Polyphemus Moth

I found this "moth" or butterfly on the window of my van

this morning. He was huge (well for a moth or butterfly).

Anyone know for sure what he is? I'll change the title if my

guess is wrong.

Pax

More On Barnes Drug Store

Since it was my first job as a real Pharmacist I guess
I started my official career there. (I started working in
a Pharmacy at age 17 as a clerk, later an intern at West
End Drugs in Birminham, AL for Ted Jones. It was a GREAT
learning experience and one I'll always cherish. Mr. Jones was
the best boss one could have for a first boss. But more on
West End later.).

Barnes was in rural south Georgia....really drawl that out.
Most would ask me what part of the North I was from and
I would reply "Birmingham" and they'd nod as if that would
explain it. I'd later tell them I was born in Atlanta to make me
feel more like I was FROM Georgia.

I learned quickly that while Georgia football is big in all parts
of the state it is nowhere near as large as Alabama/Auburn and
the Alabama/Auburn jokes fall flat so don't bother telling them.

I learned from Tommy (his full name was Thomas
Jefferson Barnes III and his mother was horrified when
they named their son Mark. Tommy, then in his late 40's,
refused to have a son being called "Tommy"
as he was as a grown man!) to listen. Many "customers" would
come into the store much too poor to go to a doctor and
would tell Tommy, or later me as they did come to trust
me, their problems. We'd fix them up with something
over the counter if we could and most of the time we
could. I watched a LOT of times as Tommy who lived
his Christianity gave them money if they needed
to visit a doctor. I learned about
Christianity too. Not just Pharmacy.

Now we did get the customers who would complain
that the Maalox or whatever was cheaper in Brunswick
at K-Mart (or wherever - remember this was
before Wal-Mart -late 70's!). Now Brunswick was a
good 50 mile drive away.
And it wasn't like we were pricing it at $100.00 a
bottle. You win some
and you lose some.

I love the old independent pharmacies. We've really
lost these. Chains have put them almost out of business.
Well, chains and insurance companies.
We would deliver the medicine to those who were to sick to
come get it. When's the last time a chain drugstore did
that for you? And forget having to go to a fancy
compounding Pharmacy if your doctor has written you a
prescription that has to be made up. Most independent
pharmacies (ALL I worked for) are well set up to
make the medicine for you. (Now I did have to call Tommy
to come help me make suppositories one day. I just
could not get the things to come out right. He taught
me how to make them. I didn't ever get them right
in Pharmacy school either. Think styrofoam
consistency and you have mine. They'd bounce well
but not much else. There is a trick to making them!).

Sandworms. We don't have those in Birmingham.
I learned about them in Baxley. I don't think they're
really called "sandworms" officially (I've googled
that and all I get is "Dune"). It's some sort of REAL worm
though and folks that go barefoot in the sandy soil get these
worms that crawl under the skin - well, the first time someone
came into the store and asked me for something to kill it
my eyes bugged out of my head. Tommy calmly poured some
wormkiller in a bottle, told them to put it on it 3 times a day
and it would die. And they did. (You could also drink the stuff but
it seemed to work by just absorbing it through the skin).
You could see the little worms crawling around.
I learned about pinworms, lice and ringworms
that summer as well.

The Finkelsteins owned pretty much the rest of the
businesses in Baxley. I learned every Jewish holiday.
We were the only store open in town on those days.
Except for the bakery behind our store. The bakery
lead to a big problem for me when I finally became
pregnant with Matthew. I never had any morning
sickness with Matthew. But I stayed hungry.
Ever park your car in the morning beside a BAKERY
and walk two blocks to work smelling the good
things BAKING? I gained 48 pounds. He weighed
9 lbs 7 oz; 22 inches long at birth. I starved
poor Michael to death vowing NEVER to gain
that much again.

Except for the worms, it's been fun remembering!
And the Cokes were only 10 cents.
Pax

Old Time Pharmacy

"One stop the kids will love, the Barnes Soda Fountain, offers a look into a 1930's era drug store soda fountain, and begins the "Pause that Refreshes" Gallery. The soda fountain is a reproduction of one from Baxley, Georgia, where Caroline Miller wrote her 1934 Pulitzer Prize novel Lamb in his Bosom and comes complete with an old-fashioned "soda jerk". Kids get to sit at the fountain in groups while the soda jerk has fun creating the Coca-Cola treats of a bygone age. The gallery theme continues by using a 1930's vintage Wurlitzer juke-box that plays Coca-Cola songs and radio ads of the era."

I worked at Barnes Drug Store in Baxley Georgia in 1977 until 1980 (when I had my first

son, Matthew). I was the first "woman" pharmacist in Baxley, GA. (Made the paper there).

