OF SLEEP, DREAMS, AND CHOICES

   A wise man once said "ah, to sleep, perchance to dream". Or something like that! I guess whoever it was, was a wise man because somehow I kinda, sorta remembered what he said. Anyway, have you ever wondered how things worked out the way they did. Every thing you are, every thing you do, or have is a direct result of the choices you made. No matter how small the choice was you made, it had an effect on the rest of your life. I hope you made good ones, cause now your living the results.

   The funny thing is, you do not realize how your choices turned out until years down the road. By that time it's too late, your stuck with your mistakes.Sometimes your led astray by others. Sometimes you just did the best you could at the time and it didn't work out, either way your stuck.

   So what do you do? Who can you turn to for solice? It's hard to say.

   A long time ago I thought the world was right. Everything was in the order it should be in. My world turned smoothly. Then times changed, events happened and everything went helter,skelter. Old reliables became uncertainties. My world turned upside down. Since then priorities have changed. You see who you can count on. It is amazing who cares for you only when the money is flowing.

   The thing that really bothers you is when you realize even the ones closest to you aren't really close. You don't really have someone who cares.
 
   What to do?

   You can't make people like you. It is interesting to find out who respects you. Sometimes all you can do is make another choice. Hopefully a better one than before. What would it be like to sit and talk with someone who truly listened and shared your dreams. Who cares because they care about you. To find that magic elixer when swallowed would wash you away to that place where everything was as it should be and life was peaceful again.

   To dream....

Jim Cobb.

LIFE AFTER THE HOSPITAL

   8 days after my Dad went into the hospital for pneumonia we finally got him home. Somewhere around day 3 Dad starting putting in to go home. He tried to forceably get up and leave, but due to his weakened state he could not barely stand. To keep him from falling and breaking something the nurses had to restrain him to the bed. He still fought the restraints that night for 9 hours and 45 minutes straight. I know this because I sat up and watched him do it all night long.

   My Mom and I tried to calm him down but it was no use. The madder he got, the more he struggled. Along the way he began talking crazy. He forgot peoples names, where he was, and talked about things he did 20 years ago like he was doing them now. It was a long week. At times he knew all of us and what was going on and then he would start getting mad and off to the races we would go.

   Now he is home and we all have done everything we can to get him to rest and take care of himself but it is like he just wants to argue keep a fuss going over everything we try to do to help him.He primarily takes everything out on my Mom, and she has about reached the end of her rope. She has had very little rest in the last 2 weeks and she is still waiting on him hand and foot.

   I know he is scared and worried about what the future may hold but it is sad that he can't seem to appreciate what the entire family has done and is doing to try and take care of him. Instead he lashes out at the ones who love him best. Maybe in a few days when he is stronger he will calm down. For the most part his body is healed, the mind sometimes comes and goes.Maybe he will find some peace in the next few days and we all can heal.

Jim Cobb.

A WORD OF THANKS

   A little while ago I came to a crossroad. A decision had to be made. As with any decision you need to know all the facts, and sometimes you need a little advice from someone who has already been down the road you are traveling on.

   In today's world you meet a lot of people who are not what they seem to be and are not willing to help a stranger out. It is a wonderful thing to find someone who is the real thing! Someone who will take that chance to help a new guy learn a few things and share a little advice. I hope I can return the favor one day.

   All I can say is a grateful THANK YOU!!! I will try my best to follow your advice.

Jim Cobb Coleman.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!

   Today we went over to my Mom and Dad's to celebrate Father's day. We hugged necks, talked a while gave Dad a couple of presents, and grilled a meal. We sat outside and watched tv inside in the AC.

   I see Dad almost every day or two. It's nice to gather on special occasions and celebrate the holidays. The thing I like is that it doesn't have to be Father's Day for us to visit. The way I like it is that my Dad knows we love him everyday not just on a holiday.

   My boys tried to give me some presents this year and I told them to keep their money. They need it more than I do. I know how they feel about me already, I don't need anything else today.

   HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Jim Cobb Coleman.
  

