Close to Nowhere
Great-grandson Shepard was born to be a country boy. He’ll be 3 in December and his dad Tim is already teaching him all the things he needs to know to live in the wilds of Mississippi.
Shepard’s mom Merideth, my oldest granddaughter, her husband Tim, Shepard and baby sister Ruby June spent Sunday afternoon in the woods around the house. Never mind that it felt like 100-plus degrees outside, they had stuff to do. Tim has fixed the swing hanging from a big tree between daughter Dana’s house and my house. You can’t push Shepard high enough or fast enough or long enough.
Usually I know they’ve arrived when Shepard comes running in through the back door yelling, “Hi, Bumpy!” He then proceeds to distribute his toys all over the floor and dismantle whatever he can find on the table beside my chair.
Ruby June, who is just learning to walk, is usually confined to her playpen. Somehow, she’s not related to us, as she’s terrified of my dog Teddy and my new little kitten Hobbes Jr. She’s a tiny little thing, but I’ve never seen a baby eat as much as she does and with as much enjoyment. She absolutely loves food, totally unlike her brother, who is a very picky eater. RJ is pretty sure she can dance, run and fly. She tries extremely hard to take flight and can dance like a Rockette. She wants to be chasing after her brother in the worst possible way.
She would have enjoyed playing with Tim and Shepard on Sunday. This Sunday, Tim was the first one to rush in the door. He’d caught a baby grass snake and couldn’t wait to show it off. I’ve never seen one as tiny as this and I’ve seen (and caught) my share of grass snakes, lizards and frogs around my house.
This little guy was beautiful. A brilliant emerald green, he probably wasn’t six inches long and he just gleamed and shone. He was really wiggly and was so small I was afraid I’d hurt him. Tim was extremely gentle and told Shepard to only touch him with one finger. Shepard likes to hug animals. Teddy, my fat dog, is fine being hugged by Shepard, but kitten Hobbes has learned to hide from him.
After they played with the snake a while, they headed out on adventures. Mom followed with her camera and they rode the four-wheeler down Whiskey Hill Road toward an offshoot stream of Sardis Lake, just a couple miles from the house. Shepard came home covered in mud and about as happy as a little boy can be.
They’d played in the sand/dirt down by the water and ridden the four-wheeler through giant mud puddles. On the gravel road that is Whiskey Hill, there is always, no matter how dry it’s been, a big puddle and several smaller ones. I’ve always thought there must be a feeder creek or something nearby.
Mom videoed the two guys riding through the mud puddle with water and mud flying everywhere. You can hear Shepard laughing and “wheeeeing” the entire video. Mom took a ton of pictures of the two “boys” playing in the mud and inspecting interesting rocks and marking each other’s face with mud streaks.
Somehow she’s rarely in the pictures. She likes to capture the joy the two boys have playing with each other.
I can’t imagine a better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon if you’re a true Mississippi boy.