Simple Things

     We went to the “Big Yard Sale” Friday, starting in Gadsden, Alabama with the intent of following the route until about noon, when we would have to turn around and head back.  After the first 10 miles, it became apparent that this year was going to be the “mother of all yard sales”.  Every yard, empty field, parking lot and pot hole were filled with yard sale stuff.  We saw everything from antiques and apples to zoo books and zuchinni.  

     Baby clothes and baby furniture were in abundance, which is exactly what we were looking for, and thankfully we were running out of cash quickly, as the day was getting hotter by the minute.  The amount of traffic was also increasing as the hours wore on, and the drivers which had been so polite in the early hours, allowing others to pull in and out in front of them, were changing to grouches who wouldn’t let you in unless your life depended on it, (and even then you’d better be bleeding!)

     All in all it was a good day.  We were sorry that we couldn’t go farther, but time and money insisted that we turn around before it was too late!

     A day like this gives you hope for tomorrow, showing that people can always find a way to give a good deal or take advantage of one.  It may have been only a yard sale, but it was also a chance to interact with your fellow humanity ~ a thing which we so often do not do unless forced to.

     Another good note is that children filled with hot dogs, lemonade and ice cream will fall asleep in the car and make the ride back home a little more peaceful!!

     It’s that time of year!! The BIG YARD SALE!  Some say it’s the 350 mile yard sale, some say 450 miles, but whatever ~ it’s dang BIG!  It runs from Gadsden, Alabama to somewhere in Indiana, on some highway that goes all the way from here to there.  (I know that’s too much detailed information for you, but, there ya go!)

     It started yesterday, Aug. 5th, and will run for 3 days.  If you ever wanted to find anything and everything for sale, this is the place to be!  You can drive for hours, and only go maybe 20 miles, because the traffic will be bumper to bumper all the way by Saturday. 

     Am I going?  You bet I am ~ at least for a few miles.  I may not buy anything, but it always amazes me at the things you can find for sale. (I’ll let you know what kind of stuff I see!)

     Only one worry this year, my pregnant daughter is due in just a few weeks, and we sure don’t want to start labor in the middle of yard-sale-mania. Not only would it be hard to get back to the hospital in a hurry, but just think of all the good deals I might miss out on!

     No, seriously, I’d be very happy to have the kid pop out any time now.  I’ve seen some very cute baby clothes lately! But wouldn’t it be funny if the kid could someday say “I was a yard sale baby!”

     We’ll let you know how it all turns out!

     Yahoo!   Yard sale, here we come!!!!!!

     I hereby suggest a new channel be added for our viewing pleasure, in order that the NEWS can actually report NEWS.  I suggest that this new channel be called “SOSOOA” ( same old shit over & over again), so the NEWS channels can find the time to actually report NEW things.

     I’m so freakin tired of hearing about Michael Jackson, whos’ life, death, and afterlife means absolutely nothing more to me than any other human being.  One time of reporting about it is enough already. (If Elvis couldn’t get this kind of coverage ~ then Michael shouldn’t!)

     I also don’t care about the beer bash at the White House. If ever there was a situation blown totally out of proportion and done to death in the news, it’s this one.  Ya’ll just smoke a joint and get over it!!  Speaking of smoking a joint ~ why not just make good old pot legal and let us all get stoned, then the big O can pass whatever piece of crap he wants to!

     I tried to download the proposed health care bill, and to no great surprise, after waiting and waiting and waiting for it to load, I was informed that “the size of this text may cause my computer to slow down or not respond to commands”.  Since I’ve downloaded even a book on this thing, I don’t think the size of the text was the problem.  I don’t think they really want us to read it until it’s too late. (There goes the conspiracy theorist in me again).

     Maybe I’ll try it one more time ~ so if I get sucked into the void of “information that we must hide from the general public”, you’ll know where I went!!

     Raising my backyard chickens has been a great experience in more ways than one.  Since they started laying eggs, it’s been nice knowing that every day there will be at least two fresh eggs waiting for me.  When one of the hens decided that she wanted to go “broody” (hatch some eggs) things changed a little.  I tried for weeks to discourage her from sitting on the eggs, since I really didn’t care to have any baby chicks right now, but this little momma was not going to take “no” for an answer. 

     I finally decided to let her have a few eggs to sit on, so I allowed 6 eggs to collect in her nest, and she was one happy little hen.  Until ~~ one of the other girls decided she wanted to sit on the eggs too.  It was comical each day to go out to the pen and see one hen sitting practically on top of the other, trying to share the egg-sitting duties.

     Time passed, the chicks began to hatch one morning, and we kept anxious watch on them to make sure that nothing interfered with their hatching.  One little cutie made it’s appearance, then another, while a third was struggling to get completely out of it’s shell.  The mother hen (crabby old thing) kept pushing the half-hatched egg out from under her.  I finally tired of her obstinance, and took the egg inside with me.  I carefully took the rest of the shell off the baby chick (it’s head was stuck to a particularly stubborn piece of shell that it couldn’t get rid of) and hoped for the best.  I put a heat lamp over the little one and it was amazing how quickly it went from ugly little wet thing, to fluffly yellow chick.

