Hey Grimm, hope you have a great vacation! We’ll hold down the fort for ya & our Mayor will be in charge. Thanks for all you do. Now go have fun and make some memories!!! :0):0)
Do all those things that you’ve been waiting all year to do, Grimm. Thank you for all your efforts. I know that we all appreciate your hard work. Enjoy your vacation! : * )
Wow, some great memories you all listed yesterday, I remember firecrackers under tin cans, dinner on the ground with fresh made fried chicken,potato salad, watermelon and corn on the cob. Desert was often homade icecream cranked out by hand with everyone takin’ turns and mindin’ the salt and ice. Singin’ in the church choir with a robe made by my grandmother, playin’ marbles and yo- yos not to mention hula hoops, Turkish Taffy, Bit o Honey, Sugar Dadies and Nesbitts Orange soda pop! Runnin’ fer miles pullin’ my lil sister in my red Radio Flyer and no one ever locked their doors! Then layin out at night on a blanket with the whole family and counting shootin’ stars and looking for Sputnik. God bless you all and smile! :~D
That is a log of great memories David! I have heard it said, that a measurement of a good life, is when we are goan from this world. But are still remembered by someone with a smile as they think of you, then we then had led a good life! :-)
You could get a square of Grade A chocolate for a penny. We would save our lunch money, back then it was 30 cents a day. And get 30 squares. Try eating dinner after those. LOL! And there was a candy bar for 3 cents called a Lunch Bar. It was chocolate and filled with nuts. How about the penny gum machines. LOL! I still have a beenie with stitched on Cracker Jack prizes. And a drawer filled with old cookie cutters, the flat back ones are my favorites. We still don’t lock our doors much around the county parts of town, but they would meet our dogs first if anyone tried anything. Still try to be careful anyway though. Nothing better than to build a big ol camp fire out back, friends, family, stars, good food, drinks, and enjoy the open spaces. We always see people traveling up Rt.66 North with campers, quads, etc. Then the line is just as long once the weekend is over with them headed back to the city. And we just have to go out the back door. We have truly been blessed! God has blessed us all with good memories! Even if you think you have none, think again, you are still here, each day is a blessing, and you can still make good memories to be remembered with a :-)!
How about school lunches! Fridays we got brownies. They were mushed together leftover cakes from the week that didn’t sell covered with chocolate icing. They weighed a ton but really were pretty tasty. Then you could get a scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy and a scoop of stuffing on the same plate. Today, they have so many choices, healthy, unhealthy, and in between. LOL! We got what we got or didn’t eat. LOL! And that was if you could afford a lunch. Most times we would pack. PBJ sandwiches cause there was no refer to put a lunch in.
How ’bout putting old playing cards in the spokes of your bike with a cloths pin. Made a heck of a racket sort of like a motorcycle. (at least that’s what we thought) I’ll tell you one thing we did a lot of in the summer, catch fire flys, we called them lightning bugs, and put them in a mayo. jar. Nowadays, I never even see a lightning bug. My kids never saw one till we went to Virginia to visit one of my friends. Very strange, no lightning bugs any more around here. I guess it’s all the skeeter spray that has done them in. Too bad, they were a summer time delight. I remember going to my great grandmothers house in WVa and the big walnut tree by her porch was loaded with them. We would swing on her porch swing and they would twinkle away. How lovely… that’s a lonesome memory now, all the old folks are all gone on, and I guess I’m the old folks now.
Hey there Gatorpaw, we still have some up here in Ga. Want me to catch a few for ya?? We have a good sized screened in porch we sit out there in the evening & watch them flickering away here & there. If you stay up late enuf you’ll see several deer out in the yard. It was raining pretty good one afternoon several months ago & I was at the kitchen window & outside in the pouring rain was 2 mother deer & their fawns. What a site to behold for sure!!
Yes, the old folks have gone & we are now them. We have to keep those memories forever & do the best we can to make new ones for the next generation, but also share the ones you have.
I remember frostie root beer, waking up on my grandparents farm by the fragrance of pungent aromas, zero candy bars, mystery point in the northern part of the lower peninsula & walking straight up a vertical wall, walking bare foot in the snow, playing basketball until 1:30 in the morning, drinking water right from a stream out in the woods just the other side of nowhere, catching brook trout from that same stream, my first kiss…
Mornin’ everyone. hey Burk.
Yep, catch a couple for me Anne. I used to see wild things where I lived before I bought a home of my own and moved to where I live now. I lived in a very little house in the country, between two stands of cypres swamp. I lived there for 14 years, and still miss the peace and quiet that only comes with country livin’. I remember the times I woke up with wild hogs in my yard and the dogs pitchin’ a blue fit! They once tree’d a a baby racoon atop a fence post next to my house. I called the lady I rented from and she took it home and raised it, a lady coon, who later on ran off with one of her suitors… and lived happily every after, I’m sure.
Something to be said about the Country life, gatorpaw. Wouldn’t trade it no how no way! :-) Had an aunt who had a baby racoon , cute as a button until it became an adult. The neighborhood dogs went nuts when the saw it out and about. Same happened, grew to find a suitor and took off in the wild one day. We still have the fire flies here in Pa. But still not as many as there were in days goan by for sure.
Heavy rain in these parts today! Hope the power stays on. Lot’s of thundering going on right now. And here comes the rain!
We watched a three legged deer running around the woods last night. Looked as though she was born that way. A site to see, moved like there was nothing ever wrong with her. And our neighbors cat woke up one of the local racoons yesterday afternoon. The racoon was chasing the cat from one end of the field to the other. Must of had young ones close by I am guessing. :-)
Thunder rolled throught the Arizona sky last night so soft I thought I was dreaming but the quail call and bird noises with the morning sun revealed evidence of some rain. The lightning still flashes on the outer rim and distant thunder still booms from the valley. So beautiful with the beams of sun coloring the thunderheads :~D
Good Morning everyone!!!! Looks like it’s going to be steamy hot & humid here!! Gatorpaw for sure I’ll catch some fireflies for ya! LOL I like country life also away from the hustle & bustle of the city. Moved from the city to here we live in town but, my main squeeze has some land in Mo. would like to eventually move that way. I hope I would be able to handle the cold and would actually be able to see snow at Christmas which rarely if ever happens here… Hope you all have a wonderful day.
