The Groundhog mishap

We had planted our vegetable garden in the early spring of 2013, and it was growing and producing nicely.

I started to notice leaves and beans missing, like someone was picking them, or something was eating them.
Early one morning, I saw a groundhog, and later that evening, I saw him again, now I know where my vegetables were going, down the mouth of that groundhog.
Hubby and I both knew that Groundhog had to go!

Hubby went to the gun shop near our home to buy a pellet gun in hopes of frightening or even killing the groundhog. 

After sitting and waiting every evening to kill the groundhog, he decided to borrow a cage.

Days went by, but no groundhog. 

It has been almost a month with no capture of the groundhog I guess he is just too smart for us.

I decided to put some onions and carrots inside the cage.

The next morning (May 10, 2013, Friday), I peeked out the window to see if we had captured the groundhog, I could not see clearly because it was foggy because of the downpour of rain the night before.

To my amazement, there was an animal inside the cage.

I called hubby on my cell phone and said, “We have got him!” We’ve got what? The groundhog, I said.

Later that day, after the fog had cleared, I decided to go visit the animal. 

The first time I saw him, he was curled up in a ball, so I could not see his face.

Later that day, I went back to the cage, I wanted to take pictures of him,

I guess I frightened him because he hissed at me. 

He had a long tail and a pointed nose and was covered with fur.

I thought to myself, he doesn’t look like a groundhog.

I emailed the picture to hubby, and he said that it was not a groundhog but an opossum. Hubby said opossums are not a danger to our garden.

That night, when he got home, he opened the cage door to let the opossum out.

The next day, the opossum was still sitting inside the cage with the door open.

That evening, when hubby came home, he went to the cage to see why the opossum was still sitting inside the cage. 

The opossum’s tail was caught in the latch of the door, and he could not get free.

Believe it or not, hubby reached inside and untangled the opossum's tail, the opossum just sat there, for he did not realize he was free to leave the cage.

When he realized his tail was no longer caught, he scurried away. 

We never saw the opossum again.

We did see the groundhog now and again, for he had moved his burrow to the field behind our house. The field behind our house is covered in clover, which the groundhog feasts on every day. 

Not to say the groundhog did not visit our garden now and then. 

Hubby never tried again to kill the groundhog.

On May 1, 2014, hubby was looking out the window, and guess what he saw? Another Groundhog.

We just planted our garden, and I guess he is scouting it out for future food!!!!!!!

The groundhog hubby saw maybe the same one from last year or one of his offspring.

We seem to attract groundhogs because the first year that we planted a garden, we had a groundhog, which was May 2005.

2005 was the year that hubby borrowed a shotgun and was going to shoot the groundhog. The groundhog was cute, but working in the garden is hard work. 

Hubby would sit by the window every afternoon, waiting for the groundhog to appear. Every time hubby shot at the groundhog, he would miss. 

So after many tries to kill the groundhog, to no avail, hubby was ready to give up. 

But to our dismay, on that day, as we were leaving the house, we saw the groundhog lying on the road. The irony of the story was the groundhog was too fast for a shotgun but too slow for a fast-moving car.

The drunkard with a Gun!

Benny reached for his handgun, as he neared the quaint, dim-lit, liquor store. 

Benny had drunk every drop of his Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, as he threw the bottle at the garbage can. 

Benny lived in the dirty streets of Chicago, in a narrow alley with the other drunks. 

Benny had not a penny to his name, and was in a desperate need of another drink of whiskey, to drown out his sorrows. 

This had not always been the case with Benny, who had been disbarred from being a defense Lawyer. 

The last ten years was a blur, and Benny could hardly remember his daughter's names, whom he had not seen for five years.

The last time he went to visit his daughters, he was so drunk, that his ex-wife called the police, and he was taken to jail, where he spent the next six months.

Benny sobered up, but when he got out of jail all the old memories flooded his mind, so off he went in search of a bottle of whiskey.

Without money, he did what he had to and that was to beg for money.

He put on a pair of broken sunglasses to hide his shame and began 

sing, I am so lonesome I could cry, as tears streamed down his face.