COOKIN RACK

Today I've got my cookin rack going. I mean I've got my rack cookin. The 8 point buck I got last year is in a big pot on my stove in a pot of water and a little dish washing liquid boiling the excess meat off the skull.

Once it's done it can be mounted European style for the wall. This is a new experience for me. I saw it done online. Hope it turns out good.

Jim Cobb.

TODAYS CROP

   Look what I found in the garden. A few days of on again , off again showers brought a nice little bounty. Everything is looking good and bloomin to beat the band. The only problem is the deer are destroying my peas and beans.

   I tied plastic bags to the fences and trees at the edge of the garden to whip in the wind and scare the deer away. It ain't working! Deer tracks are all over the garden.The butter beans I was waiting to fill out are gone.We only had a small handfull of black eyed peas.

   If something doesn't change we may have to buy peas this year.

   The good news is there's still plenty of other crops still on the vine. Roma tomatoes, banana peppers, okra, white acorn squash, and mortgage lifter heirloom tomatoes.

    Stay hungry my friends!!!!

Jim Cobb.

I'M A BRAVE MAN

   Today I throw caution to the wind and boldly do what few married men are brave enough to do! Steal a big pot from their wives kitchen to boil a deer skull in to finish the clean up and hurry up and get it on the wall!!!

   I know there will be hell to pay later on, but it will be well worth the lumps on my head when I see my deer head on the wall. "BIG MOMMA" will understand. She'll fuss alot, but she'll understand. She wanted some new cookware anyway.

   See ya with more details later. If I survive!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

MY WINTER HOME

  

   "BIG MOMMA" and I went down to the hunting club for a few days this weekend to relax and for me to clear some brush out from around the deerstands for next season. My camper (as you can see) is an older model. It's about 30 feet long. It has 3 beds that I can sleep in. A full kitchen, full bath, an AC unit that will make you grab blankets at night, and a radio and tv. I paid 500 dollars for it just to have a place to speed the night out of the weather.

   Somewhere during the weekend I had a chance to think about it. We were forced to spend a pretty good amount of time indoors because of a major rain front moving in on us. Matter of fact it's still raining today! I asked my wife why I was so stupid? About an hour later I was able to interrupt her long enough to ask my question. Why in the world was I and a lot of others out there, working our lives away to pay for a 150,000 dollar or more house when we can live happily with less?

   I know my winter home is not anything fancy but it works. During the daytime I'm mostly outside anyway, so who cares how big it is? Just like my house, when I'm home I'm mainly in the kitchen, the den, or in the bed. It really makes you think about the log cabin days when people lived in one, two, or three room homes and lived fine.

   It seems the smarter we get as a society, the stupider we become as people. As the old country folks say "DON'T GET ABOVE YOUR RAISINGS". Most times I find more is less. You may have more fancy toys to keep up with the "JONESES", but your gonna have less time to enjoy them and your life because your gonna have to work twice as hard and long to pay for them!

AIN"T WE SMART!!!

Jim Cobb.

HUNTING TRUCK UPDATE

   The work continues. Before I got the little truck the passenger side tail light assembly was broken. Fearing a ticket from the local boys in blue I obtained a new one from the parts store and installed it.


   BEFORE-

   

AFTER-

   Hot dog, so far so good! But something was missing. If this is going to be a hunting truck that's owned by a farmer it has to make a statement. I had to have a tag on the front. So I looked down in my old barn and found the perfect old tag to go with my green hunting truck. JOHN DEERE!!! Nuff said.

   Join us next time here on "THIS OLD HUNTING TRUCK".

Jim Cobb Coleman.

REMEMBER GRAPE NEHI'S ?

   This ain't Mayberry, and this ain't a grape Nehi. But do you remember both? Wasn't it a better time of life when we did? I didn't realize how much I missed grape nehi's until they mentioned them on an episode of the Andy Griffith show the other day on tv. It was a moment back in time when the Mayberry crowd slipped down to Wally's Fillin Station for a grape nehi.

