Reminiscence Installment 46

When a guy with a shotgun tells you to stop, I figure that it is a good idea to make him happy.  We went like a flock of sheep right over to the side of the road and started in on the work with the others.  After… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 45

First thing we did when we got inside the gate was to get chewed out by this officer about how dirty we looked and, if we ever had the honor of joining the Army, we would finally learn what clean meant.  He also looked at me and… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 44

Things were pretty quiet in Fayetteville.  We found a shack that sold barbecue and was closing up for the day.  We asked to buy the leftover meat and, after telling the owner why we were in town, he let us have as much leftover as we could… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 43

There is something about being determined that is fulfilling.  I left the House of Refuge and started walking south along the shore.  After about two days, I came across a paved road and followed that for a good 10 miles until I had to stop and rest. … Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 42

The inspectors came today.  Everything looked great to them.  I stayed out of sight for a while but finally had to come up to the Refuge because it was so cold and windy.  I met the inspectors and told them about how these two fellows had saved… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 41

I can’t say enough about having a warm place to stay and food in your belly.  I really thought that I would never know that again. 

I’ve been in the Refuge about three weeks now and almost feel like a real person again.  The fellows… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 40

I’ve been stumbling along about 10 sunup’s now and it looks as though my luck has turned.  Early this morning I saw a man on the beach in front of me.  I thought he was a ghost or some funny shaped piece of wood that washed up,… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 39

I am really hungry.  I must have been asleep for a couple of days after I found a piece of canvas blown up against a pine tree just off the beach and used it for a blanket.  It was still cold, but I got down in a hollow… Read full post »

 Reminiscence Installment 38 

Damn.  It is the coldest I have ever seen.  I got really wet yesterday when it suddenly came up a cloud.  I didn't see it coming, but even if I had, there wasn't any place that I could go to keep dry when the rain came down sideways… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 37

Well, I haven't starved yet.  I was able to trap some little fish using one of the planks.  I couldn’t eat them when they were alive but was able to squeeze them until they stopped opening their mouth and then bite off the section between the head and… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 36

It was so cold last night that I got up and started walking.  I figured that walking would be warmer than lying in a scooped out place in the sand.  At any rate, I didn’t freeze solid and maybe made four or five miles in my walk to… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 35

There was a skin of ice on top of the water in the mangrove this morning.  I didn’t think that old black water would freeze, but it did.  Maybe it was the wind blowing across it that made it turn hard.

I put my bed outside and… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 34

 I must have been out of my mind.  The damn pine needles and moss had ants in it.  Now I have them in the shack, they are here until we have a good freeze for a couple of days.  That will be January at best, given the weather… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 33

Clouds got really heavy this morning and the wind whipped up strong.  It sure looked like that day when the fellows came by to get me with the truck.  I need to find somewhere to get inside from this weather or else leave this blasted beach.  Nothing… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 32

Things look and feel different, like I haven't been here before.  I know that is crazy.  All sand looks the same and all oceans look the same, but I know that I was here in the storm.  That is, until the accident getting on the truck.

Anyway, it… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 31

The wind got up real strong last night, rain beating on my face until it felt like it was whipped with nettles.  About the time the ocean was to take over the whole beach, those government fellows came back to see if I had left.  I… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 30

Some guys came by in a truck and told me that I needed to move off of the beach.  Something about a hurricane coming in the next day or so.  They said that I needed to move inland, maybe 50 miles or more but they didn't give me… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 29

So, the ocean is pretty and the sand soft.  I've been out here for a day and a half and have only been able to find water in the pools back in the trees behind the beach.  Even then, it is bad tasting - like it has iron… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 28

I kept walking for a long time after staying with the sharecroppers.  The memories of how they live still haunt me.  I will never again think that I am not blessed by the things that I have.

Anyway, after a hot day of walking, things went right… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 27

I came to a small settlement of sharecroppers this morning.  They were suspicious of me at first, but eventually started talking.  No work here, but they pointed me toward a factory a few miles away where I could find day work.  I was amazed at how these… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 26

There is an end to everything good.  I've been working here for the past month and we are finally through with all of the work for the fall.  It felt so good to be done with everything until I remembered that if there's no work, I can't… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 25

It's been raining for the last three days.  Mr. Barnes has been really nice to let me stay here and do some odd jobs until we can get back into the fields.  I have cleaned out the shed, making it a better workshop for him and a… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 24

I was walking down the road toward Columbia and a farmer asked me if I wanted to work.  Out of the blue, can you believe it?  Of course, I told him that I would work as hard as he wanted as long as he paid me a… Read full post »

Reminiscence Installment 23

Damn.  I didn't know that these old freight cars were so noisy.  It took me a long time to get comfortable on the wooden floor and then the noise of the rattles and wind sifted through my bones until daylight started to set in.  I only… Read full post »