The summer of 1959 found us in Houma, Louisiana. I wrote about it in my very first blog "And So It Began". At the end of the summer, my mother, brother and I moved in with my grandmother, Augusta Victoria Boone. Up until that time my years had been spent in East Texas. My new school mates at Pelican School (the same one my mother attended) would call me Tex. My new teacher, Mrs. Thigpen would teach that Louisiana received it's name from King Louis and Queen Anna. My father stayed in South Louisiana and "worked on the road" only coming to Desoto Parish to be with the family on weekends. Gussie's house had this great wrap around porch with a swing . Nearby was a mature Red Bud tree. I would climb that tree and read books and actually fall asleep at times. Between that tree and the swing, I spent countless hours dreaming. I don't recall what I was dreaming about. Perhaps I wasn't dreaming but rather, living. The wonderful fragrances of hot afternoons kissed by cool nights, and layered with the red dust from the nearby gravel road, embedded memories deeply into my young but eternal soul. Black Eyed Susans, Sweet Gums and Loblollies. were embraced with the sounds of bob whites, cicadas, wolves, crickets, cattle, owls and my dog Buster treeing squirrels. As the setting sun would slowly drain the daylight, the sky would be illuminated with the moon, stars and fire flies. I recall peering into the infinite black sky and watching as the Russian satellite "Sputnik" slowly crept across the horizon. You really could see it move. It seemed as if you could pick up a nearby iron ore rock and strike it down. I would lay on the samll back porch next to the "handcrank" Maytag with my little brother and point out to him the various constellations in the dark heavens. I made up most of the names. I did know the North Star, The Evening Star and Morning Star. I could identify The Big and Little Dippers. I marveled at the Milky Way. I remember how difficult it was to describe "infinity" to a four year old.
An arsonist burned that house along with the nearby tree in the early 70's. My grandmother, mother, and brother all died within three days of each other in June, 1980. Dad passed away a few weeks before the new millennium. Only I remain. Those days, though long past, seem as only yesterday to me. It was a peaceful , idyllic, and wonderful time. I would not have traded it for anything. I was so blessed. If I had to describe what I though heaven was, I am sure it that little country house, the swing and fire flies would be included.
Earlier tonight The Mrs The Third and I were forgoing the NCIS weekly offerings and were setting on the Party Patio enjoying a few cold adult beverages. "What's that?" "Did you see that?" she exclaimed. As her words still echoed, I saw brief flashes of light in the low sky of my yard. For a long while, we sat and felt the cool evening breezes caress us as we gazed into our back yard garden and let the fire flies stir our souls. As we sat I felt tears stinging my eyes. Those days living with Mao Maw Boone seemed so vivid in my heart. For a brief moment I was swinging sideways in that porch swing. The last time I recall seeing fire flies was in the spring of 1998 when I was visiting Bucks County, Pa. near the banks of the Delaware River (back in 1999). I remember reading that the insects were all but extinct as a result of the use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, also known as DDT.
A few days ago on the same Party Patio I slew a snake that had slithered near the entrance of my house. I thought I knew how to identify snakes and to be honest, I was beginning to think that the snake was a poisonous copperhead. I took a picture of it an sent it to a few "snake experts" I located on the internet. I received two replies. The head of the College of Veterinary Science at nearby Texas A & M replied ..."It looks like you killed a corn snake, undoubtedly an escaped/released pet. They are harmless and widely kept as pets, and they are native to the eastern U.S. The "corn snakes" found in Texas are not found in Temple and would not have that much orange. This species of corn snake is commonly misidentified as the venomous copperhead" Clint The Snake Man Pustejovsky replied "This was, most likely someone's pet, nonvenomous corn snake". This species of corn snake is not native to Texas. Corn snakes eat mostly mice and rats for their diet" I showed both of the emails to the Mrs The Third. Hopefully, I convinced her that there probably are no more of these snakes in our yard. Maybe, one day, she will return to the Party Patio. I named the departed snake non the less. His name was Damien.
The presence of lighting bugs and Damien the snake, in my back yard brought back vivid memories of my youth yet gave me a renewed hope in the future. I have been in a self imposed funk lately and I accept these sightings as a sign of good things to come. I am sure the cold adult beverages helped too.
Bring It On
The Third, The Viper Slayer
