I'm hoping that in the future some of my IT folks are going to show me how to post some photos with my blogs. Right now, I'm posting a blog,then forwarding that blog to my Facebook account where I DO know how to include photos. I took a couple of good photos of these sweet flushing and retrieving dogs this morning. Well, actually Cader IV snapped the photos since my hands shake a wee bit. Martha often complains about my pictures being fuzzy.
If any of you do go to Facebook after reading the blog, you will see a couple of photos of really pretty English Cockers in various ages and stages of training. You will also notice Chuck, Jerry, and Andy in those two photos since they are the three men primarily working in the breeding and training of these lovable dogs. If perchance, these three employees appear to be a little "well fed", I should note that sweet corn is so cheap this year that we are paying salaries this summer in crates of sweet corn rather than dollars. Evidently, they are getting their money's worth.
There is an old song about two tear drops falling and rolling slowly to the ocean. One tear drop is a drop of sorrow over the loss of a loved one. I experienced that tear drop this week as I laid my beloved Lab to rest in my yard. The other tear drop is one of joy over the birth of a new soul entering the world. I had the privilege of seeing that this week also as two of our best English Cocker females had healthy deliveries of litters this week. Jerry and Cheri served as midwives on both litters. They have been very proud of the mothers who have taken to motherhood with much enthusiasm. It may surprise you to know that sometimes Mama dogs are not good mothers, and will reject their puppies. I can't tell you how many bird dog puppies I had to nurse as a child with one of my sister's baby doll bottles because the mother would not let her puppies nurse.
Both of these litters come from great bloodlines, and we are very excited about their prospects. Meanwhile Chuck and Andy tell me that their started dogs are all progressing in their training on schedule or ahead of schedule. The English Cocker is a very smart animal. They are also one of the most affectionate breed of dogs that I have ever been around. When Jerry was holding two of the puppies this morning, they were wagging their tails and about to lick me to death. I absolutely love the smell of puppy breath! You can take all of the perfumes in the world, and it would not smell as good as that to me.
While my heart just is not ready for another dog right now as I continue to mourn the loss of my sweet Sugar, I am going to have to be very careful around these dogs because one could steal my heart in a minute.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Im memory of my beloved Lab, Sugar
Last night Sugar took her last ride with Martha and me. She was almost 14 years old, and her hips and joints finally gave out all at once yesterday. She could not climb up the two steps she likes to climb up to rest on the door step in our garage. I held her in my lap as Jerry kindly helped us drive her to the vet. For the entire ride to Bainbridge, she continued to lick the tears from my eyes, and assured me that she had led a good life and knew that she was loved. As I held her head in my arms while the vet administered the medicine, the last thing that she tried to do before closing her eyes for eternity was to lick my face once more.
I had already called Cader IV, and he was digging her grave on the banks of her beloved Flint River that she so enjoyed swimming in daily. Cader IV's precious daughter ,Caroline, sent over a few flowers left over from her dance recital, and we laid them on top of the grave when we were finished.
And then the tears and memories came flooding in. Sugar was almost 14 years old. I remember like yesterday the day we went to Rodney and Luci's house to pick our puppy from the litter. This litter all ran to big dogs with the females weighing 80-95 pounds and the males weighing 100-125 at maturity.The only thing we were certain of is that we wanted a female. Martha asked me on the way," How will we decide which puppy to choose"? I told her that we would not choose the puppy, but the puppy would choose us. When we arrived, Rodney let all of the puppies out, and we sat on the ground while they cavorted around us. One little brown fur ball kept climbing between my legs and nestling in my lap while the others rambled here there and yonder. I knew that our dog had chosen us, and we registered her as " Martha's Sweet Brown Sugar". Of course, she quickly became known as just Sugar.
