Ken Vickers
Gnats and Dry Weather
A few weeks ago it was so dry that I caught a catfish with a tick on him. Brother, that’s dry. I guess it is this dry weather that has made the gnats so plentiful. The Bible says there is a time and season for everything and I guess this applies to gnats as well. They may be aggravating to us but if you observe nature you will see some of the best fed, fattest, mosquito hawks ever. They don’t even have to fly around to catch the little buggers, they just sit still on the Nandinas with their mouth open and before you know it, they have a gut full. And the swallows and bats are well fed, also.
That leaves us with the heat. I have seen it this hot before but never for the length of time we have seen it this year. As I was working my garden getting ready for the fall planting with Fox, my faithful companion, I could hardly get anything done for swatting at the gnats and wiping sweat out of my eyes. My Daddy used to say that if you work hard enough, the gnats won’t bother you. I am too old to work that hard any more so I was being bothered mightily. I finally quit and came onto the screen porch to cool off and get away from the gnats. My wife came in and she had stopped by Powell’s Drug store and purchased a ‘gnat hat’ for me. I pounced upon it, placed it on my head and went back to the garden. Fox wouldn’t come. He had had enough of the gnats, and if they bother a dog, you know they are bad. The gnats took to me but this time all they could do was buzz around me in a cloud. The gnat hat worked great. The only thing is, mine is the adult size and it has a red garter-like ribbon running around it and I looked like I was wearing a pair of Victoria’s Secret see through panties on my head. My wife had a good laugh about this, but at least the gnats were held at bay.
My daughter, Jesse, is home from Valdosta for the weekend and I am preparing to have a feast for her and a few friends; smoked duck with all the trimmings; wild rice, baked sweet potatoes, baked beans, ramen noodle salad, yeast bread, and brand new Blue Lake wine.
Fox, the wonder Lab, is salivating already because he is reading this over my shoulder. Yes, he can read. Both my dogs can spell, too. Just try to spell g-o o-u-t out loud and watch both Fox and Jigabells go nuts. Honestly, I wish my wife hadn’t taught Fox how to read. His favorite book is Old Yeller. Fox can hold the book himself but I have to turn the pages for him. Every time he gets to the part about Old Yeller having to be shot, he cries. Fox makes me sick, sometimes. Especially when he hogs the remote and insists on watching reruns of Rin Tin Tin.
I stopped at the coffee shop last week while campaigning for my Satilla REMC seat and was listening to a gentleman, Sammy, complaining about being turned down by the local pound for adopting a puppy. He said the pound did a background check on him and told him he did not qualify to adopt a dog.
I tell you the truth. If I applied for, and was turned down for, adopting a dog, I would just keep it to myself.
In other words, Sammy, I don’t believe I would have told that.
My daughter, Jesse, is home from Valdosta for the weekend and I am preparing to have a feast for her and a few friends; smoked duck with all the trimmings; wild rice, baked sweet potatoes, baked beans, ramen noodle salad, yeast bread, and brand new Blue Lake wine.
Fox, the wonder Lab, is salivating already because he is reading this over my shoulder. Yes, he can read. Both my dogs can spell, too. Just try to spell g-o o-u-t out loud and watch both Fox and Jigabells go nuts. Honestly, I wish my wife hadn’t taught Fox how to read. His favorite book is Old Yeller. Fox can hold the book himself but I have to turn the pages for him. Every time he gets to the part about Old Yeller having to be shot, he cries. Fox makes me sick, sometimes. Especially when he hogs the remote and insists on watching reruns of Rin Tin Tin.
I stopped at the coffee shop last week while campaigning for my Satilla REMC seat and was listening to a gentleman, Sammy, complaining about being turned down by the local pound for adopting a puppy. He said the pound did a background check on him and told him he did not qualify to adopt a dog.
I tell you the truth. If I applied for, and was turned down for, adopting a dog, I would just keep it to myself.
In other words, Sammy, I don’t believe I would have told that.
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