322- AND FOR ME, TONIGHT?....BAKING GRANDMA STEFFEY'S RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE BISCUITS!....

A) Ever get a hankering to whup up a bit of food just for the smell of it, no matter the time of the day or night? BISCUITS are on my menu tonight, before completing my latest 101st newspaper essay on my native Virginia's 180+ still-standing old train depots! My grandma, Willie, had no secret recipe notbook nor cookboo. She cooked and baked from pure experience...and memory! Those biscuits were high and, yes, light. And she always left a handful of dough to not roll out and to shape a special one for my gandfather, Carl...one big odd looking biscuit. Oh, and how did I get her recipe that didn't exist? Cleverly watch her a few times whup them up. Mine don't, by the way, come anywhere near her's!

B) Over time, the depots were all researched, searched for, found and carefully photographed all over the State. Yes, took some time to do....
Most, by the way, left standing in nearly every small town and village, have been left decaying along the tracks.
C) Signal towers are rusting. Once vibrant communities are now leaving for urban areas, taking their jobs and local cafes and businesses elsewhere. This week one more tiny depot was uncovered in New Kent County between Williamsburg and Richmond. It took me several passes along the country road to spot the two wooden depot buildings along the tracks. The narrow strip between the road and tracks was covered with vegetation and trees. Viola! There was an outline. Walking around onto the tracks I could see it better...Nikon in hand. At least the location and pics, saved, will tell posterity, if anyone cares, that the local tiny community along Rockahock Road once existed......

321- IT'S TIME FOR MEN TO CATCH UP WITH WOMEN IN ONE FIELD....HEALTH!

A) GENDER CHECK-UPS...preventive health problems for both women and men!

B) Prostate checks! And I am not shy about sharing....
For all of you ladies...educate your sons, brothers, husbands, friends and lovers about taking the INITIATIVE and making an appointment to have your prostate checked! I know from experience, as a guy, that most guys have a secret fear of even wanting to know about the "common" prostate health problem...don't!
C) Locically, there are two options, guys: when you do have a check-up, you could be certified by the doc as OK but KNOW! If there is a problem, then you will know and can immediately, with your doc, take steps to remedy! The odds there, by the way, are excellent for a remedy. Both ways you win.....but you will know, with no more evading the issue, pretending that your health is good!
D) How do I know? I did take the initiative, guys, and was also hesitant...NO problem, though, when checked.

E) CALL AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, guys, for that prostate check....you win both ways! By the way, it was not the most exciting experience ever, but I focused on, hmmmm, its completion, knowing that it would be completed relatively quick, within minutes...honest. And it was! So, ron rascal celebrated later with a.....PIZZA! What a reward to myself....

F) AND ALSO GENERAL HEALTH CHECKS, TOO! Go for it, everybody.

320- THE OTIS P. T. SUGGINS PHILOSOPHIES Of LIFE #1.....

"Inch by inch...everything's a cinch!"

319- HOW ABOUT THAT P.E.T.A.?.....

A) Throwing fish early each morning in the Seattle fish market? "STOP IT...hurts the fish," P.E.T.A. claims.
A Prez catching a fly in the air? He did slap it into eternity. "STOP IT...flies have feeling, too...or did," P.E.T.A. said.

B) How do you spell 'ridiculous'?

C) This guy learned, some time ago, and don't ask me why, how to swoop under and up to catch a fly with one hand! After years of study, observing the aerodynamic flight path of how a fly takes off and practicing, I discovered the secret! Works every time, by the way. Sorry...you'll have to be curious enough to figure it out yourself. Yes, the Prez and I share a secret...but I don't, uh, slap!
D) My grandmother Cline once told me, while a child: "The little things in life are important, and are what you remember the most. Go for it, Ronnie."

318- A KERNAL Of CORN...A HANDFUL Of ACORNS.....