Sugar was my first Lab that I owned after all of my children were grown; so I was able to train her as a real hunting dog. I had allowed the kids to ruin the others by chasing after them with balls, but I have always believed that it was more important for the kids to have a pet than for me to own a jam-up retriever. I did not have that to contend with when Sugar came along; so I trained her to be a first class retriever as well as a wonderful companion. She may have been the smartest dog I ever owned, and had an excellent nose as well as eyesight.She learned hand signals on her own by jogging with me daily as a puppy. When we would come to a fork in the road, I would motion to her which direction I planned to jog. She had directional hand signals down pat before we ever really started serious training. Once trained to all commands, she would only obey Martha if she looked at me first as if to ask," Do I have to do what she says"? That was funny to both Martha and me as she would only obey a sit,stay, or come command from Martha after looking at me for a head nod.
On our first dove hunt, everyone was in stitches watching her. When no birds were coming in, she would insist on crawling in my lap. She probably weighed about 75 pounds then, and 75 pounds of fur sitting in your lap in September is hot. I also recall on that hunt, I made a snap shot at a dove flying behind me in a thicket. I thought that I had missed the bird. Sugar kept whining and trying to leave our stand, and I was becoming agitated. Jerry Cooper, who is a great dog trainer, was on the stand up from me. He finally walked down to me and said," Boss, you killed that bird. I saw it go down, and Sugar did also. She wants to go get that bird". I turned her loose, and she came back proudly in about five minutes with a dove in her mouth.
Another thing that absolutely amazed me about Sugar was how gentle she was with my grandchildren. The only time she ever hurt any of my triplets who were very young when Sugar was young too was when she would accidentally knock them over wagging that big tail of hers because she was always so happy to see them.It absolutely floored me that a dog with enough bite pressure to snap her jaws on an armadillo and squeeze its intestines out of its rear end could feather a tennis ball out of a four year old's hand without ever touching a finger of one of my grandchildren.
I read a story once of a man who realized that he had died. He found himself walking down a dusty trail with an old dog of his that had died many years ago.After they had walked for a while and had become thirsty, they came to a gate. He knocked on the door. When the gate keeper answered, he asked what this place was and was informed that this was heaven's gate. The man asked if he and his dog could come in and get a drink of water. The gate keeper replied that he was welcome to come in, but no dogs were allowed. The gentleman said, " Well, I reckon that I don't belong here either. They traveled on a few miles and came to another gate. He knocked on that one also, and inquired if he and his dog could come in for a drink of water. The gate keeper replied,"Certainly".Once inside, the man asked what the name of this place was and was told that he was in heaven. The gentleman was puzzled and mentioned that the last place that would not allow his dog in had claimed to be heaven also. St. Peter replied, " NO, that was a test. Any man who would leave his dog and walk in that gate entered hell!
All theology aside, I choose to believe that my sweet Sugar is in heaven. She has all of her strength and stamina back. She can now not only chase squirrels and armadillos, but she's catching them again. I miss her, but I have a lifetime of precious memories of my sweet,old girl!
I had already called Cader IV, and he was digging her grave on the banks of her beloved Flint River that she so enjoyed swimming in daily. Cader IV's precious daughter ,Caroline, sent over a few flowers left over from her dance recital, and we laid them on top of the grave when we were finished.
And then the tears and memories came flooding in. Sugar was almost 14 years old. I remember like yesterday the day we went to Rodney and Luci's house to pick our puppy from the litter. This litter all ran to big dogs with the females weighing 80-95 pounds and the males weighing 100-125 at maturity.The only thing we were certain of is that we wanted a female. Martha asked me on the way," How will we decide which puppy to choose"? I told her that we would not choose the puppy, but the puppy would choose us. When we arrived, Rodney let all of the puppies out, and we sat on the ground while they cavorted around us. One little brown fur ball kept climbing between my legs and nestling in my lap while the others rambled here there and yonder. I knew that our dog had chosen us, and we registered her as " Martha's Sweet Brown Sugar". Of course, she quickly became known as just Sugar.
Sugar was my first Lab that I owned after all of my children were grown; so I was able to train her as a real hunting dog. I had allowed the kids to ruin the others by chasing after them with balls, but I have always believed that it was more important for the kids to have a pet than for me to own a jam-up retriever. I did not have that to contend with when Sugar came along; so I trained her to be a first class retriever as well as a wonderful companion. She may have been the smartest dog I ever owned, and had an excellent nose as well as eyesight.She learned hand signals on her own by jogging with me daily as a puppy. When we would come to a fork in the road, I would motion to her which direction I planned to jog. She had directional hand signals down pat before we ever really started serious training. Once trained to all commands, she would only obey Martha if she looked at me first as if to ask," Do I have to do what she says"? That was funny to both Martha and me as she would only obey a sit,stay, or come command from Martha after looking at me for a head nod.
