Well, Easter has come and gone.  The only thing left are great memories and discounted Easter candy at Wal-Mart.  This was Jacob’s first Easter with us.  As far as we know, it was his first Easter celebration ever because I think that Easter is mainly a religious holiday in Russia.  That means no Easter egg hunts or chocolate bunnies!  Heaven forbid!

We saw to it that he had a proper Easter this year.  We had to practice finding eggs of course.  I bought him some very large plastic eggs at K-Mart, and Lisa got him a Spongebob Squarepants Easter basket.  We had so much fun placing the eggs out on the rug in his room and having him “find” them.  At first, he didn’t have any idea what to do.  He just kept knocking the eggs around the room and out into the hallway.  It was hilarious!

With enough practice though, he finally caught on.  He started picking the eggs up and placing them in his basket.  We would practice a little bit every day.  Soon, one of his favorite games was “find the Easter eggs.”  I knew that he was ready for the real thing.

Our first real Easter egg hunt took place on a blustery Saturday in Morehead, Kentucky.  Our friends, Rod and Corrinna Middleton were taking their little girl Hailey to the egg hunt and invited us over to bring Jacob.  Of course we “hopped” at the chance to test out Jacob’s new egg hunting skills.

Taking our place in the 0-4 year old group, we were prepped and ready to find as many eggs as possible.  The wait seemed endless.  The smell of anticipation hung heavy in the air as dozens of children quivered with eggs-citement.  When would it begin?  And then….it did.  With a great roar of joy, hundreds of feet trampled grass and fingers alike as a blurry buzz of hands flew across the grass snatching up every egg in site.

Jacob giggled and laughed the entire time.  He thought that it was just hilarious to run across the wet grass and pick up brightly colored Easter eggs.  For his first egg hunt, he did a fantastic job.  He ended up gathering 29 eggs!  Not too shabby indeed!  None of them were the coveted prize eggs….but he got a lot of candy.  He is still too young to know about prize eggs….but just watch out next year!

The next week, he got to have two more egg hunts.  One of them was at his daycare here in Jackson.  He loves daycare.  We call it school.  It was his first Easter party and he was so happy to be able to have fun with all of his little friends.  They had pizza, chips, juice, and candy.  They also got to have an Easter egg hunt.  It was raining that day, so the hunt had to be indoors.  But they all still had a great time.  The people who run the daycare are just great.  They have been a big part in helping Jacob develop and grow.  Lisa and I are very thankful that they are in Jacob’s life.

The final egg hunt was at our house.  Mamaw and Papaw Fugate invited Jacob’s cousin Katie down to the house.  She came along with her mom Christianne and grandma Minerva.  They had a great time hunting eggs and playing on Jacob’s swingset.  Jacob even found a prize egg that had some money in it!  We put it in his piggy bank so that he can save up for that iPad he has been wanting.

So the first ever Easter for a two year old bundle of energy came to an end.  This first year has been a year of firsts.  It is the first time that Lisa and I are parents.  It is the first time for all of the holidays and celebrations for Jacob.  It is the first time that we can experience these things through the eyes of our child.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives.  Just like the grass and flowers are starting to grow in this spring season……our lives are growing every day.  We are growing in love…..growing in joy…….growing in togetherness.

As the rainy days of spring continue to march toward the lazy days of summer, we look forward to experiencing other things with Jacob as well…..vacations, the beach, water parks, and cookouts. But for now….can you pass me another discounted chocolate bunny?  Those things don’t last forever you know!

Ray spluttered as the vile smelling liquid poured over his head, oozing down his neck and all over his face.  It splattered everywhere, covering his entire body and splashing on the walls of the hole where he had been trapped.  He had been following what he thought was his old girlfriend, Trisha.  But in reality, it had been his ex-wife all along.  He still couldn’t believe it….Joyce Ann.  He hadn’t seen or heard from her since the divorce!

“Joyce Ann!”  he cried out, coughing out a wad of snot mixed with the horrible concoction she had poured down his head, “What in the world are you doing?”

“I told you Ray!” she called down the hole to him.  It seemed like she was almost in another world….a world he had been a part of just moments before.  Now he was in a nightmare.

“I always get what I want,” she continued, “And what I want is to get my hands on the property I was so foolish to let go during the divorce.”

“Land?” Ray said, his mind whirling, “This is all about land?  You are crazy woman!”

Laughter rang out above his head.  He couldn’t tell if it was Joyce Ann or that other loon case, Elsbeth, who was laughing.  He started to shake as the liquid soaked to his skin through his clothes.  He was glad that it wasn’t acid.  Nothing was burning.  Maybe he could get out of this alive if he played his cards right.

