Get out of here!

We returning from visiting relatives in Waldo, Ark. and this time we were returning on US Highway 79.  Dad enjoyed trying new routes, some times getting lost, but we traveled from Minden through Homer, Haynesvville, and Magnolia on 78 and then on 82 to Waldo, returning the same way.

We stopped in Haynesville to visit Dad's cousin, Harry Camp, whose home was downtown on Highway 79. No one was at home but Dad wanted to wait a few minutes to see if anyone would soon return.  Despite Mama calling him back, he wandered into the garden.  I was with him when we heard a loud scream -- "Get out of here" and again even louder, "Get out of here!"  We wondered who was yelling at us, and then we saw -- it was a parrot and he yelled again until we left.

Obama's solution to gas prices -- run your car on algae

Can this guy get any crazier?  Gasoline prices have doubled at the pump since he became president and he continues the very actions that got us in this mess.  We have an abundance of oil and natural gas; we need to be allowed to drill and produce them to meet our energy needs.

Some day so-called green energy may be feasible; millions are being spent by the government in research, but now we must rely on our fossil fuels.  But think about what Obama says when asked for his solution to high gas prices -- use algae.  He has blocked the Keystone pipeline that could have brought petroleum to us from Canada. He has discouraged and blocked drilling in areas of the country and offshore. Yet, get this -- he is supporting drilling off of Mexico by an inexperienced company while discouraging drilling by capable companies in our gulf.

We have high oil and gasoline prices because we have refused to take the right actions and instead have made stupid choices because of Obama's sick philosophy or perceived political advantage.

Hey, it is just not fair

To have May weather in February and I can't take advantage of it.  Walking is painful and near impossible for me right now so there is no way I can work outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. Now is the time to get ground ready to plant vegetables and flowers.

A kind of ugly weed that spreads rapidly and that has taken over much of the backyard has moved to the front lawn and must be eradicated by hand, weedeater, mower, or a combination of all of them.  I have been hearing lawnmowers all day as people clean up weeds.  I cannot get the mower started and have been begging for months for some one to take it for repairs. 

Son of former Pickens shipmate heard from

In early January  the son of Jose P. Ramirez commented on my blog.  I only recently checked for comments and have responded to him now.  I don't remember his father but that does not mean I didn't come in contact with him on board ship.  I remember very few names and faces.  Too late now, but I wish I had maintained some kind of contact but like most everyone I put all of that out of my mind when I was discharged.  We all had new lives to build.

The Sunday we walked out of the church

If I walk out of church because I disagree with what is being said from the pulpit, it won't be the first time. This happened when I was a young kid and at Bethel  Methodist Church, a little church all alone in the area we called the flatwoods.

Obviously, my memory is not perfectly clear, but I remember a man who was not the pastor and not a member of the church took the pulpit and began talking.  He had got so far as to saying, "my wife took the low road and I took the high road,"  when Daddy got up, moved  to each child and said, "Let's go,:" and we went.  (Mama was not at church; probably at home with a new baby.)

That afternoon a cousin visiting from Waldo teased us by saying the entire congregation was talking about us.  

I never knew the whole story about the visitor, only that daddy said he was a crook.  I know that church is for sinners but that doesn't mean just anything should come from the pulpit.

Preachers must leave politics out of the pulpit

I am very much opposed to ministers using the pulpit to espouse partisan politics.  By rights, the church should use its tax exempt status.  Any minister or priest has the right to his political opinion.  He can even promote his viewpoint in the coffee shop but not in the church office.  I long ago committed if my pastor voices partisan views I will get up and walk out of the church.

Given my opinion it is understandable that I am uncomfortable with the laying of hands on Santorium a few days ago.  Those preachers are made to look foolish by Santorium's statement that Protestant churches are not Christian.

Still time to plant your Irish potatoes

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone without me planting Iris potatoes.  If you are worried that it is getting too late to plant potatoes, no it's not, although during my rural life that was our goal. 

I have planted Irish potatoes at least twice in the past decades since I left  the  farm, a few once in my little garden here and a sizeable patch once back on the farm while living here. 

If the ground is not too wet to be worked, vegetable gardening begins in January with setting out onion plants. We have not had a winter so far and sunshine most days makes me unhappy that I cannot spade some ground and prepare a garden spot.  Giving up gardening hurts me worse than giving up coffee would bother me. This will be only my second year without any garden at all but I'm already to the point that I would need to check a book to be sure of the right planting times for vegetables.

I won't forget the right time to plant cotton  -- that's when chinaberries bloom.  I doubt seriously I'll have a cotton crop this year.