As people passed by they felt sorry for the broken-down drunk, that sang so beautifully and they dropped coins into the tin can that sat in front of him. 

When he had enough money to buy the whiskey, he picked up the tin can and headed to the liquor store. This ritual he had done for almost a decade.

Benny had once been a very nice looking man, he was tall in a statue now bent in shame, his once dark black wavy hair had turned to gray, his dark skin pale for lack of sunshine, yet he had the voice of an angel.

He graduated from the University of Chicago and landed a job with the top attorney firms in the Chicago Area. 

He was not rich but lived high in life, he drove a Black BMW with heated red leather seats.

He had married the love of his life and college sweetheart, Peggy Sue, she was a lanky, blond, with sky blue eyes.

Peggy Sue owned a design business that was doing remarkably well called, Make it or Break it.
Peggy had been so engrossed in her business that she and Benny had drifted apart the last few years.

The couple had been married for five years when, their first daughter spunky Betty Sue, was born and five years later Linda Sue, their second daughter comes bouncing into their lives. 

Betty Sue was attending the University of Chicago where she was studying to be an architect because she wanted to design bridges.

Linda was still in high school, she wanted to help people and her dream was to become a nurse practitioner.

What had caused Benny’s downfall?

Why was Benny holding a handgun ready to rob a liquor store?

Benny was sober enough to remember the day he hired Cindy Lou, the beautiful, deceitful, twenty-five-year-old woman.

The day Cindy walked into his office, Benny was dumbfounded by her beauty, with a wiggle of her little finger Benny would come running.

What danger lurked inside this beautiful woman who controlled Benny’s life?

Cindy never left Benny’s side, every case he solved and won Cindy was there. 

Cindy was stringing Benny along, while she was stringing along with the biggest mafia leader in Chicago area, Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone.

The Scarface was using Cindy to get to Benny because Benny was blocking his way for him to become the mayor of Chicago. 

Cindy could charm the socks off a rabbit, her long ebony hair flowed down her back, her dark eyes were out of sight, her skin was dark as night and she had lips every man wanted to kiss.

She was a woman no man could resist and this is how she came to be the lover of "Scarface", the top mafia leader in Chicago. 

Cindy had charmed the life out of nine men, and because of this she had become known as The Black Widow Spider.

Cindy had been tried nine times and nine times she was acquitted.

Cindy was never once convicted or sent to prison for her crimes.

Why could Benny not see beyond the beauty and deception of Cindy Lou?

Cindy Lou was deeply angry with her present mafia lover, for he was cheating on her with the new kid on the block named, Stella. I will show him, Cindy thought to herself as she was plotting her revenge, and Benny will help.

Cindy calls Benny from her cell phone and says, Benny met me downtown, and she gives him the address. 

Benny, what an idiot, he drops what he is doing and jumps into his BMW and drives downtown, unknowing he was going into (Scarface's), the leader of Chicago mafia, office.

Benny enters the office and where he sees Cindy standing over the body of Scarface, who is lying on the floor covered in blood.

Benny said to Cindy, what happened? 

Cindy is standing next to the body of Scarface with tears streaming down her face and she looks up at Benny and says, he tried to rape me, can you believe that?  Cindy said, without thinking, I picked the brass statue and hit him on the head.

She wept uncontrollably and kept saying, It was in self-defense.

The police were called and they arrest Cindy, charging her with the murder of Scarface.

Benny was at her side every step of the way, planning her defense.

Cindy was cleared of the crime but on a technicality.

Somehow Benny’s involvement causes him to lose his licenses as a lawyer.

Benny’s wife had watched the trial from day one and was not very happy about Benny’s involvement with Cindy.

When the trial was over Benny’s wife, Peggy Sue, files for divorce and takes everything Benny owns, he is left penniless.

Benny falls into a deep dark state of depression and this is when his drinking began.

Now, look at Benny, still standing in front of the liquor store with a gun in his hand, trying to decide whether to rob the store or turn around and leave when a Chaplin approaches Benny. 