Once when I was living out there, one of my cats brought what I thought was a baby rat onto the front porch, but it turned out to be a baby rabbit. She was so tender with it, the poor thing didn’t have it’s eyes open yet. Very tiny. I tried to feed it some milk, but I knew I had to go to work, so… I called my landlady who used baby doll bottles and raised that little bunny. She had a way with God’s creatures.
David, I only got to see rain twice while I was there for months. And the site from the flat lands to the mountain tops during and after where something to behold. Even my youngest grandson would comment on how beautiful it was. Quite awesome for sure! :-) You have a very nice way of expressing the beauty of it all. Are you a writer by trade?
Hi SusieQ, I am not a writer by trade but I love to pen lines from time to time. Anne I wanted to thank you for your sweet comments. Gatorpaw your story reminded me of the two little sparrows that fell from their nest and I had to raise. It was a lot of work but it gave me great joy. Oh and Anne, bein’ from dry and hot land, I want to remind you that snow does not make Christmas, lol! I wish you had dropped by when you were in AZ, Mayor SusieQ, next time any of you are out my way, remember, the coffee pot is always brewing at dawn and the BBQ is grillin” at night, drop by and say hi!
The bad thing about living out there, besides the skeeters who were so large they could carry off a small child, was the SNAKES. I have never in my life seen so many snakes as I did when I lived in that little house. Even had one in my bath tub!! I found a 6 foot Eastern Diamondback in my dog pen on more than one occasion. One Killed 2 white pit bulls. I killed the first rattler I found in there with one rifle shot. (Annie Oakley, Florida style, that was me,lol) I had just come home from work and was in the shower, when I heard the dogs start raisin’ a fuss. You know, if you’ve ever had dogs, what their barks mean, and I knew there was big trouble out there. So I hopped out of the shower and quickly dressed and got my rifle and headed out the back door, gun in hand.
Warms your heart to save a life, no matter how small. We have raised baby birds that had fallen from their nests before. Round the clock feeds, just like human babies. LOL! We have two lil toads that visit us on the front porch steps every morning. It’s almost like they wait there to say, “Good Morning”! LOL! We love to take the grand kids out on a nature walk then listen to them explaining to their parents what they saw later, what it sounded like, colors, etc. Always puts a :-) on everyones face!
David, I love Arizona! I would love to come and visit that state and travel off the beaten path a bit, but I was mostly just in the north part. Went to the painted desert and petrified forrest and the big meteor hole. (Which was awesome by the way.) Also the Grand Canyon, once in ‘73 and again in ‘97 with my three kids. Loved it, Loved it, Loved it! Got caught in a huge hail strom near the petrified forrest, and saw a cloud formation that looked like the ‘mother ship’. Really cool. (That hail was no joke!)
I know about Florida skeeters for sure, but I never realized the snake population was so bad! I guess some parts of AZ have a few diamondbacks as well. Lived here for almost seven years now and fortunatly have only seen dead rattlers run over on the highway. We do have lots of nature walks here in Northern Az, SusieQ and love to hike em! I hope that all of you have favorite places, where you live and are able to walk in God’s beauty, on occasion! :~D
Yes Gatorpaw, The monsoons are amazing in our neck of the woods and are just now beggining to “fire up”! I love the smell of rain on the hot desert soil and the awesome power of storms that can pelt you, but good, with their hail and torrential rain. I love it too. :~D
Well ya should be then David, a writer I mean. You have a beautiful way with expression! :-) Wish we could of shared a cup of coffee while I was there. I am sure before their time is up there I will be back. Hopefully, then we can meet up! :-) Same goes if your every up this way for sure!
gatorpaw, Annie Oakley was one of the Saturday morning show I used to love to watch growing up. Lone Ranger, Sky King, etc. I used to hook a rope around the arm of the big ol rocking chair and pretend it was my horse and ride with them. LOL! I know that snakes serve a purpose in the food chain of life. But just something about em I don’t like. Spiders don’t bother me one bit, we have rattlers and huge black snakes here in these parts. I think it is just that most times ya don’t see em til its to late that scares me the most. Theres a big ol black snake that suns itself in our front yard all the time. We find it’s skins all the time down by the shed. A good six foot long by the size of the last find. I know they won’t bother ya much as long as ya leave em alone, but they put on a fierce show of anger when ya rowel one up! LOL! Strike and hiss like a King Cobra.
I can remember visiting my Aunt Ed and Uncle Holland in Pullman, WVa when I was really little and Uncle Holland took me to pick green beans. My Goodness! Those bean plants were so tall, even taller than Uncle Holland who was over 6′. He was so good at letting me think I was such a big help to him.
They had a glider on their front porch and we’d sit out there in the evenings and Uncle Holland would explain about the bats that would come out and fly around the street lamp. Uncle Holland was a World War One vet, and he could explain ANYTHING. Such a kind gentle man, with a world of wonderful stories. He was talking with Jesus the evening he died of cancer at his home, and took everyone there on a tour of Heaven before he passed through the vail. The world needs more men like my Uncle Holland.
