I Can Feel It

Does anybody else feel like me? I feel like a balloon that is slowly leaking, losing my energy. When the sun was blazing, temperatures dancing around the hundred degrees Fahrenheit (37.77 degrees Celsius) mark on the thermometer, everyone was complaining about the heat but I felt alive and cheerful. The weather took a U-turn and dipped around seventy degrees Fahrenheit (21.11 degrees Celsius) after a couple of rainy days and cloudy skies. I don't know where my energy went. I need the sun! 


Scout came over and we sat on the carport enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Scout said he felt bad today and had a headache all day long. He was wondering if his headache stemmed from the change in the weather. I reminded him that Kim hadn't been feeling good, as well. She had been having headaches. 


I told him it could be the weather, or it could be a cycle. Sometimes people are sick because of allergies. It seems like people will become sick in cycles. Sometimes people will share similar symptoms and it could be a virus or something else those people were exposed to. I'm always wondering where some flu or virus or headache or other communicable disease came from. I am sort of germaphobic that way. Then I got to thinking, it might be the weather after all. 


What if the weather all over the world is fluctuating because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the radiation leak at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant in  Japan? What if it is affecting the entire world? I know you might be saying I'm a kook but think about it, the weather has been extreme across America this year. Climate change is affecting locations around the world.


I read an article about the government monitoring radiation levels in the soil and in the livestock across the USA. Radiation levels have risen drastically since the tsunami damaged the plant which leaked toxins into the atmosphere for weeks before they were able to contain the damage. 


Air currents carried radiation across the globe, raining down on the earth and sea, contaminating everything. Radiation levels near the nuclear plant were too high in vegetation and livestock for human consumption. Since the wind currents shifted to the east, the radiation fell in the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of America first. Radiation levels have increased across America. Rising radiation levels were detected all the way to  the east coast.


Radiation poisoning is a horrible deadly form of energy and mankind doesn't have the power to prevent natural disasters like tsunami's and earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Until they can predict those things I don't think we're responsible enough to control a meltdown. I prefer not to fry from radiation poisoning, but that's just my opinion. I'm not entirely convinced that microwave ovens are safe, either. 


Imagine an invisible microwave. cooking on high, with the door open. That's how I imagine the nuclear power plant meltdown. Between the radiation leak from Japan and the BP Oil Leak in the Gulf of Mexico, I can imagine all the shrimp and fish and sharks cooking in black oil at the bottom of the sea. Yum, yum. 


No wonder the shrimp from Red Lobster is so small. All the good ones are all gone because of the toxic combination of petroleum and radiation poisoning. I shudder to think of the quality and quantity of seafood in the future.


I wonder how the people in Japan are surviving and if all their food and water is being shipped in from other countries. I hope they are receiving generous aid from around the world. They were crushed in the tsunami and it will take a lot of help and time to recover.


I hope the world reconsiders their desire to harness nuclear power and rejects it. There are so many renewable sources of energy that we should explore instead. I don't know why we don't utilize solar energy, among other things. I'd like to have solar panels on my rooftop making electricity.


I feel like somebody has flipped a switch. It was summer. Now it's fall. The rain knocked down loose leaves, carpeting the ground. The frogs and crickets are singing their summer songs in the night. The sound drifts on a breeze through my window.


I'll try not to worry too much about nuclear fallout and global warming if you promise to think about it a little. Don't you think we humans are bad about soiling our own nests? Earth is our global nest and I think we are fools and small minded when we don't consider the greater good of the planet. It's our only home. 


People have such short attention spans that they forget about the damage to the Gulf of Mexico and they have probably already put Japan's nuclear disaster out of their minds but it would behoove us all to pay attention and realize the damage we have done to the earth. Mother Nature is forgiving and, over time, things will probably eventually right itself but wouldn't it be nice to save the earth for our children and grandchildren and their future children, too.


Like Hootie the owl says, "Give a hoot. Don't pollute!"

(I guess I'm just an old worry wart.)

**********

On another note, I'd like to announce that J.R. Martinez is going to be a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. He was a wounded veteran who was injured  by an IED in Iraq.  J.R. moved to Dalton Georgia when he was a teenager and attended and graduated from Dalton High School.  

