Squirrels, Corn, and I Miss my Daddy

The only squirrels we saw when we were children was on the eating table, fried or surrounded by dumplings. The squirrels respected my daddy's shotgun enough to stay hidden in the woods.

Nowadays, they are everywhere. It is a constant battle with the bird feeders, one that I have lost up 'til now, but hope springs eternal. I usually try not to get too steamed up about it, but they have made me fighting mad this time.

We live in a subdivision, with a lot that is roughly .6 acre. After room for the house, the driveway, and the front yard, we have very little space to garden. We have to carefully decide what we are going to grow to make the most of our tiny space. We don't have enough to share with squirrels. Above, you can see they took a tomato and discarded it after a few bites; maybe they didn't like it quite so green.

This year, we decided to plant three small rows of corn, looking forward to a freezer stocked with corn-on-the-cob for the winter that always comes. The little *#%#$!* squirrels completely destroyed it.

On July 4th, we noticed a couple of corn stalks were down. The next day, there were about a dozen down, and we could see that the squirrels had been feasting. The corn was not quite mature, but Hub gathered the biggest ears and we were able to freeze about sixty of them and have some left for supper. He left the immature ones, hoping the squirrels would leave them alone until they were big enough to harvest. NOT!!

We sat on the deck and watched as the squirrels destroyed the rest of the corn. Our sweet little dog lay on the deck with us, not at all disturbed with the squirrels, although he will chase robins and rabbits that happen by.

The squirrels ate every little kernel on every stalk. We found cleaned cobs all over the back yard. "I think they are taunting us," Hub said.

There have been many times that I have missed my Daddy since he passed away in 1985. I've missed him at weddings, when our granddaughters were born, when I needed advice and information. During the Independence Day holidays, while we listened to endless fireworks as we watched the squirrels destroy the corn, I remembered Daddy and his shotgun.

Daddy would not have put up with this squirrel foolishness. He would have sat on the deck and picked the squirrels off one by one until they were all gone. Our neighbors would have thought it was just more fireworks, and hopefully, we wouldn't have been arrested. I miss my Daddy so bad.

I have no misguided hope that the squirrels will go away on their own. Our scaly-back hickory tree has thousands of hickory nuts for them to collect later this fall. Squirrel hunting season begins in October. Any suggestions?

Amish in Stantonville, Tennessee

Last week, my sis and her hub went with us to the Amish community near Stantonville, Tennessee. It was a beautiful day, and we love driving to new places and finding new treasures. We enjoy these mini-trips we take together, where we giggle a lot and get caught up on everything. Also, the squirrels ate all our tomatoes, so we needed to find some to buy. You know the food you are buying is fresh when they bring it from the field while you are standing there waiting for it. Here is part of what we brought home, and it was all delicious. Stantonville is located in McNairy County, Tennessee, northwest of Shiloh National Military Park.

Holy Smoke Pie

I think it was in the late seventies that I first had Holy Smoke Pie. It was at a party at Debra Morris Harville's house. After we ate, Debra had to give the recipe to everyone there. I came home and made it for my family, and it has been a favorite since then. I always make it at holiday dinners, because I believe tradition is important. It has become a favorite of our granddaughters. I've heard it called Chocolate Delight, Four-Layer Chocolate Dessert, and other odd things. We call it Holy Smoke. Here is how I make it: Chop us a cup of pecans; set aside. Add a stick of softened butter (NOT margarine) to one cup of self-rising flour. Cut the butter into the flour. Add the chopped pecans, and work it all together. Save two tablespoons of the pecans to sprinkle on top. Pour into a 9" x 12" pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Spread it over the bottom of the pan. It helps to use your hands (o...

Out of the Dirt: Bragg-ing

Like every reader, I have my favorite writers. There have been so many that have stirred my emotions and made me a part of their world, and I'm thankful for that. The one is love the best, the one I cherish , is Rick Bragg. Yesterday, Rick was in our area. We were privileged to see a newly released documentary about his life called Out of the Dirt . Afterwards, he talked to us about family and roots. His first book, All over but the Shoutin' , was recommended to me years ago. Very early in the book, I was thinking, "Who is this? He is writing about me, about my family." I have never actually met anyone in the book, but they are all my neighbors and kinfolks. His other books are just as well-written. In his book, Writing for the Soul , Christian author Jerry Jenkins had this to say about Rick Bragg: I read other writers and strive to be like them. I read others, like Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, and simply surrender, knowing I will ...

Faith, Folklore, and Friends

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