David, ya have to have snow on Christmas. LOL! Guess, it’s just what ya get used to. And your right, Christmas is more that about the weather, but, ya gotta love the snow covered grounds and all the Christmas lights shining. Nothing better than seeing a big ol Christmas tree in someones yard with strings of lights and star on top and the snow glistening from it all! Then to come inside and have the hot chocolate and marshmellows, and homemade cookies by the fireplace. I am one that love county life, and the changing of the seasons. Although, the older I get winter takes it’s tole on my ol bones. LOL! And I worry about falling on icy days. The ol bones take longer to heal. LOL! The hotter states are nice to visit, but ya hardly see anyone out and about during the day with the high temps unless ya went to the stores. Most stayed in the air conditioning. LOL! When I walked the kiddos to school daily, hardly any adults were out with them. My daughter ran every morning early before the heat of the day and I wouldn’t see the neighbors at all until cooler evenings. Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes. :-)
Yes your right, gatorpaw! The world needs more Uncle Hollands. Had a couple of them in my life over the years also. They left a lasting impression on us now didn’t they. I hope we are doing the same for some of the youngins were involved with! :-) I always love when the kids , family children, friends children, come up here to visit. The run around the yard like free birds, and helping them to understand the county life and its wonders, is always an enjoyable pleasure. Good to know they are excited about learning new things and still people willing to teach them. We love to take the kids out to the local church pond to fish. Nothing better than to see their faces with their first catch of the day! :-)
Well I loved Christmas wherever I am and snow is all the better! Chrismas in Tn was beautiful, and in the Gatlinburg area they pull out all the stops with lights and decorations! Here in Cottonwood folks are out early to beat the heat for sure in my neighborhood we all take morning walks, take the dogs and kids with us! Fun to see roadrunners and lizards, large ravens and all sorrts of Birds! The Bird watchers of America, rally here frequently, because of the avian variety.
I enjoyed looking at all the vegetation out there, David. Loved it. Wish I could grow some of it this way, but the winters would kill it. Yes, those lil lizards that scaled the walls in the mornings, lol, you had to look twice and wondered if you were seeing things. LOL! And my are those road runners quick lil things. LOL! I saw a jack rabbit and was amazed at how big they are. Huge feet and ears. Nothing like the lil bunnies back here. I had found some of what I thought was dead wood with what looked like worm holes eaten into it. And I brought it back to my daughters to show her cause I thought it would make a nice conversation piece in the garden. Came to find out it was a piece of a dead cactus. LOL! Who knew? LOL! And it was a site to see all the birds nesting in the holes they drilled in the cactus. We can learn so much from where ever we are fortunate enough to visit, that is for sure!
When my youngest grandson first say one of those lil lizards, it was in the drain in their back yard. He removed the cover and asked me if I would please catch it for him, cause he always wanted one of those as a pet. I told him to try and catch it. He said no way was he touching it. So I explained to him why it wouldn’t be right to keep the lil critter, and it also saved me from doing what would of been even funnier trying to catch the quick critter. LOL! Did see a Coyote cross the road down by the kids school, ran right across the street and behind the housing plan into hills.
There was a local guy on the tv a while back, who actually owned a shoe store, but did some commercials for a friend of his who owned a tire business. He’d say, in his distinctive Florida drawl, ” Tires ain’t purdy!” He’d say that people up north would say that folks in Florida didn’t need all season radials because we didn’t have any seasons here in Florida. “That’s not true”, he’d say, “We’ve got yur Football Season, yur Baseball Season, we’ve got all the seasons”.
I tell everyone, we only have 2 seasons… Football season, and the OFF season. I’m ready for the off season to end!!!
A few years back, I was going with my youngest daughter, to a basketball tournament that my oldest daughter was playing in, when we saw a Coyote near East Ridge high school in Clermont. I had always heard that there were Coyote’s here, but that was the first one I had ever seen. At first, from a distance I thought it was a scraggy ol’ dog. My daughter says, “That ain’t no dog momma, that’s a COYOTE!” and sure enough, it was! I used to think they only had those out west, but NOT so!
We have some here also, in Pa. You can hear them howling in the hills quite often. And in the early mornings the turkey that roost on the hill are calling as well. Gotta love the sounds of nature.
We like to go on four leaf clover hunts. I have a couple of picture frames we keep adding to. No cheaper time passer than that for sure. LOL! Less you watchin time fly!
I have invited you all to a chat room where us old crazy people talk to each other they are a great group and we would love to have you come chat with us the site address is awaiting moderation! LOL
We pick wild berries right out back. Sure good on some cereal or just eat em by the handful. I remember, going to our grandmothers and she would give us each a pot to go pick wild strawberries, and berries in her field behind her house. Then she would wash them up and make some homemade ice-cream for us all to enjoy. Something, how the people in our lives, make and have made so many wonderful memories for us all, and probably never knew at the time what a lasting impression they made on us! :-)
Speaking of Christmas, in the Southern Hemisphere Christmas comes in the middle of July. It feels like the middle of July sometimes here around Christmas too. But that doesn’t stop folks around here from celebrating. They usually turn on their Christmas lights right after Halloween. I say turn them ON because they never take them down, except in ‘04 when Charlie, Jeanne, and Frances blew through and took down everything!
OH how I would LOVE to have some fresh picked blackberries like the ones I used to pick as a kid. Grandma would give me her old collander and off I’d go. She sometimes would make cobbler, but mostly we’d just eat them with milk and sugar. Or on top of ice cream.
It’s aleways Christmas in the Smokies and Christmas in July is serious stuff there! Santa in bermuda shorts and everything. Speakin o’ lightnin bugs, they fly up into the trees in summer and looks like Christmas light twinklin in the night! I used to walk the forest at night with the smokey fog all around our feet and the damp smell of the southern forest filling our senses. The lightning bugs made it all seem magical and mystical I love those tiimes!
When I was living in that little house in the country, my landlord would disk the field from time to time, and afterward, the blackberry bushes would sprout up everywhere. They had big huge berries, We called them ‘Dew Berries’ as a kid. They were as big and fat as your thumb. FOR REAL! Didn’t take long to get a colander full of those!
