georgia on my mind

georgia, the last state in the way of our destination. we were dropped off on the outskirts of augusta. it was around 3 that afternoon but it was along time ago so don't hold me to it. we thought about checking into a motel so i went into the nearest one to inquire about their rates. they were very reasonable but our funds were limited so we went on our way. lets hitch for awhile and see what happens. route one leaving augusta is a lonely road and i suspect even now, thirty five years after the fact it would still a quiet backwater. one ride from a , well....i think he was a redneck farmer type didn't get us too far but the next ride would be interesting. i think he said his name was allan and he only dropped us a little further down the road, a small patch of cotton field called wadley. he let us out and said if we didn't get a ride we could stop over to his place, a sprawling, somewhat rundown farm just down the road a bit. after standing along the road with no traffic whatsoever passing by and the pitter patter of rain beginning to fall we decided to take him up on his offer. well allan wasn't home at the time but a friend welcomed us in , gave us each a beer and said al would be back shortly. in one room, actually a double size room stood a pingpong table and nothing else. we played a few games, had a few beers and really took to the place. allan, the owner, was in his late 20's, early 30's and farmed soybeans for a living. the farmhouse used to be an orphanage and that reason alone saved it from being razed on sherman's march to the sea. the civil war had been over for more than 100 years at the time but the south hadn't forgotten, nor will they ever. another product they grew, very locally we were told was soon produced and we sat around that evening catching a good buzz and playing some more pong. a very nice evening indeed. that night we met a few more friends of theirs including one annalee the brazier queen. a very cute young lady who apparently had driven her car through the plate glass window of the local brazier burger, thus earning her the nickname and some infamy along the way. all in all one of the highlights of the trip. we hated to leave but florida beckoned and we still had to find our friends. next stop, waycross or bust....jc

just walking

i was going to write more about the trip south today but i''ll save that for another blog. today i went for a nice walk through town. it's forty something degrees with a nice breeze, a great day to poke around. water is everywhere today. the streets have little rivers running along their sides and i like the sound as the water falls into the drain. even though the temps will fall again tomorrow days like today always raise your spirit. spring will be arriving soon and all around rebirth will begin. time to shed the heavy layers and get out in the world. i''ll be watching for more signs and just enjoying it all, taking in what nature offers. it's better than television, it's free, ii's even good for you. now as long as the goverment doesn't get their hands on it......i'm off again. see ya around town, jc

forever young

these days i'm trying to remember, thirty something years later always take on an almost mythic sheen. in the telling and retelling even the most common everyday occurence takes on an added importance. we were all of ninrteen that year, one year removed from highschool, with no plans, no money but charged with dreams of better things. from my present life nineteen doesn't seem that far away but i know it is. on the third day of our trip, october 3rd to be exact, we cruised through the carolinas, stopping in batesburg, a small south carolina outpost to wet our whistle. phil, our current chauffer, since picking us up one day earlier, seemed in no hurry to finish his trip and we were just there for the ride. we stopped at a small, kinda rundown looking establishment and went inside to enjoy a cold one. there was a lone pool table in the back and me and mr. stu decided to play a game or two. as i was racking the table a young lady came out to us wearing a t-shirt and panties and asked if we had any quarters for the jukebox. we smiled and said sure. we had heard about southern hospitality and reckoned this was it. i'm younger than stu, about a month so when he got shot down while ordering a beer and i didn't, well i had to laugh. we went out to the front of the bar after he kicked my ass in pool and saw the young lady who had inquried about quarters dancing on the bar. a thousand miles from home and we were in a strip bar. heehawwww. we didn;t stay long, money was tight but i couldn't help but notice six or seven little shacks, no bigger than some doghouses iv'e seen, about fifty yards behind the bar. yes, this was a brothel, deep in the heart of dixie. a very conservative dixie. we took off that afternoon

and headed into georgia. we had no idea how are fellow traveling companions were doing. these were the days before cell phones, text messaging and all the other modern conveniences. yes,these were the days we remember.how did we ever survive? more, more, more...jc

