Bus Driver Bob and the Flock

It’s amazing when you live in the country the things that you find to entertain you. And yes we are no different. We will never forget Bus Driver Bob. O Wise One and I live on a dirt/gravel road just across the county line from where the kids went to school. The school bus driver was an old truck driver who lived in town and doubled as the janitor, handyman and all around good guy referred to by everyone as Mr. Bob. Now Bob took his drive seriously and reminded me of the mad mailman in that Chevy Chase movie Funny Farm. I fully expected to have to stand out by the mailbox and catch the girls as they were slung out the window as the bus zoomed by. Nothing stopped bus driver Bob, not rain, sleet or snow, not deer or cows. You could set your watch by Bus driver Bob. He had a schedule to keep and you had best be waiting when he got there. He would pull up in our gravel drive every week day morning and pick up the girls and back up, down hill, down that gravel drive in snow or mud and never grind a gear. And never hit the mailbox at the end. (This is more than I can say) Then he would turn around and head to school. You see we were the last stop, the end of the line. Past us the road turned to dirt and no one lived on the road after our driveway.

Not long after we moved to the Holler O Wise One decided he wanted some guineas. I had been raised on a farm with guineas and so we ordered about 18 chicks through the mail. Our guineas arrived and we raised 16 of these birds to adulthood. O Wise One was proud of his flock and he let them roam every day to eat the bugs. We never had a tick problem in the yard as long as we had guineas. After he started letting the guineas out in the morning they developed a pattern. Every morning our guineas would wait along the side of the road for Mr Bob and the big yellow bus to pull into our driveway. And then, almost as if someone blew a whistle, all 16 birds would walk to the middle of the road and wait for the bus to back out the driveway and get back on the gravel road. then they would walk at a snails pace in front of the school bus as it started to leave. You could hear every morning in the distance Mr. Bob’s horn furiously blowing for a good mile down the dirt road following 16 very slow guineas. He never ran over them. About an hour later  you would see all 16 guineas come waddling back up the road home. Laughing all the way. Three thirty every afternoon we would repeat this ritual. O Wise One just smiled. He’s sneaky like that!

Well Mr. Bob has retired now. We hear him sing the national anthem every 4th of July at the City Park for the Lions Club Town Picnic. His bus driving days are over though. And we are down to our last girl and she drives next year so our bus days are almost over too . And the guineas were killed by the big red dog that lived on the farm down the road. They are now chasing buses in guinea heaven.

But wait. There’s a new family that has moved in past us. Wonder if they’ll have kids riding the bus. O Wise One is looking at the hatchery catalog. Wonder how much guineas are now?

Told ya he was sneaky!

Blessings from the Holler

The canned quilter