I was just talking with my oldest daughter (who was home this week for 4 days from College) about the wonderful smell of the pine forest, and the sound and feel of the crunch as you walk on all the pine needles. We have plenty of southern pines around here, but what I love is the evergreen trees that look like Christmas trees that don’t grow here at all. My Great grandmother had 2 in her yard, they smelled SO good!
Hey there! Just popping in to check on everyone! Love reading the posts today and David you do have an AWESOME writing ability. You should consider writing a book, for sure I’d buy it and read it. You have a way of putting the reader in the story (if that makes any sense).
I know what I want to say but, my tongue gets in front of my eye teeth & I can’t see what I’m saying!! LOL!! Yes, snow doesn’t make Christmas but, it would be nice to see it then. LOL!
Well best go back to pulling weeds & working in the yard! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Thanks for posts today & for sharing such neat memories!! David, I’ll be waiting on your BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!
I am gonna try and post the addy to our group in sunch a way it will sneak past the auto moderator I’ll space it so it won’t work as a link but if you type it into your URL as one word it should work!
h t t p ://xat. c o m/ c h a t/ r o o m / 60 2 8 9683 /
Just tell em David sent you and they’ll give you all warm welcomes!
Thanks for the encouragement Anne! I am working on a book called
“The Lazarus Experience” It is a true story of my life and death and resurrection! I can send a rough draft to you, the short outline form, if you are interested contact me at:
wingedheart25 @ yahoo . com
HELLO, Y’ALL!!!! Glad to be back off vacation just in time for Grimm to go on one ‘cuz I’ve heard that he causes trouble along the way! If y’all have never seen the Grand Canyon, GO!! It was FANTASTIC! No, I did NOT go near the edge and still having nightmares about it. But, it was beautiful!
Welcome back Maddog, sure have missed you! Glad to hear you had fun and oh my yes, the Grand Canyon is sure a wonderful site.
I have always wanted to go camping there and take the horse back trip. But it’s still on my list of things to do! Can’t wait to hear all about your vacation! :-)
David, I will try to join the chat room hopefully sometime this week if that is alright. Got a lot going on here for the next couple of days. I look forward to chatting with you there also and hopefully some more of the Crapper family! I would also like a copy of your rough draft if I may! :-)
July 10th, 2009 - 6:41 am
Hey everyone, I will be on vacation for the next week. Updates will be sparatic, be patient with me :) Thanks.
July 10th, 2009 - 6:44 am
:-)
July 10th, 2009 - 6:45 am
Hope you have a wonderful vacation Grimm, you deserve it for sure! Hope that it is filled with tons of fun and :-)’s!
July 10th, 2009 - 7:08 am
You go Grimm, have tons o fun and make some great memories! Don’t forget to eat lotsa healthy energy bars with protien! :~D
July 10th, 2009 - 7:24 am
Hey Grimm, hope you have a great vacation! We’ll hold down the fort for ya & our Mayor will be in charge. Thanks for all you do. Now go have fun and make some memories!!! :0):0)
July 10th, 2009 - 7:34 am
Wish I could go on vacation! Have fun Grimm!
July 10th, 2009 - 7:55 am
Enjoy Grimm!!
July 10th, 2009 - 8:03 am
Have a great one, Grimm!!! We’ll miss ya, but I’m sure we’ll get through the week just chatting. :~)
July 10th, 2009 - 8:41 am
protein…mmm, in for 1!
July 10th, 2009 - 10:11 am
hope u have a wonderful vacation Grimm! if your going any place exciting…. can i be a piece of your luggage? lolol have fun!
July 10th, 2009 - 11:10 am
Do all those things that you’ve been waiting all year to do, Grimm. Thank you for all your efforts. I know that we all appreciate your hard work. Enjoy your vacation! : * )
July 10th, 2009 - 11:24 am
Have a wonderful vacation with your family! :~)
July 10th, 2009 - 12:39 pm
Wow, some great memories you all listed yesterday, I remember firecrackers under tin cans, dinner on the ground with fresh made fried chicken,potato salad, watermelon and corn on the cob. Desert was often homade icecream cranked out by hand with everyone takin’ turns and mindin’ the salt and ice. Singin’ in the church choir with a robe made by my grandmother, playin’ marbles and yo- yos not to mention hula hoops, Turkish Taffy, Bit o Honey, Sugar Dadies and Nesbitts Orange soda pop! Runnin’ fer miles pullin’ my lil sister in my red Radio Flyer and no one ever locked their doors! Then layin out at night on a blanket with the whole family and counting shootin’ stars and looking for Sputnik. God bless you all and smile! :~D
July 10th, 2009 - 1:18 pm
That is a log of great memories David! I have heard it said, that a measurement of a good life, is when we are goan from this world. But are still remembered by someone with a smile as they think of you, then we then had led a good life! :-)
You could get a square of Grade A chocolate for a penny. We would save our lunch money, back then it was 30 cents a day. And get 30 squares. Try eating dinner after those. LOL! And there was a candy bar for 3 cents called a Lunch Bar. It was chocolate and filled with nuts. How about the penny gum machines. LOL! I still have a beenie with stitched on Cracker Jack prizes. And a drawer filled with old cookie cutters, the flat back ones are my favorites. We still don’t lock our doors much around the county parts of town, but they would meet our dogs first if anyone tried anything. Still try to be careful anyway though. Nothing better than to build a big ol camp fire out back, friends, family, stars, good food, drinks, and enjoy the open spaces. We always see people traveling up Rt.66 North with campers, quads, etc. Then the line is just as long once the weekend is over with them headed back to the city. And we just have to go out the back door. We have truly been blessed! God has blessed us all with good memories! Even if you think you have none, think again, you are still here, each day is a blessing, and you can still make good memories to be remembered with a :-)!
