Dolphin, Dolphin, Dolphin.

When I was little Uncle Richard sat at our table and told a story that has come to be known as the "Dolphin, Dolphin, Dolphin Story." He retold it many times, in many settings. I remember him telling it at the dinner table at Mamaw's house several times. When I would bring friends home for sleepovers, or from MSMS, college, or even when I moved away, I would ask Uncle Richard to tell the story. He always obliged. When Dana was at Florida State, she pledged Tri Delta, and the mascot for them was the dolphin, which made it even more special! It is short, and very sweet.
On one of Uncle Richard's adventures, he decided to learn to scuba dive, and fell in love with it. (I assume that he began diving around the time, or possibly just before Jaws came out.) On one dive trip he recalled how he was enjoying swimming along with his dive buddy, looking at the fish in the reef, being amazed at the coral and colors and being very at peace. They had practiced their dive signs and were ready for anything. THEN, he said, we swam over this huge dark abyss. In Uncle Richard's mind, there was a HUGE shark, or maybe a bunch of sharks, that lived just past where he could see, in the darkness. He was afraid. He told us that he just knew he was using up all the oxygen in the tank, because he was breathing really fast and there was a constant column of bubbles coming from his respirator, and sharks can smell fear! He said that he wasn't sure when or where he heard it, but he remembered hearing that a dolphin could kick a shark's ass with no problem, AND that you could call them telepathically! He quickly started telepathically calling DOLPHIN, DOLPHIN, DOLPHIN as he swam back to the boat. He never saw a shark, but he was sure that if there were any, the dolphins were protecting him while he swam back to the boat.
Each time I go to the beach, I try to telepathically (and with silly noises too) call the dolphins. I have been fortunate enough to pat dolphins a few times in my life, and they are amazing animals. When Uncle Richard was ill and I was between trips home and feeling sad, Robert and I would go to the beach and sit on the sand and call the dolphins. They would always come! I would call Uncle Richard on the phone and tell him about my day. It would make him so happy. It was like he was there with me and sent the dolphins.
On October 11th, as I was working, I decided that I wanted to go to Treasure Island and watch the sunset on the beach in front of the beach house where Robert and I got married 3 years ago to the day. It was a spur of the moment plan, and caught Robert a little off guard. Uncle Richard didn't come to the wedding, instead, he stayed at home and watched over the dogs so Mama and Daddy could come for a while. We ate dinner at Caddy's and walked to the beach house. We sat there and talked. I mentioned how awesome it would be if we saw dolphins, but it was getting to be dusk, and not likely. I was joking saying that maybe they will come if I say "Cacaww! Cacaww!" Just before we decided to leave, I saw something just behind a nice size wave just off the beach. It was a pod of dolphins!!! I was so excited!!! It was too dark for my cell phone camera to catch but we saw them!!! Uncle Richard sent them!! I just know he did!! I hope that he sends dolphins to visit us on our upcoming cruise! I know he will!!! Cacawww! Cacawww!!
I love and miss you my protector and dolphin caller!

Shannon Outlaw-Kimsey, RN
10/29/2011

I love Fall!

I am sitting out here in my back yard, facing Uncle Richard's garden with my feet propped up and the laptop resting on my legs. Robert has to work late, so I have some quiet time with my thoughts. As I sit here, the thermometer reads 74, but it feels cooler than that, but in a good way. The breeze is blowing enough to make the leaves rustle on "The Mamaw tree." The birds are chirping in the distance and the squirrels are scurrying through the trees in the conservation lot. Sounds like they had too much caffeine today. I think I hear the armadillo scratching around out there too. He sounds much bigger by the echo of his scratching. We joke that a chupacabra lives back there just past where we can see. A Sandhill crane just flew over and made its throaty call. I swear I feel Uncle Richard sitting beside me enjoying this weather, the animals, and all of Mother Nature's beauty and God's creation.
Back when Uncle Richard got sick, i was talking to a friend of mine about how difficult it was to be so far and not be able to see him all the time. Talking on the phone each day just didn't seem like enough. She suggested that I buy 2 wind chimes and hang one outside my window and one outside his window as a way to communicate to each other and think about each other all the time. That wind chime just started chiming as I began to write. I still feel it is my link to him. Sometimes it chimes when there is no wind. I feel like it is his way of saying, "Helllllloooooo? Is anybody home?" in that old lady country voice he used whenever he would come to the house. He could crack me up anytime, anywhere.
Armadillo's getting cranked up now! Hope he doesn't come running at me or I may wet myself!! Damn skeeters are going to carry me inside!! The bats need to come eat these bad boys!!! I had to move inside before I get malaria or west nile virus!
ANYWAY.......
When I was in high school Daddy worked at Tara and Mama and Uncle Richard ran the farm. I loved going to Tara and riding through the woods and seeing the deer, turkeys, squirrels, alligators, hummingbirds...you name it! I knew it was a job with really long hours and lots of manual labor, but I never really understood the sacrifice that my parents made for 9 years living apart and seeing each other only on the weekends until I was married. That makes me sad to think it took that long to really "get it."
ANYWAY.........
I went to Tara during the week on one of the weeks off from school. The second day I was there Mama called and said, "You have to come home and take Babe to Greenville to the vet. She's not acting right. I've called Richard and he will ride with you to Dr Royal's office." (Babe was our 13 year old yellow lab who was the love of our lives, tied of course with her "baby boy" Sandy, who looked and acted so much like her.) When I got home I called Babe and Sandy and they didn't come, so I went to the dog house and crawled in to check on Babe. Sandy was sitting beside her. I touched her and knew she was gone. I sat there in the hay holding my sweet dog, sobbing as Sandy licked my tears away. I must have been making some deep guttural moaning cry when Uncle Richard walked into the back yard. He said, "Shannon, are you ok?" I just cried, and he cried with me. After a while he said, "Let's go get her favorite blanket and bury her on the other side of the fence by Benji." ( I have to stop here to say that if Mama and Daddy sell the house and someone decides to dig a pool, they are going to be in for quite the shock. We have had a lot of animals, and they are all buried in our back yard.) We got her favorite blanket and the shovels and began digging outside of the fence on the west side of the yard. To this day I can show you where she is. As we dug, we talked. He tried to make me laugh, and succeeded when he said, "We are going to bury her with her back to the North, like the TRUE southern dog she was!" So we did. Sandy sat on the other side of the fence watching us dig, cry and laugh. I dare anyone to say dogs don't understand or grieve!! That dog knew what was going on, that is why he didn't leave his Mama when I called him.
Poor Uncle Richard has buried so many of our animals. He always said, "If Josie dies, I'm going to bury her before Sheila gets home and swear she ran away!" (This would be a miracle for her to run away since Josie is now 18 1/2, completely blind and deaf and has dementia!) I never in a million years thought that Josie would outlive Uncle Richard, but he can say that he didn't have to find her, bury her, or lie to my Mama.
*****When I started writing this, I was going to write about bats by the Yazoo River, but I guess he took me in a whole other direction!*****
I miss you Uncle Richard, the "Critter wrangler" "animal lover of all creatures big and small" and most of all "wonderful uncle and friend."

Shannon Outlaw-Kimsey
10/3/2011