Been reading about the Don for a while now and even thought it was the only dwarf until I just googled dwarf avocado trees. Definitely want some too. Indoors will be fine until it gets more than 10 feet fall.
He knew they were barking at a predator of some kind. A snake, a fox, a coyote, wolf, cougar, a bear! His panic was taking flight, and so did he. a new surge of strength electrified his legs, and he took off running as fast as a horse, away from the sound of the barking squirrels. The land was still rising, leaving the swamps behind, forever he hoped. He didn't let up until he came into a thicket of wild blackberries. Food at last! He was free, and now his first meal as a free man would be sorely needed medicine. An idea came into his mind, that he would just stay there until the berries were gone, then move on to some area where other fruits would be. Did he really have to go north? Could he not just stay in the woods and live off the land? His grand mother had taught him how to fish. She would always say, "teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime!"
He was fishing that day when the girl had been killed, and the thought of it made him shudder in disgust and anguish. It was such a beautiful day, the sun dancing off the waves and kissing his face like flashing angels. It was so heavenly before things had turned for the worse. He hadn't caught a thing because of the windy weather, and so he tossed his pole and twine in the Henderson's pond. He could make a new pole anytime. No sense in carrying it home. Daniel had met him at the crossroads, coming back down the road from the Henderson's place. "Which way you headed?" He asked.
"Just going home. Been fishing."
Daniel looked at him and saw no fish or fishing gear. He just shook his his head in confusion, and said: "well, see you later".
He took no notice of the strange look that Daniel had given him. White people always had a way of treating him like a friend or a pet at one time, and a soulless piece of farm equipment at other times. He was comfortable with life back then, when everybody knew what was expected from everybody else. Men and women, blacks and whites, all had cleanly defined roles and expectations. The war had changed things and brought about the promise of freedom, uncertainty. Families were escaping and moving north, and that just seemed to be the thing he must do. He shook off the memory of that fateful day, and continued on his trek north, thankful that he was a free man at last. Two iron clasps on each ankle and two sections of a broken chain clinked behind him, as he dredged his way through the woods towards the north, and permanent freedom.
As he topped a large hill, the woods opened into scrub brush and he found before his eyes a panoramic view that seemed to disappear into infinity. The smell of burning wood and cooked meat was rising from a small valley below. It was the first real sign of civilization that he had come upon since the day he had escaped. The smell of smoked meat made him think of his granny. She would salt down pork shanks and smoke them in a shed. Then she would cure them in the cellar for months, rubbing them with salt. The lure was irresistible, and he found himself climbing down into the valley, searching for the smoked meats.
Got the blues again today. The heat is oppressive and i don't know if i can take it much hotter. It's supposed to get up to 107* tomorrow with heat index around 120*. It was 105* today with no wind and 90% humidity. I thought i might get a heat stroke. I'm worried about my cats, but they are sleeping in the hole under the house where i started digging a root cellar. I may have to set out some food and water for them, and go stay with a relative who has air conditioning. There's no internet there. I don't know how anyone can live without internet.
Or you could join the cats in that hole.
We've always said if you want the most comfortable spot in the house - you'll have to move the cat.
We had 105 here and it's too much. Is there a library you could hang out at? Free air conditioning & internet access. I don't want to miss out on the story.
My daughter's air conditioning broke last week and she did just what your cats are doing. She set up an old mattress in the basement and read a book during the heat of the day!
Back when they were little kids we used to go on what I call "Siesta Schedule". We would get up around 3:30 to 4 AM, eat breakfast, do morning house chores and be at the pasture saddled up by dawn. We would work horses (I was training back then) till the heat started to get us, finish barn chores. Then we would often go swimming at our local pool or sometimes fishing at our park till around 11:30 or 12. We would then go home and eat lunch. By 1 or 2 PM we were ready for the siesta. We would go to the basement, where we had beds made up with fans circulating the air, and go to sleep until around 4 or so. I would go make dinner at this point and the kids would have playtime around the house. After dinner it was family time and outdoors chores like garden and mowing. We went to our usual beds at around 12 or 1.
It works wonderfully well. Maybe too well. I still get really sleepy at about 2 o'clock!
My garage is under my house. Almost dirt on 3 sides. Last year when we hit 110 the kids and I spent days down there. We watched movies on my laptop and ate popsicles.
I might have to crawl under the house and sleep in that hole!. I hooked up my geothermal cooling system, but the coil has a leak. I was counting on it to help cool my bedroom. It would have worked, but i dont have money for a new coil. It's still in the 90s and there's no way i can sleep in this. I guess i'll try to continue with my story, but i just don't feel very creative tonight.
Thanks for all of y'alls support. It's so unlike me to be depressed. I don't know whats wrong. The heat makes me feel trapped. I feel like going for a ride, but i've already drank too much vodka to take a chance on that. I NEVER drink and drive, one of my strict rules of personal conduct. Maybe i've drawn too many of these lines in the sand, and thats why i feel trapped. My own code of ethics and morality is binding me up. Well i guess i'll have to get used to it. There are some things i just won't do, regardless.