On our first dove hunt, everyone was in stitches watching her. When no birds were coming in, she would insist on crawling in my lap. She probably weighed about 75 pounds then, and 75 pounds of fur sitting in your lap in September is hot. I also recall on that hunt, I made a snap shot at a dove flying behind me in a thicket. I thought that I had missed the bird. Sugar kept whining and trying to leave our stand, and I was becoming agitated. Jerry Cooper, who is a great dog trainer, was on the stand up from me. He finally walked down to me and said," Boss, you killed that bird. I saw it go down, and Sugar did also. She wants to go get that bird". I turned her loose, and she came back proudly in about five minutes with a dove in her mouth.
Another thing that absolutely amazed me about Sugar was how gentle she was with my grandchildren. The only time she ever hurt any of my triplets who were very young when Sugar was young too was when she would accidentally knock them over wagging that big tail of hers because she was always so happy to see them.It absolutely floored me that a dog with enough bite pressure to snap her jaws on an armadillo and squeeze its intestines out of its rear end could feather a tennis ball out of a four year old's hand without ever touching a finger of one of my grandchildren.
I read a story once of a man who realized that he had died. He found himself walking down a dusty trail with an old dog of his that had died many years ago.After they had walked for a while and had become thirsty, they came to a gate. He knocked on the door. When the gate keeper answered, he asked what this place was and was informed that this was heaven's gate. The man asked if he and his dog could come in and get a drink of water. The gate keeper replied that he was welcome to come in, but no dogs were allowed. The gentleman said, " Well, I reckon that I don't belong here either. They traveled on a few miles and came to another gate. He knocked on that one also, and inquired if he and his dog could come in for a drink of water. The gate keeper replied,"Certainly".Once inside, the man asked what the name of this place was and was told that he was in heaven. The gentleman was puzzled and mentioned that the last place that would not allow his dog in had claimed to be heaven also. St. Peter replied, " NO, that was a test. Any man who would leave his dog and walk in that gate entered hell!
All theology aside, I choose to believe that my sweet Sugar is in heaven. She has all of her strength and stamina back. She can now not only chase squirrels and armadillos, but she's catching them again. I miss her, but I have a lifetime of precious memories of my sweet,old girl!
Friday, June 5, 2015
sweet corn and pine saw timber
We are harvesting two crops on Riverview this summer that could not be more different in character--sweet corn and pine saw timber. I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about each of them this morning. However, when I get to the part about saw timber, I'm going to have to be very careful. I have at least two friends who read my blog who both know more about timber than I do. One is my preacher, and if he catches me in a tale, he will place me in the penalty box.He already placed me in the pew for 'smart Allecs" at Wednesday night prayer meeting. The other person is my good friend,Earl(last name redacted for security reasons), who has purchased about three states and two small countries worth of timber in his life.
First, let's go back to sweet corn for a bit more information about this product. When we first started planting sweet corn on 1982, there were only two varieties of sweet corn, Bonanza yellow corn and Silver Queen white corn. All sweet corn is date harvest determinant. In other words if we planted 15 acres of sweet corn on March 10th, that 15 acres would need to be harvested on June 3rd. With the old varieties mentioned above, if you did not pick it on that exact date, the corn would not be harvestable the next day. It would "dry back" on the ends and would not grade USDA fancy.
With the advent of new seed technology in these shrunken gene, super sweet varieties of sweet corn, several improvements have taken place. First, and most important to the consumer, the new varieties are much sweeter than the old ones. The advantage for the grower of the new seeds is that they are a bit more forgiving on that date determinant harvest day. The one day window has stretched out to two-four days in which the corn can be picked and still grade fancy. However, even accepting the outer edge of four days, that's still a fairly short window to harvest a perishable crop when supplies are heavy and demand is light. Consequently, we sometimes have to walk by a planting of sweet corn in order to stay in fresh,fancy corn. Unless demand picks up very soon, we will begin skipping a planting shortly. Our sweet corn brokers are telling us that our supplies are not too heavy, but the demand is weak right now due to cool weather up in the northeast where the bulk of the nation's population lives. I did not realize that weather affects what one eats. I will eat chili in the dead of summer, but we have already established the fact that I do not think like most folks.
