Possumhaw: Something to talk about
“I wake up in the morning and my mind starts making sentences and I have to get rid of them fast — talk them or
Possumhaw: Woodchucks, whistle pigs, land beavers
A little over a week ago I was headed to town when I spied a funny creature sitting on his hind legs beside a road running along the Tombigbee River.
Possumhaw: Hoy, hoypoo, koillee
“The feathers were of many hues of glistening greens and blues and purples, and it had a yellow head with a red plume, and pink,
Possumhaw: A good day for somebody
Once I lived where there were four distinct seasons all within their proper boundaries. It was quite predictable, though the winter seemed long and ice and snow turned to brown slush lasting well into spring. There’s a certain advantage to growing up and living in the South. Very often all four seasons come within the same week.
Possumhaw: Early preparations for winter
Just when I was busy flipping closets from summer to fall, hanging the door wreath and pinning orange, red and yellow silk leaves to the cedar lapboards, all in an effort to welcome in the autumn season, winter hit overnight. Temperatures plummeted to 15 degrees by morning.
Possumhaw: Just me and Willie
Lately I’ve spent a lot of time driving back and forth along Highway 82 and Highway 45 between Columbus, Starkville and West Point. From West Point, traveling south toward Highway 82, on the crest of a hill I could see a fair distance to the next rise. Along that stretch I counted 12 large trucks — 18 wheelers.
Possumhaw: Amid the noise and haste
Way back then there was no caller ID or hitting a button to decline calls, so I answered the phone. It was a representative from Nielsen Media Research. She asked if I’d be interested in joining the Nielsen TV family. The TV family are people chosen to allow Nielsen to measure their TV viewing and radio listening. While I was flattered, I responded, “The only problem is I don’t own a TV.”
Possumhaw: Where does the day go?
Every morning I plan my day and make lists. As quickly as the thoughts came, I remembered women I had seen in a Honduras village. I’ll call this one Abagail.
Possumhaw: A carefully watched garden
The rains have subsided so the plants require watering every morning, and most evenings, having barely survived the heat of the day. And every morning on my rounds, I examine which plants have been plucked by the innocent-looking deer that bedded down in the field the night before.
Possumhaw: Easter bonnet with all the frills
There’s an old black and white photograph when I’m about 2 or 3 years old, glued in a faded album. Mother must have taken the photograph because my father is squatting beside me as I hold my Easter basket.
Possumhaw: The Victorian art of salmon fly-tying.
Why would anyone want to steal dead birds? It was the hook that grabbed author Kirk Wallace Johnson’s attention. It was the hook that grabbed mine. Johnson’s book “The Feather Thief” introduced a world I knew nothing about.
Possumhaw: A walk in the dark
The moon was at the half as I wandered around the yard with a flashlight attempting to gather in the two-year old kittens. Wilhelmina can usually be found reclining on the picnic table, but not always.
Possumhaw: Four bits — read all about it
“I asked the Lord to help me wake up earlier every morning and He gave me a paper route.”
Cindy Webb, former paper carrier
Possumhaw: A bird, a bee, a butterfly
My neighbor Joe stopped and asked if I had my hummingbird feeders out.
Possumhaw: It’s worth celebrating
We were sitting at the breakfast table lingering over bowls of oatmeal when Sam read out loud, “DeWitt Jones is a National Geographic photographer who has used his profession to celebrate what’s right about the world.”
Possumhaw: Life is so very, very good
“Our house is a very, very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard. Life used to be so hard. Now everything is easy ’cause of you.”
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Possumhaw: World’s most expensive substances
“There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive.”
Sir David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist
Possumhaw: Professor Wordsmith
“God wove a web of loveliness, of clouds and stars and birds, but made not anything at all so beautiful as words.”
Anna Hempstead Branch, American poet (1875-1937)
There was a professor at The W whose name was Smith. Professor David Smith put a great emphasis on words. In fact, he terrorized students with the promise of brutal punishments in the form of bad grades if one misspelled, or misused, or placed little value in vocabulary.
Possumhaw: Backyard menagerie
“It’s an amazing thing to watch a lizard fold a moth into its mouth, like a sword swallower who specializes in umbrellas. ”
Elizabeth McCracken, American author
Possumhaw: Successful soil and seeding
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”
Lady Bird Johnson
Planting has always been pretty much hit or miss around here.