Grandpa's Farm

Here in the South it is common to find family farms.  They are quickly becoming a past way of life.  It is difficult for many of them to make enough money from farming and they are simply going away.  Now and then you will meet someone that is good at it and you can tell that farming is in their blood.  I believe some people were just born to do certain things.  My grandpa was born to be a farmer.  When I was young you could find him out in the fields on his tractor or using a hoe to cultivate crops.  I am not talking about a garden, I am talking about 60 acres.  He worked it for the most part by himself without any help.  Sometimes my dad or my uncles would help.  My Granny would always be working too but that is a story for later.  Grandpa usually liked to do things by himself.  He loved the work he did on the farm.   He would raise watermelons, cantaloupes, and cotton.  Cotton was still a money crop in the late 60's and early 70's in South Carolina.  When I was in the first grade I would come home from school and pick cotton for money.  He paid me 3 cents a pound. :)  Do you have any idea how long it takes for a 7 year old to pick a pound of cotton?  It takes quite a while.  I think my friend and myself were able to get $2.75 to split between us one week.  That was a good week for me. :)  Well, in 1968 it was pretty good. 

Like I said, Grandpa would grow watermelons and cantaloupes as well.  There was this 20 acre field below the highway he would plant in watermelons almost every year.  Planting this type of crop near the road baffled me.  People would drive by and see this and of course some would stop and steal a watermelon.  High school kids were the most common culprit.  It was just a temptation that proved to be too hard to resist at times.  Grandpa knew every watermelon and cantaloupe that grew in his field.  He knew when someone had been there even if they had left no sign.  How he did this I do not know but he was never wrong about it.  One year there were these high school boys that would stop in the dead of night and not only steal but vandalize his stuff.  Grandpa would take a couple of boxes of shotgun shells and fill them with rock salt.  Sometimes he would just leave the bird shot in them.  He camped out in the middle of the field that night and waited.  Sure enough the kids came back and began to steal and vandalize his stuff again.  He could hear them talking about him mocking him and cussing him.  They didn't know that he was out there with them. :)  In our community everyone knew everyone else.  So these fellas were local and were calling him by name unaware that he was right behind them.  He jumped up and began firing.  Now in all honesty, from  the range he was shooting at, he couldn't have done much damage.  He didn't want to kill them.  He just wanted to teach them a lesson.  He did just that!  They jumped up screaming and hollering and got in their car and drove away.  The town doctor in Honea Path said that he picked shot out of their backsides all night long.  Even at that range he was a pretty good shot.  The town police were called and he told them that it was a county matter and for them to get off of his property.  They fussed a little but they did leave.  It was understood in those days that a farmer would protect his livelihood with force if necessary.  Grandpa never had those fellas steal his watermelons anymore.  He told me this story laughing so hard that tears filled his eyes.  My Grandpa was an interesting man to say the least.  He passed away in the mid 1990's at the age of 90.  I think about him often and smile.  One reason I smile is because of a question that I have.  Why did my Grandpa plant those watermelons so close to the road? ;)

Class Reunion

This year will mark the 30 year reunion of my high school class.  I really wish I were excited about this because I have not seen most of those folks since I left school.  However, I have mixed feelings about this.  I think everyone wishes they had been more successful in their career or perhaps had the perfect family.  Having good health at this age is always a plus.  You have a natural curiosity about what happened to the girl you were sweet on or the friend who had a plan to make a million dollars by age 25.  How many of us thought being 25 was old?  I know I did.  There were awkward moments too.  I remember when I got caught smoking on school grounds.  I knew I was in trouble but didn't see the need for all of the fuss they made over it.  After all, it was just a cigarette.  It was only a cigarette this particular time.  I didn't get into a fight in high school even though I came close a few times.  I had a problem with temper in grammar school and I got into a lot of fights.  After grammar school I told myself I wasn't going to fight in school anymore.  For the most part I was a good student. I did my work and if I applied myself there was a lot I could get done.  I wasn't a great student but I was solid  student. I still am.

Have you ever known someone from your school who you recall their face but you can't remember their name?  Someone who for the most part was quiet and seemed to fade into the background without being noticed?  In fact, if it were not for an old annual sitting around you wouldn't remember them at all?  That person was me.  Most of my friends were a year of two older or a year or two younger.  I connected with people who were not necessarily classmates.  The classmates I really cared for moved away during my high school years.  This was not their fault it was just the way things worked out.

Now I am 30 years older and have lived a lot of life.  I have lived much of it for the Lord who I love so much and have given my life to.  I have lived it for the family whom I am so devoted to.  I lived it for an industry which was pretty much run out of this country.  I have lived it the best I knew how to.  So I ask you today, what is success?  Is it only finances and a great amount of friends?  Is it just rising through the ranks in your career?  I think it is much more than that. I think success is to look back and not be willing to change a thing.  Success is such a deceptive topic.  Success is truly relative to the person.  So many things in life depend on circumstances that are beyond our control.  I haven't made my mind up completely if I will be going to this reunion.  I would like to see some of those people.  I know that none of us are the same person.  I know  I am not.  However,  there was a lot of hurt in those days too and the feelings from the ghost of high school past are the most haunting of all.  It brings up memories of things which happened in my life when my life wasn't good.  The reunion isn't until October so I still have a little time to mull over these thoughts and feelings I am having.  I will talk to the Lord about those feelings and then make up my mind.  I will let you know what I decide.

Precious memories.

I spent the better part of this past weekend scanning pictures from an old picture box that I have. You know the kind, just a box full of old pictures that seems to have been around all of your life. The reason I was doing this instead of walking is that it was raining all weekend here. There were pictures of most everyone that I have known in my life, some that I don't even remember. Parents, I advise you to take many pictures. Just as often as you can get a snapshot of a baby, wife, place in time. The pictures helped me remember those times so vividly. Happy moments, sad moments, non eventful moments, they are all there.

I did encounter some physical problems with the scanner during this time. Just a cheap scanner built into the printer, you know the kind. I worked it until the twain driver stopped working then I would have to reboot the computer and the scanner. It was physically not possible to scan every picture that I have. Just too overwhelming. I ended up picking and choosing which ones. Then, no matter how much I cleaned the picture or the scan lens, I would end up with what appeared to be lint on the pictures. which requires more editing. I think a lot of it may have been scratches on the picture itself since they were just hanging out loose in a box. I guess I'll get my daughter to clean them up the best she can as she is a much better photo editor than myself.

The thing that I suppose I want to share most today is how spiritual this whole process was to me. Really, it is hard to describe the emotions I felt while doing this. I tend to be somewhat emotional more than many people that I know. Turned out this time to be a benefit rather than a detriment. Causes a lot of soul searching and rekindles the purpose of the soul. Perhaps it is because this is an emotional time in my life right now and the least little thing sets my mind off. However, I think it had a purpose for my life at this time. I finally came to two realizations. My past is tied to my present and my future, and I am going to get a digital camera.