My Beginnings - Remembering J-Land

Seems that recently an anniversary came and went.  One for AOL's now defunct journal (blog) community.  It was known to those who participated there as J-Land.  And it was a place unlike any other I have come across on the web. 

I stumbled upon it quite by accident.  Read a few journals and thought "this might be for me, the medium I was looking for".  Back then, April 2005, Pete worked full time and I was a full time housewife.  I was looking for a little social interaction with other women and an outlet to share my faith and experience in Christ.  I found so many warm, real people there!  A mixture of evangelicals, Catholics, atheists and a sprinkling of others.  The wealthy, the poor and a big slice of middle America.  With a smattering of blogs from the British Isles and elsewhere.  There were entries of the daily grind, life's tragedies and celebrations, thought provoking issues, cartoons.  We became friends there.  Extended family.

We made fun of AOL (AOhell), made suggestions to AOL.  They tweaked and tried to listen.  Tried to be as involved in our community as we were.  Then one day someone said journals weren't profitable for AOL and we were asked to move or save our materials.

Most of us came over to blogger.  Some gave up blogging all together.  A few looked for other hosting.  As devastating to the community as the move was, I don't think it impacted us as much as the fast rise of other social media, like Facebook, did.  I, too, tried it but soon tired of it's nonsense games and short, quick status updates.  It was like a steady diet of candy instead of meat & potatoes.  

So much has changed.  Among ex J-Landers, here on blogger and in my own life.  I had a son entering high school and a pre-schooler, now I have a young man and a girl going into middle school.  Pete & I have slowly changed places with me working full time and he at the house, doing what he can, waiting for answers to his health issues.

But one thing has not changed.  No, two.  I'll never forget J-Land and the folks from there that have helped, encouraged and enlightened me.  And I still love this medium first and foremost on the web.       

The Most Important Question

I've heard it put that the most important question in anyone's life, religion, philosophy, etc. is "What do they do with Christ Jesus?" My dear friend, Carolyn, has recently made a post that will help you explore that question and others. It is my prayer and hope that all who see this will go on over and read her words. "Who Do You Say I Am?"

Organizing Caneyhead?

Although provided with a full archive of entries, I find it very frustrating when I go to search and find a specific one. Some I know a certain person would enjoy and want to point that entry out to them. Sometimes I desire to read through an older entry before I post a current entry. And sometimes I just feel sentimental and want to re-read a special entry.

So, in order to help me find what I want when I want it, I'm adding some things to my sidebar. I invite you to explore them and use them to help you navigate your way around Caneyhead to find what you are most interested in.

First, there is "Search this Blog". Sometimes it gets me just where I want to go, but more often than not I am better off just doing a regular Google search to find what I am looking for.

Then below my "About Me" I am adding "My Personal Favorites". These are entries I either enjoyed making more so than others, or where I was striving to share something special. Sometimes about Caneyhead and my life....sometimes insights into my faith.

Next, under my link to Donna's Timeless Treasures, I have "Remembering Family" where I am attempting to list all my entries that focus on a certain family member.

Under my Honest Scrap Award I have added a cloud of labels I have used on different entries. I plan to work my way through adding other labels to previous entries to make them more easily accessible by subject matter.

And then, lastly, is the Blog Archive which though tedious to use does list every single entry ever made here.

So, keep your eye on the sidebar in the weeks to come. Never know what might turn up there that you missed out on the first time around.

Meeting The Family

By and large, Pete's family was big, loud, fun, warm and welcoming. But that didn't stop some of my first meetings with members of it from being odd or funny. I'm going to share a few of those experiences with you here:

Irene

One weekend Pete told me that his Aunt Irene had been wanting him to come, visit and kill some rabbits for her and asked if I'd care to come, too. I accepted. Irene lived down a fairly long dirt road/drive that dead ended on her property. An average size brick home behind a chain link fence. Irene was a widow and a diabetic that lived alone. Like so many in her family, she was warm, welcoming and loud. Ready to laugh and cut up.

She met us at the front walk way. Obviously excited and happy that Pete had put her on his agenda. As she ushered us inside and I stepped into her living room my eyes saw the largest collection of whatnots I have ever seen in my life! Every single space in the room was home to all it could hold. Fascinating! But I shuddered at the horror of having to dust each and every item.

Irene loved a hot, fast game of Yatzee. So in no time at all she had the card table set up and ready for us. We played game after game into the wee hours of the morning and had a blast doing so. She was a cut up. And Pete loved teasing her. I laughed so much that night my sides were sore for days.

At the appropriate time after dark, we paused and Pete took his headlight out and his gun and shined all around and killed for her the rabbits she had been wanting. When he was through hunting he called me out. Seems I had a job....to hold the rabbits while he skinned and cleaned them! (I was a country girl, but my Daddy never hunted or fished anymore by the time I came along. This was all new to me.) So after being a little grossed out and sustaining a few flea bites, I had been indoctrinated in the art of rabbit cleaning. For any city slickers, the flea bites were because the rabbits always have fleas, and the fleas go to searching for a new host not long after the one they are on is dead.

