life in the city......from a country boy's perspective............it pretty much sucks!! seriously, you can't even see the stars at night for the glow city lights. i rarely fish any more even i have the whole Atlantic Ocean just a few miles from my house. i don't care to fish in the ocean. dude,.......there is some strange critters in that water. there is some fish in that water that will take your hand off if it gets close enough to it!! some of the fish aren't fit to eat either, and i still don't know which are the nasty ones.
i can tell you a funny story of me fishing in the inter-coastal waters one day. i was down in St. Augustine fishing one day. the waters are brackish, which means that they are a combination of salt, and fresh water. i really don't reckon that adds, or takes away from my story. it's just a fact for those that don't know.
anyway,...............i had waded out into the water 40-50 feet. the water level was chest high, and i was having a pretty descent day. i had caught a couple healthy looking fish. i don't know what the were, but once i cooked them i quickly figured out there were not suitable for human consumption. they were quite
nasty, and oily.
now you do realize that i was standing in water with sharks, rays, manatees, and possibly dolphins. anytime you go into the ocean, or the inter-coastal waters you are in the water with live hungry sharks. most of them are basically small, and don't care about eating human flesh. most of the time when folks are bitten by sharks they are on the hunt for food, and confuse the person with their diet. if they ate people it would be far worse than just a bite.
now this is very reverent to my story, because i was standing out there, and i heard a great commotion going on behind me. i turned around and all these fish are swimming so hard that they can't stay in the water. there were all different kinds of fish, and all sizes.it was a spectacular sight. i was amazed. i kept standing there just watching as they went passed me. my county bumpkin ass didn't know what danger that i was in. it was later on in the day when i told somebody else about this amazing adventure.
they just laughed at me, and asked what the biggest fish that i saw looked like? i told them that is was 3-4 feet long. all of a sudden he got this serious look on his face, and said that i got lucky today, because it was probably a school of sharks on the hunt, by what i described. they had to be bigger than the biggest fish that i had seen. i though that this was so awesome!! i never had this experience first hand. I've seen that happen from the banks before, but i was in the middle of it this time............wow!!
I'm running low on wood for my fire place. any idea where a country boy gets wood in the city? that's pretty simple,............i get it from the neighborhood!! Tuesday morning is wood day in Jax. all the neighbors pile up their unwanted wood, and brush for the city to pick it up, and dispose of it. on Monday nights i just have to walk around, and gather it up. these city slickers don't realize they are keeping me warm on a cold winters night. i love the winter months here in Florida. i don't think that anybody lives here because of the long hot summer months. the humidity is the killing factor here. the amount of heat is really not that bad by itself, but when you smother the heat with a constant, and consistent 100% humidity it can get miserable with a quickness!!
it's cool to have public transportation in the city. especially when you've been a bad boy like me and can't legally drive. it takes a great sacrifice to ride the bus. it's pretty much an all day event. they don't run in any fashion together when you need to take more that one to your destination. the good thing about riding the bus is the fact of all the different people that you meet. there are a few doosies!! almost ever nut in the city rides the bus, and I'm right there with them communicating.
i grew up basically shy, and i still am today. there is something different about talking with people on the bus. most of them you will never see again in a city this large. people can disappear for years in a heart-beat. seeing how i know this i put on my actor persona, and just let it rip!! if you see a woman that you want to meet on the bus, action is required with a quickness, because a second shot is not guaranteed.
most of these city folks are running scarred. they are scarred to talk, or to even get close. some of them wont even acknowledge that you standing in their face talking with them. what the heck!!............this ain't New York City!! i often walk down the street greeting everybody that i come crossed, and i'm amazed at the folks that apparently are blind, and deaf also!!
i miss the country life. all the folks are so friendly. you never meet a stranger in the country. usually their first words are " hieddy Friend, is Thar some thin that i can hep you with?" even as friendly as these folks can be there is no need for a city slicker to ask for directions. he will leave more confused than he was when he got there. here is a sample conversation between the two.
" excuse me sir...............hieddy friend,..........is thar some thin that i can help you with? yes sir, i'm looking for the Johnson's dung factory on the old mill road.......................yep,.........i can sure enuff hep you with that. i used to play in their field when i was a youngan. me and the other boys used to throw crap balls at each other. it was so fun, but you have to make the balls up by hand. what you would do is................sir,.........sir,.......can you tell me how to get there? yep, ........sure can. i kinda get off track sometimes thinkin' about my past. now,..........it happens when a man gets on up in the years.........what did you want to know?............oh,.......i remember. you need to get back in your automobile, and drive a little piece past Earl Scrugg's place......... not too fer though,.......... because you need to turn on that dirt road beside the old lovers tree, .......make sure ye turn bside the tree, because if you don't you will be lost......and i don't reckom that i have time to be huntin' fer you today, because ma is makin' fried apple pies today............then you go a piece down, and turn at the crick ..............stay on that road until you pass the mill, and foe too long you should see it,.............right in front of yer eyes!!..................now friend,..........is thar any thin else i can hep you with?"
i simply love these older country folks. they don't let anything rock their world!! however,.......if you manage to set them off in a tissy........you best run, because one of them have gone to grab the shotgun, and they grew up shooting!! they can pick a flea off a dogs back at 50 yards!!
honestly, i do miss the country, but i do love the city life also. i am what i am, and i don't pretend in an attempt to fit in. i still talk with my deep Alabama accent, and when people laugh at it i just smile,and put then on a real show. i can really slow down the pace, and kick in that southern twang. i love my southern heritage, and wouldn't change it if i could. i'm an old redneck country boy, and proud of that fact!!
well,............i reckon that i've had all the fun that i can stand for the day. i need to go to the store and fetch me some vittles for supper tonight.................as always........
..............much love
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