What It Was...

Andy Griffith is a name familiar not only to those of us in North Carolina, but also to thousands across the country who know him from"No Time for Sergeants," "The Andy Griffith Show" or "Matlock."  Andy was a real homegrown boy, attending the University of North Carolina and living his final days in Manteo, NC.

Long before he was famous in television or movies, Andy (known as Deacon Andy Griffith) humored us with his stories.

Perhaps the most amusing of his stories was a rube going to his first college football game quite by mistake.  You can click HERE to listen to Andy tell his funny tale.  I've heard this narrative all my life and I still find myself laughing out loud.

Here is the text, taken from "Our State" magazine:

WHAT IT WAS WAS FOOTBALL

It was back last October, I believe it was.

We was going to hold a tent service off at this college town, and we got there about dinnertime on Saturday. Different ones of us thought that we ought to get us a mouthful to eat before we set up the tent.

So we got off the truck and followed this little bunch of people through this small little bitty patch of woods there, and we come up on a big sign. It says, “Get Something to Eat Here.”

I went up and got me two hot dogs and a big orange drink, and before I could take a mouthful of that food, this whole raft of people come up around me and got me to where I couldn’t eat nothing, up like, and I dropped my big orange drink. I did.

Well, friends, they commenced to move, and there wasn’t so much that I could do but move with them.
Well, we commenced to go through all kinds of doors and gates and I don’t know what-all, and I looked up over one of ’em and it says, “North Gate.” We kept on a-going through there, and pretty soon we come up on a young boy and he says, “Ticket, please.”
And I says, “Friend, I don’t have a ticket; I don’t even know where it is that I’m a-going!” I did.
Well, he says, “Come out as quick as you can.”
And I says, “I’ll do ’er; I’ll turn right around the first chance I get.”

Well, we kept on a-moving through there, and pretty soon everybody got where it was that they was a-going, because they parted and I could see pretty good. I could. And what I seen was this whole raft of people a-sittin’ on these two banks and a-lookin’ at one another across this pretty little green cow pasture. Well, they was.

Somebody had took and drawed white lines all over it and drove posts in it, and I don’t know what-all, and I looked down there, and I seen five or six convicts a-running up and down and a-blowing whistles. They was. And then I looked down there, I seen these pretty girls wearin’ these little bitty short dresses and a-dancing around, and so I sit down and thought I’d see what it was that was a-going to happen. I did.

About the time I got set down good, I looked down there and I seen 30 or 40 men come a-runnin’ out of one end of a great big outhouse down there. They did. And everybody where I was a-settin’ got up and hollered! And about that time, 30 or 40 come runnin’ out of the other end of that outhouse, and the other bank-full, they got up and hollered.

And I asked this fella that was a sittin’ beside of me, “Friend, what is it that they’re a-hollerin’ for?”
Well, he whopped me on the back and he says, “Buddy, have a drink!” “Well,” I says, “I believe I will have another big orange.” And I got it and set back down.

When I got there again I seen that them men had got in two little bitty bunches down there real close together, and they voted. They did. They voted and elected one man apiece, and them two men come out in the middle of that cow pasture and shook hands like they hadn’t seen one another in a long time.

Then a convict come over to where they was a-standin’, and he took out a quarter, and they commenced to odd man right there! They did. After a while I seen what it was they was odd-manning for. It was that both bunches-full of them men wanted this funny-lookin’ little punkin to play with. They did.

And I know, friends, that they couldn’t eat it because they kicked it the whole evenin’ and it never busted.

But, anyhow, what I was telling was, both bunches-full wanted that thing. One bunch got it and it made the other bunch just as mad as they could be! Friends, I seen that evenin’ the awfulest fight that I have ever seen in all my life! I did!

They would run at one another and kick one another and throw one another down and stomp on one another and grind their feet in one another and I don’t know what-all and just as fast as one of ’em would get hurt, they’d tote him off and run another one on!

Well, they done that as long as I set there, but pretty soon this boy that had said “Ticket, please,” he come up to me and he says, “Friend, you’re gonna have to leave because it is that you don’t have a ticket.”
And I says, “Well, all right.” And I got up and left.

I don’t know, friends, to this day what it was that they was a-doin’ down there, but I have studied about it. I think it was that it’s some kindly of a contest where they see which bunch-full of them men can take that punkin and run from one end of that cow pasture to the other without gettin’ knocked down or steppin’ in somethin’.

Speaking of football, did you see those Packers yesterday?

Fridays Are Golden

We are enjoying some gorgeous weather around here.  The mornings are cool and crisp and the days are sunny with the occasional shower.  (Of course, one of those showers popped up just as I was leaving the salon after my hair cut.)

I am filled with political rhetoric, but have decided that Golden Fridays should be kept golden.  And I'm sure you thank me for that.