July 10th, 2009 - 1:18 pm
lot
July 10th, 2009 - 1:26 pm
I guess what I am trying to say is, that you don’t have to spend money to make good memories. They can be made as close as home! :-)
July 10th, 2009 - 1:43 pm
How about school lunches! Fridays we got brownies. They were mushed together leftover cakes from the week that didn’t sell covered with chocolate icing. They weighed a ton but really were pretty tasty. Then you could get a scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy and a scoop of stuffing on the same plate. Today, they have so many choices, healthy, unhealthy, and in between. LOL! We got what we got or didn’t eat. LOL! And that was if you could afford a lunch. Most times we would pack. PBJ sandwiches cause there was no refer to put a lunch in.
July 10th, 2009 - 3:23 pm
How ’bout putting old playing cards in the spokes of your bike with a cloths pin. Made a heck of a racket sort of like a motorcycle. (at least that’s what we thought) I’ll tell you one thing we did a lot of in the summer, catch fire flys, we called them lightning bugs, and put them in a mayo. jar. Nowadays, I never even see a lightning bug. My kids never saw one till we went to Virginia to visit one of my friends. Very strange, no lightning bugs any more around here. I guess it’s all the skeeter spray that has done them in. Too bad, they were a summer time delight. I remember going to my great grandmothers house in WVa and the big walnut tree by her porch was loaded with them. We would swing on her porch swing and they would twinkle away. How lovely… that’s a lonesome memory now, all the old folks are all gone on, and I guess I’m the old folks now.
July 10th, 2009 - 3:29 pm
10g of protein to sustain your energy and satisfy your appetite
July 10th, 2009 - 4:15 pm
Grimm, Have a great week of vacation.
July 10th, 2009 - 5:05 pm
Hey there Gatorpaw, we still have some up here in Ga. Want me to catch a few for ya?? We have a good sized screened in porch we sit out there in the evening & watch them flickering away here & there. If you stay up late enuf you’ll see several deer out in the yard. It was raining pretty good one afternoon several months ago & I was at the kitchen window & outside in the pouring rain was 2 mother deer & their fawns. What a site to behold for sure!!
Yes, the old folks have gone & we are now them. We have to keep those memories forever & do the best we can to make new ones for the next generation, but also share the ones you have.
July 10th, 2009 - 5:07 pm
Thanks for the memories! :~D
July 10th, 2009 - 6:14 pm
Hey David! Meant to tell you Thanks for sharing some of your memories!!! :0) :0) May Peace, Love & Happiness be with all of us!!!!
July 10th, 2009 - 6:30 pm
Hey Everyone! Found out that all 7-11 Stores are giving away free Slurpees tomorrow on 7/11. That should keep it cool………:~)
July 10th, 2009 - 6:30 pm
I remember frostie root beer, waking up on my grandparents farm by the fragrance of pungent aromas, zero candy bars, mystery point in the northern part of the lower peninsula & walking straight up a vertical wall, walking bare foot in the snow, playing basketball until 1:30 in the morning, drinking water right from a stream out in the woods just the other side of nowhere, catching brook trout from that same stream, my first kiss…
peace for you & all of yours… om shanti
July 11th, 2009 - 3:14 am
Good morning.
July 11th, 2009 - 6:23 am
Mornin’ everyone. hey Burk.
Yep, catch a couple for me Anne. I used to see wild things where I lived before I bought a home of my own and moved to where I live now. I lived in a very little house in the country, between two stands of cypres swamp. I lived there for 14 years, and still miss the peace and quiet that only comes with country livin’. I remember the times I woke up with wild hogs in my yard and the dogs pitchin’ a blue fit! They once tree’d a a baby racoon atop a fence post next to my house. I called the lady I rented from and she took it home and raised it, a lady coon, who later on ran off with one of her suitors… and lived happily every after, I’m sure.
July 11th, 2009 - 6:39 am
Something to be said about the Country life, gatorpaw. Wouldn’t trade it no how no way! :-) Had an aunt who had a baby racoon , cute as a button until it became an adult. The neighborhood dogs went nuts when the saw it out and about. Same happened, grew to find a suitor and took off in the wild one day. We still have the fire flies here in Pa. But still not as many as there were in days goan by for sure.
Heavy rain in these parts today! Hope the power stays on. Lot’s of thundering going on right now. And here comes the rain!
Have a Blessed Day filled with :-)’s everyone!
July 11th, 2009 - 6:43 am
We watched a three legged deer running around the woods last night. Looked as though she was born that way. A site to see, moved like there was nothing ever wrong with her. And our neighbors cat woke up one of the local racoons yesterday afternoon. The racoon was chasing the cat from one end of the field to the other. Must of had young ones close by I am guessing. :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 6:48 am
Thunder rolled throught the Arizona sky last night so soft I thought I was dreaming but the quail call and bird noises with the morning sun revealed evidence of some rain. The lightning still flashes on the outer rim and distant thunder still booms from the valley. So beautiful with the beams of sun coloring the thunderheads :~D
July 11th, 2009 - 6:51 am
Good Morning everyone!!!! Looks like it’s going to be steamy hot & humid here!! Gatorpaw for sure I’ll catch some fireflies for ya! LOL I like country life also away from the hustle & bustle of the city. Moved from the city to here we live in town but, my main squeeze has some land in Mo. would like to eventually move that way. I hope I would be able to handle the cold and would actually be able to see snow at Christmas which rarely if ever happens here… Hope you all have a wonderful day.
July 11th, 2009 - 6:56 am
The beauty and wonders of good, Ol Mother Nature! Whats not to love? :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 6:57 am
Once when I was living out there, one of my cats brought what I thought was a baby rat onto the front porch, but it turned out to be a baby rabbit. She was so tender with it, the poor thing didn’t have it’s eyes open yet. Very tiny. I tried to feed it some milk, but I knew I had to go to work, so… I called my landlady who used baby doll bottles and raised that little bunny. She had a way with God’s creatures.
