Continue reading ‘A Preview Of Underwear To Come’ »]]> Within the past month or so, I have purchased a few new pairs of underwear to replace ones I don’t/can’t wear.  There are quite a few pairs of small underwear that do not fit correctly, either because of my ever expanding ass and stomach or because I have become spoiled with the way some of my briefs are designed.  I have to say, I have really become a fan of the Andrew Christian Almost Naked line of underwear.  These briefs and boxer briefs really do make lots of room for your junk.  In a sense, you can say that my package has become accustomed to the fit and feel and has problems settling in when I wear something different.  Spoiled balls!

Before I write anything about them, I will just post a few pictures of me with the new briefs.  Some of them may not stay in my collection as I will need to lose some weight and soon.  The loud green pair is not stretchy enough for my taste and comfort.  We’ll see what happens.  Hope you like the preview…reviews will come later.

Continue reading ‘Listen to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury’s amazing acapella track for ‘Under Pressure’’ »]]> Listen to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury’s amazing acapella track for ‘Under Pressure’.

If you’re a Queen fan, you owe it to yourself to listen to this acapella track of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie singing Under Pressure. Freddie never needed musical accompaniment to sound amazing. All he needed to do was open his mouth and breathe. This proves it in so many ways.

Continue reading ‘Trip Back Home, Conclusion’ »]]> (I know this has gone on for a while, but I promise…this WILL be the conclusion!)

Saturday was a great day. I started it off in the last post, but it got even better as the day went on.  Who would have thought that Thomasville would have a fresh seafood place.  I sure as hell didn’t think one would be there.  Sure enough, you walk into this little business and there are coolers with dips and ingredients to make low country boils.  The larger display cooler was filled with shrimp and crawfish.  There was a ton of crawfish!  You could smell them as soon as you opened the door.  They were steaming them in the back.  My sister and her husband bought a few pounds of shrimp and crawfish.  The other half and I bought some dips to go along with chips we bought at Wally World.  We were set for a fantastic boil when we returned home.

We got home and the fire was started underneath the boiler. Corn was cut up along with mushrooms, asparagus, sausage, and potatoes.  After this was done, the shrimp was placed inside a mesh laundry bag and lowered into the water.  There was a bottle of crab boil liquid in there with them.  Boy howdy….that was some great smells coming from that boiler!  I could have stood over that boiler the whole time it was cooking.  While all this was being prepared, the crawfish had been steamed at the place we got them and was ready to eat.

Now, I am not a big fan of crawfish.  I know, I know…what the hell?!  My sense of smell has never liked being in the presence of them cooking.  I never ate them as a child.  We had some small ones in streams near the house but you wouldn’t get anything out of them.  Since we were celebrating my nephew’s graduation, he was allowed to ask over a few friends. Those kids tore through those crawfish like there was no more in existence.  Twist off the heads and pull the meat out the tails.  Luckily, I didn’t witness anyone sucking the heads.  That’s gross!  Were there plates?  Yeah, there were plates, but who needs plates at a low country boil?!  There was a large trash can pulled over and empty shells were thrown in there.  When the shrimp came out the water, there was enough to fill two aluminum pans to the top.  When we were done, there was enough to almost fill one.  Those damn things were amazing…spicy and went perfectly with the beer being guzzled with them.  I was in heaven!  By the time we left my sister’s house, I felt as though I would burst.  The night ended after watching SNL and falling fast asleep.

Sunday was pretty uneventful.  We woke up, got showers, and headed up to the neighborhood I grew up in.  There is family from one end of the dirt road to the other.  I didn’t see them all, but I was able to see people I had not seen in years.  On the way to my grandmother’s house, we stopped by the cemetery where my grandfather is buried.  I had forgotten all about the homecoming celebration at the church I used to attend.  Trust that we did not go into the church building.  I placed some flowers onto the grave and looked around at a few others.  I used to love going to homecoming there as I would see many people that were friends of the family and many I loved dearly.  That generation has passed on now and the memories and ceremonies of the day are left to those who remember and care.  That list is growing ever smaller.

We arrived at my grandmother’s house to see my dad working outside.  There was a woodpile that needed to be moved and staked in a different location.  My mother and grandmother says he never stays still long.  He’s just that type of person.  He always has to have something to do.  I guess it’s to keep his mind busy. Who knows?  We talked to him for a while…planting the gardens, his newer tractor, stupid things done by the power company, and some other grumblings here and there.  We all walked toward the house to see if mom had dinner ready.  It was Sunday, of course, and it would be weird and unsettling if there wasn’t a table full of food.  It didn’t take long for the food to cover the extra long table in my grandmother’s kitchen…the dinner table as compared to the preparation table which is much shorter.  My sister and her family made it up to eat with us, we all sat down, and my nephew said the blessing.

Being a country boy, I could have ransacked that table, but I chose to keep myself contained.  Peas, beans, meatloaf, rutabagas, cornbread, biscuits, cobbler, etc.  I couldn’t wait to have some pea soup and cornbread.  Once again, I overfilled and had many miles to drive.  One of the ladies our family grew up around showed up and walked into the kitchen.  She is one of three sisters that have been loving women of our family.  The middle sister wasn’t there.  I have a deep love for the middle one because she shares something with me that the other two do not.  That would be the lack of a filter between her brain and her mouth.  My ex’s aunt and these ladies are first cousins.  I absolutely love the way the middle sister will just tell his aunt to shut her mouth.  LMAO!  It’s one of the craziest things.  If I remember correctly, she was a smoker as well and even though it is bad for her, I would sit there and watch her animatedly talk with her hands as that cigarette clung between her fingers and dropped ashes as it burned down.  If anyone couldn’t laugh when that woman was around, then there is a serious issue.