“No Ray,” Joyce called down, “Not land.  I want what is UNDER the land.  I’ve been been doing a little research of my own, and it turns out that there is a considerable amount of coal…..oil…..and natural gas under this land.  Not that you would ever do anything with it.  Not that you ever had any ambition to do ANYTHING with your life except drink and live in the God-forsaken trailer of yours.”

It started to sink in. Everyone knew that there were rich coal deposits in Eastern Kentucky.  A lot of Ray’s neighbors had been cashing in…if they still owned the mineral rights.  Ray was lucky to own 100% of his mineral rights.  He had been meaning to see if there was anything worth following up on.  One of the local coal companies had been sniffing around.  But…in typical Ray Smith fashion…he had never gotten around to it.  But it seems that Joyce Ann had.  And she had had some help it seems…..Elsbeth.  That old woman he had seen at True Value.

“Joyce Ann!” he cried out, “I can’t believe this.  First….you killed Trisha all those years ago?  And now this?  Are you going to be a two-time murderer?”

“I have to Ray,” she shouted back, “If you’re alive…well….there is always the possibility that I would have to share my money with you.  And I don’t want to do that Ray.  I want to get out of this dump of a town.  I want to move someplace warm.  Maybe Mexico.”

“We can do it together baby!” Ray cried out, “Remember all those good times we had?  We can have them again.  We’ll sell the coal….sell the gas…the oil….the timber.  And then we can take the money and have a blast!”

Joyce stared down at him.  Her face was as emotionless as a marble statue.  Ray shivered because he could see that he was looking into the eyes of a killer…..an insane one at that.

“I don’t want you anymore Ray,” she said, almost in a whisper that still managed to float down the hole that was now his prison, “I don’t want you around anymore.”

“They come!” Elsbeth suddenly cried out, dragging Joyce away from the hold, “We need to stand back.  You don’t want to see this!”

“What’s coming?” Ray screamed out, suddenly afraid.  A cold sweat broke out on his body.  Nobody answered.

And then the whirring started.  An acidic fear gripped Ray’s stomach, making it cramp.  He could smell them before they arrived.  A harsh, bitter potato smell.  He recognized it as the smell of….

“Those dang ladybugs,” he whispered.  And then a dark cloud formed over the hole and dived toward him.

Thousands of ladybugs covered his body, attracted to the horrible liquid that Joyce Ann had covered him.  But these weren’t normal acting ladybugs.  As Ray struggled to keep them out of his mouth….his nose…..he felt them.  Thousands of tiny teeth….starting to eat…to tear…to rip……

Ray screamed out as the insects began to eat away at his eyes.  Instantly his mouth was filled with hundreds of the creatures as they hungrily ate away at his tongue….his throat.  He brought his teeth together, trying to crush them.  Burning liquid from the squashed bugs filled his mouth, making him gag.

His body was on fire as the ladybugs ate away at his skin…..crawling inside his ears….his eyes….his nose.  Insane with pain, he clawed at his face, raking the ruins of his eyeballs down his bloody cheeks.  He couldn’t breathe.  The insects were blocking his nose…eating their way toward his brain.  He couldn’t scream…..they had eaten a large hole in his throat.

Blood pored from his body as the insects did their work.  They did their work well.  And yet, more and more ladybugs came.  Soon it was hard to tell that there had ever been a man there at all.  All that existed was a large lump of ladybugs….crawling and chewing…..chewing and crawling.  Ray Smith was no more.

Until next week….class dismissed!

               Ray awoke as a sharp throb of pain shot through his head.  Where was he?  What was going on?  The smell of earth was rank in his nostrils, and he coughed up a bunch of dried leaves and small twigs.  Slowly rising to his feet, he began to feel all around.  His hands kept scraping against dirt and bare rocks.  It appeared that he had fallen into a hole of some kind.

               “Don’t try bothering to get out,” a voice called from somewhere high above, “You can’t.”

               Looking up, he saw a face way above him.  It was dim….hazzy.  He wondered what was going on.  Still…he wasn’t just going to sit here in this hole.  He tried to climb out again and got two steps up before he slid back down to the bottom.

               “Who is that up there?” he screamed out, suddenly angry and scared at the same time, “What’s going on?”

               The voice laughed….high and sharp.  A woman’s laugh.

               “Trisha?” he cried out, “Is it really you?”

