The Weekend of Nothing

It is getting a little cool today and I am so happy for it. This nice weather makes me think of Daddy and His brothers getting ready to go kill deer and other food.

It seems like Daddy usually hunted with his eyes instead of a rifle. His family always killed enough for all of us to share.

He knew where and when to look for wildlife and how to enjoy the days of fall. It was one of our favorite seasons. The trees turning and getting ready for winter.
Birds flying south and overhead making so much noise. I did not realize my house was in the path of the south and north bound journey until the first fall we lived here. Now my car gets sorta covered more often than it does any other time of the year.

Christmas was never my favorite holiday because we were to poor to really enjoy it, without feeling guilty about not being able to give gifts to all we wanted too. The Thanksgiving was always my favorite. Guess thats why I like to have the family around for the turkey and goodies.

Of course when they all went vegetarian there went my fun. My Nephew usually has a huge dinner and food you would not believe. Especially last year when the turkey was a little black due to the frying but tastee just the same.

Its fall and I feel great. The sky is blue and the rain came while I was asleep.
Miss my children and grandchildren tonight.

Jonesy is here trying to type and Miss Rose growling and shaking like she was freezing to death.

Cody Museum for the animal heads. The bird courtsy of family.

Class of 1913

Hubert, HOy, Howard Howell Amaretta, Imogene, and Gertude Howell.

The other day a member of the family sent me a picture of the class of 1913. My Dad and Several aunts and uncle were a member of this class.

World War I had not begun but quite a few of the older boys served in the war to end all wars. Some never made it past the flu of 1917.

Macedonia Cementary is where quite a few of them are buried. I grew up hearing all the stories of how they survived. The little school house that meant so much to them. Learning to read and write and add and subtract. It was a big deal to the Howell family. My grandmother was a martient on her children getting learning.

The Great Depression was another battle they fought. Alot of them almost died of starvetion. Some even figured out a way to earn money by running the corn juice which today most people call ethylnol, back then it was white lightning.

One believed in education so much that He bought a van from army surplus and drove all his nieces and nephews to school. They read every book they could get their hands on and worked hard to keep their heads above water.

My relatives especially were close and helped each other. World War 2 found some of them serving the country again. So much happened to them all. The community was almost gone when the war started in 1941. My Grandmother was one of the last to move out from the area. She only live 2 years after she moved. She had lived in one house since the 1890's and moved in 1954.

All the new inventions were in their time. Airplanes, diesel trains, computers etc.
I do not know of any of them that are still living. So to all of you who lived and died and made your lives count. Bless you and your memories.

Sunday Blahs

It has been a really long long long week. The past week I have had some kind of cold and I am not used to this. I have slept more in the past week than I have in the last month. I am feeling much better tonight.

It seems the changing of the weather brings this on in a lot of people. I look outside and it is green and not the changing of the colors one would expect in this part of the state at this time of year. It has rained just enough to keep it green and very pretty.

Jonesy is mad at me because I took away one of my cardinals He had worked so hard to catch. The ungrateful bird bite me. I hope it made it back to its flock. It looked like one of its wings was sort of damaged. It was almost as mad at me as Mr JJ was.

Miss Rose is acting up also. Is there something in the air that animals decide to turn on the hand that feeds them. She has pouted and preened and begged for bonies all week. The other night about 3am I put her in the car and rode her around for about an hour. She was happy for about 5 minutes.

Jordan came home from school and the other 3 were also not feeling well. Except David. NOthing stops him. Grandchildren you know. Are almost as much of a pleasure as the children of your heart are.

This is going to be a wild winter. Hope you all enjoy it.

American cars versus Japanese cars

As the proud owner of several of the American made vechiles I am now out of the lemon business and into the Toyoto group. Why?

In the years since I started buying vechiles I have tried new, used, and borrowed and ended up with more bad American made cars than I care to remember. The really bad one was a Chevy van I bought. A little grey jewel that needed a new motor just 300 miles short of the warrenty.

It lost the chrome off before I got home with it. I traded and sold it to my ex brother in law, a mechanic of sorts, who could not get the bugs out of it. The next car was another chevy. This time a bigger one. Again the motor gave up at 40000, a little longer then the van.

Next came the chevette. Worked great until it had 90000. Then the tie rod broke and my son and I almost ended up on the railroad tracks with the rain pouring down. Our angel was looking after us that night.

