Nancy and I took a trip across the mountains to the West Virginia State Fair last Sunday where we ate everything in sight – starting with Country Ham Sandwiches, followed by Pepperoni Pizza and piping hot Ben Ellen doughnuts, plus Corn Dogs and Hot Fudge Sundaes. Groan! But we saw pigs and lambs and Angus steers. We viewed all the vegetables and pies with blue ribbons, we visited the Butterfly … [Read more...]

I have not always had good luck when dealing with tire pressure and gauges – like last week. We were on I-40 heading from Greensboro to Winston Salem for a family reunion and the NCDOT had a done a number on one of the lanes as they prepared for a new highway. It sounded like a jack hammer as we drove across the jagged concrete, and I figured this was not good for the tires. I figured right, … [Read more...]

Remember the scene where Chevy Chase gets stuck in a roundabout in the movie European Vacation? He’s in there for hours and can’t get out. I know how he feels. I had a Come to Jesus experience with roundabouts last week. Someone Highway Engineer in the North Carolina Department of Transportation has come up with the idea that roundabouts are more efficient than stop signs and stop lights and … [Read more...]

Avocadoes are healthy, or so they say. One study said that if you eat avocadoes every day of your life, there’s a good chance you will rise from the dead after a couple weeks. I don’t eat avocadoes because they are good for you, I eat them because I like them. The big problem with avocadoes is the ripeness factor. If you decide on an avocado salad for dinner that night and go to the store, the … [Read more...]

Four times a year, an average man is called upon to do something completely foreign, a task at which he is ill equipped. At Mother’s Day, on his Anniversary, at Christmas and on his wife’s birthday, the average man must gift-wrap presents. First, the average man must come up with the proper wrapping paper. Bat Man and Robin gift wrap paper, for example, is not considered appropriate to enclose … [Read more...]

God has a sense of humor. Afterall, he gave us penguins – which are impossible not to observe and let out a chuckle or at least a smile. He also gave us truly funny people – like Jonathan Winters, Steve Martin, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope. But then, right before the Seventh Day when He rested, God gave old men ear hair. As far as I know, women of any age don’t have tufts of hair follicles … [Read more...]

I had just put a handful of mealworms in the bowl near the bluebird house and stood back to watch the male fly to the feeder and secure a beak full of worms. Suddenly, a hawk swooped over the fence, talons stretched, heading for the bluebird. Fortunately, the hawk missed as the bluebird ducked quickly, but these bluebirds are like my children, only better behaved. Startled and extremely upset, I … [Read more...]

Sportsmen face many obstacles in their outdoor careers. Driving a Jeep down a muddy, rut-filled logging road deep in a grouse covert comes to mind. But that’s not the most difficult challenge. Stepping squarely on a hornet’s nest while creeping in on a spring gobbler is no walk in the park, but worse can happen. An outdoors type might even find himself or herself between a mother bear and her cubs … [Read more...]

Went through a little place called Waverly not long ago. The peanut capitol of the world, or so they claimed. I had been dunking some bloodworms in the lower Chesapeake for croakers. Decided to come back the scenic route up Route 460 instead of fighting the US Navy getting off work on I-64 at Hampton. I loaded up on the croakers, by the way. Had a cooler full. So, it was back to Charlottesville … [Read more...]

Having too much time on your hands is not a good thing. For example. I had ordered 5,000 meal worms for my bluebirds and they came in a vented box with a bunch of cardboard to separate the layers. I inspected the contents, and all looked well, except…. How do you know if they really sent you 5,000 mealworms? If they only packed 4,900 that would be a 2 percent shortage and if some fiendish worm … [Read more...]