Afternoon chores

Dad and I were just finishing up lunch today and thinking about going out to the farm earlier to get some fishing in before dark when we heard this great big "thud" on our roof! We had noticed earlier that the city tree trimming crew was out next door cutting up stuff and shredding all the cut limbs and branches. We both ran outside to see what was going on. There was a crewman in a basket right over our place. The crewman said that a loose branch had fallen on the roof but caused no damaged but Dad and I had to go up there to see for ourselves.

Dad overseeing the tree trimming by the City crew.

It was the first time in years that I had been up there. There was a lot of branches and vines overgrowing over the north part of our house that haven't been attended to in atleast a year.

The City cut away all the big stuff that was nearest the street and around the power and cable lines on the pole but there was a few major branches that Dad wanted to cut. So he climbed down and got his saw and climb back up (this is my 80 year old father).

So Dad sawed and pruned away at the branches and vines and I pulled off the branches and tossed them next to the street for the Sanitation Crew to pick. Also swept off all the leaves piles on the roof and in the gutters.

The roof afterwards, alot cleaner

It sure looked a lot nicer after we did all the cutting and cleaning! Unfortunately, a small branch whipped back to one of Dad's eye (he should have worn goggles or something). It was painful for a couple hours but better now, he claims. Yup, my Dad is pretty tough!

Went out to the farm after Dad's afternoon nap, to check up on things.

There was this big dead skunk out by the trailer, I think we'll avoid messing with this guy for alittle while until the smell goes away. We also saw four deers running across the levee road on our way out. Poor deers, probably running for their lives since hunting season for them started a couple weeks ago. On private land in Mississippi, it's permissible to shoot up to five antherless deers (and/or legal bucks with at least 12" spreads on their inside beams) during hunting season.

Well, it's was a pretty busy November afternoon today.

-DB-

Roadtrip to Vicksburg (and memory lane)!

Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I got a text from my old college roommate who was back in the state for the holidays. He wanted to get some of the old crew together to hang out on Friday. I haven't seen my old buddy in years; he moved to Tennessee after Pharmacy school and I moved to California.

So my friend RS sends me his Halloween pix, whoa! Certainly an angry looking pharmacist!

Using my "paper" GPS via Google maps!

So Friday afternoon after lunch (a big bowl of Thanksgiving leftover turkey jook), I began the 100 plus mile drive south to Vicksburg. I figured it would take just under 2 hours to drive down the state highways on US 49 to Yazoo City and then MS highway 3.

US 49 south of Greenwood.

The large cotton warehouses of Staplcotn Corp outside of town.

It has been a few years since I've driven down this way toward Jackson, the state capitol since I usually fly into Mississippi thru Memphis, Tn. The drive wasn't too bad, it was sort of hazy with scattering of light rain showers in some places. I made some mental notes of all the nice public hunting and fishing places that were along the way as well as some of the big chemical and paper plants on the way to Vicksburg. There sure were a whole lot of wide open spaces of newly planted fields and pastures all along the way. In my hurry out the door, I only had less than a half a tank of gas and a dirty bug splatted windshield (with no washer fluid in the tank) so driving was little difficult but atleast it was in the daylight hours. Fortunately, navigation wasn't a problem since the signage was pretty good and I was able to reference both my hard copy Google map and my iPhone / map.

Met my friends at the local inn in V'burg.

So I finally rolled into Vicksburg about 2:30'ish. I think this was the first time that I've spent any time in Vicksburg since my freshman days at Ole Miss. I met some great guys at pre-college from Vicksburg's Warren Central High School and spent a couple great Ole Miss football weekends there. Back then, I went to a high school football game, enjoyed some great Southern Hospitality from my friends' parents, and got a personal tour of the Vicksburg Military Park from my friend Bruce, who was very big Civil War buff! Great memories from my college freshman days!

My friends arrived shortly (they were checking out some local museum), we caught up in the hotel lobby while the extended family were coming back from some Black Friday shopping. It was kinda of funny that I seemed to be the only one remembering stuff going on in our college days. My buddy RS kept tell me he didn't remember those incidents. His brother RS2, fortunately had a better memory. Last time I saw RS2 was at the Big Event (Chinese Reunion in Greenville in '87). RS2 was kind enough to put me up when I first moved out to LA on my sidetrip up to the Bay area. It was nice to catch up with the guys (JG, RS, RS2). In a little bit later, I got to meet RS2's family; wife Dena (who was from the Bay area) and their sons Logan, and Bryce. I also got reacquainted with FSC (RS &RS2's younger sister) and her daughter Sarah. The S's have such a nice family!

After some embarrassing college stories (which I won't share here), the whole big group went across the highway to check out the military park. Like I mentioned before, I haven't been here since my freshman days at Ole Miss (this time it seemed alot smaller).

"Vicksburg is the Key"

 The Union Army taking the Southern Stronghold of Vicksburg was a major priority during the Civil War. Much resources were poured in from the north to free up the routes down the Mississippi River.