J.R. Martinez beat out scores of contestants for the part of 'Brot' on ABCD's All My Children soap opera when they were featuring a story about wounded veterans. J.R. Martinez is a real American hero and he has proven to be a talented actor. I admire his spirit and his character. He is a motivational speaker for wounded veterans and others.  Please consider giving him your vote if you watch Dancing With The Stars. I'm sure he'll give his all.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

(Who knows what this means?)


Please consider becoming a follower of Resaca Rose

More Car Trouble

Scout's Ford broke down so he asked our neighbor, Richard, to help him figure out what was wrong with the car. Richard and his son, Todd, are very good mechanics. Richard used to work for the Ford dealership in Dalton and he taught Todd how to fix cars. Richard said the car needed an ignition module.

Since Scout didn't have a car I've been taking him to work every morning and picking him up after work and taking him to the auto parts stores looking for parts every afternoon. It's throwing a monkey wrench in my usual lackadaisical morning routine. It took a couple of days for the module to come in and, in the mean time, Scout told me the module wasn't like a regular module. It was built to conform to California standards. It was hard to find parts to match. In other words, it costs more.

Todd told Scout he needed a new rotary cap and wires. Scout found a cap but couldn't find the wires to fit it. We ran around looking for parts in the stifling heat every afternoon. The new rotary cap has a screw in the middle that is broke loose. Now he will have to reorder one. That's the Strickland luck, for you. That's why I don't believe in gambling. We're not conducive to good luck.

I did enjoy spending time with Scout and taking him to work and back. My favorite part was driving down long ribbons of winding roads, with grazing cattle, and fields of golden crops, over rivers, and through shady lanes, soaking in the day. One day I think I saw a fawn colored fox but I couldn't get close enough before it was gone, lickidysplit! 

Bob's farm is in Red Bud, but Scout goes east on highway 136 from Sugar Valley, through Resaca, to a road that runs all the way to Bob's house. I turn right on the first road past Polecat Creek, (can't remember the name) and cross two bridges, a couple of stop signs, one at highway 225, traveling through picturesque scenery. From one end to the other I feel like I've been riding an amazing roller coaster ride. 

I didn't even mind getting out early since I was helping my son. It was better than letting him have my car and drive the crap out of it. I've seen him drive and I don't need the shocks falling off the car. You can't push the Buick. She doesn't respond well. Besides, I'm just now getting comfortable with having my car back. I didn't have it for a while when the heater core was being fixed. I'm anal retentive about my ride. But, I have my reasons!

You know what F-O-R-D stands for don't you? Fix or repair daily! Well, that's the price of driving antiques, I guess. We aren't motor-heads, we're just rednecks. You gotta love it. Either that, or admit defeat. I choose to embrace my redneck roots. Thank you Jeff Foxworthy. O we are all worthy! If you're southern you're bound to be a little bit redneck. Don't you think? 

Scout finally got his car running so he went to Dalton the other day. I got a call from him telling me that the Ford broke down in town. He said the police came and were going to make him have it towed by a Dalton wrecker service. Scout wanted to call Kim's family instead because they have a wrecker service. 

Scout said one cop took mercy on him and said he would help Scout push his car out of the road. Scout laughed and said the policeman told him, "Wait a minute until I lock my doors." Scout asked him if Dalton was really that bad and the officer said "Yeah." I don't know if he was kidding or just had to go by procedure and lock his doors before stepping away from his car, but I thought that was funny and sweet. Scout told me the other two cops acted abrupt and unfriendly. It's nice to know there are some nice cops out there.

Reeves Wrecker brought Scout's car to the house and dropped it off in the driveway. You know what that means, don't you? He got Kim to take him to work and would call me to get a ride home after work.

Scout put a new distributor cap on the car this afternoon after he got off work.  I hope that fixes it. He's replaced just about everything he can.