The Chaplin says brother, why are you holding a gun in your hand looking toward that liquor store?

Suddenly, Benny comes to himself, he hears the voice of the Chaplin say, brother can I help you?

Benny drops the gun, sadness overcomes him and begun to weep and shake uncontrollably.

The Chaplin said follow me, Benny hangs his head in shame and follows the Chaplin.

Benny began to spill his guts to the Chaplin, and how the last ten years have brought total hell into his life. 

Benny looked at the Chaplin and said, I need to get myself out of this dump, that I am in but, I don’t know how. 

The Chaplin took Benny into his home and worked with him day and night.

It was an everyday struggle to overcome the last ten years of being a drunk and which months of hard work.

The Chaplin never gave up on Benny.

Finally, Benny was on the road to a new life in which liquor was not involved. 

Benny applied for his attorney license which he received the end of that year.

The bottle no longer had control of Benny life.

Benny was in control of his own life, but not without the help of someone who believes in him.

Benny was going to devote his life to helping others, who like him, had taken the road to destruction. 

Benny would never achieve the greatness that he had once hoped but the desire to help others now felt right in his bones.

One fact we cannot overlook is, that without the help of the Chaplin, that sent into Benny’s life that day, that Benny’s life would have taken a totally different turn.

Yes, Benny would still be living in the gutters of hell and yes, Benny would have robbed that liquor store and yes, maybe even killed the store clerk. 

Never give up on life, there is a high power who watches over us, and yes, he will save the day, if we believe in him.

Oh, by the way, Cindy Lou was killed in a drive-by shooting. 

Do you think Karma found her?
Karma comes in many forms, could it be she was wiped out by a member of Scarface's gang or could it have been Scarface's spirit coming back for revenge? We will never know!!

👣👣👣👣 2014 ~ Nov 15, Saturday, Footsteps of the Blue and Gray

Today, I took a walking tour and followed the footstep of men and women that walked these streets over one hundred and fifty years ago.

Our first stop was Wilson Park where soldiers from the battle of Shiloh planted sycamore trees that were no longer growing in the park.

Our second stop was the site of the Synodical College a school for young women.

Dr. William H. Mitchell who served as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Florence also served as president of the college until 1871.

He was taken a prisoner of war for praying for the Confederate soldiers during his sermon.

The building was torn down and replaced by the US Post Office and Federal Courthouse.

Dr. William H. Mitchell

We walked down the street to the location of the former Masonic Lodge that burned down during the Civil War.

We walked about a block to the rebuilt Masonic Lodge and we were greeted by members of the lodge.

We were seated, told the history of the lodge, and served hot chocolate and cookies.

We thank the members and walked up the street to the home of Edward O’Neal a member of the Confederate Army who later served as governor of Alabama.

There were Confederate soldiers guarding Coby Hall.

Our next stop was Courtview/Rogers Hall the home of Sallie Foster who read from her journal about her life during the Civil War.

In addition, in front of her home, we were shown how to load and unload a gun.

We were shown how to shoot a gun and how to carry a gun.

Confederate Soldiers & their guns 

We walked to Wesleyan Hall, which was used, by both Union and Confederate Soldiers during the Civil War. 

General Sherman said, “War is hell!"

We listened to many different bugle calls.

General William T Sherman

Our next stop was Pope's Tavern where brother against brother, friend against friend fought against one another during the Civil War.

Many wounded were brought here. We waved to the two soldiers standing on the front porch of Pope’s Tavern, one was dressed as a Confederate Soldier and the other as a Union Soldier.

If they died, they were buried in the Florence Cemetery at Soldiers Rest.

We did not visit this site.

Pope's Tavern

Our final stop was the home of Richard Pickett who served as a Captain in the 35th Cavalry under General Philip Roddey. We meet Captain Richard Pickett and his wife, they were standing on the front porch of their home. 

Home of Captain Richard Pickett and wife.

The tour took over two hours, very informative and we met many characters along the way.

General Sherman, Governor Edward O’Neal, Sallie Foster, General Pickett, bugler, and many Confederate Soldiers

Route of the walk