Greetings to all and welcome new friends to the East Wing.

The middle of May and has this been a great wet spring or what??? I love May, ‘cause I love changing of the seasons, and ya know what, May is truly the changing of the seasons. Sometimes hot and sometimes cold, it’s just May.

There’s only two months of the year truly define the upcoming change in weather. May and November are those months that most clearly usher in the change of weather. Now don’t get too crazy and remind me we’ve got four seasons and not two. I know that, DUH! But do ya see a major change from December and January or March and April? Ya just don’t . How ‘bout that June and July thing, ya don’t see it there either. I’m telling ya, it’s May and November that tells us it’s a changing of the weather.

Guess I better answer a ton of email ‘bout the Bentley. So here goes. Yes, Bentley’s a Pit Bull. Yes, Bentley’s really big. Yes, Bentley’s the She’s little house dog. Just to give ya some concept of the size of the Bentley, it takes 2.775 Pup Babies to make one Bentley. It Takes 3.455 Gray Ladies to make one Bentley. It take 8.233 Spikes to make on Bentley. It takes 18.889 Sophia’s to make one Bentley.

When Bentley came to live in the East Wing, he recognized on day one the special attachment between me and the Pup Baby. After the most amazing struggle for life I’ve ever seen, me and the Pup Baby, well, we’re just buds for life. With her survival of the Badger attack and the heart worm night of the tribulation, all I can say is the will to live is strong in the Pup Baby, Mustina James. And it’s because of such will to live we’ve became friends for life. I think it’s that dog and man thing with me and the Pup Baby. It’s been around since dog demonstrated man way back in the day.

Spike and Bentley are the two newest members of the family of the East Wing and as such is seems natural that they’d just get along. And they do, so they do in spades. What’s funny is to watch those two when the weather is in a changing pattern, Spike knows ‘bout the weather change well before Bentley. Even before ya can feel it in your bones, Spike knows, he just knows. I think it’s a Man Cat thing.

Now Spike grabs hold of one of Bentley’s back legs and starts to chew. Bentley don’t know what the hell is going on. All he knows is a Man Cat is chewing on his back leg and he can’t seem to get him to stop. Bentley and Spike, a Pit Bull and a Man Cat, friends for life. Living out that life in the East Wing. I’m glad they’re here, they’re friendly people, Spike and the Man Cat.

The Gray Lady James, Solomon of the East Wing. The final authority in all dog matters, large and small. The Gray Lady makes decision independent of outside input. Bentley recognized the authority of Gary Lady James early on. The Gray Lady, Solomon of the East Wing. The Lady rules.

And then there’s Sophia. 18.889 Sophia’s to make one Bentley. That don’t mean a damn thing when ya’re a cat that’s walked with swagger on the south side of Chicago in the neighborhood of Leroy Brown. When ya’ve never spent a single day on that “walk with fear” side of life.

When you simply said to Bentley on the first day of his arrival to the East Wing. “Look Bentley, here’s your spot, now just get in line, don’t make me have to show my knives.” Bentley got in line. He knew she had the knives.

And so it was that the East Wing Pecking Order had be reformatted and brought back up on line. All because of the cat. Then so it was written and so it was done. The system was rebooted, then brought back up on line. Damn Republican Cat.

Blackberry Winter, Dogwood Winter, Cold Snap or whatever ya want to call it, there comes a time ‘round the last of April and the first half of May that a cold weather pattern moves across the land, Blackberry Winter comes around.

It’s as if Old Man Winter has once as once again stuck his icicy finger into the springtime winds to test his middle finger melting point. And he loses ever time. Middle fingers melt quick in the springtime. The really neat thing ‘bout Blackberry Winter is if ya don’t have ‘em, ya don’t get the Blackberries. Seems some years ya have lots, some years ya have few and some years ya have none. I prefer the lots years, when the picking is easy.

And so it is this year, Blackberry Winter came right on time. Now with a little luck and a little rain later on in the year, we’ll have lots of Blackberries’ come summertime. And the picking is easy.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying by “the picking is easy”. ‘Cause it take years to develop the proper technique of Blackberry Picking. Ya just go out there and start picking like a pro on day one of berry picking. I’m telling ya, it takes years of practice to come a master berry picker, to become a boneafied Blackberry Picker..

I just so happen to have been blessed by learning from the best. My first instructions into the fine arts of Blackberry Picking came from the Queen herself, the Queen of Southfork. When Lou taught ya the basics of Blackberry Picking, ya learned for the top. Me and Lou picked Blackberries on Southfork.

My middle school training in Blackberry Picking was turned over to my Aunt Maggie when we move to Tiptop. Me and Aunt Maggie, we picked Blackberries a lot, there on the mountains of Tiptop.

When I moved to Indiana, it was my Mama who taught me the final lessons in the fine arts of Blackberry Picking. It’s all in the writ ya know, that Blackberry Picking. My Mama gave the knowledge which allowed me to finally obtain my PhD in Blackberry Picking.

Did ya ever write a PhD Thesis Papers? I’ve written two, and they’re kinda cool. Now these Thesis Papers must demonstrate original thought process on the subject matter and at the same time develop a hypnotics which can be supported by logic. And one of the important points of the thesis is the use of really big words. It seems the people who decide if the Thesis is worthwhile, well, those folks, they like to see people like me use big words when we try for those PdD’s. And so I wrote the big words for hospital administration, and we got’er done.

That Blackberry Picking Thesis, the hardest damn thing I ever wrote in my life. There’s just not a lot of big word that can be used to describe Blackberry Picking. I’ll not bore with the details but the thesis paper, it involved wine and roses along with Barer Rabbit and Barer Fox and a Blackberry Patch high up on the mountain. It was the harder of the two, but it too was successful. Of the two I’m most proud to be called “ Dr. of Berry Picking.”

And so now ya know why it’s more fun to talk ‘bout when I was a kid at Tiptop or Toto, when ya just picked ‘em and ate ‘em.

Stay Safe In Afghanistan and Iraq

From the East Wing, May and November, Bentley and the East Wing, Blackberry Picking and PhD’s

I wish you well,

BobbyRay