fried taters Archives - littlebigfootblog.com

as the day breaks

and the world turns

we know no news
me and the big dude
we both choose
freedom of solitude

we don't get caught
we are hard to find
we're in the thoughts
of our own mind

we are spectators
of all as we hide
we like our taters
raw or fried

as the day breaks
and the world turns
our way we make
and lessons learn

like the Psalms
the lessons they tell
all is calm
winds we sail

Since last fall when I first started making plans to make the motorcycle/drone videos this summer I have become a customer of Cycle Gear. They are part of a group of internet stores that includes Revzilla, J&P Cycles and Cycle Gear. I think the name of the parent company is COMOTO. The neat thing about Cycle Gear is that they have brick and mortar stores in several cities. The one in Louisville is on Hurstbourne just below Shelbyville Road. It is really nice to have a local store where you can go in and actually try things on and then have them order you whatever variation that you want. Returns are super simple. You just take the item to the store in the box it came in and they handle it. The guys that work there are all motorcycle riders and they understand that not everything you order is going to work out. And they all love to talk about anything that involves motorcycles.

The reason that I mention this is that several times a year Cycle Gear has a Bike Night. From 5 to 7pm they have food at the store and invite people to come and hang out. Some people ride their bikes but you don’t have to. As far as I can tell every Cycle Gear across the country does this on the same night. The next one will be 10MAR26. So if you have any interest in motorcycles or motorcycle culture or apparel you might want to check it out.

As far as the poem goes. I am pretty sure that bigfoot likes “fried taters.” And if he doesn’t I like them enough for both of us. If you have never been to the south or the farm or Appalachia fried taters aren’t just a food. They are an art form. I remember watching a video of Ricky Skaggs introducing members of Ralph Stanley’s band. A lot of the band members were from the Wise County area in Virginia. I remember Ricky Skaggs saying “Boy they sure know how to fry taters there.”

Enjoy your Monday. I hope that this will be a great week for you.

NOTE: The blog has a menu with more video content. On a computer it is at the top of the screen. On a tablet or mobile device it is the 3 stacked slashes to the right of the word ASTRA. Enjoy the blog.

Poems

hollers, hills & ridges

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!

Link for the video.(2:22)