31 December 2024
I’m not sure Wade has made it home yet. Last I heard he was stuck at Dulles International. He had an opportunity for two earlier flights than his originally scheduled one but they ended up fully booked. They boarded standby before him.
His flight was scheduled for 8:39 pm but was delayed until 10:30 because of mechanical issues. The 10:30 flight would have him arrive in San Francisco around 4 am, so he’s got 22 hours waiting and flying under his belt. He’s never had this much problem and he’s flown around the world three times.
I still haver a residual cough and runny nose but I think my cold is pretty much over. I got 8 hours of sleep last night and got out of bed at 6:30. I managed a 1.5 mile walk (although I was tired afterwards). While on the walk, a neighbor asked me if I was a pastor. Of course, I’m the antithesis of a pastor. He was looking for somewhere to donate clothes. I told him about Living Waters Church on Riverland and he decided to go there. Too late I thought of Vietnam Veterans. He lives in the house that goes wacko for the holidays with a yard filled with stuff. Christmas decorations will last until May.
While on the walk, I came across Trumpet Vine, better known to me as Campsis radicans.
It was growing through a fence and I’ve never seen it in South Florida before. It’s in the same family as cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) the Bignoniaceae. I’ve written about kids smoking cross vine stems before. Campsis radicans is more common in the southeastern U.S. so I assume it was planted. It also has a hollow stem.
Hollow stems of plants reminds me of chinaberry trees (Melia azedarach). We had one growing in our yard when we lived in Morton, Mississippi. Archie taught me how to make a pea shooter out of the branches.
First, you would cut off a fairly straight branch of significant girth to hold a pea inside. Then you would heat up a straightened coat hanger until it glowed cherry red and inserted that into the pith of the stem to burn away the pith. It would take several heatings and burning to get through to the other end. You can imagine letting today’s youth heating up a straightened coat hanger.
Once you had the pith cleared and the inner diameter was sufficient, you could use the chinaberries themselves as ammunition. If not, you could make little darts. I have, on more than one occasion, inhaled too soon and sucked the chinaberry down my throat.
Believe me when I tell you a well blown chinaberry from the shooter could really sting. Archie and I used to have wars and I think Jimmie and I did also. The more I think about it, it’s a miracle Jimmie and I still have our eyes and our hands from some of our exploits. We also didn’t have any broken bones, if you can believe that. I’m sure helicopter parents shiver at the thoughts of what we did as kids.
Stay tuned!
