Permit me the self-indulgence, it is the weekend. This is an altered version of a post from last year, one received so well it moved me deeply. Jason **** Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Ferris Bueller I might add: “Or it could end up biting you. I got a life lesson not long ago, one that I won’t forget, and I guess I felt the need to share, because it applies to all of us. Ferris had it right. Life does move fast, and though one need to stop and look around, that isn’t always an option. In some instances “looking around” might come back to bite you, Ferris might say “you also best learn to corner pretty fast.” As most of you have come to know, I live in the deep south. When I say “deep,” I mean one could walk the distance needed to get deeper and then drown. We live fifty miles form the Gulf Coast, in … please bear with me, Mississippi. We moved down here from the Northwest, my beloved Northwest, Washington, to be precise. We could practically walk to my other love, Canada, the place of my birth. My beloved wife (lotta love in my life) is from Mississippi, her grandmother lives here. Granny is 87 now and near wheel chair bound. She, has no one anymore and was all alone. I loved the Northwest, I love her more. And so it was that I found myself in charge of managing her massive property. We are certainly not suffering, giant house, and her place is 160 acres of pure beauty. I manage the timber, and keep a few acres around the home gorgeous. It is not hard. In particular, I love the small lake that sits about 200 yards from the back door, packed with giant bass. My daughter and I cheat, we use minnows, and have fishing derbies. Two fish each, largest fish wins. The derby takes about ten minutes. No fish are hurt in the exercise, they’re pissed when getting thrown back in the water. The only trouble is this place isn’t just stuffed with beauty and fish, it is infested with every type of poisonous snake known to North America. I am petrified of snakes generally, and I am highly allergic to poisonous snake breath. My daughter isn’t too wild about them either. But she plays with her friends outside far more than I play outside with anyone or anything. Thus it is that that I mow the ever living shit out of the place near the house. I mow it tighter than a greenskeeper at a golf course. Your fairway would be jealous. Obviously, I want to be able to see anything coming from 100 yards away, and I can, for the most part. My daughter also loves her Northwest, it was all she had ever known, having lived there since age two. My eleven year old loves her Starbucks muffin, her modern movie theaters, her fleece vest, hiking boots, all that. She most definitely didn’t want to move. Part of the bribe to get her excited about moving here was the promise of a puppy. My old dog checked out at age 15, weeks before […]