               Again the voice laughed and then called down tauntingly, “Trisha?  Are you still pining away for that old cow?  I thought that I got rid of her years ago.”

               “What do you mean?” Ray yelled, his heart beating wildly.

               “If you love her so much, turn to your left a little bit……say hello.” the voice called, sounding more and more familiar with each breath.  Something fell down into the hole, hitting his left shoulder with a blunt force that made him yelp out. 

               Reaching over to examine it, Ray found that it was a flashlight.  He didn’t want to turn it on.  He didn’t want to see.  But he was compelled.  He just had to.  So….like his fingers belonged to someone else, he found that they were clicking the flashlight on.

               The skeleton was badly decomposed and half buried, but it was still obviously a human skeleton.  It lay crumpled beside of him.  Most of the bones were gone….back to dust, like they say.  But the skull was still mostly intact.  And even though he couldn’t possibly know…….it was impossible to know…..he knew anyway.  This was the skeleton of his old girlfriend, Trisha.

               Letting out a guttural scream of terror and rage, Ray flung himself backward and tried to scramble up the side of the hole once again. 

               “I’ll kill you!  I’ll kill you!” he raged, beating his hands against the walls of his earthen prison until they were shredded and bleeding.

               Once more that laugh floated down the hole.

               “Don’t tire yourself out my dear,” the voice called out, “But then, maybe you should just go on ahead and do that.  You are never getting out of this hole….and soon….you will have lots of time for….rest.”

               And then he suddenly realized who the voice belonged to.  Pointing the flashlight up, he saw the pale face….the bright, piercing blue eyes….and the dark, wavy hair of….

               “Joyce Ann!” he screamed out.  It was his ex-wife!  The crazy one that he had only been married to for about three years!

               She just smiled down at him.  She appeared to be opening a bottle of something.

               “You…..you killed Trisha?” he couldn’t believe it.

               “Yes Ray,” she called back, “Believe it or not….I once thought that I wanted you.  And what Joyce Ann wants…..Joyce Ann gets.  I simply had to get rid of the competition.  It wasn’t that hard luring her out into the woods with a fake note from you.  The rest was just a simple matter of a bash to the head and push to this handy little hole of mine.  Well….and thanks to a special friend of mine.”

               “What do you mean?” Ray was jumping again…trying to get out of the hole.  The sides were slippery clay…..slippery with mud and a mixture of his own blood which was flowing freely from his abused hands.

               And then another face came to join Joyce Ann’s.  NO!  It couldn’t be!  It was the old woman from True Value!  It was….what was her name?

               “Ray….this is my good friend Elsbeth,” Joyce Ann crooned, “And she is going to help me get everything that I deserve!”

               And then suddenly Joyce tipped the bottle that she was holding up and poured something sticky and vile all over Ray.  It splashed on his hair and ran into his face….burning his eyes and nose.  He coughed and spluttered as the liquid splashed all around him, soaking his clothes.

               “Enough!” he heard Elsbeth call from up above, “That will be plenty.  Soon…..they will come!”

               His heart froze in his chest.  Who…..or what…..was coming?

               Until next week…..class dismissed!

Ray stumbled to the door.  The floor whirled, and he came dangerously close to tipping over before he reached the knob.  Someone was outside.  Someone was yelling for help.  Was it his old girlfriend Trisha?  It couldn’t be!  She had vanished decades ago.  He had to find out what was going on.

“Who’s here!” he yelled, throwing the door to his trailer open.  Only the night greeted him, surprisingly chilly for having followed such a warm day.  He held his breath to listed closely.  The sounds of the night filled his ears.  He heard chirping crickets, croaking frogs, and various hoots and howls from the woods.  But…..no yelling.  No Trisha.

“This is just crazy,” he mumbled.  “Someone is trying to mess with me.”

Well, he knew just how to handle that.  He staggered back inside.  His shotgun was already fully loaded.  You just never could be too careful around these parts.  Squirrels weren’t the only thing that he could shoot.  If someone wanted to mess with him…well, he could mess right back.

Stepping out into the chilly night air, he took some deep breaths to clear his head.  There was a low throbbing in the base of his skull but that was just the effects of the whiskey.  As his dad once said, a hangover is just the price you pay for feeling so good for a short time.  Well, this felt like it was going to be one doozy of a hangover.  But in a way, he was thankful for the pain.  It helped keep him sharp.  It helped keep him focused.

“Now, let’s see just what in the heck is going on around here,” he whispered.

