Pig Pickin's and Near Death Experiences

If you are from the South, you know what a "Pig Pickin" is.  You grill a pig over hickory coals all day and then when it is done you pick the meat off, chop it up and eat it.  In the Eastern part of North Carolina we are known for our Carolina BBQ Sauce which consists of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and chili pepper flakes.  I did not get a picture of the whole hog but Ludie's dad and brother chopping up the meat.  Ludie Sr. and Kevin are the best around and are often asked to cater events.

Of course no pig pickin or fish fry is complete without hush puppies. (Sweet fried cornbread is the best description I can come up with.)

Lila got to see her baby book for the first time with her Grandmother.

Sitting by Uncle James is also very entertaining for all of us.

We have not been able to attend a Smiley family reunion in at least 14 years, until this year. 

This is a cultural experience all in itself.

Of course the day is not finished without a visit to Uncle Pig's farm to see what new animals he has.

Here's Grace, the new Brahma cow.  She is beautiful.  Ruthie now understands what an electric fence is by experience.

Of course a visit isn't completely authentic without a ride in the pick up truck.  That's "a whole lotta youngins!"  Our kids just adored being with their cousins.

You never go hungry with Judy around.  I've never seen someone work so hard canning and freezing.  If anything ever happens, these are the people you want to be with!  They are prepared.

Oh and I almost forgot...the near death experience.   Well I wish I had a video or picture of this to show you.  Reading it is not nearly as funny as seeing it.  Ludie and I decided to get some exercise and ride our bikes up to Uncle Pig's.  So when we got there, we found Ludie's brother and a sister-in-law (Katie) had ridden the golf cart behind us.  However, attached to it was a rope that was pulling Claude (Ludie's other brother, Katie's husband) on a bicycle.  When leaving, the bicycle that already had a messed up tire, crossed over the rope and the slack from the rope snapped tight sending the bike and Claude flipping over.  Claude flipped what seemed to be at least six feet in the air.  When coming down out of the air, he was heading towards the pavement headfirst.  Claude did a tuck and roll, landing in the middle of the road.    Cars stopped coming from both directions.  If that had been me they would have had to peel me off the road.  Of course, Claude had only a small scratch on his foot.    The handlebars were then stuck backwards.  He dusted himself off, laughed, got on the bike and continued home as the golf cart pulled the bicycle.

Being in the Creech family can have you screaming in terror one moment and then laughing your head off the next.  I have to admit, I don't take stomach medicine when I visit anymore because of the craziness, but I am never bored when I am there.