The Chestnut Burr

 Sipping on a fresh homemade strawberry kombucha, I’m sitting in a 600 square foot room we call “the cave”.  It’s snowing outside, while I’m watching flames in the woodstove through the glass door.  The contrast of extremes is interesting. My charcoal gray T-shirt states,  I’m currently unsupervised.  I know, it freaks me out too.   But the possibilities are endless !   My gray beard matches it well. My wife says that I’ve evolved into a hippie.  Yes, I do hunt mushrooms in the woods. I also make my own herbal teas and medicines. My ROKU is playing Tibetan meditation music in the background… so she probably isn’t far from the truth.  But not a hippie, maybe a rebel.  Religion has changed so much I've certainly rebelled against it.  Most are old fashioned funeral services that berate everyone to respond down front,  I just can't do it.  The large Mega churches aren't for me either.  I can...

 An awful event has occurred which cannot be undone!  It was a Pandora's box which should never have been opened.  I'm talking about the invasive plant problem.  Our ancestors invited them in, dreaming they would be of great benefit.  Since then, they have become a nightmare!  You already know most, kudzu, privet, honeysuckle, Chinese tallow, mimosa trees, bamboo, and the list goes on and on. I believe the catalyst which began the downfall was the industrial age.  Farming has always taken an intensive labor force.  Whether a family with several children or one with cheap laborers, farming isn't easy work.  As more money was to be made with jobs in the cities, children and other laborers moved there, leaving farmers facing a daunting task, raising food with little help.  So most family farms were sold to big conglomerates which replaced cheap labor with chemicals.  Some farmers even use genetically engineered plants that contain a bu...

  I originally published this on 11/9/2017 and added four other chapters during the following days, as I dug for information. The story was just too lengthy, so I’ve condensed it down to the bare bones. All of the facts in the matter were turned over to detectives in the Gadsden Police Department. Enjoy your read, and remember to check on your elderly family members!   This is a sad story.  My sister, Judy Gail Bynum, who was 76 years old, died today about 7AM.  She was alone. A short obituary appeared in the Gadsden Times on 11-17-2017. Judy Gail Bynum, 76, passed away Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. A memorial servicewill be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Rainbow Church of Christ (where she had not attended in several years) , with visitation from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Judy was born on Sept. 29, 1941, in Alabama City to Ellis Benson Bynum and Germaine Cox Bynum. Judy is survived by her daughter, Ann (Chris) Mikle; grandchildren, Clay, Sara and Colt Mikle; brothers, Ri...

  My Grandparents were Wallace Henry and Serepta Cox.  They were my mother’s parents who gave dad the land to build his house.  We lived directly behind them in a two-story cinder block house.   I know now what a blessing it was to live so close, to at least one side of my third generation.  I have so many memories of them that I consider priceless. They were both born in the late 1800’s and married in December of 1919, only two months after his military discharge from the Army.  Granddaddy had served in World War I as a military policeman in France.  He had many occupations as he traveled around the Southeast seeking income for his young family.  Grandmother would often joke every time they passed through a small town, “Wallace said he helped build that plant”!  They grew up in harsh economic times.  Granddad was forty-one years old when the depression hit.  By that time, he ow...