The Wild Ride

   Before the horrendous lightning storms set in for the afternoon, Son and I were hard at work with the yard cleanup.  Most of the smaller stuff is done so it is now onto the huge, mostly unmovable things...like old vehicles and tractors that Mark seems to love to collect.  I am seriously considering making some sort of planters out of them!  (Not really.)  One of those "unmovables" is an old pickup truck that has seen far better days.  The thing just would not crank since the wiring is bad.  So...we pushed.  Well, he did most of the pushing and I sort of pushed and steered.  I am sure you are familiar with the process of the weaker person steers through the open driver's side door and pushes when the opportunity arises.  We pushed.

 For those of you who do not know, we live on quite a steep hill.  While having no intentions of pushing that goofy, nonworking truck too far, we inadvertently got "caught up in the moment".  Yep, one little drop-off led to a nigh on calamitous event!  The truck started rolling faster and faster as it made its way down the hillside!  It had two possible ways of ending badly...in the marsh or in the creek.  Not good!

  So...me being the "pilot" of this thing did what any good, non-thinking driver would do.  I hopped into the truck!  (This is not an easy feat for an old lady.)  With the door still flapping against the wind, I tried to steer between oak trees, peach trees and yard tools.  Whee!  I had no idea where I was to turn at any given second.  It was my goal just to miss things as I barreled along all the while Son chased behind.  Bumpity, bump! 

  Within seconds, it blasted through my brain that I needed to stop the runaway truck...no brakes!  What???  Now how was I supposed to stop this rocket?  Well...it became apparent that anything "soft" would suffice in a pinch.  Mark had put new planking on the trailer about 5 years ago and left the old boards in a pile in the edge of the woods.  Dirt had washed down the hill against these boards and the mound was covered with vines, leaves and straw.  This giant "pillow" seemed an obvious choice if I could steer the maniac truck that way.  I did and WHOOMP!  The feisty beast came to a halt.  Whew!

  Son caught up with me just as I put the truck in park.  He and I both broke out in a fit of giggles but not before he asked "Are you trying to be one of the 'Dukes of Hazzard' or just going for a joyride?" making reference to the wild and crazy television show he had watched as a kid.  Yep!  That has been my life-long goal!  Actually, this ride was the most exhilarating thing that has happened to me in a long time!  What a wild. two-hundred foot ride on an otherwise boring, work-filled morning this turned out to be!

Be Careful of Falling Buzzards

   Mark took a jaunt over to Louisiana to get a couple of sacks of oysters to open for the Thanksgiving meal on the river towboat where he works.  Our brother-in-law rode with him so he could get a couple of sacks for his family.  It is good to have a "co-pilot" on trips...even short ones.  This took all of about three hours over then three back.  Just a nice ride with the promise of fresh oysters.  But, as with any venture, there can be setbacks and unexpected pitfalls along the way.  It was no different with this short trip.

  It seems that along the highway over to Louisiana, they saw a flock of vultures in the distance.  This is not unusual as the birds are nature's garbage disposals and any roadkill is fair game for them...albeit, a tricky game for them to get their prey.  Speeding vehicles can sometimes create more roadkill out of the predators eating the previous unfortunate animal that died.  You guessed it.  Mark hit a buzzard.  Well, more correct, a buzzard hit Mark's truck.  It seems that as they neared the flock, all flew up except one.  It flew up but then decided to fly back down before Mark had passed the roadkill.  Bam!  The buzzard hit the hood of his truck!  There is a huge dent right in the middle of the hood!

  If you have never seen a vulture/buzzard up close and personal, they are rather huge creatures.  We have what are called Turkey Vultures (locals call them buzzards).  They have about a seventy inch wingspan, are about the size of a large goose and weigh anywhere around five pounds and upwards.  Imagine a five pound bag of sugar smacking your truck hood while you are traveling about 70mph.  It is not a pretty sight.  Thankfully, the impact was contained on the truck's hood and the bird did not hit the windshield.  Mark and Larry came through the incident ok....sadly, the bird did not.  So...a new concern for travelers....Be wary of falling buzzards!

The "Dump" Truck

I drive a truck.. a small Toyota to be exact. It is old and rattle-bang but still I like it. This old truck does what I need it to do and gets me where I need to go. Since I hardly ever leave the Bayou, that is not asking a lot. BUT.....it has been nigh on a year since I have driven this old truck. My friend was ill for a while..it had some major parts go bad and Mark had to replace them. It had sat for months needing a repair job. During that time, it sort of became a dumping spot for things that did not need to be in the house. With the shed still not complete, there was just no place to store some items so out in the truck they went. Accumulated in the cab were things such as a sack of rye grass seed, a sack of whole corn feed and a table..yes, a table. A coffee table that was to become an art project soon made its way out to the truck. Since all this was stored in the cab, there was no way possible for me to drive..so the truck sat. Then we acquired a fireplace insert. This fine thing was placed on the ground in front of the house. When it rained, the fireplace insert was sitting in a large puddle so...yep..you guessed it...into the truck. At least this went in the bed of the truck..along with a large ice chest. So...now my trusty truck had heat (sort of)!! AND...a refrigerator (if you can call an ice chest that!). And my truck sat.

Well, this all brings me to today's walk around the hill. As usual, I wound up on the pier but it was on my way back that something caught my eye! Rye grass...beautiful, green rye grass was glowing in the sunlight. Son had taken the seed from the truck and cast it over the hillside. With all the recent rains, the seed sprouted and now I have the most lovely, green grass that has ever been seen on this hill! The evening sun filtered through the pine trees and made each blade glow with such glorious color! Why had I not thought to plant rye grass before?? Actually, I had..that is why Mark bought such a large sack of seed. Last spring, we planted some for the deer that were visiting the yard each night. Of course over the summer, the weather became too hot and my rye grass died. The remainder of the seeds were relegated to the cab of the truck and forgotten until Michael took notice of it. Out it came and with a heavy hand, he sowed the entire sack over a small portion of the hill. He had said that the sack was full of bugs..stands to reason sitting out there so long..so he planted it all. The lawn is beautiful!..and one thing is out of my truck!!!!

On my way back up the hill this evening, I stopped and thought of how much the little rabbit that lived under the pier must be enjoying this feast! Every night, the bunny makes its way up the hill to the lush, green grass. There it can munch to its heart's content...as long as it keeps a wary eye out for the owls, coyotes, fox, bobcat or any other creature that might desire a rabbit dinner. Be safe little bunny and enjoy your meal of sweet rye grass!