Thank goodness our Golden Girls have no worries about the world.  Their concerns are primarily whether or not they will get dinner.  With amazing regularity, they sit at my husband's knee beginning at 4:00 every afternoon until he feeds them at 4:30.  Near 9:00 pm they begin to wander around to remind us that it is time for their last trip outside and then bedtime.  We've never had dogs more eager to go to bed than these two.

The dogs are comfortable with  rules and routines.  They know what parts of the house are dog-free zones.  They know toys are for the den and not the great room.  (Well, Ellie makes an exception for her beloved tennis balls.  To her credit, she does not play with them except in the den; merely carries them around with her.)  For no reason I can discern, they always take their chews to their beds to work on them there.

 

 

 

Believe it or not, Lucy always goes to the bed with her name on it.

She also has a tennis ball for safe keeping.

 

 

 

Ellie is slower and more deliberate with her chew.

 

 

 

You would think her jaws would be sore, but she is not often seen without one or two tennis balls unless she is sleeping.

Today's quote is from physicist Albert Einstein.  In case you didn't believe he was a real genius, reflect on this statement from the early 20th century:

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."

HAVE A FUN AND SAFE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

 

 

 



A Day of Remembering

 

The tree survived.

And so does our spirit.

 

 

 

Today we turn our thoughts to a tragic day in American history.  No one could have predicted the years of strategic errors and loss of life that would follow this day.

You Don't Belong at the Hummingbird Feeder

We have several hummingbird feeders in the yard and hanging over the deck.  The one we have hanging on the deck is a Droll Yankees and we watch this one more often than the others because of its location.  This feeder has a center "ant trap" to keep ants from entering the feeder.  It collects water when it rains and surprisingly enough, many of our birds drink from it.  Believe it or not we have seen tiny hummingbirds challenge these much larger birds.  And in every case, the larger bird retreats.

 

 

The chickadee hangs on.

 

 

 

The goldfinch, upside down to get a drink.

 

 

 

The titmouse is not after a drink at all.

 

 

 

There was an insect caught in the trap.  Easy pickin's

(You may need to click and enlarge)

It always surprises me to see other birds at the hummingbird feeder, especially when they are there to get a drink.  It seems so awkward.  And within three feet of the feeder is a large birdbath ever so much easier to access.  Who knows?  Maybe they don't want to drink bath water.

Fridays Are Golden

Autumn is definitely in the air around here.  A few of the leaves are turning and some are already falling.  The mornings are crisp and the days are mild and sunny.  What a welcome respite from our rainy summer.

There is a very old cemetery not far from us.  It is a country community cemetery not associated with a church.  There are still occasional burials there but that is rare.  The cemetery is well off the highway and surrounded by large areas of open grass and trees.  The girls love to go there and run off lead.

I know that some people think it is disrespectful to allow dogs to run free in a cemetery and we never do if there are other people around.  As for me...I can think of no better way to share my final resting place than with happy joyful dogs.  Especially since we are very sensitive about where they go.  (And always have a supply of poop bags with us to carry away anything they might leave.)

 

Ellie leads the way with Lucy's ears straight up.

 

 

 

A gravel driveway goes around the cemetery.

 

 

 

Lucy finally runs out of steam.

 

 

 

Do you think they are happy there?

Today's quote is a poem by Helen Hunt Jackson.  She was a 19th century American poet and writer.  She was appalled at the government's treatment of Native Americans and was an activist on their behalf.  Read about her if you are not familiar with her life.  She was quite a woman.


By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather
And Autumn's best of cheer.

We are definitely having the best of weather and there is a remarkable cheer among folks here in the mountains.  We are between tourist seasons so the town is our own once more.

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!  BE OF GOOD CHEER.

A Woodpecker Sittin' on a Rail

 

As the young Pileated Woodpeckers learn to feed themselves, their navigation systems are not quite developed.  They flutter around, sometimes landing on a chair or on the shingles and once even on the umbrella.  Most often they fly to the deck rail.  And they sit and try to figure out how to get up to the suet feeder.  They are fun to watch and after some missed attempts and fly-bys, eventually they land on the feeder and enjoy the suet.

 

 

 

Little female seems surprised to have landed on the railing.

 

 

 

 

She looks up at the feeder.  It seems far away.

Today marks a very special day for some of our readers.  Rosh Hashanah signals the beginning of High Holy Days for our Jewish neighbors.  Called the "Jewish New Year," Rosh Hashanah begins this evening at sundown.

A common Rosh Hashanah greeting is shana tovah u'metukah which means, "a good and sweet New Year."  And so to all of you, Jewish or not, I wish you a good and sweet new year.

Thank the Laborers

Look around you.  At your house and its furnishings, at the roads upon which you drive.  Everywhere you are, look around and thank the workers who brought these things about.

Enjoy today and be grateful.