   I grew up watching that show. Still do. I grew up drinking those nehi's, but now I can't find any. I guess they must have went out of business. I was talking to a lady down at Hubbard's Grocery Store the other day about them and she told me about Grapico soft drinks. She said they tasted just like grape nehi's. SHE WAS RIGHT!!!

I am proud to say I have consumed a large quantity of them since our conversation. Who says you can never come home again? Well at least for a little while anyway. Thank's Andy! See you all down at Wally's.

Jim Cobb.


  

LETS BUILD A HUNTING TRUCK

   A little while ago I got my Dad's pickup truck. We needed another vehicle so " BIG MOMMA " now drives the big truck and I have Dad's Dodge Dakota. The trucks paint was flaking in some areas, and it was white. Nothing wrong with a white truck, but not for one that's going to be in the woods. I liked hunter green better, so with Dad's blessing I got a few cans of spray paint and went to town. Because I did such a bad job painting it from a distance it looks real good, almost like it was tiger striped. Up close you can see everywhere I got too close as I painted. If you won't tell I won't!

   The windshield wipers didn't work the motor was bad. So yesterday I got a new motor and installed it. It still didn't work. The armature on the back of the motor didn't make contact with the bars that move the wipers. I learned this by removing the hood and a large part of the top of the truck to get to it. But now I know how it works. Today I hope I got the necessary parts to fix it but now I have to take the car apart again.

   Before I got the truck the passenger side tail light was broken. So today while I was at the parts store I got them to order me a new tail light assembly. It should be here tomorrow. The truck is 22 years old. It is a 2-wheel drive vehicle, and a stick shift. I can not afford to go buy a 10k UTV, or a 5K 4wheeler. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have. I grew up hunting in 2 wheel drive vehicles, instead of plowing through the mud holes you learned to stradle them. You're vehicle didn't get as muddy and you didn't tear up the land as bad.

   When it gets a little closer to hunting season I'll try to get a pair of mud grip tires for the backend of the truck. If I can afford it, I'll try to put on a small electric winch on the truck in case I do get stuck. All this work will be done by me. Even though the parts will cost some money, it will be nowhere near the cost of a offroad vehicle. I am not a mechanic by trade. My Dad taught me some, most is trial and error. You do what you can. Poor folks have to make do.

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

Charred Animal Flesh

   Ahh! Summertime. When the manly art of grilling comes into play. There is no better way I know of to make "BIG MOMMA" happy is to throw a dead animal on the spit and cook it. As Ron White says , "THAT WILL SHUT HER UP" !!!

   I fired up the coals, turned on the radio and the honky tonk lights that are wrapped around the deck, and cranked up the thermocell to keep the skeeters at bay. I put hamburgers, hotdogs, a pork tenderloin, and a couple of steaks on to charr. As I sat back in my folding camp chair, sipping on a cool beverage, it felt good to watch the smoke billow out of the grill smokestack and float aimlessly out toward my garden.

   Inside the kitchen, "BIG MOMMA" is fixing us a salad and some twice baked potatoes with bacon, cheese, and chopped green onions. The thought of how big my belly is going to be is scarry! Sissy Girl our calico cat has already smelled the food cooking and has jumped in my lap trying to mooch a free sample of something fresh off the grill.

   The later it gets the better it smells. The darker it gets the prettier the honky tonk lights shine on the deck. Even though it's just us and no guests it sure looks festive around the old place. No matter how good it looks with the electric lights, it can't compare to the big full moon above and the crew of lightning bugs twinkling down in the bottom behind the garden. If I watch real close the show goes on for hours. You can't beat that with a stick!

   After the foods cooked and the coals are dying in the grill, the smell still lingers on. It's nice to sneak back outside after the carnage to enjoy the afterglow. It costs nothing but it is priceless. To sit outside and hear your family inside your home, to smell the good food you just shared, and hope this is just one night of a thousand left to come of everyday simple joys that mean more than anything else in this world.

   I hope you are so lucky as I am. Enjoy!!

Jim Cobb.