I cooked a rack of ribs I've had since last year for my birthday. Moma got sick about that time and we postponed my birthday dinner so I've been saving them. I decided today was the day I was going to cook them. Kim's birthday is tomorrow so I asked Scout to call her to see if she and Layla would come over to eat with us. We had ribs and cream corn from the garden and potatoes and fried okra. It wasn't a fancy party but any time you don't have to cook, or clean up, I figure that's a pretty good present.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

SEPTEMBER

I created Resaca Rose last year in the hopes that I would be able to share my life and, um, adventures with my family and friends. I have learned so much and have felt so empowered as I learn more and more about the computer world. Whenever I got stuck with something I would ask my son for help. When he wasn't around, or couldn't answer my question, I turned to my wonderful and savvy cousins for advice. Their generosity was limitless. They never left me hanging without an answer, and I am grateful for that. I finally started understanding what I was doing, a little bit at a time. Now I look back and wonder why it took me so long to catch on to everything. 


Computers are so much easier than they used to be. I was a data entry operator. That's a glorified title for a typist. I worked in data entry back in the dark ages. We used keypunch cards. Half of the data team typed in information and the other half verified our work. It was very tedious. If a card was wrong the machine would spit it out and it had to be re-punched. Everything was stored on huge spools of tape. A computer would take up a whole huge room. Terminals, or keyboards and monitors, were in a separate room from the computer. The computers were very touchy and 'wend down' all the time.


At the time I never could imagine the day would come when nearly everyone would have their own computer. Now there are computers everywhere, even on people's portable phones and in their cars. We've come a long way in a short amount of time. I credit the space program for the great strides in technology we have reached today. 


Donny's mother used to be a telephone operator when they lived in Summerville. Donny's daddy was a line man for the phone company. It's hard to believe that every phone call used to have to go through an operator. If it was like that today, half of the population would have to work for the phone companies just to keep up. Just about everybody has a cell phone today.

*****************************

It was time to go to my dentist today. My hygienist Rachel cleaned my teeth. Doctor Frank wasn't there. He was in France. Rachel said he went to climb Mount Blanche, but the climb was called off because of a rock slide, or something. On top of that, he lost his passport. I hope he finds it so he can come home. Maybe next time I go to see him I'll get the full story. I told Rachel she was a hit on the internet because people were checking out My Dental Visit.


Our baby girl, Layla, had to go to the dentist, today, also. She's only four years old. The pediatric dentist had to put Layla to sleep. She filled Layla's cavity and pulled her two front teeth. They were damaged and the dentist was afraid they would make her permanent teeth bad. Little Layla will be five in October. Her mother is teaching her to sing, "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".

******************************

I forgot to mention that I saw a Model A in Dalton this morning. When I finally caught up with it, I saw Daddy driving. He was going to meet his buddies from the antique car club for coffee. 


After I went to the dentist, I stopped by Momma's and Daddy's to see how they were doing. Daddy came home while I was there. He told me an incredible story. 


Daddy said a woman stopped him one day and asked if she could ask him a question. He said, 'okay'. She asked him for $10 to buy gas because her mother was sick and out of town and she didn't have gas to get there. She offered to give him $10 on her credit card if he would give her gas money. He refused to give her any money. One day, after that, he was home talking to his neighbor, Jack, in the front yard when a little silver car pulled up. The woman driving the car asked Jack if she could ask him a question. She wanted $10 to buy gas to go visit her sick mother. Daddy started yelling at her and told her to get the hell out of there. She wasn't getting any money from them. Jack didn't know what to think until Daddy explained about that woman approaching him before.


Daddy went to visit his car club friends and told them about the woman driving around in a silver Chevrolet soliciting money. Two women told him they had been hit up for money from the same woman. When they started to leave the Burger King, Daddy helped his friend, Jimmy, get into his car. Daddy's other friends, Creed and another guy, were getting into their car when a little silver car pulled up and a red-headed woman asked them if she could ask them a question. She told them she was out of gas and needed money to visit her sick mother. Since Daddy had warned them, both men offered to buy her gasoline at a gas station nearby. She said, 'no' she didn't use that kind of gas. Then she sped off. The men told Daddy about the woman pulling up and trying the same scam on them. Daddy reported her to the police and the sheriff because he was in the city one time when the woman approached him and in the county another time. He got the tag number and reported her.


That woman has been riding all over town and begging people for money to go visit her mother. She is playing on the sympathy of men, and women, so that she can scam them out of money. Don't let anyone play on your sympathy to con you out of your hard-earned money. Use common sense and offer to get her in touch with some organization who can help her, preferably the police. She is only trying to steal money from goodhearted people. Be sure to report her to the sheriff or the police. Maybe they can catch her and make her pay for her duplicity. I hate thieves and liars. Don't you? I especially can't stand a mooch.

