Monday, May 28, 2007

Pee Dee River, Georgetown County



I feel renewed. We worked hard on the farm, and everything was so hot, dusty and dry I dove in to the river with my workclothes on. As I pulled up on the dock, I noticed two alligators floating chin deep back in the cypress.

My brother cooked a feast of fried chicken, and we celebrated the end of a fine day with beer out on the dock. I think I saw Jupiter near the moon. Sleep came easy.

17 comments:

Ariel the Thief said...

I don't like to see alligators anywhere near me.

glad to hear you had a great weekend, hard work, cool water and good food. and beer.

Doug The Una said...

I miss days like that although I'm with Ariel. Hold the gators.

How's the aromatic rice crop looking? The Santa Clarita tomato harvest is looking to be the best in years.

The Old Mule said...

ariel, in reality, they are afraid of people...but tell that to the one legged swimmer, right? It was a good weekend.

doug, the crop looks great! I hope I don't throw some jinx on us, but everything is promising at this point. If things go as planned we will have about 40,000 pounds of edible rice. And if I do some quick math, that means we make negative $.50 per pound. And that's if everything goes perfect.

Moral: Enjoy tomatos, but do not farm them.

Doug The Una said...

Mule, in my youth as a farm and ranch hand, the farmers and ranchers all envied me the security of my paycheck from their mortgaged front porches.

You can't predict rain or wind or ergot or deer. The only certainties in agriculture are projecting a loss while the crop's in the ground and claiming one after harvest.

Keshi said...

Rewarding indeed. Beautiful pic!

Keshi.

Ariel the Thief said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ariel the Thief said...

in Hungarian we have the same word both for tomato and heaven: paradicsom. when you say paradicsom, you have to make clear which one you mean.

The Old Mule said...

why thank you, Keshi.

ariel, is there a difference? Last year I grew these Zapotec Pleated tomoatos that were the best I have ever tried. They were ugly but oh so delicious.

Doug The Una said...

Ariel, in American English a tomato can be either a fruit or a woman of easy virtue. Sometimes the Ocean seems so small.

Minka said...

I love the life you lead...I have part of that, too. Yesterday I got to turn a tractor upside down. Stop laughing, you weren´t there!

The Old Mule said...

doug, you are right, the ocean has never felt like such a bathtub.

minka, I would never laugh at an upside down penguin! Or one on a tractor, for that matter.

Anonymous said...

Ooh...renewed!

I'm with ariel...no gators near me. His teeth win over mine.

The Old Mule said...

jh, without the fight, there can be no sure winner. Have a nice weekend!

krystyna said...

Hi,
very nice pic. I like this kind of nature.
Alligators? Nature is beautiful but dangerous too!
Have a fantastic weekend!

Nessa said...

I should pee in the river? Sorry, very bad humour.

Beautiful photo. I love the line about "a feast of chicken."

I just had a tomato sandwich. Yummy.

The Old Mule said...

krystyna, I hope you have an exciting weekend too... :)

goldennib, the best thing about summer are homegrown tomato sandwiches - a bit of sea salt, pepper and mayo on white bread!

The Old Mule said...

actonbell, a delight is best savored when earned.