03OCT25
asphalt, dirt & gravel
a beast of burden
& a bird that floats
I would be certain
to take lots of notes
lot of humor & wisdom
that warms the heart
they are able to over come
what sets them apart
a lesson to be learned
as it entertains
and to be burned
into my heart & brain
hollers, hills & ridges
asphalt, dirt & gravel
out hearts build the bridges
that we all travel
it is that way with all
better not to be too exclusive
even with the big & tall
& the extremely reclusive
This morning’s poem finds me again reflecting on the goose & the donkey. That field is in front of my mom’s house where I grew up. For most of the time I lived there that field was actually a garden. I remember sometimes mom would send one of us across the road with a hoe and a bucket to dig enough potatoes for the next meal. In the holler fried potatoes or “fried taters” are both a staple and an art form. And mom was Michelangelo. It is enough to make your mouth water just to think about it. It is good to have good memories.
One more story about the garden before we move on. We used to catch the school bus every morning right across the road from that walnut tree where the goose, the donkey, the pony and the dog like to gather under in the hot part of the day. I can’t remember if the road had been paved at that point. I am guessing that there were about 7 of us children waiting to catch the bus. We were all cousins raised in a clan of story tellers fighting to get the floor. So we knew a good story when it unfolded. We could spot it right away.
We saw a car top over the hill at a high rate of speed. We recognized the driver as one of our neighbors who lived further on up in the holler. (Actually if you watch the bush hoggin’ up in the holler video in the Drop Down Menu you can see the abandoned house that he lived in when the drone does the gigantic high circle around the field.) When the car got about half way to us it veered to the left into our garden still traveling at a high rate of speed. It seems like in my memory that as he drove over the stalks of corn that they kind of lifted the car in the air some until he came to a stop. But it was quite the spectacle to see that car flying thru the corn mowing it down at a high rate of speed. When the car stopped he got out and opened the hood. He then pecked around for a few seconds or minutes. He then got back in the car and made his own driveway out of the garden.
As he drove by us I am pretty sure even at that tender young age most of us comprehended that we had probably just experienced the most entertaining bus stop morning that we would ever have. Later that day his wife would call my mom and explain to her that as he topped the hill he realized that he did not have any brakes working in his car. So it was either take out the garden or the group of children standing down in the curve beside the road. He made the right choice. At least from where we were standing. And besides those “taters” waiting to be fried were under the ground anyway : )
A few people are having problems getting to the Drop Down Menu. If you are on mobile device or tablet there will be 3 slashes to the right of the word ASTRA in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Tap those 3 slashes and the menu will drop down. In the menu that drops down there will be a heading that reads Drop Down Menu. Tap the arrow beside of it and at the bottom of that you will see Drone Flyover Videos. Tap that and at the bottom will be the goose & the donkey.
I will include a link to the video for those still having problems finding it.
Enjoy your Friday!