Now let's look at pine saw timber. We are conducting a much needed timber thinning program here this summer which will improve our quail hunting. We have not cut any timber on Riverview since 2004. We would have thinned again in 2008, but the "Great Recession" hit about then, and the housing market collapsed. Timber prices plummeted as much as 40%. Now here is where the big difference in sweet corn and pine trees come into play. While sweet corn has a four day window, timber has a 50 year window. That old pine tree did not care whether it was cut or not. It just sat there and continued to grow. Not only did that tree not spoil because we were unable to harvest it, the tree actually got more valuable while waiting for the market to adjust.
As I said earlier, I have a couple of friends who will read this that know a lot more about timber than I do. But I will guarantee you that neither of them enjoy watching a pine tree grow anymore than I do.One of the books that I was required to read in high school was written by a man named T.S. Elliott. There is a line in one of his books that says," I have measured out my life in coffee spoons". Well, I have measured out my life here by watching trees that we have planted grow to maturity.I see majestic pines in places that I once remember helping my Dad plant peanuts. There is one tract of mature pines on our Lakeview hunting course that I used to step over the tops of when I was teaching Cader IV how to quail hunt. While seeing those trees soar to such heights makes me feel old sometimes, I love the fact that we are cutting and replacing trees for the next generation.
God gave us the stewardship of the land. Trees clean the air and protect our waters and streams from runoff. I'm proud to be a tree farmer. I like growing sweet corn also. It's just more fun when profitable, but the fat lady ain't sung yet on the corn crop. We are just getting started good!
First, let's go back to sweet corn for a bit more information about this product. When we first started planting sweet corn on 1982, there were only two varieties of sweet corn, Bonanza yellow corn and Silver Queen white corn. All sweet corn is date harvest determinant. In other words if we planted 15 acres of sweet corn on March 10th, that 15 acres would need to be harvested on June 3rd. With the old varieties mentioned above, if you did not pick it on that exact date, the corn would not be harvestable the next day. It would "dry back" on the ends and would not grade USDA fancy.
With the advent of new seed technology in these shrunken gene, super sweet varieties of sweet corn, several improvements have taken place. First, and most important to the consumer, the new varieties are much sweeter than the old ones. The advantage for the grower of the new seeds is that they are a bit more forgiving on that date determinant harvest day. The one day window has stretched out to two-four days in which the corn can be picked and still grade fancy. However, even accepting the outer edge of four days, that's still a fairly short window to harvest a perishable crop when supplies are heavy and demand is light. Consequently, we sometimes have to walk by a planting of sweet corn in order to stay in fresh,fancy corn. Unless demand picks up very soon, we will begin skipping a planting shortly. Our sweet corn brokers are telling us that our supplies are not too heavy, but the demand is weak right now due to cool weather up in the northeast where the bulk of the nation's population lives. I did not realize that weather affects what one eats. I will eat chili in the dead of summer, but we have already established the fact that I do not think like most folks.
Now let's look at pine saw timber. We are conducting a much needed timber thinning program here this summer which will improve our quail hunting. We have not cut any timber on Riverview since 2004. We would have thinned again in 2008, but the "Great Recession" hit about then, and the housing market collapsed. Timber prices plummeted as much as 40%. Now here is where the big difference in sweet corn and pine trees come into play. While sweet corn has a four day window, timber has a 50 year window. That old pine tree did not care whether it was cut or not. It just sat there and continued to grow. Not only did that tree not spoil because we were unable to harvest it, the tree actually got more valuable while waiting for the market to adjust.