Oh yeah, Go Daddy Go!

*****************************

Other links to My Dental Visit and JUNE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Butch, Katy, Kim, Susan, Larry, Corbin, Gail, Melissa, Melody, Erin, Emily, Debbie, Jesse, and to everyone celebrating this month

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Resaca Rose
and everyone celebrating this month


RIP
REMEMBER 9-11

Gary McNamer, Robert Burchfield

AS ALWAYS

PIO

A Few Things

Colt started classes at Southern Polytech again for the new year. He and his friend Bob got an apartment close to the college. He comes home on the weekends.

One weekend when he was home he went with me to Bowman's restaurant. It is a little restaurant that is out in the middle of nowhere. They have home cooking. We ordered the turkey and dressing. It was delicious.

It wouldn't be summer without a little bit of car trouble. My car started making funny noises under the dash. I rushed around trying to get my errands done and back home before it conked out on me. Smoke started coming out of the air vents. I was afraid it was going to catch on fire. I pushed the little Buick as fast as I could and cussed every slow vehicle in front of me. "Get out of the road!"

Donny and Scout had to put a new heater core in the car. It took all day. Scout and Colt put the insulation back under the dash. Did I ever tell you how wonderful it is to have two boys and a husband who can fix things? It's a good thing, too, because next Scout's car messed up.

Oh well. I'm not surprised; are you? It's always something. If nothing is happening to you, you better check. You might be dead. It looks like we're not dead yet so it's all good.

Look what we found growing on the bank beside the road. Donny says it's collard greens. I wonder how they got there. That would be a good place to have a garden if the road department didn't go down the road spraying herbicides. Keep your fingers crossed. We might have fresh collard greens soon.

This was a special surprise garden. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out where the seeds came from.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

There's a Storm Coming

The clouds look incredible, don't they? I used my regular camera and didn't do anything to the pictures. They almost look like black and white photographs. I can see pictures in the clouds. How about you? These photographs remind me of my mother. Momma used to sing "Stormy Weather" to Scout when he was little. I can still remember his sweet clear little voice singing "Storm-y Weav-urrr" with such feeling as he sang along with her. Stormy Weather was made famous by the great black entertainer Lena Horne in the movie Panama Hattie in 1942.

"don't know why there's no sun up in the sky, stormy weather since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all the time . . ."

"There's a storm coming." Know where that line came from? Sara Conner was at a gas station somewhere in Mexico filling up her Jeep. The old Mexican pumping the gas was interpreting what the young boy was trying to tell her, 'There's a storm coming.' That's right. It was THE TERMINATOR.

A huge storm is heading towards the east coast. Hurricane Irene has been labeled a category 3 hurricane with expected landfall around North Carolina with high winds of 115-120 miles per hour. I hope everyone is able to evacuate in time and don't come back home to  loss and destruction. My heart goes out to everyone in the path of this storm. "Run Forest, run!" Can you tell I'm on a movie quote kick tonight?

We could use some rain around here but we don't need a deluge. The ground is so dry that it won't be able to absorb the water and it will make a river around here. The grass we planted in the front yard never really took off because I haven't been watering it very much. The ground under the Magnolia trees is cracked from lack of water. We haven't gotten a good soaking rain since, when? Maybe the forth of July. I don't know but I do know that everything is drying up and the grass is going to seed. I hope we get some rain out of this storm.

I'm looking at the Weather Channel right now and it looks like we're not going to get any rain any time soon. It's not always fun to be hooked into this new technological age. You can check out the weather several days in advance. It's a bummer when the weather won't cooperate.

One time, when the boys were little, Donny and I went on vacation without checking the weather channel. We drove around until we found a motel on the beach. The desk clerk said, 'no refunds'. I asked what she meant. She told us a hurricane was headed that way and there were no refunds for the room. Donny and I paid for one night and checked in. We took the boys to the beach and played for a while. The weather was nice. Donny insisted that we get to sleep early and leave early to hurry back home ahead of the storm.

