Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

How can anyone not remember the Disney movie, "Song of the South", in which Uncle Remus sang Zip-a-dee-doo-dah?  With the Bluebird on his shoulder, everything was joyful.  One thing that we built that has provided our own song of the south and lots of joy is a zip line.  All it took was about 60 feet of cable, two cable clamps, a piece of steel tubing from the frame of a vibra shank cultivator, a pulley and some scrap pieces of iron to weld together and make a handle.  You pull the cable real tight and stretch between two trees at an angle.  That's it.

Looking up from the end of the cable run

In the photo above you can see that there is no grass growing.  There are two reasons for this.  First, this is a very shady spot - the spot where the cows like to come relax and snooze during the heat of the day - a spot too shady for grass to grow.  Also, this is the spot where I get big round bales of couple year old hay and unroll them.  The hay decomposes with help from the cows and chickens and makes rich soil that I scoop up and use to amend the soil in the garden.

Back to the zip line.  All you do is put the pulley on the tightly stretched cable and pull it to the top of the incline:

We currently have to use a ladder, but we had a tree house in the water oak tree in the picture below.  You would launch off the deck of the tree house which was about 10 feet off the ground.  The treehouse was built with untreated wood that rotted after about 5 years and we tore it down after it became a safety hazard.

You let go and fly!

Benjamin in flight - look ma, one hand!

Then rinse, wash, repeat:

As you're speeding toward the bottom, you're heading toward a smaller barn that we used when we raised goats.  "Oh say can you see..."  We painted an American Flag on the side of it.  I'm 46 going on 76 and am very old fashioned.  I think all barns should have American flags painted on the side of them.  Either that or "See Rock City".  Speaking of Old Glory, I need to get some bleach and clean her up, She's looking kind of weathered.


Stars and Stripes (and chicken)



On this lazy Sunday afternoon, I happened to capture on film a rebel soldier with a Confederate cap and musket in the side yard preparing for an assault in the Battle of Bull Run.  I think it is one of the legendary "Fightin' Tigers".  Here he is now in a skirmish with a Union soldier beneath the pecan trees.  The Yankee falls in a crumpled heap at the feet of the valiant soldier.  If you listen closely, you can almost hear Dixie being played.

Unfortunately the North rebounds and with much drama, Stonewall Jackson has been hit by a musket ball! Medic! 

Right on the periphery of the battleground, Daisy and Rosie graze peacefully, unfazed by the artillery fire.  If you look closely you can see three cattle egrets alongside them.

Cattle egrets will follow grazing cows and can sometimes be seen riding on their backs.  They are actually a friend to the cows and have a sort of a symbiotic relationship with them as they eat flies and other bugs that are attracted to the cows.  They also will eat frogs that are disturbed by the walking cattle.

That's about it for today - a nice, relaxing Sunday.  Craig Morgan has a country song called, That's what I love about Sundays, that sums it up nicely:

That's what I love about Sunday:
Sing along as the choir sways;
Every verse of Amazin' Grace,
An' then we shake the Preacher's hand.
Go home, into your blue jeans;
Have some chicken an' some baked beans.
Pick a back yard football team,
Not do much of anything:
That's what I love about Sunday.