Sonny The Pug

My nephew called early Saturday to tell us that Sonny the Pug had passed away. I hated to hear that knowing how attached they were to him and how much it hurts to lose a pet. But there was a slight, hell make that a big difference, in who was the pet and who was the boss. My niece and nephew were Sonny's pets (as well as servants, caretakers, travel agents, chiefs, drivers and just general bitches.) He was so well cared for it made me hope for care that good when I am older. In his old age he was crippled in his back legs and so they carried him in and out, helped him get into and off of his bed and furniture. Sonny allowed them as well as the other pets and the infamous Gert to live with him. And they were lucky for the opportunity to share his days. He was a feisty little fat Texan who was tough to the end. He expected good treatment and he got it. He had a great life with them. Sonny often traveled to Ms to visit the grandparents and he knew that they were honored to have him there too. When my daughter went to Houston Sonny slept with her on the sofa. She still talks about the experience. Evidently Sonny sort of favored big boobs and red panties. Sonny had my niece drive him down to see us on the Coast last summer. He was always in command the instant he came through the door and my dogs looked up to him for his style and his attitude. Rio spent the day trying his best to imitate every sound that Sonny made and they both really wanted to go and chase a few of the ducks who live here. A visit from my niece and nephew just won't ever be the same without the little Texan. And his parents have the comfort that he enjoyed his years with them and that they did their very best for him. I think he is in dog heaven with new strong legs, with Misty, Mr. Rubert, and Marks little dog Martin chasing ducks and giving cats holy hell. Go get em, Sonny!

Nene s House

This last week my grandma's house burned. My sister called me to tell me that it was on fire from a lightening strike that evidently hit it directly or the tree near it. The electric power was off to the house and I think the big bolt must have run in and through the old wiring and super heated the wiring and caught on fire. I hate that it is gone and despite pictures of the house on fire I still cannot picture the location without the house there. There were a lot of memories in the house and yard where we spent a lot of time. My first memory of the house was spending the night there when my parents were still young enough to go out to the movies on weekends and leave me with my grandma. I always enjoyed it. And I was young enough to be sound asleep when they returned. I often heard the story of my grandpa rocking me in a chair on the porch of the house and he rocked so vigorously that the rocker moved off the edge of the porch and we fell off the 4 foot high porch into a puddle. It orginally had a open back porch and for years I played in the water from a facet that wet the boards until they rotten out and had to be replaced. I remember sleeping there with no air in the summer and with the doors wide open to let in a breeze. We sometimes took a blanket and sat on the porch waiting for it to cool off at night. In the summer my sister and I made playhouses in the back yard and our grandpa made us pop guns that we shot china berries out of. My friend Clemois, my sister and I have enjoyed many breakfast of Nene's homemade white gravy, biscuits and salt pork in the kitchen. At the time that the house burned it still had some of my grandmothers furniture and other items in it. As my niece said it was almost like losing my grandma again. But then she was a tough character who would have mourned the loss of the house and moved on. She enjoyed it when she was there but now she has moved on too. And as with everything in life there are changes. And these we have to accept and move on. All of us have our memories of the house and what it meant to us. But some things remain even after the fire that took an old house made of pine. A friend found a metal toy car that was mine when I was small and that I rode in. It was burned and rusted, but my brother in law is going to clean the car and paint it. My grandma always told me that it was under the house if I wanted it. Now I do. And I want a picture of us all with that car and one of my great nephew Jon sitting in it. Some things change and some thing remain to be passed on to new family members and for them to make new memories.

100 years ago

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. Here is the lyrics to the song that taught us more about the battle than we learned in the history books.

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

BRRRRR!

It's cold here in the balmy tropics. There was ice on the gulf, which is something that I haven't seen since 1969. Check out the article below.

OCEAN SPRINGS, MS (WLOX) - On Saturday morning, WLOX reporter Sylvia Hall was working on a story about the Ocean Springs Harbor when she came across thousands of dead fish. The fish were Mullet. Department of Marine Resources Director William Walker says this is very common in extremely cold weather coupled with low tide. The fish become trapped in shallow water then die of hypothermia. He says D.M.R. does not clean up the fish because most people pick them up and eat them. "There is nothing wrong with the fish," said Dr. Walker. Dr. Walker says there was a similar incident in Hancock County a few days ago.WLOX also spoke with Earl Ethridge of the Department of Environmental Quality who said the dead fish pose no environmental hazard.

Happy New Year

A New Year Prayer for the Elderly

God, grant me the senility to forget the
people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do,
And the eyesight to tell the difference.

Hymn

I watched a show on the Weather Channel titled Weather Events With The Most Impact. The show was just what I expected it to be right up until the end. I figured Katrina would be number one as usual. When Katrina was named number three and global warning as number two (this was before all the hype about global warning being faked) I started to wonder what they could pick for the top event. I was surprised when they named the North Atlantic storm that so frightened John Newton that he wrote Amazing Grace as the weather event that had impacted the most people. The storm lasted for thirteen days and Newton was convinced he was going to die. When the storm finally ended he wrote the hymn. Amazing Grace is the most popular in the world and the show said that it has, through the years impacted more people than any other hymn. Since it was inspired by the storm, that storm is given credited with having the most impact on the world.
I liked that. Something that made sense and went beyond the hurricanes and tornadoes that we usually hear about. I thought the producers and writers of the show had the courage to think out of the box on that one.