Oh well, at least it's Springtime in Atlanta.  I certainly do enjoy those
warm Spring breezes, being able to open up the windows and watching the wild
onions start to sprout all over the yard.  So why was there 2 inches of snow
on the ground this morning??  Did you Northern folks decide to get your
revenge on Tater for sending you all of his snow in January?  Message
received.  Please stop.  We ain't havin' fun no more!
 
I guess you folks have really outsmarted yourselves this time.  All this
Springtime cold and snow has be done killed the Vidalia onion crop down
here.  You're really going to have to pay a lot to enjoy the sweet,
succulent taste of the world's best onions this summer.  Us hicks aren't too
worried though.  We've heard reports of the fortunes our backward, southern
brothers in Hot Springs, Arkansas have made by selling WATER to our northern
brothers and sisters!  Not to mention the fact that we done fooled ya'll
good enough to think that a Georgia peanut farmer would make a good
president.  (My apologies, Jimmy.  IMHO, you are just too good a man to be
burdened with such an office.)
 
As you might have gathered by now, I'm starting to feel a liitle bit more
like myself.  I done fit the battle of the flubug and the fever came
tumbling down.  I went back to work this week - not that I wanted to - Mee
Maw kept shaking moths out of the checkbook and looking really pitiful.  She
got my attention when she stole a shopping cart from Winn Dixie and started
stuffing all our belongings into garbage bags.  I grabbed my favorite crayon
and made a sign on the back of a TV dinner carton that said, "Homeless, will
work for food and ferrets." Everything was fine until we encountered
sub-freezing temperatures as we began to push the cart through the snow
drifts that covered the front lawn of the Schieman Estate.  We quickly came
to our senses and decided that I should take myself back to work.  Tater and
Odie were a bit disappointed.  They were both looking forward to a new
adventure.  Guess they'll just have to get over it.
 
Work hasn't been too bad for the past few days.  I've been installing data
and telephone lines for ATM machines, as well as fixing some mistakes made
by 'real' telephonepersons.  Not too shabby for an ancient electrician with
one functioning brain cell who's still feeling kinda poorly.  At least it
beats working for a living.
 
We are now about two weeks behind on the FML.  They are all on file, waiting
to be printed and read.  We are all starting to notice that our hands/paws
are shaking a lot and that we are experiencing sudden and unexpected
jerkings of various parts of our bodies.  Everyone in the house is beginning
to drool.  A drooling ferret is not a pretty sight!  We will catch up this
weekend so that we all don't succumb to delerium tremens.  I checked my
insurance card and it specifically says that FML detox is not covered.  So
much for our healthcare system, but that's a whole 'nother matter.
 
Getting serious for just a moment - Sorry - thanks so much for all the well
wishes you have sent regarding my recent illness.  It has been a really
rough winter for me healthwise.  The back injury, then the Shingles,
followed by two bouts with the flu have left me humbled and, perhaps, a
little wiser.  In my mind's eye, I'm still 18, full of vinegar and energy.
Reality is beginning to settle in.  I will still be 18 when I die, at the
ripe old age of 102, but I guess it's time the kid in me started taking a
little better care of ol' Paw Paw.  Wish me luck.
 
Still being serious - don't you hate it when I get this way?  - I'm really
sorry that I haven't been able to respond to all the wonderful mail I've
received in the past few weeks.  Your letters are dear and precious to me.
They warm my heart to an extent that I cannot express in mere words.  I
count myself blessed that some of you have found my words to be worthy of
notice and love.  Your words are treasures to my heart.  Please do not stop
sending them.  My only regret is that I cannot respond to them as I would
like to.  Mee Maw has often said, over the past 33 years, that my biggest
problem is that I care too much.  I beat myself up over my shortcomings and
failures.  So be it.  I would not be Paw Paw if I was any other way.  I used
to be perfect but I got over it.
 
Iv'e rambled on for way too long already and I hope neither Listserv nor BIG
fusses at me.  Suffice it to say that I really appreciate your letters and
expressions of concern for this Ol' Fert.  I've said it many times before
and I'll say it again, "Ferrets and their folks are the bestest people in
the whole dang world."
 
Many much hugs loves and dooks from,
 
Paw Paw - proud member of FANG and FLEA
[Posted in FML issue 1515]