GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS

A REMEMBERAMBLE FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2025

Whoever was driving this weekend, they must have floored it, 'cause we done and drove off and left it. The weekend, I mean. You may have noticed that I often start my rememberambles with a bit of nonsense, but there is method to my madness. As most of you know, I never think ahead of what I will write in these posts that do not begin with and pertain to a specific topic. If I sit down to write about things like, mules, thrashing peanuts, baling hay, turpentining, etc., I put thought into and have a good idea of what I will say. If write a fiction short story, I rarely think ahead, as I say, my fingers know, but I do not.

I place my fingers to the keys and a story flows from them, almost unbidden, such that at times I find a story I wrote that I do not recall writing at all, and wonder, "who wrote this, I could not write that story." But, I did write it. One person I speak to on the phone most days, and some days several times, never understand the first thing I say, others have this same problem, they will, through no fault of their own, not be able to understand your first utterings after they answer. So, being me, I always toss them a nonsense opening line. The nonsense line on the phone serves that same purpose.

I will say something like, "the deer have peanut butter breath," or some such nonsense, and they ask me what I just said and I say, "never mind," and then we can start from there. Actually, the line, "the deer have peanut butter breath," is not really nonsense, as I have said it a time or two. So, now you are wondering how that came to be, so let me continue chasing this here rabbit until we have him caught and put salt on his tail...oops, wrong critter. A logger I once worked for had a special deer stand on his property for the exclusive use of the guy who checked the wood on the loads that came in, to see if it met their specs.

You may see where I am going here. The logger would spread peanuts around that stand, which drew deer, and the guy almost always had a successful hunt in that stand. When my boss had placed fresh peanuts around the stand, he would, as I was leaving the woods with a load for that mill, say, "tell ____ _______, the deer have peanut butter breath." I would pass along the coded message, assuring he was blind to the sorriness of the load of logs. Lots of cloak and dagger stuff in the work-a-day world. As I was looking at the Bugs Bunny square dancing video clip I posted.

It made me mindful of just how few people today carry on the old tradition of the square dance. I know there are still a few here and there that meet and enjoy square dancing in the deep south, the southern mountain states, and the upper midwest, but I could not tell you where any hold square dances in our region. I imagine you'd have a hard time finding men today who could call a dance, and that is the key to it, having a skillful caller. There was a big revival of square dancing and clog dancing, also called fat-foot dancing in the late 1970s, and early 1980s. Back then there were many still living who were old hands at square dance calling.

And enjoyed being able to do so again for the first time in decades. My granny played banjo and grampa played the fiddle for old time dances, including square dances. They mostly played in folks' houses back then. It was an age-old tradition going back to Scotland and Ireland, to have "house dances," folks would come to the person's house who held the dance, they would have a fiddle and banjo player, or just a fiddle, and have a dance party in the front room. The first ones to arrive would help take the furniture from the house, and place it all outside,

Now, these were not square dances, the room would not be big enough, square dances were usually barn dances. Those house parties some times spilled over into an additional room, and out onto the porch. The hosts would draw extra well water, and have some simple fruit drinks made with Redi-Aid, and of course there would be jugs hid about, here and there. Sometimes a fight would break out. Back then, such fights rarely got out of hand because there were too many old pistols and knives in too many pockets. It was like us and the Russians having "MAD," (Mutually Assured Destruction) in place for decades to keep a nuclear strike from occurring.

A small scale MAD actuality made it obvious that if you cut somebody, you would be cut too, or if you shot a man there, you would be shot also. Don't get me wrong, trouble was not that common, and most such events were quite peaceful, it wasn't like a dirt track stock car race, where fights were required. In fact fights were so likely at the old dirt track races that it became the subject of jokes. It was so often said, "I went to the races, and a fight broke out," folks would say just barely joking, "I went to a fight and a race broke out." I think that will do for this morning, please keep me in your prayers.

I am still in a precarious situation, and yesterday I let fear of the future creep in and cause me undue worry, we all have such days, and mine was yesterday. Today, that fear and worry has lifted, and will assure you, that this will be a wonderful day. Thank you for caring enough to come see what we have to share here each day. Babee Conway and lil Merle said "hey."

NUMBERS 6: 24-26 KJV

..... we boyz three, babee conway, lil merle, & me