Just then, the silence in the darkness was broken by the sound of a twig snapping.  It wasn’t just a random snap…or even an animal walking in the woods.  That was the sound of a footstep.  Someone was in the woods.  There was no mistaking it.

His heart was beating fast.  He was out in the open…exposed.  If someone was watching him, he was a sitting target.  Moving quickly, he ducked his head and ran toward the trees.  He had to get into the woods.  He had to get out of the open.

Soon the darkness of the trees surrounded him.  The leaves overhead blocked out the light of the moon.  He kept expecting any minute for someone to jump out at him….to feel the sharp edge of a knife….or the hot fire of a bullet.  But nothing happened.  He gripped the coolness of his shotgun and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.  A hot head would just lead to a mistake.  And if someone was out here somewhere….he didn’t have the luxury of making a mistake.

He was at home in the woods.  He had practically grown up in them.  Sometimes, he felt more at home here than he did in that little rundown trailer.  No wonder his exwife hadn’t fought him for it.  She had just wanted to get out of this dump.  He wondered why he even stayed.

“Well, who would take care of the ladybugs if I left?” he giggled, still a little drunk from his earlier binge.

He quickly quieted.  He couldn’t be out here in the middle of the night, laughing like a goon.  He would just give his location away.  He crouched down and shuffled into a clump of bushes that were growing at the edge of the woods.  He would just lie low for a little while….see if they gave away their location.  If there was anyone there, that was.

But his plan didn’t work out.  All of a sudden, he heard the voice again.  A woman’s voice screaming.  The sound of it cut through the darkness and pierced his eardrums.

“Ray!” it cried, “Ray!  Help me!  I’m lost.  I’m scared!”

There was no mistaking it….it was definitely Trisha.  Jumping up, he started running toward the voice.  It was getting louder and louder as he ran.  Up ahead, he thought he saw a flash of white….a dress!  Was it Trisha?

“Trish!” he cried out, his legs pumping faster.

And then….he was flying.  He was in midair….his legs still pumping like crazy.  But then he found himself…..falling.  With a yelp of surprise, he fell into the darkness that opened up underneath him.

Until next week….class dismissed.

Lighting a cigarette, he took out the picture once again.  Trisha Miller.  He still couldn’t believe it.  He had tried calling the number again but his phone kept saying that the number had been disconnected.  Finally giving up, he had dialed his one remaining buddy that would have anything to do with him, George Clemons.

George had come out and towed him back home.  Ray’s broken down truck now sat proudly on the front lawn, waiting to be brought back to life.  But that would wait.  It would have to wait.  Right now, he had more important things on his mind.

“I need a drink,” he muttered to himself, wincing as his lower back cried out when he heaved his heavy frame up and toward the cabinet where he kept a bottle of his favorite whisky.  Red Dawn.  It was cheap….but it was strong.

Slugging back shot after shot, Ray found his eyes drawn once again to the picture of Trisha.  Had that been her voice on the phone?  Had he even heard anything at all….or had it just been his imagination?

“Should’ve married her,” his voice slurred as the whiskey began to take hold, “Instead of Joyce Ann.”

Joyce Ann.  Now she had been a real number.  Sweet at first….but after the ring was on her finger, the real woman had emerged. They had fought like cats and dogs for over two years before she finally up and left him.  The divorce had been bitter, but in the end, they had split everything down the middle.  Not that there was much to split.  The only good thing that Ray could think of was that they had never had any children.  That woman was crazy!  He hadn’t seen her in about 3 years and that was just fine with him.

Taking another slug of whiskey from the bottle, he took a look around him.  Garbage littered the floor.  Half eaten food was rotting in moldy dishes stacked in the sink and around his chair.  Cigarette butts overflowed the ashtray and lay scattered in the floor.  It was a real stinkhole.  But it was his home.

“Home Sweet Home!” he cackled in a drunken rasp and then laughed at how weird his voice sounded.

Soon his eyes began to droop as he continued to pull plug after plug of whiskey into his mouth.  With a snort, he passed out, his head lolling forward and his mouth popping open.  Two ladybugs wiggled inside.  The whiskey bottle hit the floor and the last shot of Red Dawn soaked into the filthy carpet.

Ray Smith did not dream.

***

Hours later, he awoke with a throbbing headache.  At first he didn’t know where he was because the room was dark.  Night had arrived while he slept.

“Wassat?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep and whiskey.

A noise was coming from outside.  Someone….or something….was pecking at his back window.  He could see a shape through the curtains.  It was hard to make out, but he could tell that someone was there.

