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| In
memory of Jerry De Santos
From my perspective, Jerry was the bee keeper, an "old-timer"
and
was the only person in the neighborhood that was willing to pay a
scrawny kid 10 cents for a galvanized trash can full of water drawn
from his hand pump. That's about 20 minutes effort. He had a
large track of land about 500 yards up the road from our house
where I grew up. He didn't live on the property but there
was an
old house that we were told that had been a way station for the
railroad folks; the tracks being about 100 feet away and at that time
separated by thick woods. Jerry had a number of bee hives,
many
hidden behind palmetto thickets, muscadine curtains and sand oak.
He kept his honey processing equipment in an Airstream
trailer
that seemed to me to be about 12 foot long and was packed full of stuff
just like the old Plymouth he drove. I only got to peek into
it a
couple of times. Sue and Paulette spent a lot of time at
Jerry's
helping him grow and water his flowers and doing chores. I
just
know they spend many hours down there helping out and brought honey
home once or more times. I don't think he trusted us boys as
well
as he could the girls. I don't remember the year Jerry died,
but
I do remember when he died, I was still a kid. My mom and dad
went to his memorial service. I don't think there were many
other
folks that came. circa 1967 |
This sugar sand trail leading through the Florida scrub is near identical to the path down to Jerry's, except this is packed. I must have trudged through that soft sand a thousand times. Once, my mom tried to drive a Corvair down it; she got it stuck in a heartbeat. |
| In
memory of Mindy
(May 1992 - April 2006). A high school friend of
mine,
Craig Milhouse, owned a Labrador Retriever and I will never forget the
persistence that dog had in its desire to fetch a stick and bring it
right back to you. In the summer of 1992, we
brought this
duck-footed black ball of fur and rambunctious intentions to our
Julianna home. Mindy lived the life of an urban dog; although
we
did get down to Demetree Park for some free running and a swim in the
pond, yet she expected bigger jobs for herself. Mindy
certainly
had a thousand miles on her broad padded toes just in tennis ball
chasing alone. At the new house she had this great 1 acre
field
to call her own. The first 4 years she was a live wire.
We
will always remember her first day at obedience class when we were
running around the parking lot trying to catch her because she leaped
from the car without restraint. She loved the water,
unfortunately the water was not kind to her ears. She had a
vocabulary of about 60 words and I think on those long days when
everyone was at work and school, she yearned to be at our sides in the
evening. She would plod up the steps after Pam and I would
get
into bed, then plop herself down next to me for a head and neck rub. The heart of a dog becomes part of your own heart. That's why it is broke when they leave us. June, 2008
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The Clever and thoughtful mind of a Labrador Retriever.
Of all the human qualities that dogs often posses, Mindy undoubtedly
expressed appreciation. The Labrador Retriever is - loving, affectionate, patient, highly intelligent, loyal, willing, high spirited, good-natured, friendly, of reliable temperment and loves to swim. |