Thursday, January 31, 2013

I bet everyone has done ‘crazy’ things!

I have a friend, Von Dale (the name alone is neat), but he wasn’t afraid of anything. He was proud of scaling a wall in a rock quarry. He took me over there when they weren’t operating, probably a Saturday. The wall was probably about 20’ high, but to me it looked like a 100’. But I followed him up. Now I still get scared watching rock climbers.

innocence of a Lab

Just across Long Creek from the rock quarry was a big pasture with ponies and horses. Von Dale knew horses, he had a horse, for riding and plowing. So he took me into some strangers field and taught me how to hold onto the mane and swing up on the horses back. That was fun. I am sure the owners didn’t mind, the horses didn’t, thank goodness.

We ate a lot of greens growing up, turnip, cabbage and collards. I am a quizzical person. At ten years old I could not see any difference in good green grass and greens mama cooked. After all cows liked it. I got some of mama’s bacon grease and went out in the back yard near  a fence and gathered me a mess of grass and weeds. I made a fire and using a big tin can (playing like I was a hobo) added some water and I cooked them. It was terrible. (probably not enough salt! LOL)

I told mommie

(I could tell you some really crazy things my parents have done)

Once in Key West I ran our boat aground in Calder Channel, it is a tricky Channel to run and I had done it many times, but this time I made a mistake, I practically beached the boat. This is a 24’ fiberglass Cuddy cabin. A heavy sucker.

Two big boats stopped and offered to tow me off the reef and stubborn me said, “I got it”. (That should have been ‘crazy me’ what said: I got it.)

Don and Evelyns dog

I did, but it was work.

I just answered an e-mail from my sister, who is about as stubborn as I. She told me something she had done without asking for help, and I told her, “You know something, you and I are 2 stubborn cusses.”

It is honestly crazy to turn down help when you can use it.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

MA of ‘What is new at my House’ used the word ‘Discover’, and got me to thinking. I discover sometimes I am actually ‘crazy’, in a wonderful way. (Well, I wanted to come out smelling like a rose, after stepping in it!)

**********************************************

gas9

That must be the Rockies in the background. This station was in the 30’s. Still had the glass topped pumps.

10 comments:

Jackie said...

I prefer to think of you and your sister as independent...and not stubborn! :)
Love the picture you shared of the dog with its head in the trash can lid. That made me smile...as did the fact that you cooked lawn grass with pork... Shaking my head!
Smiles,
Jackie

Lucy said...

I prefer to think of you as stubborn, Jack, but good sweet Shirl, never, except when absolutely necessary.

Chatty Crone said...

You cooked grass? That is too funny. And you got on horses by grabbing their mane and you don't think the owners cared - the sure would nowadays. And I bet you are a wee bit stubborn. Stubborn can be good too you know - to a certain point...

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I do crazy things like walking into a room and then have to stop and think about what I was going in there for. Discovery is a wonderful thing...makes me laugh a lot for sure when I discover what it was I was after. We are back in the 20's for the rest of this week. BrrChill! Hope you all are keeping warm there.

Dar said...

Ok, my fav part of this entry was the visual I got of you cooking grass with mama's bacon grease...yup, must have been not enough salt.lol, Lol, LOLOLOL...I've done the grab the mane to get up on the horses back many, many times...that was always fun.
Not into scaling rock quarry walls, tho we have a few north of here...and deep too. They closed them to the teens that used to double dog dare one another to jump in.
And yes, I was once in a ski boat that skipped right up on shore and swamped a trail through the woods on Conners Lake...what a ride!
BlessYa

shirl72 said...

I know Lucy would come to my aid.
I hate to think about the things
I have done. I guess that comes
from having a husband that traveled. You learn how to do
everything. Rather do it myself.
I have started being a little
careful afraid of falling. Things are getting a little heavy.

Mevely317 said...

Hours after reading this (on my phone), I'm still chuckling over the "hobo" campfire, Jack! Fiber!

I so enjoy the way you weave a tale! :)

betty said...

Too funny with your curiousity about the grass. Good thing you didn't start a wild fire :)

betty

Paula said...

Too bad that cooked grass didn't taste good. It would have saved on the grocery bill. There was one certain weed I used to eat, but raw.

Louis la Vache said...

Jack, the mountains are the Sierras. Cucamonga is in California, along I-10 east of Los Angeles. The mountains are in the Angeles National Forest.