We had a two vehicle caravan for our Civil War tour this afternoon. Lot of States of both sides sent troops to fight in this critical struggle during the 1863 campaign. Many of the participating states have memorial for their troops and commanding officers. The US Park Service which maintains and run the military park charges $8 per carload.

Minnesota Memorial

Our first stop was at the Minnesota Memorial (probable because I wanted a photo of the nice structure and everyone else jumped out and started climbing around the memorial too).

view of Illinois Memorial from Battery de Golyer

Our second stop was at the Illinois Memorial. It was not only very picturesque but had cool acoustical effects with it domed ceiling (which meant the kids all yelled inside the memorial)!

Inside the Illinois Memorial

Me and RS on the steps of the Illinois Memorial

Illinois Memorial art

Civil War scene

Is this how the South lost?

The USS Cairo museum

On board the USS Cairo

Overlooking the Mississippi from Fort Hill

Two generations of brothers

Canons on top of Fort Hill

I should have posed RS & RS2 together for this caption

On the Confederate side, Missouri Memorial

Missouri Memorial

Behind Confederate Lines.

Cousins exploring the Missouri Memorial

Cousins striking a Civil pose.

Example of prepared fortification along the trenches.

Examples of artillery used in Vicksburg

RS2 showing his son how to load a morter

RS getting all fired up (or rather out) of a canon!

Canons balancing act.

Dinner at Whataburger in Vicksburg.

Thanks RS for da #2 Whataburger combo with cheese (yummy but a whopping 1352 calories with medium fries)! The calorie counting never stops!

Guys outing to the local Casino

Sadly, none of us are really gamblers. We only played the video machines instead of any of the table games. I did okay (I double my money, a $1.05)! 

DB's big score - in 5 cent video poker!

Fueling up for the trip back to the Delta

Time seemed to pass too quickly and our impromptu 30 year college reunion ended. Hope to see y'all next year!

-DB-

90th Day in da Delta

The three month mark came and went as another fishing day out in the country with Dad.

Fishing Friday or how Moby Catfish beat DB

Early afternoon fishing.

Since Mississippi deer season (gun) opens tomorrow morning, Dad and I decided to go fishing earlier this afternoon so that we wouldn't get in the way of any scouting hunters. I'll probably won't be deer hunting this year (as much as I love to hunt) for practical reasons (no place to store a whole deer, and none of us really like eating venison) plus my Dad gave up deer hunting years ago. Both he and my second brother have a living room full of deer heads and assorted mounted antlers and other game trophies! Although, I've shot my share of deers; I've never achieve that "monster" deer trophy like my Dad or brother Herbert. But that's okay, I'm sure someday I'll get my own trophy buck but for now, I can enjoy the view at the restaurant of all the ones already harvested and mounted.

Deer heads and other stuffed game trophies.

So back to my fishing tale of the day; after Dad and I checked on things around the farm, we started our fishing before 3:00pm this afternoon. Almost immediately, on my first or second cast into the pond, I had a small bass strike at my lure! Wasn't able to set the hook on this guy and he/she leaped outta of the water and was gone just like that! About 5 or 10 minutes later, I had an even larger bass hit my lure! I tried to play him and lost him when I gave too much slack! Groan!!! I go another 15 feet along the bank of the pond, casting as I went and boom! Another strike but this one never surfaced, but gave a constant and stubborn pull! I was really surprised at how hard this one was to even budged! Part of the problem was that I was using one of my brother's many rod & reels and wasn't familiar with the setting and found out the hard way that the drag was set pretty high so, the fish (I assumed it was a hefty Channel Catfish) got away! I was pissed! In that first 20 minutes, I already lost three nice fishes in a row!

So I kept fishing (there's a reason why they call it "fishing" and NOT "catching fish") thru the rest of the afternoon, walking around the pond and casting my line as I went. Not a single hit or strike for another 40 - 50 minutes or so. I kept going until I was half way around the south side of the pond opposite from where I started from. On one fateful cast, my line was stuck! But it wasn't a log that my line was stuck on, it was as I would assume again; A REALLY BIG CATFISH! This time I had my drag properly set and the BATTLE of WILL had started! Oh my gosh! It was like I hooked up a German Shepherd in the water! Fishing line kept pulling out with the drag screeching as my fishing rod was bent almost in half (at which point I thought either the rod was gonna snap or the line was going to pop but both had held up well)! I assumed the classic point the rod tip toward the fish and reeled in line as I slacked the rod, using the rod to work the fish. After a couple minutes of this tug of war with Mister Fish, I felt the line go limp and knew immediately that my potential Sports Page headline was gone! I was pissed and on top of that my fishing line got all twisted up and tangle from all the pulling. I had to cut away a good part of it and re-tied my ripped up lure (which I soon replaced). I think I wasted alot of time trying to recover from my fish battle with "Moby Catfish" back around to where Dad was but gave up half way as my equipment was starting to fail me. All I had to take home was stories of all the fishes that I missed today, especially about "Moby Catfish"! So tonight we eat chicken instead of fish. Next time, Mister Fish, next time!

-DB-