Even though I'm home, I will be still blogging. I have a story in two parts. Remember, this is a true story. This is about my friend in Mississippi, Melanie, and her father, Mr. Robert. This is fairly long, so bear with me.
Mr. Robert bought Waverly Mansion in 1969. He is well known in Mississippi for the work he and his wife have put into the Mansion to restore it. They have received recognitions and awards from several different areas of the Mississippi government. The mansion sits close to the Tombigbee River. The mansion had a pier to export the cotton they grew. So that sets up the story.
When TVA was dredging the Tombigbee River to widen it, they wanted to bring equipment down the road (Waverly Mansion Road) that runs in front of the mansion. They informed Mr. Robert they would have to cut down one of his trees to get their equipment to the river. Mr. Robert told them they could not cut it. The chief engineer of the TVA project came over and told Mr. Robert he was going to cut down the tree. He said, "You just get out of here old man." Mr. Robert told him to wait a minute and went into the house. He called the Mississippi Senator, got through to him immediately, and told him what was going on. Thirty minutes later three limosines pulled up to the mansion. Government people told the chief engineer of the TVA project he was not going to cut down one of Mr. Robert's trees and they would have to find another way to the river. A 30 million dollar project was shut down because of a tree. The TVA had to rent a barge and haul the equipment down the river to where it was needed. A couple days later the Chief Engineer showed up at Mr. Robert's door with gifts and an apology.
And now, the rest of the story.....
Steve and I stayed at Town Creek Campground about five minutes from Waverly Mansion. One of Steve's miniature pinchers, Rollo, ran away. He was gone about five hours, but came back to the campground. The next day we were loaded and ready to go when he got out of the door and ran away again. We searched everywhere. This was about 11:00 am. By 4:00 pm we knew we would not be leaving that day. We went to visit the mansion, then came back and kept looking. Melanie kept calling because Mr. Robert was worried about Rollo. About 9 pm Steve went out for one last look. He heard him barking up in the woods. When he got to him, Rollo had a rattlesnake cornered. Steve threw a stick, grabbed the dog and ran.
The next morning I called Melanie to tell her we found Rollo. She yelled "Thank GOD!!!" She said Mr. Robert was about to call the sherriff's department to send out cars to look for Rollo. She also said he was going to call the Colonel of the Air Force base (they are a few miles from Waverly) and have them fly over with their cameras to look in the woods for him. Mr. Robert said he knew the colonel well and had entertained his wife at Waverly. Melanie knew this would have happened and said it would have been a PR disaster. She said she could hear herself trying to explain to the newspaper why Mr. Robert had the Sheriff and Air Force out looking for a dog. When she told her sister about it her sister said "Thank GOD!" She also knew her father too well.
Mississippi is always an interesting trip.
My annual trip to the Tennessee Renaissance Fair was quite the event this year as Pirate Mema was accompanied by her favorite bumblebee. She won third place in the costume contest. After watching the jousting and Axel the Sot we walked around the fair several times. Just as we met up with Jack Sparrow she was exhausted and decided to have a nap.
