One week to go before the big graduation weekend

Well, the barbecued pigmeat is completed and frozen in gallon freezer bags in the freezer. I have the makings for pimento cheese and will go over to the grocery later this week in order to get the required carcasses to barbecue a few chickens. If we get some help on this soiree, we should be able to feed quite a few PC graduates and their families on Saturday afternoon.

I haven't attained the position yet where I have anxiety over having enough food for everybody. That will come later.

Kate has traveled down to Edisto Island and is probably burning her body as quickly to a crisp as is possible. As I said to someone the other day, we are not genetically manufactured for sunny climes. I don't expect Kate to take sufficient efforts to protect herself. Perhaps as she gets older and the weight of mortality hangs heavier over her head, she may come to the conclusion that taking care of her body is an important task.

On the other hand, I am sure she is having a good time at the beach.

I was watching the Today Show this morning and Matt Lauer was interviewing Larry Jones, the horse trainer from Hopkinsville who trained Eight Belles. Eight Belles, of course, is the horse which came in second in the Kentucky Derby, only to compound fracture both legs and require euthanization on the track. It was interesting to listen to Mr. Jones talk about the incident, and, of course, Matt Lauer, in conjunction with an editorial in the New York Times, was trying to get Mr. Jones to admit that there was something wrong with the training of the horse.

As I listened to Larry Jones, I found few similarities between his speech patterns and mine or my mother's or my aunt's or uncle's. The only expression he used which was common was the phrase "to be perfectly honest" which is an expression which I use all the time. Unfortunately, that is a phrase which sometimes has a tendency to make one consider that what is being said is the opposite of the truth. Not that I think he was lying to Matt, but, as with many interviews on television, you often get to a point where you feel like defending the interviewee.

I felt the same way with Hillary Clinton when Meredith Viera was interviewing her this morning. It seemed like every time Hillary Clinton attempted to answer a question, Meredith would interrupt her to ask her another question. No wonder some of these interviewees get upset with the interviewers. I would too.

Not that you ordinarily get a good head of sympathy up for politicians, but it does make you wonder how they keep their cool under the circumstances.

By the way, my hands still smell faintly like smoked pork.