Then the Regal. 1985 transmission was too small for the weight of the car. I spent 8000 miles caring it back to the buick dealer in Cartersville. The mechanic told me no moving parts were in the transmission and it was my imagination. Since my Dad was a mechanic and he had told me several things about cars and the powder puff course I took at one of the local colleges something told me he saw a dumb blonde on this end. Well after 3 transmissions replaced, per the manager, the stupid thing kept going out of control at the worst times.

I jumped a ditch when I looked up to check to see if the light was green, at a theatre the stupid thing went out of control in park. Almost killing 10 people who had been moved again by my angel.

When I called General Motors their answer was....WHO CARES? Guess they found out!

My next adventure was the Ford Motor Dealers. The regal went for a pickup with a problem. It went dead every time you had to stop and drank gas worse than the suvs of today. It was a 12 gallon tank so guess they figured you were never going to take a long trip with it. To the store and back. Next came a ford tempo I drove it longer and got better sevice than all of the rest put together. So what did ford do quit making it.

The mechanic got the transmission messed up at 99000 miles and swore it could not be anything wrong with it. Guess after driving that many miles the good service was my imagination. HUh.

Anyway after it died a long and sad death I traded it for a Ranger pickup truck that the overdrive and cruise control would not work properly together. After standing in the dealership stomping my big feet that they would not fix it every though it was under warrenty. It just happened that a rep from the main office, was in that day and low and behold it worked for 6 months and then kaboom gone.

The paperwork was a waste of time. They had no intention of repairing or replacing the truck even with the new lemon law.

Trade for a used chrysler. It worked for 40000 and then the air conditioner went out but when the radio went. So did the car.

This is not all the trades but just the highlights.

My first Toyoto was a truck which I traded for a Highlander. Then a second car, Camery, which saved my life when it was hit head one when a cell phone addict ran a red light. The car seat belts left bruises and every piece of the windshield was shattered but I came thru with only shattered nerves. Stil do not like to drive that part of the road.

Then a red truck Toyota and a White highlander which I love and am still driving are working great. The truck cd player went out when the warrenty had a month to go and it was replaced without a hassle.

Anytime I need something checked it is checked by a qualified mechanic and if they have any problems they keep a file on it from all dealer and how to fix the problems.

My hat is off to you who like you American Made Vechiles but to tell you the truth I would never pack Miss Rose in one and take a 4500 + mile trip without a lot of worry as to whether I would end up in wide open country with a broke down lemon.

September Blues

The lazy days of summer are coming to an end and fall is beginning to be felt in the air. The hurricane season is showing a few clouds and rain for this part of the country. Amazing, compared to last year. It has been hot as blazes all summer long.

This weekend a friend and I went to Rome Ga for a powwow. The costumes were great. We did not see any of the dances, but the hoop dancer, and his pants coming down. Was he ever embrassed. The announcer made sure He knew the crowd had gotten a kick out of it.

A Scot dressed Indian was the first time I had seen him.Tribes were out in full force. Even a couple of Aztec dancers were there. The ladies were in beautiful crafted outfits. Even the young ones in festive outfits.

It seems that this year has gone so fast. David's birthday is in just a few days and He will be eight years old. Grandaughter in college at the age of 17. The oldest grandson 14 and already taller than His dad or uncle. The other three are keeping a low profile. School days you know.

The peanut butter arrived in time for breakfast on Tuesday. My computer is cutting on and off by itself and sometime I wonder if it knows I do not know how to work it very well. Oh well! We made it this far and it has really been a wonderful year. Germany for vacation this year. Nicks new job. Eric playing ball, practice that is. Nick passed his electrician test for the state the 1st try, which is rarely done. He now has his work cut out for him. He is following in my shoes up the poles and in his Uncles with the electrician work.

Goodby to a Friend of Nature

I have no pictures of Steve Irwin, I did enjoy watching him and listening to his take on the wild kingdom of animals and reptiles.

He was a funny guy who knew that this world was a better place if nature was taken care of and he was and informative teacher.

I have admired him for many years. I saw the movie and discovered an old friend from Lord of the Rings. Showing that He was a good actor came naturely since He was playing Himself.

I went to Stingray City in the Islands once and the things scared me even though everybody said they were harmless. I was black and blue the next day but not stung.

Goodby Steve we will miss you and your smile.