Alas, the time came when we had to leave for Atlanta.  Leaving South Alabama is always bitter sweet.  It’s a wonderful place to visit and I have many fond memories of country living. The times spent at the rivers, the ponds and streams, and walking through the woods are special to me.  It you wanted to get away from people, the woods was the best place to be.  If you went to the other places, more than likely, you would enter into a large gathering of people enjoying the water, trying to cool off in the summer.  The people are great to visit as well. There are friends who still live in that area and there are people who I haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet.  From the looks of many people there, I would be meeting people from a generation after me.  That’s perfectly fine.  Maybe this new generation will carry on the peaceful nature I have learned to love as an adult.

Continue reading ‘Trip Back Home, Part 2’ »]]> Saturday was a great day to be in South Alabama. It was a warm day with lots of sun. The breeze was here and there, but it wasn’t scorching hot. Humidity….what’s an Alabama day without humidity?! Plenty of sweat.

We eventually woke up sometime around 10 or 10:30 am. I was starving for breakfast. I wanted something country and fried and full of fat and grease. I guess we were too late waking up. We had to settle for what was still serving breakfast in the town. There is a restaurant called Bertile’s my hometown. It is in the building that was left vacant by Ward’s many years ago. I remember when the place was built and it shocked people to know there was finally a fast food place on that side of town. If you wanted fast food, you only had to walk three blocks and there you were. We ended up spending a bit more time there than originally planned. We got food, uploaded pictures from the night before, and was even able to see an old high school teacher.

We left and headed to Thomasville. If there’s one thing towns in that county do, it’s battle each other to see who can be better. Thomasville got a McDonald’s….so Jackson had to get one. Thomasville got a Walmart. You guessed it…Jackson had to have one too. There’s been a saying for years that one day, the two are going to continue growing and meet in the middle of the county. Unless something changes, there’s no hope in that happening. It takes years for anything to change. What else would you do down there than go to Walmart…and that’s where we headed.

Continue reading ‘Trip Back Home, Part 1’ »]]> This past weekend, the other half and I took a trip back to South Alabama to see the family and to attend my nephew’s graduation.  It’s that time of year when many teenagers are getting out of high school and deciding what they would like to do with their lives.  Some will go off to college and others will not be going but rather staying at home and working.  Either choice will be whichever they feel is best for them.  The cost of higher education is also a big influence.  Not everyone will have access to the funds necessary to go to college.  It’s sad…but it’s true.

The ride home was uneventful.  We stopped just before crossing into Alabama to buy a Power Ball ticket as Alabama has no lottery.  You know…it’s sinful and causes the downfall of every family in the country, even if no one in that family buys a lottery ticket.  It’s that powerful!  Two dollars later, we were back on the road until we stopped in Evergreen for some gas and a bite to eat.  A honey bun and a bottle of water gave me fuel to finish the journey.  We had almost arrived in my hometown when we ran into traffic caused by road construction.  We sat there for a while until I decided to follow others’ example and drive down the shoulder until I arrived at a road I knew would lead us farther up into the county and I could get back around to my brother’s house.  It was a small price to pay to not sit in dead still traffic for what could have been over an hour.

The old town is looking bad.  I don’t know if it’s the town people or the town government that is blocking changes.  Whichever it is, something has to give.  In the 1990s, my home town was such a great place to be…in my opinion.  There may not have been anything for teens to do, but it at least looked decent.  The streets were clean, parking lots were all cement or asphalt and not mingled with weeds and grass breaking through the cracks, and the buildings looked nice.  Now, I just shake my head when driving through.  There are a few newer buildings, including the high school, to brighten up the scenery.  Everything else has gone into disarray.

Some years ago now, a bypass was built around the town.  It was needed because two major highways crossed in the “downtown” area next to the hospital.  Many have been lucky that a hospital was that close.  Because of such a sharp turn, there have been quite a few incidents of log trucks or transfer trucks turning over.  It became a dangerous turn.  The ALDOT decided it was high time to build a bypass around the small town, taking all through traffic away from the town.  It did solve the accidents at that intersection…while at the same time killing the business inside the town limits.  Unless you have to go to the county courthouse for tags, licenses, or court cases, you really don’t have to go there anymore.  Once again, something that is sad.

What wasn’t sad was the 100 graduates of my old high school.  It was also not sad that I saw many people I know and love while there.  One family in particular is one I have known all my life.  Some of them are my cousins and others are those I know through our families being in the area together for so long.  I walked up into the bleachers and sat down with my family.  After seeing one of my schoolmates, I realized that I was sitting among the entire family.  Every time I see them, the family has grown larger and larger.  It’s amazing and wonderful since it shows me that a family’s love and bond did not stop with the generation before mine.  That makes me very happy.  The young man graduating from their family…was a baby when I lived back home.  His sister, also very young when there, just graduated from The University of Alabama.  Talk about feeling old when you see grown kids….