Pine Bluff News
By Pat Matheny
Saturday morning, we drove to Philippi to check out the 28th Annual Blue & Gray Reunion.
Part of Main Street was shut down and it was filled with all sorts of craft and food vendors. They were having the Chili Cook-Off contest, but I elected not to participate … I didn’t want to ruin my palate for some upcoming hot dogs. Every year they have a re-enactment of the First Land Battle of the Civil War which is held on Sundays, but at 1 pm they were having a small skirmish near the end of the covered bridge. It was great seeing guys dressed in the blue/gray uniforms of the period and checking out their tent encampments. During the skirmish, there were about 20 soldiers on both sides blasting away at each other with muskets while cannons were roaring in the background…that was cool. I’m not exactly sure who won, but between the two sides, I noticed about five or six casualties lying on the battlefield. I think there were only two wounded in the original 1861 battle.
Saturday evening, we drove up to T&L Hot Dog at the Rosebud Plaza. This is where the local antique car enthusiasts and gearheads hang out on Saturday evenings. It has been twenty years since I sold my ’57 Ford and haven’t been to any car shows since, so I didn’t know if we’d recognize anyone or not. There were some nice sets of wheels in the parking lot. We did run into our dear friends Bill and Donna Richards of Big Isaac. He still has his sweet yellow ’50 Chevy pickup; we also ran into to Cuz Johnny Matheny (we usually run into each other at Jimmy’s Diner).
One morning, Susie was doing some laundry and I was in the office on the computer. All of a sudden I heard a hard thump and heard her hollering. Putting two and two together, I knew she had fallen and I went tearing through the house towards the utility room. I found Susie sitting on the floor in front of the washing machine and there was some kind of moisture all around her. After noticing no broken bones, my first question was, “What the h— happened”! She said that she decided to spray some Febreeze in the utility room, but she grabbed the wrong can and sprayed a healthy amount of Pledge instead, before realizing the mistake. Then, being barefooted, she slipped and fell in it..??
I got her some paper towels to wipe her hands and feet off and then I started to help her up. She said, “No, hand me some more paper towels and I’ll wipe it up while I’m already down here”…good thinking. Then, I offered to drag her back and forth to finish Pledging up the whole floor. She didn’t think that was funny…I did! She came away with a sore ego and butt.
One evening we were working in the flowers and spreading mulch around the patio. They had predicted rain, so I commented that the weathermen got it wrong again and there’s a blue sky with no clouds overhead. Susie looked through the breezeway towards the front of the house and said, “The blue is getting darker back that way”. I said, “No, that’s just your perception of blue, the further away it is the darker it appears”. A little irritated, she replied, “Ok”.
A few minutes later I walked through the breezeway to the front of the garage and noticed that the sky was three different shades of blue, with some gray and black thrown in. I commented to Susie that the sky looked a little angry back that way. She said, “Oh, no, no, that’s a blue sky, that’s just your perception of blue”. Just then, Berni pulled into the driveway as the wind started picking up. She got out of her vehicle and said, “Look at that storm coming”. Susie said, “Oh, no, no, that’s a blue sky, that’s just your perception of blue”. Well, Mr. Know-it-All here walked right into that one and I haven’t heard the end of it yet.
Until next time, have a great week and remember our Veterans.
Pat