     Meanwhile, back in the chicken pen; the next day when I went out to look, there was only one baby chick ~ and only one egg lying below the nests all alone and unattended on the ground, (the bad egg, so to speak).  Let’s see ~ we started with 6 eggs, she hatched out two and I helped the third one ~ so that should leave two eggs in the nest, but there was nothing. We were missing one baby chick and two eggs.

     A careful search of the chicken pen proved that there were no holes where anything could have come in or gone out, there were no feathers, no egg shells, no sign of “foul play”. (sorry, I just couldn’t help myself there!)

     We are still completely stumped as to what happened to one whole baby chicken and two unhatched or half-hatched eggs.  Even if the other two hatched out while we weren’t paying attention ~  how could three of them have made a jail break? (I pictured 4 little chickens, each standing on the back of another, but still they could not have reached the latch.)

     Mystery!!!  In the chicken yard!!!!!!!!

      Soon it will be July 4th, Independence Day. According to Websters Dictionary, independence is:  state of being independent, complete exemption from control, self-reliance, political freedom.  See anything wrong with that statement, as compared to what we are living today?

     Never before have our citizens felt so controlled and so bereft of political freedom.  Many Americans would love to celebrate our independence, but can’t because we lost the jobs which enabled us to have enough money to blow on things like July 4th Celebrations.  We’d love to celebrate our “exemption from control”, but we can’t because we have become so controlled that we sit and wait for the government to tell us what we’re going to do next (whether we want to or not!)  No, we’re not controlled ~ our homes are taken away, the economy is so bad that we can’t afford the gas for our vehicles (which will one day soon all be made in another country), and there is absolutely nothing to look forward to but debt and more debt.  Thank you ~ Mr. Obama!

     On another front, we ARE celebrating the life (after death) of a man who was an entertainer (and a creepy child molester).  Many of our citizens are more interested in the life and music of Michael Jackson than they are the state of our country and the world.  Wonder how many dead soldiers were returned to the U.S. this week for burial after serving in Iraq? I don’t know that either, because the news was focused on a dead singer/entertainer who had never done anything for his country ~ only for himself.

     There are times when I think the U.S.A. deserves a big shake up of some kind ~ just so we realize what we have allowed to happen, how far we have strayed from the ideals that our country was founded upon.  And I don’t think we have long to wait.

     Enough doom and gloom!  I hope anyone reading this has the time and money to go enjoy themselves for our Independence Day.  I hope you think about what the day was really for, and I hope you can truly appreciate what you have (or once had).

     ” I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died; who gave their lives for me, and I’d proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today; for there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA.” 

          “Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.”  (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

     This quote so appropriately sums up my father (pictured above).  I could not let this Father’s Day go by without sending up some kind of tribute ~~ so here’s to you, Dad.

     If only all children could be subjected to the kind of father that I had, there would be much less hate, discontent, and downright meanness in this world today.  The man was not perfect, but he was much closer than a lot of people could ever hope to be.

     When I think of Dad, I remember laughing when he sang some silly song; how much he loved home-made icecream; the “look” I would get over the top of his glasses when I had done something wrong; and the empty spot that will forever be in my life, but not in my heart.

     Yesterday, as we were peacefully enjoying a Friday afternoon (with no rain), my husband suddenly jumped from his chair (in front of the TV) and said “There’s three horses in the front yard!”  I thought he might have just had one of his naps and was not too concerned, until the dogs started freaking out.  Sure enough, there were 3 beautiful horses chomping on the clover in the front yard. 

     I could tell by the time we got out on the deck, they were very friendly and apparently had just come for a visit (their owner most likely oblivious to their escapade).

     Hubby shooed them out of the yard, so they decided to walk on up the hill beside our house, where we keep the camper parked.  While they were otherwise entertained, hubby jumped into the car and went down the road to see if he could locate anyone who was missing a few horses.

      About 20 minutes later, he came back with the news that the owner lived about 4 miles away, and apparently the horses had taken themselves out for a stroll, as other neighbors had seen them walking by.  (You could follow their progress along the road by the occasional pile of you-know-what).

      So, the owner comes with his horse trailer in tow and parks up on the hill to seek out his wandering herd.  They had walked back into the woods and were playing hide-n-seek with him (especially when they saw the horse trailer).  It seems that the horses were due to participate in a rodeo on Friday night ~ and by all appearances, they weren’t really thrilled with the idea.  (If horses can think that far ahead).

     So, with all the excitement over for the day, things went back to normal for us, but it was an interesting afternoon to say the least.

     “A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.” (Mark Twain)

     Have you read any classics lately?  I know most of us have to read some when we’re in high school and college, but do you remember any of them?  I’ve decided (in my advancing years) to read most of the classics.  I dug out an old copy of “Wuthering Heights” and am having trouble getting “into” it because it’s not my usual kind of reading material.  Anyone have any particular favorites when it comes to the classics? Suggestions would be appreciated.