We got up after a few hours and started driving home. State Patrol officers and volunteers stopped traffic at the Florida-Alabama line. They offered shelter in that area. We decided to keep driving. Donny drove our big clunky orange van through an awful storm. We drove from Panama City and on through Alabama until we reached the Georgia state line. Then we high tailed it on home. That little vacation only lasted about 24 hours. I swore then that I would never take another vacation without watching the Weather Channel first. Coincidentally that was the year that Colt played Little League baseball on the Hurricanes team. 

If it rains around here we will all be 'singing in the rain'. Sorry. I couldn't resist just one more.

 'I'll be back!'

As Always

PIO

Cash or Credit

Everybody in the USA can tell you that our country is in deep doodoo but nobody seems to really understand what that means. They want to point fingers and blame everybody but nobody wants to take responsibility for the problem. I am not an economist and I certainly don't have a good grasp of the problem but I do know what does and does not work for me.


I looked up the definition of the 'debt ceiling' and it seems to concern our total debt and the interest on that debt. This debt and the interest that is incurred affects every citizen and is reflected in the interest rates we pay on everything we buy on credit. That is why the media was screaming about the national down-grading. It forces the financial institutions to raise consumer's interest rates.


Americans live on credit. They use credit cards for everything from purchasing washers and dryers, to buying fast food at Krystal's. No wonder this country is in such deep debt. No wonder so many people lost everything when the economy hit a recession and they lost their jobs. People are living from week to week and never prepare for emergencies.


Years ago I worked in the finance business. I worked for small companies in Dalton. I worked at several different finance companies because I was part-time and there was always an opening at another finance company when I was no longer needed. I learned something while I was doing that. I saw the same people come in, time and again, wanting to borrow money. I saw a lot of the same people who had loans at other finance companies come to the new company I was working for to borrow money. They were habitual borrowers.


I watched managers and assistant managers 'chasing loans' trying to get their delinquent customers to make payments on their loans. I even saw them convince the delinquent customers to come in and renew their loan so that it would 'get off the books'. Sometimes the customer who hadn't paid anything for months or years would even get a little money back. The delinquent customer would skip away happily with his small pittance, secure in the knowledge that he had screwed the credit company. 


Sure enough, when the new loan came due, they didn't pay. Then the assistant manager had to 'chase' them again. It was a vicious cycle. I couldn't understand how that helped anyone, but the credit companies live by different rules than the rest of us. They only wanted to get the bad debt off their delinquent books and look good for corporation, whoever that is. This seemed positively ridiculous to me, since the delinquent customer wouldn't pay their debts to begin with. Why renew a loan only to go back into the bad debt list again in three or four months? It reminded my of a dog chasing it's tail. It never was going to get it.


All my life my parents drilled into my head the importance of paying your bills and staying out of debt. Working in the finance business allowed me an opportunity to see the down side of credit. Some people would borrow as little as fifty dollars for something. Then they would pay that off and come right back to borrow more. I thought that was crazy. Admittedly, fifty dollars was a lot of money back when I was young, but I couldn't believe people were so hard pressed that they couldn't save up the money. They didn't bat an eye at paying huge interest rates, though. I think interest was around eighteen percent back then. I don't know what they charge today.


I bought a new washing machine from Sears and they offered me a ten percent discount if I would put it on my Sears card. It had expired so I allowed them to sign me up for a new one. I was planning to pay it off immediately anyway. When I got the card it was at twenty five percent interest. If I had made minimum payments I would have paid several hundred dollars more than the cost of the washer. That, my friends, is a racket.


We were able to pay our house off a few years ago, right before the economy tanked. I had always paid more than the minimum payment so we could get it paid off early. While everybody else in the country was struggling and losing their jobs and their homes, we were secure in the knowledge that we had our house. We might not be able to pay our electric bill and may even have to have cable and other luxuries cut off but, at least, we had a roof over our heads. 


Donny has always let me pay the bills and make any financial decisions. He knows that I am so paranoid about debt that I will not rush into buying anything. We aren't rich but we aren't in debt, either. Whenever we have to buy something on credit, I always pay it off immediately. I don't want to be beholden to anyone. I especially don't want to pay more for anything.


It is too easy to get credit. That is why everyone is in debt. They never learn to pay off their bills and they never learn to do without. When they really are in need and are desperate, they will use credit to get by. That is like digging a hole and standing in it when you want to get out. The deeper the hole, the harder it is to get out.


