April Freeze in Oxford

April freeze in Oxford, Mississippi and my tomatoes.

Well, the Weathermen assured me there would be no frost last night. The official low was circa 36 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I live in a hollow. For those of you not familiar with Southern terms, a hollow (said 'holler'), is a bowl shaped geographic feature, surrounded by some hills. Low hills in my case.

There is a phenomenon with cool air pouring into low areas and you get a drop in the temperature in that one small area. And so it was last night.

The Weather Channel was beaming a low of 36 to 38... but when I read my thermometer when I got up in the morning, I saw a 31.8. Yikes, I did not cover my tomatoes as I believed the Weather Channel.

Casualties are two dead and two wounded tomato plants. And I remind myself, the Weather Channel is now owned by NBC and that is to say they are not to be trusted anymore.

What I Like About The South

One of pleasure of living in the Deep South is Crawfish boils... here's some we enjoyed over the weekend.



musician and songwriter Donovan McCain shows off a fine crawfishy

The Bonnie Blue Flag, 2009

A Passing

Well, I've been gone for awhile. A dear, dear, friend was killed in a car wreck on the evening of 13 March, and I frankly have not been able to get over it yet. I will be back later, perhaps. Just need time to heal.

Barry

Back When The World Was Real

It's Sleet, Not Freezing Rain

Happy to report that Oxford had a small amount of sleet and no freezing rain to speak of. There you go.

Lovely Snow

There is a lovely light snow falling this morning in Oxford, Mississippi. The flakes are large and dry, not the wet snow type. Just flurries and I doubt there will be any accumulation at all, but still looks beautiful.

Father Winter Visits Oxford Mississippi

By special arrangement by his highness Al Gore, Father Winter paid a visit to Oxford, Mississippi this week. Yes, it was cold lads and lassies. Here at the McCain compound we saw a morning temperature of 11.5 F a couple days ago and it has been below freezing since Wednesday.

I produce the photograph above as evidence thereof; it was taken just off the Square here in Oxford yesterday afternoon. Yes, that lovely fountain is frozen, that is ice. Neat, eh? I think so.

Old Man Winter

I for one am very happy to see Father Winter visit us. I have hopes of fewer insects and other nasties come Spring due to the low temperatures. We have been some three days below freezing, which in my part of Dixie is something these days.

above, my two Manx cats on a much warmer day, they are optimists and like to sleep in the bird bath...

My two black Manx cats were entirely impressed. They set all time records for speed sprint bathroom brakes. Did not take the lads long to go outside, do their business, and shoot themselves back inside. They are clever, they take the chairs closest to the fireplace. Thanks to the help of my son Conar, a strong 14 year old, I have plenty of firewood and the last few days the hearth had a fine fire non stop.

I hope that Father Winter enjoyed his visit and will come back again soon. We miss him. Next visit I hope he brings snow, a good foot or more would be to my liking. I hope it hits on a weekday and the children will have the joy of missing classes and snow.

Barry R McCain
in the wooded hills of north Mississippi, just outside Oxford

The Teoc McCains

The latest attempt by the Establishment Media, or Socialist as I like to call them, to hurt John McCain is the non story of black McCains who are in ‘theory’ descendants of John’s Teoc McCain ancestors. This is a theory which the socialist Left reports thinking that there will be some sort of hue and cry surrounding this 143 year old ‘news.’ I will tell them as they likely don’t know, but people do not care about this story, unless you happen to be a McCain. If you are not a McCain it bores people and shows how small minded and bigoted the Socialist media are. Now, I am a McCain and I am interested in the story, but as an aspect of our McCain history.

Now, I actually know something about McCain kin and relations as I am the administrator of the McCain family DNA project. Yes, that’s right. My project has done Y Chromosome DNA test on many McCains from Carroll County, and the surround counties of Montgomery, Choctaw, Grenada, etc. To date every McCain from this area is a DNA match to each other. Not only that, I located the McCains in Ireland, and we are all a DNA match to them as well. I am working on a book, a memoir right now, which tells of my ‘Finding the McCains.’

There are some facts here the Socialist media do not like to talk about. First the Teoc and Carroll County McCains have always had an excellent relationship with the black community there, yes, even back when there were episodes of racial strife. Why? Because the McCains were active in promoting law and order, there were occasions they put themselves at risk to protect black members of the community, etc., even to the point of backing down mops intent on violence. Not only that the McCains were and are civil. I did not think on it much as a child, but later it struck me, in a McCain home you never heard negative racial comments, slang ethnic words, etc. I have never heard my father say any thing remotely in this line.

Now the old story about slaves, and by the way, my poor McCains lived east of Teoc, we were in the bona fide Mississippi Hill County, and we did not have a single slave and were very small holding farmers, but anyroad, that’s a lame attack on the Teoc McCains. If you think on it, slavery still exists in Africa, in fact our own USA slavery would not have flourished without black slave owners and traffickers in Africa facilitating the practice. Also I do not believe in the Socialist religion of White Guilt. Yep, sorry, I am not guilty, nor are my brothers. In fact I believe the reverse; I think European Americans, especially us Gaelic types, have been pretty damn generous. At the same time I consider slavery beyond barbaric, that it is gone here is a blessing to us all, that's obvious isn’t it? Not to the Socialist Left however as they use it to practice class warfare.

To paint the Teoc McCains with the slavery guilt brush is comical. Look at John McCain today, look at the McCains today. This is another non issue and non story whipped up by the Establishment Media which needs to desperately recruit new writers outside the clique of bombastic left wingers they use now.

Now as a McCain I do have an interest in the black McCains of Teoc. I’d like them to participate in the McCain family DNA Project. I think it would be great if they did, and if they are a match, then I could give them their paternal history back to Medieval times, which I think would make excellent chat around the supper table. That's not a little thing to give a family. They might like to know of the days when the McCains rode in galleys on the Irish Sea, to see the McCain homes in Ireland, and to smell a turf fire on the hearth. The McCains have good traditions.

Barry R McCain © 2008

The Fall of 1980, Terry, Mississippi

Fall of 1980

The dying shadow of an ancient oak
Is filled with the night’s cold,
White crystal lace,
Dawn lingers,
Escaping for a moment,
Brazen face
And his warm breath and warm smile…

Barry R McCain © 1980