     It makes you wonder, in the next 100 years, what books will be elevated to the status of “classics”.  I don’t think it will be any of the ones by current and ex-politicians, but you never know.  Seems like everyone from movie stars to auto mechanics now want to write a book about their sad childhood, and expect the story to be turned into a movie of the week.  I could write one myself (even thought about that at one time) but my life was not all that interesting when it’s put down on paper.  I have come up with a few entertaining stories of things that happened in the past, most of which I’ve already shared on this blog, (some I will never tell ~ those might be the ones that people would find interesting!)

     Actually, my life was pretty normal (for an erratic Aquarian): birth, school, more school, work, married, kid, more work, divorce, still more work, married, kid, divorce, married, divorce, married, retired from work, bored, living thru my children and grandchildren, wondering what’s next.

     I’ve discovered that blogging gives a person the opportunity to share thoughts and experiences that other people read, but mostly don’t care about anyway, and is only an outlet for me to express the things that I probably wouldn’t say in the course of everyday conversation.  One of the things I find totally funny about blogging, is that there is always someone out there who wants to correct your personal thoughts.  It’s like asking someone for an opinion and then arguing with them when you get it.   Okay, got a little off course here ~~~~~~

      How about those classics?  You’re welcome to comment and let me know what your favorite ones are (and I promise to not tell you that you’re wrong!)

    It’s been said by many parents: “If you can’t say something nice ~ don’t say anything at all.”  I suppose that’s why I haven’t been saying much lately ~ I just can’t think of anything nice to say.  We’ve had rain here in northern Alabama for practically the whole month of May ~ as I know has been the case in other areas of the U.S. also ~ and I do appreciate the rain, but there’s also a saying about “too much of a good thing”.   I know the days will come in July when we’ll be doing rain dances and praying to the rain gods to let us have a little water from the heavens, but right now, we’ve got just about all we can handle. 

     That’s true about so many other things in life.  There are times when you’ve got just about all you can handle, and doesn’t it always happen ~ you get just a little more. Then when you’re ready to pull all your hair out and join a cult group so you can live in a hut in the mountains of Tibet, things change just enough to make life bearable again.  Well, I’m waiting for that change!

      As if I didn’t have enough on my mind, I got called for two weeks of jury duty from a District Court, which means I would have to go to Birmingham and hang out for possibly two weeks in case they need me.  That just ain’t gonna fly with this old lady!  I’m a small town person, and I don’t do well in places that have more than 4 traffic lanes going thru downtown.  Not only that, but Birmingham does not have the best reputation for safety lately.  Every day on the news, someone got shot, stabbed, kidnapped or worse on the streets of Birmingham.  NOT looking forward to this at all!

      The bright spot this month was that the hummingbirds came back to visit for the summer again.  So far, I have seen two males and one female.  One of the males has taken it upon himself to be the guardian of the feeder and he sits proudly on top of the wrought iron post watching for intruders.  The other two will team up on him, with the male distracting the guard while the female darts in to grab a drink or two.  They’re very entertaining to watch! Before the summer is over, I will have to hang the second feeder and if it goes the same as the last two years, by July I will have about 20 of the little fellows buzzing all over the deck.  If you stand completely still, they will come to the feeder right in front of you, and even be so bold as to “buzz” your head.  Last year I had to rescue one of them twice because he had a crooked leg and got caught in the plastic ring that goes around the bottom of the feeder.  I don’t know if he made it back this year, but it was thrilling to be allowed to hold him for a minute while I extracted his leg from the tangle. 

      So, for someone with nothing to say, I managed to find a few words.  When the rain stops and I can see the sun again, I’m sure my brain will start to function better.  (I must be operating on solar power!)

      “Into every life, a little rain must fall . . . . . . “  This is so true, but seems like the past month there’s been a lot more than a little rain falling around here.  If this keeps up here in Northern Alabama, as well as other places around the U.S., we’re going to need some “bailing out”, and I don’t mean money.  

     My chickens are knee deep in mud (well, maybe chickens don’t have knees ~ but you get the point).  I don’t have to go out to pick up the eggs anymore, I just stand on the front porch and wait for them to float by. 

     The grass has grown so tall that when I let my chihuahua out for a “potty break”, I had to attach a line to him so he could find his way back home.

     Yeah, I’m full of it today!  But seriously, it’s going to rain all this month, then by July it will be so dry, the trees will be begging me to let the dog out.

     Things never seem to happen at the logical time, or in a sensible amount.  There’s always either too much or not enough.  The whole world is out of whack, out of line, out of sequence.  It seems that way to us, but actually the earth has been taking care of itself for millions of years now, mostly without our help.  No matter what we do, the climate is going to continue to change; things in space are going to get closer or farther away; and mankind is always going to be a pain-in-the-butt.

      The best we can do is hang on (hoping that gravity continues to hold us down), and try to find the humor in the whole thing.

     “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” (John Muir)