Irene was tickled and delighted. She could cook the fried and smothered in gravy rabbit she had been craving and had some for her freezer. We became friends and in the first few years after our marriage, I sometimes run errands or did shopping for her. Sadly, her heart disease took her from us before Bubba was born.

Hannon Rufus

One evening, Pete picked me up and told me they were having a party at his brother Benny's and that was our destination. Once again, down another long dirt road/drive in Caneyhead to emerge in a clearing with a trailer house and a host of folks outside under a large oak tree.

We pulled in, in Pete's little red AMX with Pete driving and me in the passenger seat. Perhaps I just wasn't thinking, but I went ahead and opened my own car door and stepped out. Immediately to see a small framed man, shirt half tucked in and half out, a two day stubble on his face, wobbling and swaying, walking my way with his arms outstretched and hollering "Hey, there darlin', give ol' Hannon a hug!" I had no idea who "ol' Hannon" was, but I was sure of one thing....I didn't want him near me or on me. I called out, "Pete! Pete, come get this person away from me!" Everyone under the oak was laughing, and even Pete when he came to my side was chuckling at me. He held out a hand and stopped Hannon a couple of feet short of me. He told him to slow down, hold on. She's new here. She's not used to this. Hannon staggered a little and quizzically looked at Pete asking what was wrong, he just wanted a little hug and a kiss. Pete put his arm around Hannon and led him away from me, explaining further that he had to let me get to know him first.

That was my first encounter with Pete's 1st cousin, Hannon Rufus. Yes, when he drank, he became a very lovable, clumsy drunk. But I later discovered a very genuinely warm and kind man when he was sober. He was a very hardworking, skilled hand. And everyone around would come to him to get their hogs scraped. It wasn't long before I would happily give ol' Hannon a little hug if he asked. Sadly, he's no longer with us either. Bubba got to know him, but Hannah was too small when we lost him to really remember him.

Darlene

For many years there was an old cafe in town called the Bluebonnet Cafe. One morning after an especially late night, were were hungry and Pete suggested the Bluebonnet for a good breakfast. He was hungry for cream gravy and biscuits.

We went in and sat down. A perky, blonde waitress came over and gave us menu's and was delighted to see Pete. She had to hug him, teased him about finally coming by to see her. He asked for his cream gravy and biscuits. Probably too late for that, she told him. But he went on about how surely for him she could find some. Wink, smile, wink. She said how for him, she'd make it herself if she had to.

I didn't say much, didn't ask anything. Didn't know what to think. Thought it best to just see exactly what went down. Our food was served and it was good. We ate and she came back and forth checking on us and cutting up with Pete. When we were about to leave, Pete pulled out the money for our meal and an extra $20 for a tip, explaining he knew she could use it.

We were on our way out, and she come up and hugged him and said, "Thank you Bubba!"

This was my first encounter with Pete's baby sister, Darlene.

Janie

One weekend, Pete said we were going to go stay with his 2nd cousins, Punk and Janie at their camp at Bush Lake. I packed for the weekend, complete with all my makeup and contact lens equipment. About halfway into the camp it was like we fell off the civilized world. No real road, just a trail/road through the woods that reeked of stagnate mud. Only someone experienced in driving in these conditions stood a chance of getting through without a 4-wheel drive. We arrived to find a large rambling camphouse that was covered in old newspaper tin sheets! You could still read the old stories and advertisements! No electricity. No running water. An old hand pump on a well outside. A number 3 washtub at the back door of the camp was the only hot bath to be had. Or in the summer you could take a bar of Ivory down to the lake. There were beds galore! Old beds in three rooms....approximately 7 or 8. And many a night in deer season or the middle of summer, every bed was full. Chickens free ranging all around the surrounding woods. A small butane icebox in the kitchen and two old buckets kept full of water with a ladle sitting on a small table beside the stove. Large flaps all around the house that could be raised in warm weather. In the cold they were down and a big old wood stove in the main room was kept stoked and hot.

Janie was short, round and pleasant. She had no problem handing you a bowl of potatoes and telling you to get them peeled and cut up, or starting a bowl of fried cornbread mixings and telling you to finish it and get it on the stove. She had a habit of dipping snuff, which was my first experience seeing a woman use any type of tobacco other than an cigarette. She loved camping and hunting. Her and Punk would play 42 at a drop of a hat, for hours on end and many came just to play with them. But her love above all loves was white perch fishing.

Now every moment when Pete was not by my side Janie was talking about Pete or feeling me out about what I thought of him, how I felt. But the next day, after a big breakfast of pancakes she and her grown and married daughter, Sis, took me out in the boat for some perch fishing. Or at least that was their cover. This was actually a two and half hour presentation on the virtues of and the possibilities that could be Pete married to a good woman. Apparently, Janie had sized me up and thought me an acceptable candidate. And since Pete stayed with them most of the time in that period, she apparently had an inside track, probably from observance of him on how Pete felt and the possibilities between us. Janie had that way of watching folks and knowing almost more about them then they did themselves.