I don't blame people for wanting new things, but everyone seems to have forgotten the phrase 'keeping up with the Jones' is not a good thing. It means trying to keep up with your neighbors although you can't afford it. It used to imply someone is acting stupid and pretentious. When you live above your means you will find that you don't really belong there. I know it's a huge slap in the face but sometimes you need a good slap in the face to wake up.


I don't have a fancy house and I don't have fancy furniture. I don't have a nice new car and I don't dress like a fashionista. I just live a simple life and try to keep my bills paid. I don't want to keep up with my neighbors and I certainly don't want to impress them.


It's time to put down the plastic and start using real cold hard cash. Sometimes people seem flummoxed when I pay with cash. What's up with that? That's what that plastic credit card, or debit card, is supposed to represent: cash. Cash is King! Use it. Don't abuse it. And, for gods sake, quit digging your own grave in credit.


I know a lot of people were hurt by the economic downturn and I am not trying to belittle anyone. I only want to sound the alarm and, hopefully, rally the troops. We would all be better off if we learned not to buy things unless we could really afford them. We would be better off if we learned to save up for big ticket purchases like refrigerators or cars. We would save millions of dollars in interest fees. I wouldn't want to buy a new car that costs $20,000 dollars and pay six or eight thousand dollars extra in interest. Saving that money in the bank would earn interest, unlike financing it. Everybody used to have to save to buy something. Now anyone can buy anything with credit.


I didn't mean to insult anyone, although I probably did. I just think we need to get back to the good old days. That way we will plan for any contingency. Everybody needs to start a nest egg. I learned that when I was young.


Daddy was in the union and every few years the union would go out on strike when they were renegotiating a new contract. Sometimes Momma was the only breadwinner. She learned to save money when they were both working so that they wouldn't be empty handed when the union went on strike.


We all aren't in a union but we all have good and bad times in life. The best way to take care of ourselves and our families is to make sure to be prepared for the next emergency.  


It wouldn't hurt America if we learned to pay off our national debt and focus on  becoming a country that is solvent. We need to turn our financial revenue towards rebuilding America. They should start with the infrastructure; roads, bridges, dams, federal parks and memorials. among other things. 


We should resurrect some of the ideas Roosevelt employed in America during the greatest depression in American history. Roosevelt created jobs. We need jobs. The economy will turn around when people are able to work. The economy will improve eventually; it always does. We just need to be prepared for the next emergency like we are going through now. We've had plenty of recessions. We will have plenty more. We should become a nation that isn't riddled in debt any more, individually and as a nation.


Seriously, though, don't you love the feel of cold hard cash? I know I do. What are you going to do next time someone asks, "Cash, or credit?"

Responses are always welcome.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Back To School

It's that time of year again. Time for Colt to head back to school. This year is going to be a little different; Colt and his roommate, Bob, moved off-campus. 

We rounded up some furniture and helped Colt take it down to Marietta over the past couple of weeks. Bob's parents were there the first time helping him put his furniture together. Bob got the big bedroom since he got there first. He brought some nice tables and lamps for the living room. Colt's contribution was a dining room table, couch and big TV. We took his bed and chairs and the rest of his necessities last weekend. The apartment looks nice. 

Colt headed back to Marietta today to begin another semester at the university. He kept coming back. I would tell him 'bye' and then go inside. He made it out of the driveway and pulled back in the other one. He said he forgot something. Next time he got down the road a little piece before he turned around for something else. He finally got gone on the third try.

I bet Colt will be so happy to be away from me and in his own apartment for a while. I'm going to miss him so much even though he's hardly ever here. He hangs out with his buddy Justin, after work. He is the boy who thought Colt was a Jew. Although he's a knucklehead, Justin is a real good friend and a likable fellow.

Scout got Colt a job with him this summer. Scout works for Bob DeGraan. Bob owns Fencing Unlimited. Fencing must really be unlimited because Scout has had steady work all throughout this recession. They work all over north Georgia. Scout's even worked in Tennessee. 

Fencing has been a learning experience for Colt. Or maybe it has been an endurance experience because Colt has worked his tail off. He and Scout look like they've been rolling in the dust by the time they get home. Colt showed me scratches and regaled me with stories of wrestling huge rolls of barb wire; trying to unwind them among the brambles, and the bushes, sometimes dragging them uphill. Scout enjoyed working with Colt and showing him that he could outwork him. 

