Country Road, Take Me Home

To the place I belong.....No it's not WV, but the song sure fits our neck of the woods.  We had a few errands in Coudersport today such as dog licenses, mail some thank yous, pick up some clear plastic for the garden, gas in the car (3.75 a gallon!), and then to the little grocery store across from Charles Cole.  They sell the best USA seafood at a reasonable price.  The shrimp is what we were after and is Texas Bay Shrimp.  How about that?  The big stores go for seafood from China, Taiwan, etc.   We refuse, I have a feeling it is raised and packaged in some nasty conditions.  Not to mention the contamination in their water. Who knows they might have a plan to rid us from the earth by what we eat.   I know, seafood from the USA may also have it's problems but I'll take my chances on this call.

Back to country roads.  We go one way and home the other, that way we don't miss seeing what is going on in the area.  I am happy to report nothing new and no changes on this ride.  Just beautiful views through the open woods.  No underbrush leaved out yet so the view was of new green ground cover just waiting to blossom.  May 1, will soon be here which means, May flowers, Stink Pots and Adder Tongues.  Even though they are named after a nasty snake I still like them with their single stem, green spotted slender leaves and yellow lily like flower.

Speaking of May......how about making a May Basket and surprising someone?  That was so exciting in school, we would make little May Baskets, fill them with flowers and the teacher would take us around town to hang baskets on door knobs of retired people.   The boys all complained but the girls loved it ;)  I didn't like Red Rover, Red Rover but I still did it.  We had some pretty cruel boys in our class, at least I thought so.

Sorry, back to country roads.  One thing is for sure, living here for 64 years puts a lot of memories in just about every back road in a 20 mile radius.  Today was going past a couple of streams we would trout fish on.  Way back they didn't stock so it was the Native Trout we fished.  More allusive than a stocky. You had to really be sneaky or give up and finger them!  Illegal but many a kid was taught by a dad or brother to finger fish.  I guess it depended on how hungry they were for fish.  Fish and leeks in April, it can't get more original than that.  My grandson brings me a few fresh trout  now.  Then we came up over the dirt road which is now named Moffit Rd. which drops into Clara Valley.  For older folks reading this you might remember it as "Nigger Hill".  Sorry if this offends you but it was the actual name of the hill and road.  Go back to the maps before 1980 and that's what is printed.  I guess it's only as incorrect as one can make it.  My goodness my 7th grade teacher referred to it that way, she lived at the base of the hill on a beautiful farm.  I believe this is where the black family named Moffit lived during the underground railroad era.  At least this is the story I have been told.  Either or we have some great hunting experiences, wonderful walks and picking blackberries up there.  Not to mention coon hunting and spotting deer.  The coon hunting was in high school with Fay Schoonover, Ken Hersog and Tom Scott, more good and exciting times.  Even the girlfriend liked the thrill of a good coon hound sounding off in the dark of night.  We took our cousin Jerry McDermott when he lived out here for his Junior and Senior year, I guess we should apologize for talking him into going up a spindly tree after the coon. It snapped and down Jerry and the coon fell.  It doesn't pay to be the new city boy from Los Angeles in 1966.  He forgave us that night, good guy!

That's the love of a country road, the scenery, quiet and memories.  The older we get the more the memories surface and mean so much to us.  Remember tell your stories to your kids and grand kids, someday they will Pass it On to others.  You know I love stories from everywhere and everyone.

A glass of Naughty & Nice from my DIL, North Carolina Duplin.  My favorite, sweeeeet ♥