As I said earlier, I have a couple of friends who will read this that know a lot more about timber than I do. But I will guarantee you that neither of them enjoy watching a pine tree grow anymore than I do.One of the books that I was required to read in high school was written by a man named T.S. Elliott. There is a line in one of his books that says," I have measured out my life in coffee spoons". Well, I have measured out my life here by watching trees that we have planted grow to maturity.I see majestic pines in places that I once remember helping my Dad plant peanuts. There is one tract of mature pines on our Lakeview hunting course that I used to step over the tops of when I was teaching Cader IV how to quail hunt. While seeing those trees soar to such heights makes me feel old sometimes, I love the fact that we are cutting and replacing trees for the next generation.
God gave us the stewardship of the land. Trees clean the air and protect our waters and streams from runoff. I'm proud to be a tree farmer. I like growing sweet corn also. It's just more fun when profitable, but the fat lady ain't sung yet on the corn crop. We are just getting started good!
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Musings
Well, I left the sweet corn field shortly after daylight and rode up to the chilling plant to see how many semis had shown up during the night after I went home. There were six big trucks in the yard, and I had been praying for about 20. Come on folks! You need to get corn hungry all over this great nation.
While Martha and I were sitting out on our patio last night following a brief and blessed shower, my mind got to wandering about some of the things that I had read lately of a political nature.
A month or so back our current administration in Washington stated that unemployment was at the root of terrorism. They indicated that what we needed to do was find jobs for these poor terrorists. I believe that millions of dollars have been poured into the city of Baltimore over the last decade using that same thought process. That's turned out to be a real winning plan, has it not?
Now and even more ludicrous, I read that President Obama calls climate change and global warming an indisputable security threat. He stated that climate change aggravated tensions and creates political insecurity. Let's think about this for a few minutes. First of all, when we speak of global warming, we are talking about a rise of temperatures in the tenths of a degree over a period of time. Does anyone honestly believe that someone who lives in a region where the temperature is 110 degrees in the shade is suddenly going to go stark raving crazy when the thermometer rises to 110.1? I bet that tenth of a degree is what pushed ISIS over the edge.
Another reason that I struggle with this excuse for terrorism is that I live in a fairly hot part of the world. During the months of July and August, it is not unusual for us to go days on end with temperatures approaching 100 degrees each day. Coupled with that heat is high humidity which normally creates a temperature/humidity index of 105-114 regularly. To the best of my knowledge, I have dealt with this weather for 65 years without ever feeling prone to strap on a suicide vest or behead anyone. Lord only knows how much meaner ISIS would be if they had to deal with the heat AND our south Georgia gnats.
Finally, I need to defend the current administration by stating perhaps I am not wired to think like the rest of this country any more. While watching the local Albany news last night, I watched a clip where they were interviewing the police chief about a rash of lawn mower and lawn equipment thefts. He stated," Well, it is the season for these thefts". Color me stupid, but I did not realize that burglary had a season. I know there are harvest,football, and hunting seasons, but theft season is a new one on me.
While Martha and I were sitting out on our patio last night following a brief and blessed shower, my mind got to wandering about some of the things that I had read lately of a political nature.
A month or so back our current administration in Washington stated that unemployment was at the root of terrorism. They indicated that what we needed to do was find jobs for these poor terrorists. I believe that millions of dollars have been poured into the city of Baltimore over the last decade using that same thought process. That's turned out to be a real winning plan, has it not?
Now and even more ludicrous, I read that President Obama calls climate change and global warming an indisputable security threat. He stated that climate change aggravated tensions and creates political insecurity. Let's think about this for a few minutes. First of all, when we speak of global warming, we are talking about a rise of temperatures in the tenths of a degree over a period of time. Does anyone honestly believe that someone who lives in a region where the temperature is 110 degrees in the shade is suddenly going to go stark raving crazy when the thermometer rises to 110.1? I bet that tenth of a degree is what pushed ISIS over the edge.
Another reason that I struggle with this excuse for terrorism is that I live in a fairly hot part of the world. During the months of July and August, it is not unusual for us to go days on end with temperatures approaching 100 degrees each day. Coupled with that heat is high humidity which normally creates a temperature/humidity index of 105-114 regularly. To the best of my knowledge, I have dealt with this weather for 65 years without ever feeling prone to strap on a suicide vest or behead anyone. Lord only knows how much meaner ISIS would be if they had to deal with the heat AND our south Georgia gnats.
