Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[Jim Page]

Hah! I applaud the fine work of your dog, Laurie!!! While I'm ranting about birds, I'll opine that geese are about the nastiest things on this planet, and some of 'em are ill-tempered, too. I've been chased by the darned birds and they'll peck at your bare legs and it hurts like the dickens.

When I was about 12, I had to share a room at the farm one summer with my great-uncle Percy. One night, about 3 in the morning, three or four guineas sitting in a crepe myrtle tree just outside our window cut loose for some reason. Uncle Percy, then about 75 years old, said to me, "Boy, go get that 12 gauge in the pantry, load it, and meet me in the side yard." Of course, I did exactly what he told me to do, not realizing what he planned to do to his sister's beloved guineas.

When the smoke cleared, there was perhaps the biggest brouhaha ever seen on that old farm. Boy howdy, was Granny upset at Uncle Percy and I caught it, too. Uncle Percy just sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee and declaring any guinea fowl in the property was fair game and would be dealt with in a similar fashion. I'll never forget it.

Granny at the scene of the impending massacre.


--Jim