A) "Today, I held a kernal of corn in my hand. I was holding a year and part of a cornfield right here in my hand!
B) Tomorrow, I will hold a handful of acorns in my hands. I will be holding a forest in my hands!
If I don't plant the kernal of corn and the acorns, I will still be holding a kernal of corn today in my hand and a handful of acorns tomorrow in my hands...."

(A very wise person, Otis P. T. Suggins, shared these. I really like the heck out of these two, too! This philosopy major thanks Otis P.T.!)

317- MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON....1958-2009!

No matter what...the name, musical and entertainer legacy of Michael Joseph Jackson are probably more known around the world than any other single name from the 20th century! I, and many others, have always felt that our "forever child" entertainer was wrongly lampooned and persecuted during and after his exoneration from those charges during the trail. The trial, if anyone took the time to examine it, was a "kangaroo court", and Jackson was declared INNOCENT by his peers!
But he paid, in a civil suit, desparately hurt, to make it all go away. Not a smart thing to do, by the way, but Michael could not handle confrontation and was a 'gentle' soul.
Ever notice how certain pissant persons and groups in society get off on trying to pull down to their own cesspool level those popular and productive persons in the public spotlight? Michael Jackson was a brilliant icon in the music and entertainment world, period...and will be for many years in the future.
I want you to pay attention to how enough news media and individuals, now, are hustling to find any and all dirty tidbits to broadcast to the world that our MJ was not perfect! Are you?

And, as an old-timer in the mts. of West-by-gosh-Virginia would say, "Birds always like to pick at the best fruit of the tree!"

Michael Joseph Jackson...rest in peace! But, alas, it appears that, for the past week, society is bent upon digging up as much garbage, a frenzy, as many can uncover...who cares about the truths!

316- IT'S SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME, SUM-SUM SUMMERTIME....

What do red raspberries...watermelon...and licking ice cream have in common?

They're all three darn good for you! The RED raspberries improve blood vessel function and are checked full of vitamin C and fiber. Watermelon is 92% water and full fo vitamin C, also. The RED contains lycopene, an antioxidant.
And that leaves, by the way, the ICE CREAM. LICKING an ice cream cone IS more satisfying than using a spoon or spork! The flavor is IN the fat and is warmed to body temp when the lick meets the tongue...hmmm. Oh mi ga!

OK, how do all of you aficianados lick a cone of scrumptuous ice cream in the summer?
a) Carefully decide what kind of cone to use...regular or the sugar kind?
b) Lick very, very fast but methodically!
c) Twist cone around in a circle, to keep the ice cream equally in check as it melts quickly in the summer warmth?
d) If any cream does dribbles down over your fingers, lick them gently, too!
e- Bite into the white frozen elixir?
f- Bite and lick, one after the other?
g- And does the cone, now, become the bestest and last reward, trying to extract the very last drop of the cream inside?....or by crunching down bit by bit, making you a proud cruncher?
h- I remember one ice cream parlour that cleverly placed a couple of peanuts inside the bottom of the cone. Why? A surr-prise for that last bit of reward for consuming the whole thang!
i- Seconds? No way...another surr-prise another day gives you something to look forward to....! Hey, don't overdo it on the ice cream. Remember that "brain freeeze" factor when you overdo icy treats! Egads...haven't had a "brain freeze" since kidhood. Et vous?
Just thought of "snow cream" come the first snowfall of the season....another day. And any way, we don't get much SNOW in Williamsburg...anymore!

315- CONFESSIONS Of A WAL*MART CUSTOMER!...

Finally, after listening to many cashiers come and go over the past couple of years, this observer and customer realizes that the world's largest retailer MUST.......

............be unionized for the sake of the many employees, especially for the ones working up front on line. For years, this student of history had decided that unions heads and organizers in recent years, in general, had outgrown their usefulness as protectors of the union members.
(...more....)

314- NEDA SOLTANI...26 YEARS YOUNG!...The WORLD's HERO!!!....