Finally, I need to defend the current administration by stating perhaps I am not wired to think like the rest of this country any more. While watching the local Albany news last night, I watched a clip where they were interviewing the police chief about a rash of lawn mower and lawn equipment thefts. He stated," Well, it is the season for these thefts". Color me stupid, but I did not realize that burglary had a season. I know there are harvest,football, and hunting seasons, but theft season is a new one on me.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Sweet Corn
Well, evidently most of you did not heed my plea to buy a lot of sweet corn in your local grocery stores. It looked like we had a perfect set-up for a profitable marketing season on our sweet corn. South Florida finished up earlier than normal, and shipped all of their corn out by Memorial Day weekend. The boys in south Georgia began harvesting corn with good movement and prices.
And THEN along came Riverview to harvest our first planting on May 28th. That was the very day we were placed on restricted harvest and falling prices due to weak demand. In some ways, it is nice to know that we have enough power to single handedly move the market. I tend to think that we are a jinx, and have offered to my two partners to cease planting sweet corn if they will pay me a substantial insurance fee to stay out of the market , and allow them to sell at higher prices. They did not seem interested in my deal
.
We never begin planting our sweet corn as early as most folks here because to do so would require us to begin planting shortly after Valentine's Day. We are still way too busy harvesting Yankees at that time to think about planting sweet corn. On the bright side, we are experiencing tremendous yields and great quality on the first three plantings that we have been allowed to nibble at picking each day. On the negative side, we figure that we are losing about 12 cents per crate on each harvested crate through today; so you folks really need to begin buying more corn. This is strictly a supply/demand business with no forward pricing and no safety net.
In closing this blog, I find it an interesting observation that for half of the year, I deal with the wealthiest and brightest folks in the world. At this time of the year, I am dealing with the other end of the spectrum. My problem is remembering which group I am talking to when trying to get our corn harvested. The only Haitian word that I understand is "Boss". They also call me by another name that I understand, but can't write in a public forum.
And THEN along came Riverview to harvest our first planting on May 28th. That was the very day we were placed on restricted harvest and falling prices due to weak demand. In some ways, it is nice to know that we have enough power to single handedly move the market. I tend to think that we are a jinx, and have offered to my two partners to cease planting sweet corn if they will pay me a substantial insurance fee to stay out of the market , and allow them to sell at higher prices. They did not seem interested in my deal
.
We never begin planting our sweet corn as early as most folks here because to do so would require us to begin planting shortly after Valentine's Day. We are still way too busy harvesting Yankees at that time to think about planting sweet corn. On the bright side, we are experiencing tremendous yields and great quality on the first three plantings that we have been allowed to nibble at picking each day. On the negative side, we figure that we are losing about 12 cents per crate on each harvested crate through today; so you folks really need to begin buying more corn. This is strictly a supply/demand business with no forward pricing and no safety net.
In closing this blog, I find it an interesting observation that for half of the year, I deal with the wealthiest and brightest folks in the world. At this time of the year, I am dealing with the other end of the spectrum. My problem is remembering which group I am talking to when trying to get our corn harvested. The only Haitian word that I understand is "Boss". They also call me by another name that I understand, but can't write in a public forum.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Weeds
There are three sure signs that summer has almost fully arrived in south Georgia: heat,gnats, and weeds. We have not had a rain in two weeks now. I just counted my two trillionth gnat today, and our temperature hit 92 before lunch. Almost everything is wilted and drooping around here with one exception, and that would be the weeds.
The famous writer , Ralph Waldo Emerson, once said," What is a weed.? It is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered". Mr. Emerson's friend, Henry David Thoreau, lived on Emerson's farm when he wrote his famous book, On Walden's Pond. I got curious and looked up where that farm was located, and it was in Concord, Massachusetts..
