skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Our heart and prayers go out to the all the people in our neighboring state of Alabama who lost their lives and property. More tornadoes have happened in the USA this year than any time before.
We lost some trees near our house during the storm but nothing like the people of Alabama suffered. I went outside yesterday morning early to survey any more damage around our house. A big tree just outside our den windows blew down while I was watching the high winds Wednesday night. Lucky for us it fell away from the house. I discovered two more big trees down in the rear of my shop. One was on the ground while the other one was lodged in another tree. In the 27 years we have lived in these woods only one tree near our house has fell because of a storm. This year in the last month we have had nine trees to fall. A few were rotten at the ground but most were big healthy trees that were up rooted from their place in the ground for well over a 100 years.
A piece of paper on our deck caught my eye as I walked around the back of the house with my camera to take photos of the tree at the den windows. I was still able to read the typing on the sheet of wet paper. It was the minutes from a meeting in which the motion to pay for the spouses lunch was voted on by the Bear Creek Housing Authority. I googled it and found in was in Bear Creek, Alabama. This I found out was 113 miles from my home. The winds had carried this piece of paper to my deck. I also found some other debris in the grounds around our house, a piece of paneling, tar paper, insulation and other papers. I ever found a page from a bible. I'm sure each one of these items could tell some hair raising stories.
Thanks for the internet I was able to track where the paper on the deck came from. The oddity that Bear Creek, Alabama is in the same named county as I live; Franklin County.
A vacation trip to Jacksonville,Florida years ago gave me my first and last deep sea fishing trip. We had went to see my uncle J.B. and aunt Doris and their boys. My uncle was the district manager for several Red Ace Gas Stations in the local area. To show me a good time he was going to take me on my first deep sea fishing trip. Oh, yes I was thrilled with the idea but deep down I had a fear of the water. While younger I was beginning to learn to swim when a school mate held me under water and I almost drowned. Every since I have had a fear of water. By not knowing how to swim I missed a lot of fun through the years. In college I took a first year swimming class. This is the only course I ever failed!! I had to drop out because of my doctor's orders as I had tonsillitis. When I gave the teacher a written note from my doctor for me to drop out of her class she said, " young man you know you are going to get a F since you are failing my class." I got a F!!
Saturday morning bright and early we have coffee and I had some rice krispies for breakfast and it's off to the dock to board a 50 foot fishing boat with 50 people on board. The day is beautiful with not a cloud in the sky. I should have been warned as to what the day would bring as an elderly woman walking up the gang plank had already got sick.
The captain of the boat told us that we would be going about 17 miles out into a prime fishing spot. We could go ahead and fish on the way out if we wanted too. What a beautiful sight going out as dolphins surfaced in and out of the water following along besides the boat. I caught a strange looking fish on the way out. It looked like a big frying pan with a small mouth and teeth. I never did find out what kind it was as my uncle told me to throw in back. Red snappers were what we were going to fish.
Once the captain found the fish he anchored the boat and the fun was on. We were catching fish two at a time when we weren't tangled up with some one's line on the other side of the boat. After about an hour of fishing out of no where came a storm and I mean a BAD ONE. The wind got up and the waves got very high. I had on two life jackets and was scared to death. My uncle continued to fish with others during the storm since the captain said he wasn't going to pull up anchor. We had paid for an all day trip so that was what we were going to get. By now I'm so sea sick I go down below. Once in the hole I find the commode and begin to heave up rice krispies. This continued for some time. When I would heave again the commode would be opposite were I let go; with the rocking action of the boat I don't think I ever hit the target.
Yes, I said a little prayer, "Lord if you will get me off this ocean I will never get back on it again." Finally what seemed like an eternity it was time to pull up anchor and head back to the dock. Man, it will be good to touch land again. Someone tells us the engine on the boat is on fire!!! The boat is dead in the water! What a nightmare as it is now dark. A call goes out to the dock for another boat to come and tow us into the dock. We finally arrive back at the dock at about 3:00 in the morning. I'm so sea sick I have to stay another day before I feel like driving back home. My uncle always laughed at my ordeal. To him in wasn't bad at all. Well I have kept my word with the LORD, I haven't been back on the ocean.