Next few "blogs" are going to be on pharmacy memories. I'll always have a soft spot for Barnes - south Georgia is a gentle place. Tommy Barnes gave me a job when no one else would at the time (I didn't yet have my license - just graduated from Auburn. Duane had taken at job at the power plant there between Vidalia and Baxley.). Tommy was a great boss. His son, Mark, was in school at time and is now the owner I believe.

The Old Coca Cola Museum had a part of Barne's history in it (see above).

Now aren't you glad you asked.

Pax

Meet Tiny (Newfoundland/Black Lab mix but looks Newfie) and Trooper (Great Dane with Rottweiler? - looks Great Dane). Tiny was left on our door step 11 years ago when he was yet too young to even go up the 3 steps to our house. He was the size of a small bear even then. I tried to find out who owned him only to discover little copies of Tiny had been left all over town. We had a fenced in back yard and looked like animal lovers - so we kept him. And we have loved him. He is a gentle giant. He is definitely NOT a watch dog as he greets everyone!

Michael got Trooper as a puppy and then joined the Army a week later so we (the doggie grandparents)inherited him. He's mostly Great Dane. He LOOKS like a Great Dane. He is 2 years old now and weighs 170 pounds (compared to Tiny who only weighs 70 pounds).

Last visit to the Vet for annual check up and shots for the both of them cost us
about $1,000.00 (and that doesn't count the doctor's visit for me to fix the broken
finger which is a whole other story!).

SO when I read this in the news this week:

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=56720&in_page_id=2

I just thanked God we didn't have a Great Dane/Newfoundland Mix!

Oh, and the fence in the pictures - we built a fence to keep the dogs from eating the wiring to the air conditioning (I mean they've eaten every plant in the back yard and the cord to the lawn mower and part of the garden hose and I'm sure I could go on..)..so they ate parts off the top of the little fence. It does not appear to have hurt their digestive systems.
Pax

We did a Back to School Fashion show for our draw today.
Jessica was one of our models and did a great job. It was
a lot of fun! She did a great job!
Pax

We had visited Atlanta and brought
back the Lion's hat
for Darcy. She loved it.
We also bought shirts for the
boys. She loved them too.
The boys may never get to wear
them.
I discovered that Jeremiah LOVES the camera and hams it up.
(He's the one in orange grinning madly!).
Jacob doesn't care for the photos. He DID get mad when we
tried to pick up the Legos and since it made him mad we
kept putting them in the box and he kept taking them out (of
course). I got this photo at some point during this time.
The boys are starting to let me read to them!! YEA!
And Darcy is now "pretending" - she had all the stuffed
animals lined up marching them somewhere last night.
I wasn't sure where - maybe it was about to flood or
something!
smiles, Pax

Teaching CSI in High School
Start with "Crime Scene Investigations - Real
Life Labs, Grades 6-12" by Pam Walker (available
from Home Science Tools.com).

I then added other books like:
"The Casebook of Forensic Detection-
How Science Solved 100 of the World's
Most Baffling Crimes" by Colin Evans
for case Studies.

I used "The Forensice Science of
C.S.I." by Katherine Ramsland to
tie into the shows but no, I did NOT
require or even suggest the students
watch the shows (some did, some didn't).

DK has a visual book - "Crime Scene - The
Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science".

As you go to Amazon (or whereever) to
check these books out you'll be linked
to tons more books. There are high school
texts out now as well if you want a text
book.

All the science supply companies now
have forensic lab kits now.
I discovered fingerprinting is not as
easy as it looks.
It's neat to compare hair under a good
microscope (be sure to include animal
hair).
It's fun to lift footprints with dental
plaster.
It's fun to use super glue to fume for
fingerprints but again - a bit tricky.
The kids were always wanting to watch
clips of CSI but I had to edit
carefully.

I love the science of CSI but it's not
as realistic as life (well, maybe it's
because we didn't have the expensive
equipment! That's it!)
Pax

A very nice aqaurium- well worth the money!
The beluga whales alone were worth the
price of admission but I enjoyed the
entire place. I want to take Jessica
over soon to visit this!
Pax

I took my children to the zoo in
Atlanta when we lived there
20 years ago and Willie B
(the gorilla)
was alive. It was a
bad looking zoo and I thought
Birmingham had a better zoo
at the time. A few years later
Atlanta closed the zoo and redid it.
Amy is working in Atlanta
for the summer so we went to visit
this weekend. We went to Zoo
Atlanta today and saw the
Pandas and Willie B's
grandchildren. (Willie B died
of the flu in 2000. Over 8000
people came to his memorial
service. He was a beloved gorilla
in the Atlanta area and beyond).
Pax

Fourth of July note -
Poor Mr. Adams thought we'd be celebrating
on the 2nd of July. He missed it by 2 days.
Just a bit of trivia. I meant to note that.
Pax

John Adams to Abigail Adams
Philadelphia July 3d. 1776

"...But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. —

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

Well, I note that John Adams fails to mention BBQ and watermelon but I'm sure it fits in here with the general thoughts of celebrations and "illuminations". I shall start cooking this afternoon as the family begins to gather this afternoon for the annual BBQ festivities tomorrow. The flag is already flying.

