[ponyakr]

These birds are still close enuff to some tall trees to get hit. Here's one on the south side, and a couple on the north side. Most of these guys are somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80' tall, and weigh ? tons. Some trees will go thru storms for 50+ years with no problems. Then one day, just the right storm comes thru and down they go.

Since I've seen this tree down, I've been noticing that most of the houses in my area have big trees in the yard which could easily do serious damage to the house. I suppose insurance co just overlook it. It looks to me like it would be a good reason not to insure a house.

By the way, you may have noticed the rear end in front of one of the birds, complete with springs and wheels. This is probably only about 200 yards or so from the Speed Barn where these cars used to reside. The frame rails were so rusty that the rear end came out from under the bird while we were draging it to its new home. It ain't like Arizona around here. We have HUMIDITY, ya'll !

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Man, I sure would like to have those wheels on that differential lying on the ground and on the red '69. What are they, if you recall?

They mite be for sale. You can ask MB. Just send him a PM. He's DirtBird5X.

[ponyakr]

Here's another big oak that's been around longer than me. My grandma and I used to walk by this tree every time we went fishing down at her pond. It's seen a lot of sunshine and weathered a lot of storms.

You can get an idea of how big it is by looking at TJ's Tacoma. It's parked about 50' from the base of the tree. It's a good 5' wide at the base. Many of the limbs are 12"+. I wonder how many tons it weighs?

The last pic is from about 40' away. Didn't even come close to getting it all in the shot. The last pic I had for this post won't upload, but I'll tell about it anyhow. It's of a small stand of what I call "fishin cane". Some call it "switch cane". It's jointed, like bamboo, but not a big. It's what all the poor folks from the south have used for fishing poles, for generations I suppose.

This stuff grows wild all along the gulf coast, I assume. I know there has always been plenty of it around here. And, yes, that's what me and grandma used for our fishin poles, back in my younger days. She knew where the good stands of cane grew and she was always lookin for a few nice long ones to use for fishing.

That reminds me, she also collected tall sage weeds and tied bundles of them together with string to make a "sage broom". Since they were just weeds they didn't hold up to long, so she had to keep making more brooms on a regular basis, to replace those that wore out. I've swept the floor with a sage broom--have ya'll? Hey, this is just another part of "where I came from".

[ponyakr]

This pic was taken from just over 100' away and we still didn't qite get the whole thing in the shot. From this angle it looks like part of the old tree is missing. That's because there are two large limbs that have broken off from this side.

The one on the ground is 14", and the one that's still hung on another limb up in the tree is probably about 12". That's probably as big as some 15-20 year old trees, allthough I don't claim to be a tree expert.

We passed right under some of the limbs of this old tree, when we drug the '69 birds to their new home. I've seen bigger trees, but this one has allways been a part of "where I came from".

[ponyakr]

I suppose a Pecan tree is about as southern as you can get, well, maybe, except for the Magnolia. My grandparents planted several Pecans in a straight row between their house and their barn. When I was in grammar school, they were perfect for climbing.

As I was riding my Kioti back home from taking the tree pics, I just happened to look thru a little opening in the bushes and saw my favorite climbing tree. It was the Pecan that was closest to the house. Of course, it's much bigger now. And I can see from what's left of several tree houses, that my nephew and his boys did some climbing in it too. And, yes, some years they do produce good pecans, if you can get 'em before the squirrels do.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

They mite be for sale. You can ask MB. Just send him a PM. He's DirtBird5X.

Ok, thanks.

[ponyakr]

TJ discovered that some of my pics wouldn't upload because they were too big. So she cropped them a little and I'll post 4 more.

This little stand of woods has thick vines and bushes on the out skirts, but has a rather clean floor inside. It seems that most of the trees reach for the sky, seeking sunlight. So, most of the limbs are high and I suppose block out most of the sunlight below, which limits vegetation and undergrowth.

These tall trees are favorite nesting sites for some of the larger birds in the area, such as owls, hawks, and the large woodpeckers that make a sound sorta like a jungle bird. When we lived by the Speed Barn, every night we could here the clear hoo-hoo sound of resident owls from this patch of woods. Recently, we disturbed a pair of nesting hawks everytime we went to this area to take these pics. They would circle around, making a high piched screech, letting us know they were not happy about our intrusion. I wonder what the birds thought about all the racket them Pontiacs used to make, when they fired up, late at night, and rattled the Speed Barn?

Here's a very tall Pine which fell during one of our thunderstorms. When the wind blows on these tree tops, it has 70-80' of leverage, which makes it hard for the root system to hold the tree up sometimes. So, down they come.

There are not many of these tall wooded areas left in this part of the country. Pine timber is the big money crop here. So more and more of these old hardwood forests are being clear cut, so they can be planted with Pine seedlings. It's sorta sad to see these thick woods where I used to hunt squirrels in my younger days, now all just ugly cutovers, covered in young Pine saplings.

And here's the pic of the little cane patch I mentioned. In some spots, especially close to a small creek or stream or other water source, you can find some real thick stands of cane. All the small streams and ponds in this area have at least a few small patches.

[Greg Reid]

Don, I'm right with you on the clearcutting. It makes a beautiful patch of forest look like a war zone. They cleared about 25 acres next to us some years back and after that, every time a storm came through, we'd lose some trees. I guess we lost the buffer when the cleared those old trees out. It's coming back now but it's mostly scrub.
I wonder....are y'all affected by the pine beetles? They are bad here and we're losing lots of pines in this area..

