We will restore, protect, promote and ensure a clean,
healthy, flowing San Bernard River for the sanity and
enjoyment of present and future generations.

 

Are you too a "Redneck"?

 

Tales from River’s End – Passport to Adventure

 

by Janice R. Edwards

 

Greetings from River’s End.

 

Soon after Roy and I moved down here full time, (we – like a lot of other new comers started out as weekenders) we were having dinner at Lisa and “Judgie” Schuble’s house. It was still winter and the north wind could really “blow the man down”. It was one of those times when it stays gray and cold to the bone for days on end with the north wind that won’t stop. That’s when Lisa asked me how I liked living down here, because, she explained, it took a “certain kind of person” to live down here.

 

Before she said that, I didn’t really think about it – but I’ve come to the conclusion that she is right. If you are looking for a store around the corner and places to comparison shop – well, you are out of luck. You can’t go grocery or clothes shopping without a trip to town, and if you are cooking something special for dinner, you better have all the ingredients on hand – or have a good neighbor with a good pantry.

 

But the kind of person who lives down here doesn’t mind those inconveniences – we just make good plans. We just let the river sing and wash the dust of corporate America off of our spirits. We know how to fish and we know how to cook what we catch. We love the migration of the birds and plan our fishing around the migration of the fish and crabs. At night we lie our heads down on the chest of Mother Earth and hear her heart beat in the palpitating diesel engines of the tug boats in the intercoastal. We still take joy in telling stories of times gone by.  If we think about it, we have our fingers on the pulse of things that are both legendary and very real. And, I guess, some folks would call us “rednecks”. But, you know, that’s not such a bad thing.

 

Roy, who used to work for an unnamed Sheriff’s Dept., recounted the following reason why we should be proud to be called rednecks – after all, Jeff Foxworthy became famous with the line “You might be a redneck if…”  It’s not a negative concept to Roy, either. Here’s his story.

 

“About 14 years ago, a fellow classmate in a law enforcement instructor’s course asked me if I was a redneck. I was taken aback, was slightly miffed at such a question, and apparently it showed on my face. ‘I’m a redneck and I’m proud of it,’ he said, and then went on to explain himself.

 

‘My great grandfather was a farmer in South Alabama. He had a nice farm, a pretty wife, and a passel of kids. He kept everybody fed and clothed by breaking up and cultivating 80 acres of black land. He spent day after day following a team of mules across that rich black loam with his hands on the plow handles, the reins across his shoulders and his head down - to make the rows for corn, cotton, peanuts and watermelon as straight as an arrow. That South Alabama sun gave him a red neck that he was proud of.

 

‘My grandfather was an itinerant preacher in the Piney Woods of East Texas. No one will ever know how many hours he spent kneeling before his God with his head bowed. He prayed for the newly wed and rejoiced over the new born. He bowed his head to ask God for rain and good crops. He knelt beside the sick and he bowed his head over the dead. With his hat in his hands, and his head bowed before his maker, he developed a mighty red neck that he was proud of.

 

‘My father was a carpenter during the oil booms in West Texas. He spent up to 12 hours a day in that bright sunshine, bent over a sawhorse with a hand saw.  He made a lot of sawdust helping build oil derricks and bridges. He built houses that are homes to families to this day. Commercial business buildings that he framed out are still in operation. He provided for his family and put four kids through college with a hammer and a saw. That West Texas sun gave him a red neck that he carried proudly to his grave.

 

‘If you ask me today if I am a redneck, my answer will be an instant yes. You see, I come from a long line of red necks, I am a redneck, and I am proud of being a red neck.’ “

 

 

A lot of us down here at River’s End resemble the good qualities of being rednecks. We cut our yards, raise a few gardens, and fish and crab and cook in the sun. We help bring up the next generation, share our recipes, food and good ideas with our neighbors. If you haven’t already looked up Neal’s Shrimp Bisque from the discussion page, you need to. It’s a recipe that took a lot of coordination with TAS to get made – she had to make the sacrifice and sleep on the couch while Neal slaved away in the kitchen. We are all lucky that Neal decided to share this good “redneck” (or in his case, maybe a pirate) idea with us all. You might want to check your stock of supplies and make sure you have everything you need to make it this weekend when the weather turns bad.

 

Well, the front is coming and the Snow Geese, Pelicans and “Hank” Heron are all around our “Music Bend” in the river foraging for dinner and the river is beckoning with its Siren’s song. I have to go out and enjoy the sunshine and the birds before the arctic front gets here. Take a minute out of your day and enjoy the free wildlife “show” we have playing just outside our doors every day we live here.

 

 

“Hank” Heron and the White Pelicans looking for dinner    photo courtesy of Mark Hazelrigg  1/10/07     “Our” Snow Geese come in, looking for another tasty marsh meal photo courtesy of Mark Hazelrigg 1/10/07     So, now what’s happening at the end of the river? Check back in a while and I’ll see what new redneck idea I can pry out of our neighbors. Here’s wishing you another log on the fire, some tasty Shrimp Bisque, a full belly, a stretched fishing line, a good story and your own River’s End. Jan