Happy 4th of July! Happy freedom! I thank God for our freedom every day..
Pax

The drought in Alabama is bad. These are photos from our front yard.
I had given up ever getting rid of the monkey grass. Well, I think this
drought may do it. Now I may miss the stuff! And I know I'll miss our
grass. I am trying to simply keep the few plants we still have alive - my
one poor hydrangea and the azaleas.
Pax

Books on shelves. I need more shelves obviously. I love my books!!




These are the sold and not yet paid for books. A growing fire hazard. I need more room!!



And these are the sold books that I packed to mail on arrival back from vacation.
It took three trips to the post office to get them all out but they are now all in the mail!

I LOVE doing this though. I love books..
Pax

So, Darcy is two (and a half - birthday is in Nov). We (Papa D, Darcy and I) head to Wal Mart for Milk, rope and assorted other items. We are in the hardware section and Papa D keeps wandering off. Darcy looks at me (she's, of course, sitting in the seat of the buggy) and says, "CC, I want a T-O-Y" (spelling it out). The other shoppers around me smiled. I wanted to say, "She's two.." but I refrained.
We went to the toy section (but I JUST bought bubbles!). Once there she announced loudly she wanted a telescope. (I'm not making this up). (I thought about it but I didn't buy her one. Yet.)
Pax

Darcy enjoys the tire swing and Papa D takes the wheelbarrowful of twins on a ride (Jeremiah in Orange and Jacob in Gray)

A Post from Aslan - ENOUGH OF
THE PHOTOS ALREADY

It was the last day of class. I knew it would
be hopeless to try to cram in a last minute lecture.
And all the lab equipment had already been packed
up making it difficult to do experiments.
So we played. Okay, I justified it by stating
"For every action, there is an equal but opposite
reaction" but the teens just wanted to see who
could shoot the rocket further. Thank goodness
the "rocket" came with 3 cones. Two are now
on top of the school roof.

Thanks Nick, Bethany, Ian, Andrew, Taylor and
Spencer for a great Chemistry year!
Pax

The challenge on the homeschool list was to
dispel myths about your state.
I thought I'd just tell folks what Birmingham
is like (but we do try to keep it somewhat of
a secret as we don't want ALL the Yankees to
move here!).

Yes, that is Vulcan - the world's largest cast
iron statue and the symbol for the steel
industry in Birmingham.

Birmingham is called the Magic City as it
literally appeared from almost nowhere
sometime after the War of Northern Aggression.
The only thing in Birmingham (not a city then)
during this war was a few cannon ball making
sites (that the Yankees destroyed and are now
park sites. Complete with annual re-enactments
of said battles).

Of course the only thing MOST people know
about Birmingham is the police dogs of the
sixties. And yes, I do remember that (I
was in the 3rd grade and about the same
age as the girls who were killed in the
bombing of the church. I was horrified
then and still am. BUT we have moved on!)

Birmingham is set in the foothills of
the Appalachian mountains so we are
surrounded by small mountains and
the city itself is in a valley. Which
makes it bad for smog. But I live
on the the other side of the mountain
now - grew up in the city however.

We DO have distinct Southern accents
here. And we do our tea iced and
sweet. We love everything fried.
And yes, we love greens - collards,
turnip and even mustard. All done with
bacon grease of course.

Southern Living magazine is a must
subscription here. It is published
in Birmingham.

We are about 4 hours from the beach
and 4 hours from the mountains and
4 hours from Atlanta too.



You are either for Alabama or Auburn.
There are no other choices.
A mixed marriage in this state means
mixed Alabama/Auburn fans and can get
quite hot around time for the annual
Iron Bowl. (War Eagle!)

It very, very rarely snows here. IF there is
a hint of the "s" word mentioned on the news
everyone - and I mean everyone - runs to the
grocery store and stocks up on milk and bread.
I've yet to figure out why! BUT we CANNOT
drive in ice or snow. SO beware if you are
visiting during a rare snow burst!

It does get HOT in the summer here. We have
air conditioning. Thank you God for that!

We love our flowers - almost everyone has at
least azaleas in their yards. I also love
my hydrangeas (blue).

We have nearby museums in Huntsville (Space),
Birmingham (Civil Rights, McWane Science Center),
Mobile (U.S.S. Alabama). I know I'm leaving
a ton out.

We DO have paved roads and we are in the 21st
century (though I know some books still have
us with dirt roads and lack of civilization.
If you've read Frank Peretti's "House" - I have
no idea where he got THOSE ideas!).

Of course we have problems too. Education
is still in the dark ages here but homeschooling
makes up for it.

Pax

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