On Sunday, June 21st, this 26-year-young Iranian woman was simply getting out of her car, watching, with her Dad, from the sidelines and died by one sniper bullet from a THUG on the command of 'the supreme leader of iran', on the streets of Tehran. She was and IS a HERO! She will NOW live on for an eternity! And we discover that the 'religious leaders' would not even allow them to have a funeral for Neda....?

Her father held his beautiful daughter in his arms, disraught and sobbing. A nearby doctor came to the scene quickly and tried to save Neda. Whether you can handle the scene or not, Facebook almost immediately posted Neda's face out to show the World what was happening.
Quickly, too, Neda's sister posted a letter to her slain sister, saying that she wanted to have been there to at least close her beautiful sister's eyes, lying on the street......
(News media did seek out her real age...and it was 26)
So many tears.......

313- CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM 'WICHES!!!......

Be honest...I know you've had a passion for some kind of food and couldn't get it out of your thoughts, like pizza...fresh strawberry pie...homemade fudge...miniature dill pickles...and S'Mores?
As a child, a little country store on my bike rides to the country had chocolate ice cream sandwiches...OH MI GA! Since 1889, that passion has lain dormant in my memory bank until recently. Then I noticed a small sign at the Waller Mill 'office'...chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwiches. BUT, they never actually had the chocolate before, that is, until the Director ordered them recently!
Oh mi ga, again! Guess who, once a week or so, ventures out to my fave Waller Mill Park to chat a spell, take pics and...and slowly open the wrapper to meticuously dine on that ice cream creation known as a CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM 'WICH! For the time being, this summer, they are my fave food passion. Hey, next month it could be....ice cold moo juice with a homemade chocolate chipper cookie to live for....! I, of course, only give them to myself after working out at the Rec Center AND eating a healthy supper!

312- MR. McBEEBE...And THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW...A MORALITY PLAY?...

A) A social commentary....
B) Thank heavens that there are Andy Griffith reruns out and about on television. TV, by the way, can be a total learning experience, very cleverly created by brilliant thinkers and writers and actors like Andy Griffith.
C) While writing at my TYPEWRITER, at times, I have a GOOD habit of listening in the background to music or TV...news. Some of us, by the way, have been involved in multi-tasking long before it was listed in the latest dictionary.
Opie, remember little Opie before he grew up to become a superstar director, and his Dad had a special relationship. Once, Opie met Mr. McBeebe out in the woods as he was climbing trees to install lines. When Opie tried to tell his Dad about this neat guy named Mr. McBeebe, Andy didn't believe his son and brushed him off as it was simply being imagination. The Dad didn't believe his son!
D) Funny, in the last scene, someone is coming down the tree talking up a storm, jingling with his gear, near Andy...it was Mr. McBeebe!
Andy smiled and realized that his son, little Opie, was telling the truth!
Andy Griffith always, in each episode, had an around-about moral to cleverly share.
E) The show, therefore, WAS a morality play...every week!

311- AMERICA'S HEROES #4...And FUNCTIONAL AGE VS. NUMERICAL AGE?....

A) GERALD WALPIN!!!
Gerald grew up in the Bronx within a poor setting. When he was admitted to Harvard, he had to decline, not being able to come up with the money. He then was accepted at Yale, using scholarships and loans to graduate in 1955.
He and his wife, Sheila, have been married for 52 years and have three children.
Gerald was first a 1st Lt. in JAG, as a special U.S. prosecutor and took on the toughest cases. He helped to indict Nixon's top two Cabinet members. He went after Roy Cohn, council to an aide of Sen. McCarthy. He represented Mia Farrow in her case against Woody Allen.
And his three children love him! He has served his family and his government with the utmost care and energy, and THIS is the way we, the White House treats him?

B) By the way, Inspector Gerald Walpin was fired recently by our White House claiming that Walpin was "confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions." The real reason? The White House wanted him gone, making up a dastardly claim, a lie! That's called using "dirty power". Maybe America should "put out to pasture" all of those in our society who are "over the hill" according to chronological age???