[ponyakr]

Yeah, that's a big 10-4 on the Pine bugs fur shore! I've had to use my Kioti to drag several pines off of the little dirt road that we call our driveway.

[ponyakr]

I'm sorta partial to black earlybirds. Here's a few that were at Norwalk.

[ponyakr]

I didn't hear 'em run. But this is the loudest bird I saw.

[ponyakr]

Black birds & goats are just part of where I came from. I love 'em. Just can't help it.(some of these may be dark blue or green, but they look black to me, so I'll call 'em black)

You know, it's sort of "funny", how some goats are a little quicker than others.

[ponyakr]

I reckin this is one of the ba-a-a-a-a-a-dest goats I ever saw.

[ponyakr]

Can't have too many '68 blackbirds! I love 'em shiney or flat.

[ponyakr]

'67's and '68's, they's birds of a feather. These look like they wanna fly.

[ponyakr]

I've been reading the PG vs TH400 thread with great interest. When I mentioned that most bracket guys were runnin a glide, and I thought it would be best for running consistant times and reducing the chance of wheel spin, some of the guys came on and said the glide was no good for their car, the TH400 was the only way to go.

Even when I mentioned that some co advertised that they had a glide that was good to 2000+ hp, some said they wouldn't work in a heavy bracket car. I don't remember anybody agreeing that a PG was better. Now I find it very interesting that some of the guys are talking about using PG's that cost several thousand dollars, and are exchanging opinions as to which brand is better.

Don't hear too many now recommending the TH400, like they did when I mentioned the glide. Hey, am I the only one who's noticed the change of opinions? Oh well, who cares, anyway! Life goes on.

[ponyakr]

Saw a show tonight on LPB about the "March On Washington" which took place on August 28, 1963. It's estimated that about 250,000 people attended the event. They came from all over the country, in hundreds of busses, and by train, plane, and car.

There were even a lot of big Hollywood stars, and popular singers there, such as Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Mahalia Jackson, and Charleston Hesston, just to name a few. All the civil rights leaders were there. But the main speaker was MLK. He delivered one of his famous "I have a dream" speeches.

This is also the speech in which he spoke those famous words "Free at last, free at last. Thank God allmighty. We are free at last!" When I heard those words again, it reminded me of a time in my life, which I have mentioned in my story, when I got out of Army basic training at Fort Polk, LA. I can remember the scene and the feeling as well, as I drove down the road in my '69 GTO, away from the bad experience I had endured for the last 4 months, and back toward the freedom of home.

It had been less than 10 years since MLK had made that speech, so everybody my age still remembered those famous words well. They just expressed everything I was feeling at the time. I don't remember if I said them out loud or not. Since I was alone in the car, I probably just thought them or maybe sorta spoke them under my breath--"Free at last, free at last. Thank God allmighty. I'm free at last!" That was definately one of the most pleasant trips I ever made in my ole goat.

I suspect it's hard for young people today to comprehend what it was like, when black people couldn't eat with whites in public eating establishments, or use public rest rooms, or drink at public water fountains, or sit with whites on public transportation, just because of the color of their skin. It seems really rediculous now. But, that's the way it was. That's just part of where I came from.

[ponyakr]

TJ got an interesting email yesterday. I won't try to qoute it word for word, but it went something like this. Imagine that it's sunday morning during a church service, with about 2000 people in the building. Two hooded gunmen burst into the church waving their AK-47's around. Then one of the gunmen shouts to the congregation, "anybody here who's willing to take a bullet for Jesus, stay. Anybody who's not, can leave now.

So the entire choir, all the decons, and everybody else except the preacher and about 20 others run out of the church as fast as they can. Then one of the gunmen turns to the preacher and says "OK preacher, that got rid of all the hypocrites. You can go on with your service now". Then they turn around and walk out.

So this begs the ?--What would you do? Would you be in the majority that runs or with the few who stay? One of Jesus' closest followers said he was willing to die with Jesus. But when it came right down to it, he said that he didn't even know Jesus. He was repentant and was later restored. But for those who don't repent, Jesus said " if you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father...".

Hey, it's just a little food for thought. But with the middle east situation getting worse all the time, we know that the end is in site. Syria vows to attack Israel if we attack them. And Russia, China, and Iran all side with Syria. And there are plenty of nukes to wipe out most living creatures. So things ain't lookin too good here on planet earth. If you don't have your ticket out of here, I recommend that you get yours soon.

They are available, free of charge. You can pick yours up at John 3:16 and Romans 10:9,10.

[ponyakr]

TJ and I went on a little shopping trip Sat. Made our 1st visit to the DD property. We found lots of fans, lined up at this door, waiting to get inside. The line reached all the way out to this rig.

[ponyakr]

The LPB show I mentioned about "the march on washington" was still fresh on my mind, as well as seeing a street sign in Monroe which read "Martin Luther King Blvd", when the thought came to me, "I wonder how many cities have a street named after MLK?"

TJ was using the computer, so I posed the ? to her. She looked it up. It seems that there are over 700 cities listed as having an MLK street, and they didn't even list the one we just saw in Monroe. So there actually could be closer to a thousand. And I'm sure there are lots of statues of him and parks named for him.

Regardless of what you may think of MLK and the civil rights movement, both played a major part in shaping the history of this country. What began with the Civil War, took lots of bloodshed and a hundred years to play out. The younger generations can only learn about this from history. But for us older folks, we lived thru the latter part of the movement. And I just thought of this. When the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, the GTO had just hit the streets, and folks of every color were free to own one, drive it to a public restaurant, and expect to be served. It's just part of "where I came from".