July 11th, 2009 - 7:02 am
David, I only got to see rain twice while I was there for months. And the site from the flat lands to the mountain tops during and after where something to behold. Even my youngest grandson would comment on how beautiful it was. Quite awesome for sure! :-) You have a very nice way of expressing the beauty of it all. Are you a writer by trade?
July 11th, 2009 - 7:16 am
Hi SusieQ, I am not a writer by trade but I love to pen lines from time to time. Anne I wanted to thank you for your sweet comments. Gatorpaw your story reminded me of the two little sparrows that fell from their nest and I had to raise. It was a lot of work but it gave me great joy. Oh and Anne, bein’ from dry and hot land, I want to remind you that snow does not make Christmas, lol! I wish you had dropped by when you were in AZ, Mayor SusieQ, next time any of you are out my way, remember, the coffee pot is always brewing at dawn and the BBQ is grillin” at night, drop by and say hi!
July 11th, 2009 - 7:17 am
The bad thing about living out there, besides the skeeters who were so large they could carry off a small child, was the SNAKES. I have never in my life seen so many snakes as I did when I lived in that little house. Even had one in my bath tub!! I found a 6 foot Eastern Diamondback in my dog pen on more than one occasion. One Killed 2 white pit bulls. I killed the first rattler I found in there with one rifle shot. (Annie Oakley, Florida style, that was me,lol) I had just come home from work and was in the shower, when I heard the dogs start raisin’ a fuss. You know, if you’ve ever had dogs, what their barks mean, and I knew there was big trouble out there. So I hopped out of the shower and quickly dressed and got my rifle and headed out the back door, gun in hand.
July 11th, 2009 - 7:19 am
Warms your heart to save a life, no matter how small. We have raised baby birds that had fallen from their nests before. Round the clock feeds, just like human babies. LOL! We have two lil toads that visit us on the front porch steps every morning. It’s almost like they wait there to say, “Good Morning”! LOL! We love to take the grand kids out on a nature walk then listen to them explaining to their parents what they saw later, what it sounded like, colors, etc. Always puts a :-) on everyones face!
July 11th, 2009 - 7:27 am
David, I love Arizona! I would love to come and visit that state and travel off the beaten path a bit, but I was mostly just in the north part. Went to the painted desert and petrified forrest and the big meteor hole. (Which was awesome by the way.) Also the Grand Canyon, once in ‘73 and again in ‘97 with my three kids. Loved it, Loved it, Loved it! Got caught in a huge hail strom near the petrified forrest, and saw a cloud formation that looked like the ‘mother ship’. Really cool. (That hail was no joke!)
July 11th, 2009 - 7:30 am
I know about Florida skeeters for sure, but I never realized the snake population was so bad! I guess some parts of AZ have a few diamondbacks as well. Lived here for almost seven years now and fortunatly have only seen dead rattlers run over on the highway. We do have lots of nature walks here in Northern Az, SusieQ and love to hike em! I hope that all of you have favorite places, where you live and are able to walk in God’s beauty, on occasion! :~D
July 11th, 2009 - 7:34 am
Yes Gatorpaw, The monsoons are amazing in our neck of the woods and are just now beggining to “fire up”! I love the smell of rain on the hot desert soil and the awesome power of storms that can pelt you, but good, with their hail and torrential rain. I love it too. :~D
July 11th, 2009 - 7:36 am
Well ya should be then David, a writer I mean. You have a beautiful way with expression! :-) Wish we could of shared a cup of coffee while I was there. I am sure before their time is up there I will be back. Hopefully, then we can meet up! :-) Same goes if your every up this way for sure!
gatorpaw, Annie Oakley was one of the Saturday morning show I used to love to watch growing up. Lone Ranger, Sky King, etc. I used to hook a rope around the arm of the big ol rocking chair and pretend it was my horse and ride with them. LOL! I know that snakes serve a purpose in the food chain of life. But just something about em I don’t like. Spiders don’t bother me one bit, we have rattlers and huge black snakes here in these parts. I think it is just that most times ya don’t see em til its to late that scares me the most. Theres a big ol black snake that suns itself in our front yard all the time. We find it’s skins all the time down by the shed. A good six foot long by the size of the last find. I know they won’t bother ya much as long as ya leave em alone, but they put on a fierce show of anger when ya rowel one up! LOL! Strike and hiss like a King Cobra.
July 11th, 2009 - 7:43 am
I can remember visiting my Aunt Ed and Uncle Holland in Pullman, WVa when I was really little and Uncle Holland took me to pick green beans. My Goodness! Those bean plants were so tall, even taller than Uncle Holland who was over 6′. He was so good at letting me think I was such a big help to him.
They had a glider on their front porch and we’d sit out there in the evenings and Uncle Holland would explain about the bats that would come out and fly around the street lamp. Uncle Holland was a World War One vet, and he could explain ANYTHING. Such a kind gentle man, with a world of wonderful stories. He was talking with Jesus the evening he died of cancer at his home, and took everyone there on a tour of Heaven before he passed through the vail. The world needs more men like my Uncle Holland.