“Who is it?” he tried to sound a little more aware…..more forceful.  “I’ve got a gun in here whoever you are.  I’ll blow your head clean off your sorry shoulders.”

He wasn’t lying either.  His shotgun was loaded and in the corner.  He started making his way toward it.  He wasn’t going to fool with some dang pill-head trying to break in and steal what little he had.  He would kill them first.

And then, a voice cried out.

“Ray…..Ray?” the voice pleaded, “Is it you?  Are you there?”

He recognized it as the voice on the phone.  His blood was ice in his veins as the shock passed through the top of his head and ran out his toes.

“Trisha?” he yelped.

“Ray!” the voice cried out again, “Help me!”

Until next week…..class dismissed.

His old rusty pickup truck was burning oil like crazy as Ray Smith drove into Jackson.  Cussing and grumbling all the way, he knew just what he had to do to get rid of those dang ladybugs.  He needed to make a quick run to True Value and get some poison…something to spray on those bugs and get rid of them once and for all.  After chowing down on a bowl full of soupbeans and ladybugs earlier, he had made up his mind once and for all….the ladybugs had to die!

Belching smoke, his truck lurched into the parking lot, narrowly missing a black Ford Focus that was pulling out onto Highway 15.  He shot his finger up and yelled at them for being so stupid as to get in his way…but they were already gone.  He had recognized the man…a teacher and a writer for a local newspaper.  People like that were always going around with their mind somewhere else.  Ray didn’t care much for teachers or for writers.  He had only read the Mountain News once.  He didn’t really like to read.  It made his head hurt.

Lurching toward the section of the store that held the pesticides, Ray quickly scanned the shelves.  It looked like everyone else in town must have had the same idea.  There wasn’t much to choose from, and what was left was too expensive for his light pockets.  He didn’t get his check for another two weeks…and he still had to buy cigarettes to get him through until then.

“Can I help you sir?” came a low voice from behind him.  It was that Douthitt guy…he couldn’t remember his first name.  There was just something about him that Ray didn’t like.  But then, Ray didn’t like most people.

“Naw,” Ray said, turning to go and then stopping, “Well, yeah…you don’t have anything that doesn’t cost so much do ya’?”

“Ummm,” the Douthitt man stumbled, scanning the shelves.  What was his name?  Ray couldn’t quite place it.  “Let me go and check in the back.  Hold on.”

Ray felt sweat breaking out on his forehead.  It was so hot in here!  He didn’t like being around a lot of other people, and Jackson seemed like it was packed today.  What was going on?  It wasn’t check day.  Why were there so many people out?  He started to shuffle from foot to foot.  Maybe he should check Wal-Mart…of course, he never could find anything he wanted in that store.  Well, maybe cheap cigarettes.  He usually got those from the discount tobacco place though.

“Sorry sir,” the Douthitt fellow appeared again, “This is all that we have at the moment.  In fact, these are the lowest priced pesticides that we carry.  If you need something less expensive, you might want to look at Wal..”

“I know…I know,” Ray grouched, stomping off.  People were so incompetent in this town!  It seemed like everything was against him today.  He needed a beer!

“Ladybug problems?” came a small voice from behind him as he made his way back to his truck.  Ray turned around and saw a little old woman smiling at him.  She was standing beside a big pile of pumpkins that were in front of the store.

“What’s it to ya’ lady?” he snarled back at her and started to get into his truck and head toward the county line.  He really needed a drink.

“Well…” the old lady continued, “It’s just that I heard you in the store just now.  You needed something for bugs.  I just assumed that you had the same problem that most all of us are having…those little pests are everywhere.”

“Yeah,” Ray said, one leg in the truck, “Well…they don’t have what I need here, and I can’t afford it anyway!  Everything is so dang expensive anymore.  It’s a wonder that they don’t charge us to breathe the air!”

The old woman laughed.  It wasn’t what one would call a pretty laugh.  In fact, it sounded a little rough…like she had been a smoker for most of her life.  But there was something in that laugh that made Ray take his leg out of his truck and turn around.  She was staring at him with the bluest eyes that he had ever seen.

“Yeah…it takes money to live in this world,” she said, her eyes never once leaving his, “Unless you know the secrets…that is.”

“What are you talking about?” Ray asked, his interest rising.  Maybe this old broad was going to give him some money or something.

“Ray…I know a way that you can get rid of your problem and not have to pay one penny,” she said, “How does that sound.”

That sounded great to him…but…

“Hey!” he snapped, “How in the heck did you know my name?”