C) FUNCTIONAL AGE....as a sociologist, this term is better used to describe a person, no matter the chronological age. NUMERICAL AGE has little to do with how well a person can function within many situations. Wait, the physical abilities could enter the picture. My dear grandmothers did reach a physical time when they simply could not move like they once did, but their functional age was, with a vast background of experiences, far superior to many people I knew. I think many of you will agree...right?

310- J-U-N-E....B-U-G-S...OH MI GA!....

Kids use to, do continue to be fascinated with these miniature flying machines! Adults find greenish BUGS a pest. How neat it is to still have a part of you a...a kid! We use to mess around in one of my father's veggie gardens, waiting for JUNE and the rise of June Bugs from the soil. We had a spool of thread. Carefully, we tied one end to a June Bug leg and watched it take off in flight...and run across the yard following the critter in flight. The winner? The longest flight!

No, there was NO P.E.T.A. back then. NO, we were careful to take care of the little flying bug, untieing its widdle leg to fly off to parts unknown, in the direction of West-by-gosh-Virginia!

The Sounds of Summer.... And I haven't heard the low hum of what we use to call "locusts" (cicadas) this summer. Later, near the conclusion of summer, another night sound will evolve and sign off each night about 11 or so. If you listen even more closely, too, you can tell almost to the date, night, when Fall is here. The insect sounds will quietly cease. This guy, "child", is in tune with....natural sounds. Et vous?

309- PERSONALTY, THAT'S YOU!....

A) Empirically, you are the sum total of all of your empirical experiences, and from all of the personalities over the years that you have met, positively and negatively. They have influenced you, bit by bit, to evolve into your own personality, and you are still not finished "baking." Some influences, of course, have been greater than others. Add your studies and readings, too. Can you see, then, also, how important education enters into the evolution of your personality? YOU are, generally, responsible for much of your personality!
B) Remember...no matter your age, you are still growing, evolving, "baking". And when you "call it quits", think you're "over the hill"? Double BOO HISS on thee! Shame, shame on thee!!!! But you can make amends. Cut out that freaking "I give up!" stuff!!!! Ask a chum, or son, or daughter, or sweetie pie to tell you what's RIGHT about yourself....

308- CURIOSITY ENLIVENS THE MIND!...WHERE DO ALL THE BIRDS GO WHEN THERE'S A RAINSTORM?....

What a poser! Curiosity and imagination are a major ingredient of most children. And, in an earlier poser, I asked the challenging poser of why 99% of the adults often lose that ability to be curious and imaginative!
I contend that asking questions is a sign of intelligence, no matter the age.
Over time, this socologist has come to the conclusion that children often are told not to ask questions, either by direct or implied means. "Just be quiet...you ask too many questions!"
Some of us, including moi, have eluded that "influence" of adults!
Now back to the poser. So far, using empirical thinking, I've come to "see" where birds go when there is a steady or rainstorm. My porch and the large 'unbrella' of a fern hanging basket. Two had a habit, I discovered, of going into the middle of it. How did I know? When I walked out on the porch, they woud "explode" out from the fern to the woods. I've also noticed birds up under heavily leafed lower trees, waiting out the steady rain.

307- A GREAT ADVENTURE I..."TREESORTS"....

"TREESORTS!"....someone actually has created and built a "park" with an array of challenging neat treehouses, like a forested 'amusement' park. Please go to google and type in "Treesorts". That way you'll get a good visual feel and understanding, much better than trying to verbally describe a "Treesort"....hey, go for it!

306- polar bears...Polar Bears...POLAR BEARS!!!!.....

Whenever a documentary appears on PBS stations, this guy stops everything to concentrate and get involved! I "see" far beyond the noses of the magnificent polar ice creatures as they struggle to live their lives, for thousands of years, in and over the snow and ice. And I now always have a tiny tear or three, real ones, as I view their stories, especially with the usual twin cubs are being taught to survive, like centuries before, by their mums on how to subsist in the frigid weather. And, as that frigid weather slowly warms a bit, this author has a tiny tear or three....

