An evil is stalking the world now that wasn't here when I was a kid. Maybe it's been here all along but as a kid I never saw it lurking near the cotton fields of north Alabama. We knew what the devil was of course, from going to the West Huntsville Baptist Church every Sunday morning and evening, but I don't think it entered our minds to think he was walking down the same road as us.
It's...
It's difficult to be stressed out when you're sitting on your back porch at midnight in the summertime, with a good book, cold drink and a halo of hickory barbeque smoke swirling around your head. The meat was sizzling and the smoke, apart from shooing the mosquitoes away, was heavenly with the aroma of meat, spices and herbs. I couldn't have asked for better therapy to cure the effects of a...
Even though I wasn't snoring, my wife hit me in the ribs with her elbow and hissed for me to wake up! With all the dignity I could summon, I whispered that I had not been asleep but was having a spiritual moment with God. He and I had been having a silent conversation, a dialogue that she had interrupted!
She gave me a look that spoke volumes and didn't bother to reply, but continued to...
There were 15 of us with our backs stooped and sweat running down our foreheads into our eyes. It had rained the night before and we were slipping and sliding down the long rows, trying to fill our buckets before the sun got too hot. Even early in the morning it was already 80 degrees and climbing.
As the day gets warmer, June Bugs, Wasps and Bumble Bees make the bean vines hum as they...
A 'possum with his back to the wall is a fearsome thing when he's decided that you're going to harm him. After all, we're a lot bigger than him and he's probably going out of his mind with fear, but he won't show it. He'll snarl and hiss and spit until you back off and leave him alone. If that doesn't work he'll resort to his last line of defense; "playing possum".
This was the situation...
My vacation to St. George Island in May was just as relaxing as my last visit to this barrier island off Apalachicola, Florida. Fishing in the surf on the gulf side of this 22 mile spit of sand in Northwest Florida, I found that for once I was in the right place at the right time. The fish were biting and my daughter-in-law and I were doing our part to make this fishing holiday a good one....
My cat Spike loved Aunt Rose at first sight. It was almost embarrassing the way he rolled over on her feet and meowed louder than ever I heard him as he tried to get as close to her as possible. He even jumped upon her lap, continuing to rub his head on her hands and arms. I had never seen him act this way to anyone.
She said she'd been working in her garden thinning various herbs and...
God in his infinite wisdom must have prepared a special place in heaven for watermelons, barbeque, shrimp and homemade banana ice cream! I've tasted watermelons all over the south, but the best ones I've ever eaten were the melons my cousin Jackie and I stole from Big Jim Tatum's watermelon patch in Mississippi when we were kids.
Some memories, like good wine, age better than others....
There were no Catholics in our town before JFK. If there were, none of the kids in my gang knew about them. It was rumored that they had a church in town somewhere behind the local A & P, but I never found it. I was already in my teens before I saw my first real life Catholic. He didn't look much different than me, but my mother acted like I had spoken to the anti-Christ himself!
As a...
My cat Spike was previously owned, but in good condition. He wasn't shaking or throwing up on the floor or having some kind of a fit. For a cat in an animal shelter he seemed to be in pretty good shape! The animal services people said that he was available for adoption which made me wonder if the other animals in the cages were doomed already.
Adoption is just another word for a cat...