July 11th, 2009 - 7:54 am
David, ya have to have snow on Christmas. LOL! Guess, it’s just what ya get used to. And your right, Christmas is more that about the weather, but, ya gotta love the snow covered grounds and all the Christmas lights shining. Nothing better than seeing a big ol Christmas tree in someones yard with strings of lights and star on top and the snow glistening from it all! Then to come inside and have the hot chocolate and marshmellows, and homemade cookies by the fireplace. I am one that love county life, and the changing of the seasons. Although, the older I get winter takes it’s tole on my ol bones. LOL! And I worry about falling on icy days. The ol bones take longer to heal. LOL! The hotter states are nice to visit, but ya hardly see anyone out and about during the day with the high temps unless ya went to the stores. Most stayed in the air conditioning. LOL! When I walked the kiddos to school daily, hardly any adults were out with them. My daughter ran every morning early before the heat of the day and I wouldn’t see the neighbors at all until cooler evenings. Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes. :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 8:03 am
Yes your right, gatorpaw! The world needs more Uncle Hollands. Had a couple of them in my life over the years also. They left a lasting impression on us now didn’t they. I hope we are doing the same for some of the youngins were involved with! :-) I always love when the kids , family children, friends children, come up here to visit. The run around the yard like free birds, and helping them to understand the county life and its wonders, is always an enjoyable pleasure. Good to know they are excited about learning new things and still people willing to teach them. We love to take the kids out to the local church pond to fish. Nothing better than to see their faces with their first catch of the day! :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 8:06 am
Well I loved Christmas wherever I am and snow is all the better! Chrismas in Tn was beautiful, and in the Gatlinburg area they pull out all the stops with lights and decorations! Here in Cottonwood folks are out early to beat the heat for sure in my neighborhood we all take morning walks, take the dogs and kids with us! Fun to see roadrunners and lizards, large ravens and all sorrts of Birds! The Bird watchers of America, rally here frequently, because of the avian variety.
July 11th, 2009 - 8:10 am
THINGS YA’LL’L LEARN IN FLORIDA…
1) A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
2) There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in FLORIDA.
3) There are 10,000 types of spiders, and all 10,000 of them live in Central Fl.
4) If it grows, it’ll stick ya. If it crawls, it’ll bite cha.
5) “Onced” and “Twiced” are words.
6) It is not a shopping cart, it’s a buggy.
7) “Jaw-P?” means, “Did y’all go to the bathroom?”
8) People actually grow and eat okra.
9) “Fixinto” is one word.
10) There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper…
11) Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you’re 6 months old.
We do like a little tea with our sugar.
12) Backwards and forwards means, “I know everythin’ bout you.”
13) The word “jeet” is actually a phrase meaning, “Did you eat?”
14) You don’t have to wear a watch, because it doesn’t matter what time it is. You work until you’re done or it’s too dark to see…
15) You don’t PUSH buttons, you MASH em..
16) You measure distance in minutes.
17) You switch from heat to A/C in the same day.
18) All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.
19) You know what a “Dawg” is.
20) You carry jumper cables in your car – for your own car.
21) You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Crystal Hot Sauce, mustard and ketchup.
22) The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and high school football…
23) You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.
24) You find 100 degrees “a bit warm.”
25) You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.
26) Going to Walmart is a favorite past time known as “goin’ Walmartin” or “off to Wally World..”
27) You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good hog killin’ weather.
28) Fried catfish is the other white meat.
29) We don’t need no dang Driver’s Ed…
If our mama says we can drive, we can drive dang-it.
30) If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes, it’ll change.
July 11th, 2009 - 8:21 am
Oh man that’s GREAT! ROFLMAO!!!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:21 am
I enjoyed looking at all the vegetation out there, David. Loved it. Wish I could grow some of it this way, but the winters would kill it. Yes, those lil lizards that scaled the walls in the mornings, lol, you had to look twice and wondered if you were seeing things. LOL! And my are those road runners quick lil things. LOL! I saw a jack rabbit and was amazed at how big they are. Huge feet and ears. Nothing like the lil bunnies back here. I had found some of what I thought was dead wood with what looked like worm holes eaten into it. And I brought it back to my daughters to show her cause I thought it would make a nice conversation piece in the garden. Came to find out it was a piece of a dead cactus. LOL! Who knew? LOL! And it was a site to see all the birds nesting in the holes they drilled in the cactus. We can learn so much from where ever we are fortunate enough to visit, that is for sure!
When my youngest grandson first say one of those lil lizards, it was in the drain in their back yard. He removed the cover and asked me if I would please catch it for him, cause he always wanted one of those as a pet. I told him to try and catch it. He said no way was he touching it. So I explained to him why it wouldn’t be right to keep the lil critter, and it also saved me from doing what would of been even funnier trying to catch the quick critter. LOL! Did see a Coyote cross the road down by the kids school, ran right across the street and behind the housing plan into hills.
July 11th, 2009 - 8:22 am
There was a local guy on the tv a while back, who actually owned a shoe store, but did some commercials for a friend of his who owned a tire business. He’d say, in his distinctive Florida drawl, ” Tires ain’t purdy!” He’d say that people up north would say that folks in Florida didn’t need all season radials because we didn’t have any seasons here in Florida. “That’s not true”, he’d say, “We’ve got yur Football Season, yur Baseball Season, we’ve got all the seasons”.
I tell everyone, we only have 2 seasons… Football season, and the OFF season. I’m ready for the off season to end!!!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:24 am
LOL! gatorpaw, that says it all for Flordia!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:31 am
A few years back, I was going with my youngest daughter, to a basketball tournament that my oldest daughter was playing in, when we saw a Coyote near East Ridge high school in Clermont. I had always heard that there were Coyote’s here, but that was the first one I had ever seen. At first, from a distance I thought it was a scraggy ol’ dog. My daughter says, “That ain’t no dog momma, that’s a COYOTE!” and sure enough, it was! I used to think they only had those out west, but NOT so!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:40 am
We have some here also, in Pa. You can hear them howling in the hills quite often. And in the early mornings the turkey that roost on the hill are calling as well. Gotta love the sounds of nature.