305- REALLY DUMB CIVIL SUITS I....

A) Cap'n Crunch "Crunchberries"....
B) A woman in California claims that she ate "Crunchberries" for four years and was upset to discover that they were NOT real berries or fruit, so, she sued as a "would-be Class Action suit!"
C) Result? The Judge threw out the civil suit before it went to trial. Go figure.

304- THE DONALD!...DONALD DUCK IS A YOUNG 75!!!...YOU ROCK, D.D.!....

....but Wile E. remains my fave hero!
Most of us have a fave cartoon character:
Donald Duck...Mickey Mouse...Minnie Mouse...Popeye...Daffy Duck...Porky Pig...Betty Boop...Pink Panther...Sylvester the Cat...Heckle & Jeckle...Woody Woodpecker...Tom & Jerry...Felix the Cat...that no talkin', BEEP BEEP, conniving desert Roadrunner...the Bugs...Charly Brown...Fred & Wilma...the green Grinch...Yogi & Boo Boo...Underdog & Polly...Mighty Mouse & Purebread...Winnie the Pooh...Tweety...Superman...Batman...Wonder Woman...Spidey...but, again, my all-time fave is and will always be WILE E. COYOTE! My loyalty goes with the skinny coyote guy! He may not be the smartest critter in the desert, but Wile E. never, ever gives up! And don't get me started on that BEEP BEEP, smart-alec, scrawny bird. Et vous? Do you have a fave cartoony character? C'mon, I know you do....

303- "CELEBRATING A TRUE ENTREPRENEUR I".....!

A) As an educator who, for a few years back, formulated a special Economics class specifically for practical applications, I now add another section of "the squire's way" within this blog: "Celebrating A True Entrepreneur I". This first one honors a family team, locally, in Williamsburg, Virginia: Mary Beth and Bill Staffieri!
B) Their franchised small business, "Philly Pretzel Factory", is located on Monticello Avenue in Williamsburg, across the street from Ukrop's and near Ritz Camera. This wife and husband duo have worked seven days a week for over a year and are committed to making their developing business a success. I have the highest respect, now, for this wife-husband TEAM and their GOOD pretzels. They also supply pretzels (lunches) to many of our local schools, have a booth at the New Town "market" once a week and will be expanding into time-share resort poolsides this summer.
C) I also have the utmost respect for all those AMERICANS who have any idea for any type of "business" and persevere to make it a success!!! They make our capitalist country continue on as a successful entity, and it works!
Capitalism is my, and America's, best approach to the business world, and I do not like one iota the direction that our current national government is trying to lead us.....do not allow it! Individuals, couples and businesses, by far, rive up our economy, NOT the "government".
As TRUE American entrepreneurs, especially a couple, you're invited to stop by and check out Mary Beth and Bill's wares and even chat a bit. You're going to like the honest, hardworking couple, their pretzels and now sandwiches! They're the BEST of what's right about our America!

C) 80% of all business in our America are...SMALL BUSINESSES! You can figure out quickly who keeps our economy running. But who, in recent months, got all of the federal government stimulus handouts to keep THEM operating? I rest my case!

302- VIRGINIA'S "BIRD SANCTUARY" TOWNS, CITIES & COUNTIES!....

A) Here comes my next Statewide project....
Am working on the indepth research that will be presented soon.
Also, have designed and printed a one-page "paper" on the incorrect Virginia public news media's use of the historic and decent use of the word: NOR-FOLK. In a separate blog, that issue will be explored further. First letter, using the paper, has been mailed to a PBS TV station...and now to the mayor of NorFOLK.

B) This sociologist and historian is turned on by researching original, curious historical posers. Does anyone remember ever noticing a smallish sign at the entrance to some Virginia towns and cities noting a..."BIRD SANCTUARY"? I did and began a search for the origin, especially how to go further and introduce the historical designation to another town or three. VOILA...by digging came up with the answers and need only one minor data fact to complete and ask for some designations in today's Virginia society.
(Found it!)

