I saw the signs.

I saw the telltale signs,
stripped stems and dark green dookie pellets.
So I've been on a tomato hornworm
search and destroy mission.

I miss my little red hens.
They loved to follow me
on a worm-hunting adventure.
I'd pry the fat boys off the plants
and flick them at my girls' feet.

Did I ever tell you about
my first encounter with guacamole?
Thought it was prueed tomato hornworm.
That was back in 1973.

This picture is from Clemson's web site.


http://entweb.clemson.edu/eiis/factshot/images/tomatohornworm.jpg

A Big Girl Now

This week my baby turned into a big girl, passing her drivers test with smooth, flawless parallel parking, which you only need in Greer, got her first little part-time job making outside money (not from my pocketbook), and filled the gas tank with said money. I am getting old.

975.729

I’ve been lurking in the 975.729 region of the Dewey Decimals lately. The 975 means
Southeastern US, the .7 means South Carolina, and the 29 means Spartanburg County. I like to see what the historians say about my antecedents. One of the most concentrated of the Spartan District tomes I’ve run across is a little self-published jewel called Indians, Bloodshed, Tears, Churches, and Schools – It All Started at Fort Gowen by James V. Gregory and James Walton Lawrence, Sr. 2003.
The idea for this book began with the authors’ and the National Park Service’s search for the original site of Fort Gowan, one in a string of several forts, all within a one-day’s walk (or run) of each other, built during the times of Tory, Indian, and outlaw gang attacks on the settlers in the South Carolina backcountry. Often mentioned are the dastardly deeds of the outlaw William “Bloody Bill” Bates along the Indian Line (Spartanburg Co. and Greenville Co. boundary). We also had another Bloody Bill in the region, William Cunningham, most noted for his attack at Walnut Grove Plantation near Roebuck. Bates reminds me of the pirate character, Stephen Bonnet, in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series. I imagine his maraudering band to be a lot like the gang of bandits who kidnapped Claire in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Very nasty fellow.
Much of the information for Fort Gowen was gathered from aerial maps, the SC Archives, Greenville and Spartanburg County records, old newspaper articles, and the writings of local historians Dr. Lyman Draper, Dr J.B.O. Landrum, and Mann Batson. This little book reminded me that some of the greatest suffering and bloodshed before and during the American Revolution was borne by the original settlers of the backwoods Spartan District of South Carolina.

I wonder about that Guy guy.

s Today we went to Harold's of Gaffney, featured on The Food Network's show with spiky-haired Guy Fieri, for their famous chili burger. No wonder they don't tell you how they make the chili on the show. I need Imodium and Nexium. If Dewy's Duck Inn in Startex were still open, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives would have ignored Harold's - best chili ever in this world at the Duck Inn. I'd kill for that mill hill recipe. We went to the Duck Inn for our dogs and to Walt's Mr. Hot Dog for our chili-cheese burgers. That was twenty-five years ago, so it may just be my old lady innards and not Harold's food. But the amazing thing about Harold's is that it's been in business for 75 years and making the food the same way. Now I'd like to give them a second chance on one of the pinto bean Wednesdays. Pinto beans, fatback, corn muffins, chow chow, and onions sound real good to me.