We like to go on four leaf clover hunts. I have a couple of picture frames we keep adding to. No cheaper time passer than that for sure. LOL! Less you watchin time fly!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:46 am
I have invited you all to a chat room where us old crazy people talk to each other they are a great group and we would love to have you come chat with us the site address is awaiting moderation! LOL
July 11th, 2009 - 8:46 am
We pick wild berries right out back. Sure good on some cereal or just eat em by the handful. I remember, going to our grandmothers and she would give us each a pot to go pick wild strawberries, and berries in her field behind her house. Then she would wash them up and make some homemade ice-cream for us all to enjoy. Something, how the people in our lives, make and have made so many wonderful memories for us all, and probably never knew at the time what a lasting impression they made on us! :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 8:48 am
Sounds great David, thank you! Will be waiting for the address. :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 8:50 am
I love pickin berries our blackberries are comin on now and the kids and I are looking forward to mama’s blackberry jam!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:54 am
Speaking of Christmas, in the Southern Hemisphere Christmas comes in the middle of July. It feels like the middle of July sometimes here around Christmas too. But that doesn’t stop folks around here from celebrating. They usually turn on their Christmas lights right after Halloween. I say turn them ON because they never take them down, except in ‘04 when Charlie, Jeanne, and Frances blew through and took down everything!
July 11th, 2009 - 8:56 am
OH how I would LOVE to have some fresh picked blackberries like the ones I used to pick as a kid. Grandma would give me her old collander and off I’d go. She sometimes would make cobbler, but mostly we’d just eat them with milk and sugar. Or on top of ice cream.
July 11th, 2009 - 9:01 am
It’s aleways Christmas in the Smokies and Christmas in July is serious stuff there! Santa in bermuda shorts and everything. Speakin o’ lightnin bugs, they fly up into the trees in summer and looks like Christmas light twinklin in the night! I used to walk the forest at night with the smokey fog all around our feet and the damp smell of the southern forest filling our senses. The lightning bugs made it all seem magical and mystical I love those tiimes!
July 11th, 2009 - 9:03 am
Hello everyone… friend of David, dropping in to say hi to all.
July 11th, 2009 - 9:05 am
When I was living in that little house in the country, my landlord would disk the field from time to time, and afterward, the blackberry bushes would sprout up everywhere. They had big huge berries, We called them ‘Dew Berries’ as a kid. They were as big and fat as your thumb. FOR REAL! Didn’t take long to get a colander full of those!
July 11th, 2009 - 9:13 am
Yes the thumd sized beries are the best! But i will eat any size they are sooo good!!!
July 11th, 2009 - 9:16 am
I was just talking with my oldest daughter (who was home this week for 4 days from College) about the wonderful smell of the pine forest, and the sound and feel of the crunch as you walk on all the pine needles. We have plenty of southern pines around here, but what I love is the evergreen trees that look like Christmas trees that don’t grow here at all. My Great grandmother had 2 in her yard, they smelled SO good!
July 11th, 2009 - 9:30 am
Hey there! Just popping in to check on everyone! Love reading the posts today and David you do have an AWESOME writing ability. You should consider writing a book, for sure I’d buy it and read it. You have a way of putting the reader in the story (if that makes any sense).
I know what I want to say but, my tongue gets in front of my eye teeth & I can’t see what I’m saying!! LOL!! Yes, snow doesn’t make Christmas but, it would be nice to see it then. LOL!
Well best go back to pulling weeds & working in the yard! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Thanks for posts today & for sharing such neat memories!! David, I’ll be waiting on your BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!
July 11th, 2009 - 10:54 am
I am gonna try and post the addy to our group in sunch a way it will sneak past the auto moderator I’ll space it so it won’t work as a link but if you type it into your URL as one word it should work!
h t t p ://xat. c o m/ c h a t/ r o o m / 60 2 8 9683 /
July 11th, 2009 - 11:05 am
Just tell em David sent you and they’ll give you all warm welcomes!
Thanks for the encouragement Anne! I am working on a book called
“The Lazarus Experience” It is a true story of my life and death and resurrection! I can send a rough draft to you, the short outline form, if you are interested contact me at:
wingedheart25 @ yahoo . com
July 11th, 2009 - 12:19 pm
Thx for the info David!! I have sent you an e-mail.
July 11th, 2009 - 12:40 pm
Great,I will look in the inbox! Hope everyone is having a glorious day! :~D
July 11th, 2009 - 1:33 pm
HELLO, Y’ALL!!!! Glad to be back off vacation just in time for Grimm to go on one ‘cuz I’ve heard that he causes trouble along the way! If y’all have never seen the Grand Canyon, GO!! It was FANTASTIC! No, I did NOT go near the edge and still having nightmares about it. But, it was beautiful!
July 11th, 2009 - 1:44 pm
Welcome back Maddog, will be looking forward to reading about your adventures.
July 11th, 2009 - 2:26 pm
Burk, will tell but I’ve got to catch up on tons of things not done!! Bad boy!!
July 11th, 2009 - 2:29 pm
Welcome Back Home Maddog!!!!!!! We missed you!! :0):0)
July 11th, 2009 - 3:02 pm
Maddog where were you if you were near the Grand Canyon you were just 2 hours from me! Shoulda come over for coffee oh well welcome back!!
July 11th, 2009 - 3:05 pm
Still haven’t got that email Anne! {OO}
I’ma lookin’
July 11th, 2009 - 5:16 pm
Welcome back Maddog, sure have missed you! Glad to hear you had fun and oh my yes, the Grand Canyon is sure a wonderful site.
I have always wanted to go camping there and take the horse back trip. But it’s still on my list of things to do! Can’t wait to hear all about your vacation! :-)
David, I will try to join the chat room hopefully sometime this week if that is alright. Got a lot going on here for the next couple of days. I look forward to chatting with you there also and hopefully some more of the Crapper family! I would also like a copy of your rough draft if I may! :-)
July 11th, 2009 - 5:59 pm
Hey David, I just sent my e-mail again. Not sure what happened ??? Check & let me know if you get it or not. Thx! :0)
July 12th, 2009 - 4:48 am
Welcome to Crapperville, Paula! :-)