301- OUR FOUR, PLUS 2, PERSONALITY TYPES!.....

As a Sociology educator, this social science data on Personality Types was my absolute fave! And I share the four (1) basic peronality types, BUT add two more for that good measure. How do you generally fit into the patterns?

A) "Type A"---Take risks...entrepreneurial...quite intependent...to the point...not a routine person...like change...focused...often insensitive to those around them...often found as business owners or in sales...like to take charge...persistent in accomplishing a goal!

B) "Type B"---likes to party and travel...center of attention...excitement...more inclined to be impatient and demanding...high energy...public speaking and marketing...limelighter...actors...TV and radio personalities...need to be liked..."soft skin"...talkative...outgoing...persausive...take things more personal.

C) "Type C"---thrives on details...engineer...acountant...computer programmer...analyst...very neat...dress with fasion...precise...home IN order!...no hype..."gimme me the facts!"...consistent...follow rules...deep thinkers...highly sensitive...loyal...patient...good rapport...want to show others that they really care.

D) "Type D"--- doesn't like change...need guidelines...motivated from being secure...appreciate "rewards" earned...supportive of others...more compassionate...punctual...consistent...like helping the underdog...bring a feeling of balance to the family or workplace.

E) "Type T"---this one is quietly growing in importance in our American society. "T" stands for THRILL. Likes rollercoasters...bungee jumping...skiing...taking risks, some calculated and some not...trying a new food dish without prior sampling, like the ultimate spicy-hot dish...asking a person for a date or flirting without reserve...diving or jumping off a high diving board or cliff. And add kayaking over a WATERFALL! Recorded record was in Brazil over a 127' waterfall. One tiny miscalculation and......

F) "Type S"---This sociologist created this one because most of us, personalities, simply do not fit nicely within just one! Therefore, peruse back over all of these and see if you don't pick up parts of each type. "Type S", then, is a collection of parts of each type to form your own personality, not just totally one. Agree?

300- JUNE 6, 1944...."D-DAY"..."LE JOUR"....

I took plenty of time, this weekend, to watch some historical videos of our American forces storming the shores of France...sat on my couch in front of the trusty typewriter to the side and had tears and tears down my cheeks for the absolute courage and bravery I "witnessed" 65 years ago with those landings!

This researcher and historian dug into, earlier, why the day was called "D-Day".... Finally, uncovered, I hope, that it was a military designation, with "D" standing for, yes, "DAY". Technically, it came out as "Day-Day", an unamed day on which a military operation was scheduled to commense or was due to commence. Some of you know that General Eisenhower, in charge, had set June 5th as "D-D", but the weather was terrible!
The French, by the way, call the invasion "Le Jour"..."The Day."

299- FLASH!..."BUFFALO WILD WINGS" RESTAURANT COMING TO TOWN.......

A) Yes, Williamsburg, Va. will be opening a "Buffalo Wild Wings" Restaurant in the near future! The 'shell' bldg. interior is being constructed right now, and is located in New Town. Where, you quiz? Across the street from the theatres' piazza (fountain) on the corner beside B&N!!
B) The did open...and are a hit!

298- IS OUR AMERICAN SOCIETY REALLY BECOMING A NATION OF 'COMPLACENTS'?....

a- "I don't have time...."
b- "I don't wanna get involved...."
c- "Let someone else do it!
d- "I simply don't make a difference, being only one little person in a huge society! -"Who cares????"
e- "What the heck difference does anything make, anymore?"
f- "I gave up years ago!"
g- "Every invention HAS been invented!!".....(For the record, someone in the U.S. Patent Office, during Lincoln's term of presidency, declared that his office would go out of business "soon", with every possible invention being invented!! Oh, that was in the 1860s, a mere 149 years ago!)
h- "But everything in my life involves MOI! There's no more room left but for MOI!"
i-

297- AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION From My DAUGHTER WHEN SHE WAS WITTLE!....

