Articles by Shannon Bardwell
Possumhaw: A ways down the road
We entered the Natchez Trace Parkway near Mathiston and headed south. The trees formed a natural canopy, making it seem cool, though it was probably just the air conditioner.
Possumhaw: An odd August
August is always a hot one, but this one … days upon days of “feels like” 100 degrees. A walk through the grass is like stepping on cornflakes; the blades of grass are drawn up slim as needles.
Possumhaw: Wasp populations peak
When Sandra Bullock, in the 1995 movie “The Net,” played a computer nerd whose identity was stolen and replaced by a criminal’s identity, I developed a fear of losing my fingerprints. I considered taking my own fingerprints and putting them in a lockbox.
Possumhaw: The U.S. Drought Monitor
Large green circles surrounded the Prairie house like polka-dots where the circular sprinklers struggled to maintain the lawn.
Possumhaw: The importance of duck oil
There’s no reason under the sun the ducks should have survived this long, but there they are, waddling as fast as they can toward the house.
Possumhaw: For the men in our lives
For Father’s Day I gave Sam four white buckets and some blue cargo shorts. When I bought the buckets, a lady in the parking lot rolled her window down and hollered, “Those are fishing buckets! Wish I was fishing!”
Possumhaw: A season of serpents
Looks like we’re into snake season. I’ve seen more snakes in the past few weeks than I’ve seen in the last decade, or maybe ever.
Possumhaw: It’s all in the moments
I was sitting on the porch and staring at the cat in my lap when the phone rang.
Possumhaw: Food for thought
Just the holiday leftovers included three bags of Scoops, a 46-ounce container of cashews, a bag of Skinny Popcorn, a half-indulged container of coffee and cookies ice cream and half a bag of empty Coke cans.
Possumhaw: Mystery of the Mississippi kite
Across the field above the sedge was a dark shadow. I thought it a squirrel and continued to watch the shadow as it rose higher and higher above the blowing grass.
Possumhaw: Gifts that keep on giving
This time of year I find it hard to do anything but work in the yard.
Possumhaw: When flip-flops are the fashion
‘Tis the season for family reunions and camping. My mother’s family, the Newmans, gather in Natchez where the family home is located and still occupied by a fourth-generation Newman.
Possumhaw: Something to talk about
Remember when “the birds and the bees” was a euphemism for the “facts of life” which was a euphemism for sex?
Possumhaw: Bees knees and knotholes
With my own eyes I saw the carpenter bee wiggle into a hole in the wall right beside the recycle bin.
Possumhaw: Jungle Jane is alive
I suspected Jane Goodall was dead, only to discover she is very much alive and, on April 3, celebrated her 81st birthday.
Possumhaw: All-American pastimes
Spring is unpredictably crazy. Nine days ago it was sleeting at the Mississippi State baseball game. There’s something very wrong when a March day leaves ice pellets on your baseball cap.
Possumhaw: The humming of a deaf cat
Jack Henry, Jack for short, is my cat, and he’s finally given up trying to force himself on top of my laptop computer.
Possumhaw: It was just another day
A couple of weeks ago I took a short drive from the Prairie, and a disturbing thing happened. I’ve pondered it ever since.
Possumhaw: How birds keep their feet from freezing
For the second time in a week the ground was covered with snow and ice. The first storm left mounds of snow covering outbuildings, vehicles and piling right up to the lake water’s edge. The pristine snow made the white ducks look dingy.
