Another Fourth of July

Bleb got into the garden again yesterday and ate his way through the cowpeas, lima beans and peppers. I was unaware of this when I went to the barn last night to store some fireworks for my show next week, otherwise I might not have lit the hanging lamp. Then again, I might. I had no idea that gas could carry that far.

I will be spending the rest of this week repairing the north wall of our barn. My wife is adding barbed wire to the garden fence. With luck, another shipment of fireworks will arrive before I have to leave for my appointment in Savannah on the Fourth. I will likely be too busy to write.

One of the neighbors inquired this morning as to whether I was teaching Bleb how to climb trees. "No," I replied, "he is just inquisitive that way." If you see a mule with a charred tail sitting in a tree, tell him to come home.

copyright ©2010 Laurie J. Anderson, all rights reserved.

More Hot Weather

We've been having a real hot spell this month. My wife has taken to fixing coffee by setting the pot out to boil on the front porch. I heard a knock on the door two days ago about noon, and it was a shadow from the oak tree next to the house trying to come inside. Bleb's own shadow has been crawling up into his harness lately, making it hard to fit properly.

I almost acquired a bearskin because of the heat. I was walking down by Curry Creek and spotted a very large bearskin draped across a bush near the water, with no humans in sight. I was about to remove it from the bush when I heard a splashing sound. I looked over at the creek, and there was an ursine creature about four times my size headed for the bush, sans fur. I left quickly -- the bear could have his skin and I would keep mine.

Yesterday I thought I'd try to cool things down a bit by mixing up some ice made from Wizard Water^© . The ice froze so hard though, that none of the cold would rub off. I'm storing it in the fireplace in hopes that it will eventually warm up enough to provide a cool breeze when wind blows down through the chimney.

Until then, we are making do as best we can with cardboard fans and extra bits of shadow that my wife dug out of our well. I tacked them under the roof last night.

copyright ©2010 Laurie J. Anderson, all rights reserved.

Piedmont College Bluegrass Festival

I was up in Demorest, Georgia yesterday for their first bluegrass festival at the new Arrendale outdoor amphitheatre. They had a terrific bunch of performers -- The Buzzard Mountain Boys, John Oliver & Carmel Ridge; the Solstice Sisters, Curtis Blackwell & the Dixie Bluegrass Boys (Vic and Curtis pictured above), Mountain Hoodoo, Bluebilly Grit, the Foxfire Boys, American Honey & the Wild Turkeys; Hawkproof Rooster and the Musselwhite Family (Molly Musselwhite pictured at right). Those Musselwhite kids have a hard time cracking a grin, but they produce a great sound. Bluebilly Grit is another family-based band that gets better every time I hear them -- and they were good to begin with!

The weather was a mixed bag -- it was cloudy but hot enough to melt my cardboard collar. It's a good thing that the cast and crew of the Mountain Music & Medicine Show always have plenty of funeral parlor fans and Wizard Water^© on hand to help them keep cool! I look forward to doing this again next year -- thanks to everyone who made this such a great event!

The Springs of Panacea

I was in the town of Panacea, near the Gulf Coast of Florida last week but could sell no Wizard Water^©. The town already has its own curative waters -- a cluster of sulphur springs noted for their remarkable healing properties.

There are at least 13 of these small springs, and each one possesses a different virtue: one reportedly heals deafness of the left ear; another heals deafness of the right ear (care must be taken when applying the waters of each, because in combination they cause baldness). Another spring kills cockroaches -- although the owner of that spring asks that bathers first bag all such vermin prior to dipping them in the waters. Yet another spring miraculously removes elbow warts. Another makes an excellent bear repellant.

I could go on, but my list of what these springs cure would be incomplete, as a town official told me that new remedies are discovered weekly. I am certain that by the time of this writing they have come up with a few more.

The one thing Panaceans cannot do is properly bottle their water -- you must travel through the swamps of Florida and visit the town itself to receive the full benefit of the efflux. Wizard Water^© has no such drawback. You can carry a bottle with you wherever you go and it will retain its full strength. In fact, if you throw it with enough force it will repel not only bears, but also landlords and persistent law enforcement officials.