I had taken her to the beach, when she was wittle, for her to learn how to respect and be careful around the ocean. After some time, observing the ocean scene all around her, she turned and said: "Look at all of those 'baitin' suits, Daddy."

296- HEY, DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK!.....

a- You've decided, from within, that you'll never begin to write that book you've been threatening to do for years? Well, now, the first page begins with...BEGIN IT! Excuses aren't allowed in your life since this is the first week to the rest of your exciting-to-be life. Prepare, in your own mind, as to how you will sign all of those autographed books!!

b- You're too "old" to learn to swim? Take just ONE lesson at a time this summer...then another...then another. Even buy a new "baitin' suit." At night, take some time before falling asleep, with lights out, eyes closed, and imagine yourself SWIMMING...try it again the next night...and the next. A little secret learned years ago? Close my eyes and go over a talk in my mind...IMAGINED IT!
c- "There are just too many things going on, and I can't manage it all!" Find a little quiet place and close your eyes.... Have one of those little notepads handy and pen. In your "imagining thoughts", calm down, breathe slowly, and go over the more important 'thangs' you WANT/NEED to do this day or even week. Toss out any that YOU feel are not important! Open your eyes a moment and jot down in order of importance or like. And, more importantly, IMAGINE that YOU are accomplishing them...try it, even to the point of smiling AFTER you've done them, in your mind!!

d- "I IMAGINED IT! And made it come true!"

e-

295- CURIOUS?...17th CENTURY 'WITCH BOTTLE' UNCOVERED.....

This 'spell in a bottle' found dates back to 17th century Elizabethan English folklore, in a society where beliefs in witches and supersittions were common. Even much earlier, possible the 1500s, stone-type bottles were found containing urine, rusty nails, hair, bone fragments and even rusty old nails.

a) The 'witch bottle' was meant to protect against those evil spirits and counteracts a spell created by a witch.

b) It usually was a small bottle, measuring 3", using green or blue glass. There were, at times, larger ones, for more important spells.

c) The witchcrafter, woman or man, mixed up the contents from samples of urine, hair, nail clippings, nails and often a bit of red thread. Then that 'witch bottle' was buried either at the most distant spot of the person's property needing it, or, more often, IN the home's hearth or plastured walls AND would drown the EVIL in the urine and shred it by the nails.

d) HOWEVER, the spell's power was inactivated if the bottle was uncovered!

e) Are there 'witches' and spells in our American society in 2009? My fascinating research believes there is!

f) And my trip and exploration visit to "the Big Easy" (New Orleans) once upon a time opened another door into my huge archives of adventures: a small, narrow voodoo shop in the older section of The French Quarter! My first novel, The Serpentine Bond!, includes one scene, but you have to wait until the book is completed...that first one, 600+ pages, is taking plenty of time to make it a HUGE SUCCESS around the world when it does enter the world of a first-time novelist! The 2nd novel, Meet Me At The Wild Cherry Tree!, will, from experience, move at a quicker pace!...squire

294- PERSONAL HEROES...YOU NEED ONE, OR THREE!....

And they absolutely don't need to be "perfect", whatever that means. My total hero, since kidhood, has been Thomas Jefferson from Monticello, up in the foothills of the Blue Ridges! Over the past few years, have added many bio books about "TJ" to my small library at home and ever so carefully read and absorbed them. He was, by far, not "perfect" but went far beyond his personal search for learning much more about the world around him than the average Yogi Bear. Jefferson, an avid student of Greek thinking, developed his ability to "see" far byond the realm of government for his young country. By the way, he was a grad of William & Mary.
He literally lived at the right time and place during the formative years of our American government! Isn't it unique, too, that, at the same period our young country was surrounded by thinkers and doers like Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and that guy known as George Washington?
So....who do you claim as a hero, or three?