Web Worms, Gutter Guards, Vultures, and Welcome Hauntings

 

Dad is 86 now. Rather than putting up with too many objections with talk of him getting up on a ladder to clean gutters, he decided that he needed to invest in some gutter guards. He got to checking out prices and found that it would cost thousands of dollars. Cammy researched them and decided that it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to do.

Well, Costco had a good sale on gutter guard a while back and Cammy figured out how much Dad would need for the house and the garage and ordered them for Dad.

Now, Cammy is pretty tuckered out after working eight hours in the heat every day so he has been trying to work a few hours over the weekends to install the gutter guards. I have been going with him as his “assistant”. I am not of much assistance, but I have handed him what he needed a few times, picked up a few screws he has dropped, held the ladder, and prayed that God would keep the ladder steady and Cammy safe. So far, so good.

Well, yesterday was a clear Saturday, so Cam and I went to Mom and Dad’s to put up some more gutter guard. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to work outside! The clouds were gorgeous, the sun was shining, air quality was in the good range, and humidity wasn’t high. There was a lovely breeze that provided a cooling caress. It really could not have been a more perfect day!

As Cameron was setting up for work, I noticed all of the hickory nuts on the hickory tree. I took out my phone and took photos of the bounty. There were a few web worm nests scattered throughout the tree and as I was taking photos of the hickory nuts, I noticed some of the worms on one of the branches. Seeing those web worms made me think of my brother David.

 

 

 

Mom says that when we were small and lived in Ohio, we were supposed to make our beds in the mornings. David always had his bed made way before I had finished making mine. Mom got suspicious and checked David’s bed. Well, David had been putting on the spread but was stuffing the other covers behind the bed.

During her explorations, Mom noticed an “empty” Prince Albert can and pop bottle under David’s bed. Now, there was an apple tree in our front yard and it was full of web worm nests. When Mom  pulled that empty can and bottle from under the bed, they were not empty. They were filled with web worms!

 

 

Well, Cammy had gotten set up and was working while I was ladder steadying and praying, I couldn’t help but admire the fine young man that Cammy has become. He is a hard worker, and he does the job as right as he possibly can! He is very good at brainstorming and figuring out how to fix problems that come up. I reckon that he has inherited some Appalachian ingenuity and knows how to use YouTube as backup. I reckon that our Appalachian folks could have figured out how to travel from one galaxy to the next as easily as traveling from one holler to the next if they had had YouTube!

Yes, Cammy has grown into a fine young man. He has two sisters who are fine young ladies. I am proud to say that I have had three children and each of them makes the world a better place.

Well, I am rambling. I watched Cammy climbing the ladder, sometimes one foot on one ladder and one foot reaching across to another ladder beside it. Seeing Cammy straddle those two ladders make me think of all the family members who worked in tobacco back in the day. I could imagine those boys up in the rafters, leaning down to reach for a stick of tobacco to hang to dry; sometimes straddling those rafters up in that old tobacco barn.

 

I imagine that Momma was in the house, preparing dinner for when her family finished their work; preparing their dinner while offering up her own prayers that God keep her family safe.

When I could, I admired the beautiful clouds, I noticed some vultures circling over the field behind Mom and Dad’s house. Now, the Stones River National Battlefield is just beyond the field that backs up to their property. Seeing those vultures put my mind to the days after that battle. I wondered how many vultures circled the air above that scene of carnage. The stench of decaying flesh must have drawn many.

 

 

I don’t know if any of my ancestors fought at the Battle of Stones River. I do know that past family members fought in the Civil War, some for the Confederacy and others for the Union. They may not have fought on that battlefield, but other battles produced other scenes of carnage and more vultures circling overhead.

And, that is how web worms, gutter guards, and vultures led to a welcome haunting.