My daily routine goes something like this:

I wake up somewhere between 7 and 9, but even at 7 I'm greeted by a chorus of "good afternoon!" since everybody else has been up since five-thirty. Then I usually do some hoeing, a simple task that I can't really get wrong. I find it peaceful, and there's always more hoeing to be done.

At noon dinnertime comes, a huge meal that always leaves me stuffed and aching. This does not keep my relatives from trying to shove more food into me. After lunch there's a sort of siesta period where g-ma and g-pa sit and read the paper, take a little nap in the easy chair, stuff like that. If I'm feeling adventurous I could collect the eggs for my uncle but I don't think he likes that, since strangers disturb the hens, make them lay less.

My grandpa usually has some mechanical task reserved for the afternoon. This often involves me "practicing" welding which means making something he needs. His eyes are getting to where he can't weld anymore even with cheaters in his helmet.

Towards late afternoon, I usually go to the beach, with my Aunt Barbara or my cousin Frankie, depending on who's available. Then in the evening, Grandpa and Barbara and I fix a drink and usually stories end up being told, about the family or the farm or the olden days. They go to bed by nine and then I'll go hang out with Frankie, in a beachfront bar or at one of his friends' houses.

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It's Spring Break down here, so the cops are on the lookout for underage drinkers on the beach. My grandpa's machine shop was commissioned by the Gulf Shores PD to build this big stainless steel railing that would run the length of the police headquarters lobby. Turns out you can't jail minors so they came up with this rail- they just handcuff them all to it like a big long hitching post of drunken teenagers.