To sum it up, this weekend was totally different than anything I had ever experienced before on many levels. But I came to love Bush Lake, Punk & Janie, and so many of our best times and warmest memories center around them and that place. Janie turned out to be one of my favorite people in Pete's family, a good friend and a joy to be around. We got up to plenty of adventures and a little mischief over the years.

The beloved old camphouse burned down one year. A new one was built in it's place, but nice as it was, it lacked the charm and fun of that old original. We lost Janie in a car wreck. Lost Punk a few years later. All is gone. But none will ever be forgotten.

How Do I Love Thee?

Now, let's see. Where was I? Oh, I was telling stories, sharing memories of Pete & I. Leaving a legacy for my children, and hopefully amusing the masses at the same time. Don't let the title fool you. I'm not going anywhere near Shakespeare, after all, this IS Caneyhead.



No, instead, I am going to share a picture that Pete snapped for me the other day, with all of you. You see, Pete & I are oil and water. Salt & pepper. So very many differences between us. Yet, like my references, we share an underlying common thread or two. As oil & water are both liquids. As salt & pepper are both spices. We are both basically old fashioned. Both have a wild side. Both can be very devoted. Both can be very stubborn. Both very intelligent.


But, boy, can we contrast! I try to see every angle of every issue. Pete cuts straight through the middle. I was always early every where. Pete was always last minute or late. I tend to see the glass half full, he often sees it half empty. The things I like to plan out first, he does spontaneously. The things he will try to plan or script ahead of time, I'd rather let unfold naturally. I usually don't worry until something happens....he'll be quietly worrying at the first sign of trouble. He can accept people for what they are better than I, but I can be politely sociable with folks he'd just as soon not look at. When I get mad, I want to tell you why and if you don't listen I'll get louder and holler to try to make you hear me. If he gets mad, he says little usually, distances himself from you and sulks.


So, here we are proving I suppose that opposites attract. As a young married couple, one of our neighbors had seen us behaving as lovebirds and feuding with one another. He was clearing out and going through many items for a garage sale and ran across a picture someone had made and framed. Lloyd brought it over and gave it to Pete & I. Never has anything or anyone summed us up so perfectly as this picture. It has hung in our bedroom ever since he gave it to us. Many times I had tried to share it here....only to have it come out blurry. And I had tried to get some artsy, graphic people to recreate it for me. But finally, the other day, Pete took a notion to take it down off the wall and photograph it with the new Nikon Coolpix camera. It came out great and now I want to finally share it with you all......and leave this explanation for it for our children for all time.

Springtime in Caneyhead

I've been drinking in all the beauty of springtime lately. The softness of the air. The variation of all the new shades of green. The new growth, new life that is abounding. Wanted to share a little glimpse of Caneyhead here with you.



My handsome Stanley, born last Mother's Day.





Bug's Prissy horse. Blue-eyed baby! Will be three the end of June.





A logger-head turtle Pete found on the road. Brought home and released out by our pond.




A totally natural cock fight. When left to themselves they fight, but one will get tired, run away, hide, etc. It's just a jockeying for position thing....pecking order, if you will.





The beautiful potato patch by daylight.




Closer shot of the same potato patch by moonlight.





Nothing like sitting by a beautiful tee-pee style fire, listening to good music and relaxing!





Young, tender mustard greens. Yum. Twice this size now. And some are going to get cooked this weekend.




Twenty-eight baby chicks!




Fox squirrel in the pecan tree.




One of fourteen four leaf clovers we found last Sunday!

Hope you've enjoyed your glimpse into Springtime in Caneyhead. You can't imagine how blessed I feel to live here. I still love getting out seeing other places and things....but nothing compares to the peace that settles over my soul when I turn off the little Farm Market road and head toward my house as the woods close in and the pine trees cast their shade over me.

Local Issue - Commissioners Run-off Election

This next Tuesday, April 13th, is the run-off election for Hardin Co. Commissioner of Pct. 2. And I am making this entry for two reasons: to urge everyone who is eligible to go and vote and to urge those who do to vote for Dalton Morrow.

Many times people say that their vote doesn't matter, doesn't count because one vote more or less won't change anything. Of course if everyone thought that way, no one would vote and no one would ever be elected. But in this run-off election that way of thinking is totally wrong. One vote more than the other candidate is all that is needed to win!

Pete & I support Dalton Morrow for this position. Dalton has been working as foreman under Commission Pat McGallion and has already been saving the county money while getting the job done. His experience with equipment and knowledge as a mechanic (one of the best around...who do you think taught Pete?!) has allowed him to make quality purchases of equipment for less money, and scheduling maintenance and repairs in house has saved the county much more. He also has plans "to work closely with the other commissioners in the county to secure grants to improve our drainage systems and roads." He knows where these grants would serve us best.

I do hope you will vote and that your vote will be for Dalton Morrow. If somehow you don't know him already, you can find out more about him HERE.