Now I hate to bust the bubble of anyone living in New England, but y'all have obviously never seen the kinds of weeds that grow in the south. I can almost guarantee you that Pigweed has no virtues whatsoever and no redeeming qualities yet to be discovered. It grows very fast, has a thick stalk, will stick the mess out of you, and plays havoc in a sweet corn field or even in a food plot. Nothing eats it, and nothing likes it. Once discovered in your field, if you do not already have a plan B to attack it, you have no plan at all since it is so hard to kill.
If Mr. Emerson was alive today, I would be glad to ship him a few tons of Pigweed along with a few billion gnats and wait for him to find their virtues!
The famous writer , Ralph Waldo Emerson, once said," What is a weed.? It is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered". Mr. Emerson's friend, Henry David Thoreau, lived on Emerson's farm when he wrote his famous book, On Walden's Pond. I got curious and looked up where that farm was located, and it was in Concord, Massachusetts..
Now I hate to bust the bubble of anyone living in New England, but y'all have obviously never seen the kinds of weeds that grow in the south. I can almost guarantee you that Pigweed has no virtues whatsoever and no redeeming qualities yet to be discovered. It grows very fast, has a thick stalk, will stick the mess out of you, and plays havoc in a sweet corn field or even in a food plot. Nothing eats it, and nothing likes it. Once discovered in your field, if you do not already have a plan B to attack it, you have no plan at all since it is so hard to kill.
If Mr. Emerson was alive today, I would be glad to ship him a few tons of Pigweed along with a few billion gnats and wait for him to find their virtues!
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Mother's Day
As we approach Mother's Day weekend, I just wanted to post a short blog in praise of mothers. My beloved mother went to be with the Lord in 1985, and I still think about her most every day. I truly believe that a mother's love is the closest that we will ever come to experiencing God's unconditional love on this earth. Growing up with Mom also taught me how to be a better husband since I learned that women are sometimes in doubt, but never wrong. I will never forget Cader IV telling me one day that " Dad, Mom is just flat wrong on this issue". I calmly backed him up against the wall, and explained to him all of the sacrifices, pain, and love that his mother had endured in raising him. I further threatened to pummel him into submission if he argued with her any more on the subject in contention. That is what I told him, but what I was thinking was this, "You have two older sisters and a mother, and you still have not figured it out. I sure have wasted a bunch of money on your education up to this point if you have not figured out the female mind yet".
My mother was my greatest cheer leader and supporter. She also taught me so many things:
She taught me religion--" You better pray that stain comes out of my carpet.
She taught me how to exaggerate---If I have told you once, I have told you a million times.
She taught me about anticipation--You just wait until your Dad gets home and he is going to tear your fanny up.
She taught me about receiving--You are going to really get it when Dad gets home from work.
She taught me that mothers do truly have a pair of eyes in the back of their heads,
She also taught me that women have "wolf ears" since she could hear a muttered comment from 500 yards away.
I still miss her, but she was very pleased with my choice for a life mate, and felt certain that Martha would continue my training. AND she has for almost 45 years now..In closing this tribute to mothers, I wish that I had the address of that mother in Baltimore who jerked her son out of that mob and slapped him back to the straight and narrow. This nation needs more Moms like that, and we definitely need Dads in the homes who have been properly trained to be good role models!
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers still with us, and to those who are with the Lord now !
My mother was my greatest cheer leader and supporter. She also taught me so many things:
She taught me religion--" You better pray that stain comes out of my carpet.
She taught me how to exaggerate---If I have told you once, I have told you a million times.
She taught me about anticipation--You just wait until your Dad gets home and he is going to tear your fanny up.
She taught me about receiving--You are going to really get it when Dad gets home from work.
She taught me that mothers do truly have a pair of eyes in the back of their heads,
She also taught me that women have "wolf ears" since she could hear a muttered comment from 500 yards away.
I still miss her, but she was very pleased with my choice for a life mate, and felt certain that Martha would continue my training. AND she has for almost 45 years now..In closing this tribute to mothers, I wish that I had the address of that mother in Baltimore who jerked her son out of that mob and slapped him back to the straight and narrow. This nation needs more Moms like that, and we definitely need Dads in the homes who have been properly trained to be good role models!
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers still with us, and to those who are with the Lord now !
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