you LISTENED BETTER than me you would have known I am not and never have been on welfare or government assistance of any kind. You also didn't listen when I said PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN. I'm sure your mother approved of everything you said. She raised you after all. When you called me a bitch I should have said "Bitch? ... I'm not your mother!"

• Monitor:

  • You should have.* But then again that would have meant you were actually reading my comments.
• 
  

  a few seconds ago

  
  

  Me:

  • No I had a knee jerk reaction to your obscene language. You have a lot to learn buddy, that is if you can get the wax out of your ears and the plank out of your eye. Go away. You've become annoying by now.
    Monitor:

    •  you're a wonderful American. Have a swell afternoon.
      
      *Notice he agrees with me about his mother.  What a dummy.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

FYI

I. I'd like to add, that the dude I was talking about had some health problems after this discussion and I was amazed to see his friends raising money for his medical expenses after all the crabbing they did about "needy people".

II. My cousins who received Social Security benefits when their father died in a tragic accident are now Republicans.

edit 10-19-2016 pbs

AS ALWAYS

PIO
********
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What's Cooking

We had another cookout last weekend at my parents house. Daddy likes to celebrate Momma's birthday with a cookout every year. I think he likes having company. 

Scout, and Kim, and Layla were on vacation in Panama City so they didn't get to come but Donny, and Colt, and I were there. My two aunts were invited so they came. They had been at the Memorial Day cookout, too. 

I am so happy that Mary and Patsy live in Tennessee and are close enough to come visit often. They are such a delight to be around. They never meet a stranger, and are always cheerful, and uplifting. Every time we are together is a blessing. My aunt, Jonnie Bell, was invited to the cookout but she has lots of health problems and doesn't feel like getting out much anymore. She lives in Chattanooga. It was a very small celebration.

Patsy made a delicious butterscotch pie, and Mary made a yummy lemon meringue pie. I brought a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Theirs were from-scratch. Mine came from a box. (I say, "Thank ye' aunt Betty. You know Betty don't you? Betty Crocker.") We had plenty of sweets. 

Momma didn't feel very good so she didn't do much. I put the hamburgers on the grill and watched them for a while. Momma brought a bowl out to put the hamburgers and hot dogs on and we went inside into the air conditioning to eat. 

Momma hasn't been out of the hospital long. She has pneumonia. I don't know how long it takes to get over that. She doesn't have any energy and can't breathe well.

Daddy's not much better. He's had heart surgery and stints put in so he huffs and puffs when he is outside in the heat. He didn't use to be like that. When he was young he was a dock worker. He lifted and moved freight all day or night long. He was in good shape. After he retired he didn't exercise and he eventually developed heart disease.

Although there weren't as many people at Momma's birthday party this year as last year, it was a very nice cookout. Everybody pitched in to straighten up and help Momma. It was just family, and just family is just fine. She really should be resting more than she is though. She needs to get well and that's the only thing they recommend when you have pneumonia.


Instead of having a cookout I had offered to cook a turkey and dressing but Momma said that Daddy didn't want turkey. It was the wrong time of year. What the heck? Is there any wrong time for turkey? I don't know. I just thought it would be easier on Momma if I cooked the turkey and brought it to their house. Momma said I could cook the hamburgers and that would help. Well, alright, but I still wanted turkey and dressing after I got to thinking about it. So did Colt.

I had a whole turkey in my freezer. I also had a whole chicken in there. Since Daddy didn't want to eat turkey for Momma's birthday I'd fix something for Colt's birthday. It was coming up. I decided to thaw out the chicken and cook a special birthday dinner for just the three of us, Colt and Don and me. We had dinner Tuesday evening and it was delicious if I do say so myself. I asked Colt what he would like with his chicken and dressing and he asked for macaroni and cheese. Okay, I figured I can do that. I cooked elbow macaroni, and then drained it,  and added a little milk to melt Velveeta cheese in the saucepan on the stove top. I make pretty good macaroni.