The old woman started to bark out her laughter again, “Oh now…you probably don’t remember me.  I was a good friend to your grandma when she was still alive.  Don’t you remember me…Elsbeth Warding?”

A cold shiver went down Ray’s back.  Something about the name was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.

The old woman darted a tongue across her dry lips, “Listen to me Ray Smith.  I’m gonna’ tell you something that will change your life forever.”

Until next week….class dismissed!

On Wednesday, February 15th, our little boy Jacob turned two years old.  We celebrated his birthday on Saturday though so that everyone could come and help share in our little boy’s special day.  It was a day of firsts for all of us!

First of all, it was Jacob’s first real birthday party.  The previous year, he was in the hospital and was getting ready to go into the orphanage.  The poor little guy didn’t have any celebration.  He was just being taken from what was familiar to him and put into a big house full of other kids.  It must have been a very scary time for him.  I know that he was very young at the time…just turning one year old.  I only hope that he doesn’t remember any of that traumatic time and only knows happy days from here on out.

Second of all, it was our first birthday party together as a family.  Lisa and I had spent many years going to other birthday parties for kids…but we had never had the chance to have a birthday party for our own child.  All of that changed on Saturday though.

Ever since Jacob has been in the United States, he has been fascinated with Sesame Street.  He loves to read Sesame Street books, he loves to play with Sesame Street toys, and he loves to watch Sesame Street on television.  His favorite video is Learning About Letters….starring Big Bird and all the other Sesame Street gang.  We sometimes watch it about 5 times a day!  I only hope that some of that knowledge is sinking in!  Ha!

Needless to say, the theme for the day was Sesame Street.  We had all the Sesame Street decorations….balloons, paper plates, napkins, party hats, and horns.  We even had a Sesame Street cake!  Jacob was in hog-heaven!  He loved everything so much and was so excited.  He seemed to know that this day was a special day…just for him.

All of the people in Jacob’s life came to celebrate the day with him.  He had his mommy and daddy, Gramaw and Papaw Fugate, Mamaw Wagoner, Great Uncle Junior, Great Aunt Minerva and cousin Katie, and his “Aunt” Corrinna, “Uncle” Rod, and “cousin” Hailey.  As you know, Lisa and I are both only children.  Therefore, Jacob has an honorary aunt, uncle, and cousin.

We had such a great day.  The menu was wonderful thanks to my wife.  We had baked ham, homemade potato salad, green beans, grilled chicken, hash brown casserole, and rolls.  Of course, we had birthday cake and ice cream also.  We had been practicing singing the “Happy Birthday” song to Jacob so that he wouldn’t be scared.  Everything went very well.  He even blew out his big number 2 candle!

After eating, it was time for presents.  The child already had so many toys that his toy box wouldn’t close.  I don’t know what he will do now!  He got cars, trucks, a jack in the box, a toy laptop computer, crayons, coloring books, books to read, and tons of other toys.  He got so many Little People!  His Aunt Corrinna and Uncle Rod and cousin Hailey got him a Little People’s Noah’s Ark!  He loves it!  He now has just about everything Little People that I can think of…but I am sure that we will find something else for him.  LOL!  So maybe we are spoiling him just a little….but he deserves to be spoiled.  And after all of these years of waiting for a child of our own….I guess that Lisa and I can go a little overboard if we want to!

Finally, this was a birthday of firsts because Jacob got to have his first sleep-over.  His Aunt Corrinna, Uncle Rod, and cousin Hailey spent the night.  Jacob and Hailey hit it off big time!  They loved playing with all of Jacob’s new toys.  They also loved chasing each other through the house!  It was so good to hear them giggling and screaming with joy.  After so many years with a big, quiet house, it is nice to have it filled with the sounds of kids having fun.

In all, I think that Jacob’s first birthday party went very well.  Now, all of the decorations are down and all of the food is eaten.  But we still have those special memories.  Oh…and we still have that what is left of that big number 2 birthday candle.  We are going to keep it forever…because even though it was his second birthday, it was also his first.

Until next week….class dismissed!

When Lisa and I were in Russia, we got to experience a lot of the Russian culture.  For example, we got to see a lot of Russian art and visit some great historical places.  We were able to see one of the actual boats built by Peter the Great.  That was really amazing.

However, when I am visiting another culture, I really enjoy trying the different foods.  While in Russia, Olga (our translator) took us to several nice restaurants.  Of course, I could have just ordered something “safe” such as just a salad.  But I really wanted to get a taste of some traditional Russian cuisine.

