After much confusion and embarrassment we have done our due diligence and know the rest of the story regarding Precious and Baby, the outside cats.
First mistake: Precious is really Baby and Baby is really Precious. If given a fifty-fifty guess I am always wrong. The girls were originally cohabitating with Cousin Kenny, the original owner of the house. When Kenny (pronounced “kinee”) moved about half a mile down the road the girls moved with him, but at the first opportunity relocated back to their original shack here. They faithfully served rodent duty for the family we purchased the property from for the last seven years and now continue their service under the current administration.
Second mistake: The possibility of either of the girls being pregnant was removed long ago. Either precious needs to stop drinking beer or we need to work on our animal husbandry skills significantly before buying a cow.
Lesson learned: Don’t ever ask a woman when she is due with her baby, even if you are pretty sure you think you heard she was pregnant. (This lesson has nothing to do with the cats by the way).
We decided that we should go down the street today to meet some of the neighbors. I don’t know why we didn’t do this at any of our previous locales in the past but for some reason it seemed like the thing to do today. It may be because we feel a kindred spirit with all the other people out in the middle of farm country that have long gravel driveways, or because people here make sure to wave as they drive by (with all of their fingers up), but it just seemed like we should.
We met the “A’s” first, Allen and Amber and their daughters. Everyone in their family has names beginning with “A”. Allen is the brother of the girl we purchased the property from. He did a great job of warning us about snake behavior and the proper etiquette when meeting a snake up close. Apparently many city folk have misunderstood the subtle nuances of snake relationships in the past, but we are now well informed. When we asked about Allen’s greenhouse and if he had constructed it himself, he offered that the design was from the University of North Carolina Agricultural Extension Office web site and that he had indeed built it himself, but no longer had a use for it and that us having it would suit him very well. Chris and I will disassemble and move over the frame later this week.
Then we stopped across the street to meet Cousin Kenny. Kenny is the first cousin of the girl we purchased the property from. Kenny’s last name is Jones. (We live on Jones Rd.) Kenny is the original owner of our property and moved the house onto the property fourteen years ago. We own a fourteen-year-old house built in 1938. Ten minutes after introducing myself to Kenny I was in his pickup on the way to get Gayle for the neighborhood tour. We drove Kenny and Judy’s 46 acres, past the back gate of the Lazy 5 Ranch (a drive through safari) and saw the Giraffes and the Rhino. We toured Kenny’s “barn” that was nicer than most lawyers offices and Judy's house (which Gayle loved), met their son Wesley, were offered dinner and urged to attend their Bible study every second and fourth Thursday at their house. Gayle was also invited to the “Girls Night Out” once a month with the local ladies.
After two hours of visiting we headed home and realized that we had just been incredibly blessed to have experienced true southern hospitality.
If you ever get the chance I highly recommend it.