Everything was delicious. I had two containers of turkey juice in the freezer that I thawed in the microwave and poured over the crumbled up cornbread. I added a little bit of sage and salt and pepper and tasted it until I got it salty enough. I had added a little water to make it moist enough so I used chicken bouillon to make it more flavorful and salty. It's good to taste test every now and then so it's not too flat or too salty. Every now and then I get everything right. Colts special dinner turned out alright.


Two birthday parties in four days ... This is going to be a great summer.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

My Day

I am so grateful for my family. I was an only child so I don't have any brothers or sisters to lean on. That is why my parents, and my husband, and my sons are so important to me. They are my closest relatives on this earth. They love me and help me whenever I need them. I am so proud of them.

Colt and Don and I took the pickup truck to Scout's to get a tiller. I thought the tiller was heavier than it really was or Colt and I could have gotten it ourselves. 

On the way home we stopped at the truck stop so Colt could get a corn dog and a drink. We were across from Burger's Market on highway 136 so Don got Colt to drive across the road to pick up some boiled peanuts. I bought bell peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce. I love Burger's Market. They sell fresh fruits and vegetables and honey and relish.

At the crossroads of highway 41 and highway 136 construction is going on. Rumor has it that a Dollar General Market is coming to town. What little I know about it describes it as a Dollar General store and a grocery market combined. I hope that doesn't cut into Burger Market's business. I'm afraid it will.

Colt had to pick up his tag for his car today and go to Marietta to pay his electric bill. His birthday is next week. 

I went to the Tractor Supply store in Calhoun to buy chicken feed, and to look for hoses for an above ground pool. Scout and Kim gave us their old one when they got another one. 

I went to Home Depot, a pool store, and Walmart looking for pool hoses. I found a hose set at Walmart. A lady told me she had seen some pool ducks that hold chlorine at Kmart so I swung by there and bought the ducks and chlorine and shock before coming home. I have a feeling this little bitty pool is going to be expensive.

My parents used to have an in-ground swimming pool but they didn't really like it. Momma and Daddy can't swim and they didn't get in it very often. The only time anyone swam in their pool was when company came. The pool was a lot of trouble and Momma didn't like cleaning it. 


One time I invited several girls I knew from school. That was a disaster because one girl slathered herself in suntan oil which coated the walls of the pool which had to be wiped down at the water line. It made a ring around the pool. We never wore anything that would come off in the water. I quit inviting anyone over because I didn't want to repeat the experience. Some people don't have good pool etiquette. I should have spoke up when the girl put the oil on but I was trying to be nice. Most of the girls had never been to my house before. 

I think I've spent most of my life being the watchdog when something goes wrong. I always have to speak up. I can remember having to follow a couple of little girls when I was a little girl because they were horrible kids who rifled through my parents belongings, opening drawers and closets, and getting into everything. I would have to say, "Don't do that." or "Don't touch that."

Momma couldn't stand it when they started snooping in everything and pulling things out they had no business touching. I hated having to watch them. I didn't like being the 'manner police' but I guess that's why I'm not afraid to speak my mind today.

Momma would take me to visit their house and I had to sit still on the couch beside Momma and couldn't play with them. I couldn't get down, or look at anything. Momma wanted me to set a good example for them and impressed on me the importance of minding and not getting into anything. I knew better than to cross her.

I never did like those little girls because I had to go around correcting them. One time they dropped my big beautiful piggy bank and busted it when I was out of my room. It broke my heart. I wanted to fill it up before it was busted. Thanks to them I would never have that chance.

I used to feel so old when I was a kid. I think that is a drawback to being an only child. It's not easy being funny and silly when you have to always be on your best behavior. The only time I remember acting like a silly kid was when I would be alone watching TV in the evening while my parents were sleeping before they had to go to work.