south we go

waking up round three, though i don't recall ever sleeping, we realized we had camped out on a traffic island. the first day of travel had got us to new jersey, not great but we had survived. i say that because later that day while thumbing on the turnpike a pair of nj's finest stopped and asked for id......in case we were later found dumped on the side of the road. a charming thought but not one that had entered our minds. i used to recall every ride, from start to finish but time has slowly melted a few details. but i do know, just outside of washington, northern virginia to be exact, a red car with a confederate star license plate pulled over late that afternoon and as we ran to catch up with it i remember thinking this could be interesting. and interesting it was, turns out the driver, a man named phil, was from our home state. he was driving his sisters's car to alabama and he didn't mind the company. even though he was a complete stranger we felt safe, we settled in for a long ride, georgia as it turned out. day two had gone swimmingly and now we prepared for the deep south......to be cont. next;batesburg and beyond

florida again

34 years ago a small band of like minded friends pulled up stakes and headed south. we really didn't plan too well, we weren't sure what we would find or even if we would return. my traveling companion was the inscrutable stu. besides thumbing up and down 109, the main drag in our burg, we had no real experience with the great wide world. the first few rides got us down to the nutmeg state and then the thought of passing through the world's greatest city drew the first [of many] pangs of fear. driving through would have been scary enough but standing on the interstate somewhere in the bronx was something else. we weren't welcome and the citizens of this fabled borough let us know. luckily a grizzled cop stopped by and yelled at us to get outta town any way but the method we had chosen. we hopped a train and headed to jersey relieved to be going but not sure what lay ahead. this is probably not the most politically correct thing to say but as we rode silently out of the city, we stuck out like two snowballs in a coal bin. i wondered what they thought, two white kids, dressed like lumberjacks, clutching backpacks and staring at the floor, what the hell are these two doing here. the florda sign i carried, homemade the night before probably brought amusement but nobody was laughing. i kept tapping stu on the arm and asking when are we going to get off this train. soon we glided into new jersey, departed and made our way off into the night. the country was big and we had along way to go. the road is a different place, removed from the comforts of home, an ever changing experience that can tire you out. now we had to find somewhere to stretch out, if just for a few hours........cont.

time off today

its monday, the second day of february and thats all about the reason i need to take the day off. i did go out to watch the super bowl with some friends and i did indulge in some drinking of alcohol, but not very much. i've found as i have gotten older my intake of such substances, whether legal or illegal [my favorites...] has slowly but not alltogether [see my red wine blog] diminshed. its just that i get a certain amount of flex time off during the year and i decided to well.....flex. its good for the mind and body. i'm about to throw a roaster chicken in the oven and open a bottle of red. sounds good, doesn't it? i sent out my taxes today and since i make a wage that would make me a rich man in some impoverished backwater, it should have been easy........should have. the forms i got from both state and federal would not have been any easier to decipher if written in mandarin or perhaps one of the so called dead languages. are they out of their freakin minds? has anybody at the treasury or department of income actually read these things. i'm not asking them to understand these forms, just read them. maybe its their little joke, a way to keep us in control. the revolution will never make it past the first few paragraphs, no way, no how. we''ll be left dazed and wandering around in circles, scratching our heads and mumbling about tenninety nines and railroad exemptions. they''ll pick us off easy with helicopters and riot squads. no, before anything happens in this land of ours[ and it is ours] we''ll have to figure out the tax stuff.page by page......till then, i'm winging it, peace jc

nd day of februarynd

birds in winter

just out feeding the birds. i'm not sure why all birds don't fly south for the winter, it seems like the right thing to do. survival for any creature in colder climes must be tricky. finding enough food and water, on a daily basis and then heading back to nests or some other refuge must take alot out of animals. try staying outside for even a couple of hours on a brutally cold day and i think you''ll have some appreciation for what animals go through. it ain't easy. thats why i like to spread a little birdseed around this time of year. its enjoyable to watch the action as all sorts of birds who don't make the trek south vie for the precious foodstuffs. squirrels, crows , bluejays and a variety of small birds gather together and alternate between eating whatever they find and flying off to nearby trees and bushes so larger predators don't swoop in for a quick snack. birds are interesting creatures, evolved over a long period of time and i hope to keep watching them. their survival is a good way to measure ours. be good and stay warm, jc