I tried many different kinds of soup, including a great fish soup.  I also tried medallions of beef with a cheese sauce that was just heavenly.  Lisa didn’t like it at all though!  One thing that both of us did like was a wonderful beef and beet soup called borscht.  It was so good that I had it quite a few times while we were in Russia.  It is a traditional Russian dish, and I have been fortunate to get a great recipe for it directly from Olga.  She loves to make borscht.  She said that it was a great soup to make on a snowy day.  Plus…she said that it tastes even better on the second day!

Borscht, which is sometimes also spelled borsch and borshch, is a lovely vegetable soup that is almost always made with beets. The use of beets in this soup lend the dish a vibrant red color. There are some versions of borscht made with without beets. There is an orange borscht, which is made with tomatoes, and a green borscht, which has a sorrel base. However, beet borscht is the most common form of this soup.  That is the kind that Olga taught me to make.

We have been home from Russia for over a month now, and I decided to make some borscht the other day.  Let me tell you….it was very difficult to find beets!  I finally found some fresh beets at Foodcity in Hazard.

Since the soup has a beef base, I started by cooking a chuck roast in the crockpot overnight.  I put it on low and let it simmer all night long.  The next morning, the roast was so tender that it was falling apart!  The broth was a beautiful, bubbling golden brown.  It looked delicious already!

The other ingredients for the soup include a lot of root vegetables including beets, carrots, cabbage, turnips, and onions.  You also flavor it with tomato puree, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.  I let it simmer slowly all day long.  The entire house smelled heavenly!  I invited my mom and dad around to eat some borscht with Lisa, Jacob, and me.  I have to say that we all really enjoyed this little taste of Russia….right here in Breathitt County.

If you would like to experience some borscht for yourself and your family, I am including the authentic recipe…right from Olga herself.

Russian Borscht

2 lbs. beef tenderloin or sirloin steak, cut up
5 to 6 c. water
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 c. shredded beets
3/4 c. shredded carrots
2 turnips, finely chopped
1 med. onion
2 tbsp. tomato puree
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 sm. head cabbage, shredded
Ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 c. sour cream

Simmer the beef in salted water until tender. Like I said, I cooked a chuck roast overnight in the crockpot….and it was great!  Meanwhile, in large saucepan, simmer the beets, carrots, turnips, onion, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar and butter for 15 minutes. Stir frequently and cover when not stirring. Add cabbage and cook 10 minutes longer. Add the vegetable mixture, pepper and bay leaves to the meat and the broth. Adjust seasonings, cook until tender. Add more vinegar if desired. Before serving, add sour cream to taste.  It is also good when you sprinkle some croutons on top before serving.  Yum!

Like Olga said, it IS better on the second day.  All the flavors seem to meld together.  Also, it freezes well if you have any left over.  Enjoy!

Until next week….class dismissed!

I am going to be interviewed on WLEX-18 in Lexington, KY on Friday, June 25^th during their 12:30 show.  They always make me feel so welcome at their station.  This will be the third time that I have been there.  Please tune in on that day if you can.  I appreciate all the support that I receive from all my friends here at home.

The next day, June 26^th, I will be at the Harrodsburg Book Festival.  There will be lots of authors and artists from all over Kentucky at this event.  If you all are in the area, please stop by and say hello.  If you love to read, this book festival will be a dream come true.  You can come and meet Kentucky authors and get copies of their books signed.  Stop on by.

I have also been invited to appear on a television program called “From These Hills” which appears on WYMT in Hazard, KY.  They invited me to be on their October show…so that will be a few months away.  I guess that since my book is a horror/suspense type of book, they thought it would be a good fit.  I will let you know more about that as the time draws closer.

On a last note, I was recently invited to attend the May meeting of the Breathitt County Library book club.  I was the guest author…lol.  They had all read my book, Dark and Bloody.  I was nervous, but they all made me feel very welcome.  The book club has been meeting for years.  It was such an honor to have them invite me to their meeting.  I hope that they enjoyed my book.

If you would like to purchase a copy of my book, Dark and Bloody, you can check out my website, www.alonzofugate.com.   You can also check on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  Locally, it is at Showtime Video and Tanning.  I appreciate everyone’s support.

I am spending the summer working on my next book which will be a collection of Appalachian tales.  I already read one of them to the kids at Rousseau, and they seemed to enjoy it very much.  Look for this book to be released near the end of the year.

I am leaving you this week with a picture of the Breathitt County book club.  If you would be interested in joining, please call the library for more information.

Until next week, class dismissed!