I loved watching old movies and musicals. My favorite memory was watching Esther Williams movies. She was a famous competitive swimmer. Her underwater ballets were beautiful. I would stand on the couch and pretend I was diving onto the floor and then 'swim' over to the chair to resume my imaginary underwater ballet. I went from chair to chair to couch and back again. You would think anyone that enamored of water ballet would have learned to swim but I was terrified of water. I didn't learn to swim until I was a grown woman, even then, I could only dog paddle.

Sometimes I would wake my parents up because they heard me jumping around. I had to learn to play quietly and not 'shake the house down'.

I don't think I'll be doing very much diving in our 30" pool but I can lay in the pool and pretend I am a mermaid after we get it set up. Maybe we should have a pool party. We can take turns sitting in it. Did I tell you it's small?

I really love this warm weather. I've already got broccoli and cauliflower out of the garden and the tomatoes and squash are growing. I really, really love summer, even if it is only spring, it feels like summer to me. That's why we need a pool. It's going to be a long hot summer and I need to cool off.


Just don't mess with me or my family. We'll be chilling in the pool.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

JUNE

Ah, it's June and it's deja vu all over again. The mouse is on the wheel; what goes around comes around ... again, and again. 


Last weekend we had a cookout at my parents house for our Memorial Day feast. Momma took care of everything like she is loath to do. She is very organized so the cookout turned out very nice. She didn't feel like fixing everything so she served chips and bought potato salad and cole slaw. 


Donny, Colt and I brought Jason (one of my 'adopted' sons*) with us. Scout and Kim came, too. Momma's sisters, Patsy and Mary, were also there. I love visiting with my aunts when my parents have a party. They are fun to be around. Everyone had a good time that day. 


Daddy told us that Momma hasn't been feeling well and was having trouble breathing. We were concerned that the blood clots might have come back. 


Daddy said Momma had been sitting on a chair pulling weeds. She can't stand to see things get out of hand so she is always going around weeding by hand. Since she doesn't have the energy to get around she has taken to sitting and weeding the yard. That's how he knew she was very sick and why he took her to the emergency room. 

They went to the emergency room Tuesday. She has walking pneumonia. That is why she has been short of breath. It sounds strange to say, but I am so glad is was only pneumonia. Momma will have to rest and recuperate. That's easier said than done because Momma's a worker.

I don't know how Momma is going to be able to rest. It's not in her nature. I wish I was more like her.

Plenty more things have been going on, too. Jason's father had to go to the hospital. He has cancer. The doctors said he has double pneumonia. I don't understand how people can catch pneumonia, but it is still dangerous and needs to be treated by a doctor. When your body is weakened by disease, you are more susceptible.

**********

This weekend is the annual HIGHWAY 41 YARD SALE. I didn't put anything out to sell but if you drive by the house you can still see my Confederate flags I planted in my front yard during the Battle of Resaca. If you drive up or down highway 41 this weekend be sure to go slow and watch for cars making sudden stops in front of you. You might find some wonderful treasure in someone's front yard.

***********

Our neighbors are tearing down the mobile home on the lot next door. It had rotted down so bad they are demolishing it. I climbed on a ladder and took some pictures of it before they tore down the walls and the roof collapsed. I would post pictures but Colt's computer isn't working right.

Didn't I tell you there's never a dull moment in Resaca?

*********

Colt nearly stepped on a rattlesnake at the Bojangles in Chatsworth last week, so watch out for snakes. Summer's here whether it's officially here, or not.

* Jason and Allen were our neighbors.  They are Scout and Colt's friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Aaron, Dustin, Tyler, Sara, Colt, Tim, Eddie, Jimmy, Gary, Steve, Dana, Nancy, Hanna, Keegan, and Shanda

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Chase and Krista

RIP

J.L. Strickland, Mary Bell Carter, Sam Burchfield, Charlie Burchfield 

REMEMBER
THE HWY 41 YARD SALE THIS WEEKEND
June 1-2-3


AS ALWAYS
PIO