It's important that Colt learns manual labor if he is going to be in charge of construction management when he graduates. There is nothing worse than a boss who doesn't understand his employees because he has never worked. Book learning is good and important, but understanding every aspect of a job is invaluable. The best way to learn how something works is to learn to do the job. You can't learn everything in books. 

Donny complains about some designs the draftsmen give him because they don't work. Sometimes the blueprints are wrong and the draftsmen have to redraw them. He thinks, if they had to help build the machines, they would understand their designs better. Some designs won't work. If the blueprints are wrong they have to tear down whatever they just built and redo it. That's not easy when you have to cut metal with a blowtorch. 

I believe Colt will be a better boss and understand his job better if he learns good, honest, hard work. That's why I encourage Colt to work with Scout when he can.

We pick on Colt and give him a hard time but we are so proud of him. He's a fine young man and lots of fun to be around. That's why I'm going to miss him so much.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

The Gift

. . . or the shining, or whatever you want to call it, can come in different forms but the presentiment isn't always clear until after the fact, sometimes not even then. The messages can come in the form of a dream. Other times they can be nagging little voices in your head. They can come in broad daylight or the dead of night. I don't know how we get premonitions or cryptic messages but I do know they are real.

My grandmother and aunt had dreams that were eerily prophetic. My grandmother tried to warn my uncle about having a wreck. He was a truck driver. She told him about her dream. She said her mother came for him in her dream. Then she proceeded to describe the scene of the wreck. My uncle wouldn't listen. My aunt had a dream about her grandmother, my grandmother's mother,  coming for her husband, too. My grandmother had cautioned Jimmy the day before he died but he still died.

I dreamed about my cousin dying and the date of her death was emblazoned in my mind until right before the date and suddenly I forgot all about it. When she died I realized the significance of the date. I've had a few ominous dreams before, but never a live encounter until a friend died and I had an eerie encounter with him that I will never forget.

My husband, Gary, and I went on vacation at Daytona Beach. We were walking on the boardwalk when I saw a tall guy leaning up against the rail talking to a bunch of girls and guys standing around him. I told Gary that it looked like Joel Driggers, and I was dragging him over there to talk to him. Gary knew Joel from Dalton High School and he kept saying 'that's not Joel' but I wouldn't listen and kept getting closer and closer. I got within a few feet of the guy before I realized that Gary was right and it wasn't really Joel. It certainly did look like him until I got upon him! That was long before cell phones so I didn't talk to anyone until I got home. The minute we got home from vacation my mother came to meet us and told me that Joel had killed himself. I will always believe that Joel wanted to say goodbye and that is how he did it. I saw him about the same time he died. So, that is my ghost story.

I've never had a good premonition like winning the lottery on anything cool like that. My dreams are usually vague and mysterious, full of symbolism. The encounter on the boardwalk was truly strange and a once in a lifetime experience. It was even better than a dream. It was real and I was awake

As Always

PIO 

Now and Then

NOW

AND

THEN

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NOW

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THEN

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NOW

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THEN

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NOW

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THEN

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Summer is fading fast. You can really tell it in the garden. What had been strong and beautiful is drying up and wilting on the vine. August is such a bitter-sweet month.

As Always

PIO

What's This

I've been complaining for years about the state of the standard cooking potato, whether it's a Russet or an Idaho. To me, a 'tater's a 'tater. If I can boil it, bake it, fry it, or nuke it I'm happy. What I haven't been happy with is the state of my potatoes.


Several years ago I would find little black spots in my potatoes. I kept trying to figure out what was causing the little black spots but couldn't figure it out. I hadn't ever seen anything like it. Over the years I saw it from time to time. Finally, one time, I saw a little stick of wood in the middle of the potato and realized it was a dirty tooth pick. I was shocked and revolved. How disgusting! Some filthy sorry excuse of a person, who could have been riddled with disease, decided to stick a filthy splinter of germy wood into a potato to corrupt the crop. The person had no regard for the fruit of his labor, or respect for his employer, much less the people who eat the potatoes. It finally made sense.


