Rooster, Robbers and Rose -- Terrorist and Tika

So, all in all it has been a very interesting week here in Bennettsville, SC. Top 10 things I have learned/enjoyed:

1. If you have a camera in the car, with the window rolled down as you pull into a drive, people might think you are a terrorist. Mind you, I have been called a lot of things (including Jehovah's Witness and a door-to-door salesman), but never a terrorist. Apparently, according to what he told me, this guy is a terrorist tracker (and is paranoid, my comment). I asked if there really were any terrorists in Bennettsville, SC. Apparently, there aren't so I guess he's doing his job really well. (Please note that I know that the war on terrorism is a serious matter; however, the implication that I might be a terrorist struck me as alternately hilarious and stupid).



2. Roosters run faster than some dogs and cannot be stopped by yelling, "STOP" or by swinging a clipboard at their heads. This method often works for dogs -- at least long enough to get back as far as their chains will go. These two roosters had it in for me today and were not going to let me anywhere near the chickens. They were crazy. I serious thought I was going to be pecked.



These are the two crazy roosters - Fast and Faster

3. Dogs located in chain link fences and on a chain can still get to you. If they are particularly crazy, like this dog, they will come under the fence while you are walking by and try, really hard, to either bite you or make you wet your pants. Screaming, "STOP" and backing up quickly did work in this case, long enough to get me farther back than his rope would go. I really nearly had a heart attack.



Crazy dog who came under the fence to try to bite me.




4. TIKA is a sweet little Jack Russell - terrier mix dog who is deaf. She came limping up to me at a man's house. I made a comment that she was limping both her front and rear foot. She had "prickles" stuck in them and wouldn't come to him to let him get them. She did, however, come to me for "pet pets" and "love loves" whereby he could pick her up and let him get them out. She was absolutely the most loving dog. She laid her head in my hand and just stayed very still. She is deaf. She was born 12 hours after all her other litter mates. I would have never known she was deaf had her owner not told me. She wanted to come home with me and tried to get in the car. I told him I'd take her, but he was so fond of her that he wasn't interested in my offer. Can you imagine Kevin's response if I'd actually brought her home -- oy!





5. I have been stopped on more than one occassion by neighbors thinking I was trying to rob the house. Apparently, all over the city of Bennettsville, county of Marlboro, there have been multiple break-ins. GREAT!!! Send me to a town where that is happening and tell me to take pictures of their house. And, please be sure to tuck a door hanger either on their door or inside their door -- right.



6. Rose is a dog that was dumped and living off of hamburger wrappers until her owner rescued her. She and I played fetch a long time. I probably would have made more than 80 jobs today if I hadn't played with her so long and went to see the owners' woodworking shop. Rose was a lot of fun.




7. Subway now makes pizza. There are not a lot of healthy options in this area so I stopped at the Subway and found that they now do pizza. I had a veggie one and it was very good.



8. Bennettsville is a large cotton farming area. Today I picked a few pieces to take home for Joshua and Kevin. I thought it was very interesting to see how it grows.






9. I miss my husband, my son, my home, my pets, my parents and friends, "real" food, my church and my bed.


10. I'm too sleepy right now to think of another so I'll close with a photo of one of the two cute kittens I met today. They are three or four weeks old and their mother died just last week. They were both black.
    

I met the most peculiar man today. He was sitting on his front porch smoking (after having inched out on a walker??), and I was working at the neighbor's home. I walked over and said I was with [insurance company name]. He said, very firmly, "Yes, I saw you working over there. I'm just sick of [insurance company name]. It's always something with them -- some letter in the mail telling me what I have to do. Tell me this, do you have any legal rights to be here on a person's private property taking pictures." Well . . . . how about that one??? So, I tried to explain that [insurance company name] was providing a service and therefore had a right to come on the property and take photos of what they were insuring. He said, "What do you mean they own part of my property?" Huh??? I explained they had a vested interest in the property but did not own any of it. I told him he had the right to refuse the inspection. Well, he didn't want to to that! He just went on and on about how he wished he had never gotten started with them and wished he didn't have to hear from them again. He got up and then just went inside. What's that about??? Why does he have them if he hates them?

People. I never understand them.