Alonzo & Carry

Alonzo & Lisa

John Deere Alonzo

Summer wouldn’t be summer without family reunions.  This summer, I once again had the honor of attending the Hatfield reunion with my wife Lisa.  It was even better this year because we were able to take my mother-in-law Janet with us.  Janet was originally a Hatfield, if you were wondering how a Fugate got invited into the clan!  LOL!

On a hot and sunny Friday morning, we all loaded into the van.  The good people at Nim Henson Geriatric Center even packed up all of Janet’s medicines that she would need for the weekend.  They are just really good people!

Off we headed to Yatesville Lake in Louisa.  The Hatfields always rent out all of the cabins at Creekside Cabins and RV Park.  It is a great location to relax and unwind.  There are 8 cabins that get rented out.  Plus there is lots of room for the rest of the family who like to bring their RVs.

When we arrived, we saw the familiar “big tent” that they rent for the weekend.  This year, the family also rented several of the inflatable rides that are very popular right now.  As we got closer, I saw that they had rented an obstacle course, water slide, and one where two people try to knock each other off a pedestal with large padded javelins.   These were mainly meant for the kids…but the adults enjoyed them also.  This was especially true late at night when jousting contests took place!  LOL!

We quickly unloaded the van and made ourselves at home.  We hadn’t seen most of these people in a year, since last year’s reunion.  However, thanks to Facebook, we have been keeping up with each other a little better.  What did we ever do before Facebook?  It is truly a wonderful thing…especially if you use it to keep in contact with people who live in other counties or states.

The first night, we had the annual auction which helps to raise money for the reunion.  Yours truly was once again chosen to be auctioneer.  I am not complaining though.  I love it.

We had a great dinner of traditional summer foods….hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, etc.  Then, everyone piled onto stacks of hay pulled by an antique John Deere tractor for a hayride around the community.  I wonder what people thought when they saw all of us riding through their neighborhood.  Of course, I had on my lovely straw hat that my “long long sister” Carey Moore had given me.  We are so much alike!  We decided over the span of the weekend that we are surely brother and sister who got accidentally separated at birth…LOL!

After dinner, we held the Hatfield Summer Olympics.  Everyone was broken into teams and competed in events such as a three-legged race, water balloon toss, and relay race.  It was a great time, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun competing in the events.  There were events for both adults and children.

The next day was hillbilly day.  I wore my bib overalls just for the occasion.  It was a great day and everyone enjoyed talking and catching up with each other.  Lisa and I were so proud of Janet because she was able to walk up and down the steps of our cabin by herself.  She did a great job!  Everyone loved having Janet at the reunion this year.

Lisa spent a lot of the day cooking for big dinner that night.  She made cornbread salad, overnight salad, oatmeal raisin cake, and a black walnut cake.  She also made a homemade butter cream icing for both of the cakes.  They were so good!

Speaking of food, everyone at the Hatfield reunion loved to eat.  We had tons of food…smoked meats, barbeque, salads, green beans, breads, casseroles, and loads of other foods too numerous to list here.  The tables were groaning with food…for a little while at least.  Then…we were all groaning because we had eaten too much!

That night, the evening’s entertainment was the Hatfield Family Hee Haw.  Carey was the ringleader of the show, appearing as Minnie Pearl…complete with hat and tag!  She had recruited several of us to be in the show, including me!  I was….get ready for it…none other than Dolly Parton!  It was a hoot!  I wasn’t too sure if I was going to get into that dress at first or not!  It was a little tight…probably from all that delicious food from earlier in the day.  They really stuffed me “up top” also, if you know what I mean.  It was all in good fun though.

Other family members dressed up as various characters such as Ike and Tina Turner, Brittany Spears, Madonna, Elvis, Sonny and Cher, and Hank Williams Jr.  It was a good show.  We all laughed so hard.  I think that it is wonderful to be able to let your hair down every once in a while.  In my case, it was a long blonde wig!  LOL!

Everyone sat around afterwards just talking and enjoying each other’s company.  I felt so good just to be a part of this family’s reunion.  As an only child, I didn’t have a large family.  Growing up, we didn’t really get together a lot with other family members either.  It felt really good to be a part of this great group of people.  Who knew when I was marrying a wonderful woman like Lisa that I was getting a bonus as well?

The next day, we loaded up the van.  It was a bittersweet time because we had had such a great time and now it was time to head back to the “real” world.  After lots of hugs, handshakes, and slaps on the back, we started back home.  I really had a great time at this year’s Hatfield reunion.  Lisa and Janet said that they did as well.  Now….the countdown to next year begins.

Until next week…class dismissed.