I can imagine a bunch of migrant workers resting after a day of toil and pain in the backbreaking job of bending all day in the boiling sun scratching out potatoes from the soil. They probably sit their bags of potatoes together to be loaded. It would be easy to pierce a few sticks of dirty tooth picks into potatoes every day before they are picked up from the fields. Someone like that would have to be trying to rot the potato, I guess.


I have been having a new problem with the potatoes I have been buying recently. I've bought a total of three bags of potatoes with something awful wrong with them. I think it is some kind of blight but you can't tell there is anything wrong with them until you cut them open. They look fine on the outside but they have big black spots inside. I guess you could say they look like they have an inky dark spot throughout the potatoes. 


I was upset when I bought the first bag of potatoes but I used the ones that weren't bad and threw away the bad. By the time I bought my second bag of potatoes from the same roadside stand, I told the ladies about the bad potatoes. They said nobody else had mentioned them. I bought more potatoes after those which were good so I thought, 'okay, that's good'. I picked up the last bag of that brand of potatoes the other day. 


I was peeling potatoes for dinner when I saw the same rotten, nasty looking potatoes. I cut another potato and saw a bigger bad place in it. The whole bag was probably diseased. I took them up to the roadside stand to show them to the two ladies who were there. I cut one open in front of them and it had a little black spot. I wondered if it could be a toothpick blemish.


One lady told me that another customer mentioned the potatoes being bad besides me. They told me they would like to have the potatoes to show their boss. I readily agreed. I didn't want them. They offered me another bag of potatoes and I said I'd pass, thank you. I didn't want any more potatoes from there. One lady got a bag of Dole potatoes and said they weren't the same brand so they should be fine. I thanked them and came home.


I read and hear about this gene splicing and animal-plant hybrids all the time. I got to thinking what if these nasty toothpicks have some germ or something that could mutate. That's just creepy. What do you think?

b a d  ' t a t e r ' s

g o o d  ' t a t e r ' s

    

As Always

PIO
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If you are reading this from an email account you can click on the name Resaca Rose at the top of the page to connect directly to the site.
Chow Baby!

AUGUST

Hi Yall!

I can't believe it's already August. August is a two edged sword. It is the heart of summer and also the time when the final hurrah begins. Before long the leaves will start turning colors and falling off the trees. It will be a gradual process that most people don't even notice but I've become finely attuned to the phenomenon because it seems to always start around my birthday. As much as I love summer, I dread this time of year because I know it will soon be over. I love the sunlight in summertime. Fall and winter seems to sap my energy and excitement because of the muted sunshine.


I only remember having one birthday party when I was little. We were still living behind Hale's house. That was the name of our landlord. I couldn't have been very old. I can remember my cousins came to play with me and share some cake and ice cream. We played in the backyard and swung on my swing set.


One time Daddy was going to repaint my swing set so he used marine paint he had for painting his old wooden boat. He left the lid off the can and the paint brushes, too. It was bright blue. I couldn't resist it. When he went inside I decided to paint the swing set for myself. I started painting the legs of the swing set and painted as high as I could reach. I thought I was doing a pretty good job but, when Daddy and Momma caught me, I realized I had gotten just about as much paint on myself as I did on the swing set. It was sticky and hard to remove.


Momma and Daddy got gasoline and made me strip down to my panties. I stood on the back porch in my underwear while they used rags to scrub me with gasoline to get the paint off. It didn't take long for the gas to start burning me and I began begging and pleading with them to let me go and let me take a bath. I danced around screaming as they scrubbed more vigorously. It seemed to take forever before they were willing to let me go so I could run into the house and jump into the shower. That's probably the only time I ever begged for a bath. I bet I was the first blue Smurf in the world. From then on I left enamel paint alone. I don't remember if Daddy ever finished painting my swing set but I know I didn't help. I had enough of painting.


We moved away from Hale's house the summer I turned eight. I will always remember the little house in the woods fondly, but I will never forget my gas bath. Stay away from enamel paint. Just consider it a word from the wise. Oh yeah, and don't leave open paint around kids.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Tommie Lyn, Pat, Myra, Nancy, Nancy, Brenda, Chris, Randy, Jonnie Bell, Glo, Blake, Bob, Justin, Cole, Jerry, and to me

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Susan and Bob

RIP

Steve Hammontree, Donna Shoates

As Always
PIO