A Florida Bird Dog ~ Rex

By Helen Digges Spivey

This eBook gives a small glimpse of Florida’s rocky journey in the 30’s, through its Boom, then Panic and last, the shattered world of the final Bust. It also lets you view, through its biographical window, the childhood of its author and the family she grew up with, by their experiences of first having everything, then to having nothing, and how they survived.
It documents how she and her family continually bounce back from adversity that will make you laugh with them, admire them, and even perhaps inspire your own children.
From the curative manner of “snake proofing Rex," to his waving to the President from the railroad tracks, it will help you see a bird dog’s life up very close, and hopefully you will come to love Rex too.
Caring for wildlife is a recurring deed throughout the book, as you uncover the author’s dedication to protecting nature that has lasted her lifetime, now at 86 years. You will also learn that she still has more to come. As an additional note, the author also did the cover page pastel of Rex.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helen Digges Spivey
• Release date: Oct 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452491363

Helen Digges Spivey

A part of Helen Digges Spivey’s life has always been rooted in her love for the Florida she knew and loved as a child, along with her devoted companion, a bird dog named Rex. Through the Boom, Panic and Bust of Florida they learned to cope with whatever came their way within the confines of a loving, oft times humorous, creative family.It helped Helen develop an abiding love for animals, where they live, and the need to sustain their habitat. She was elected Co-Chair of Save the Manatee Club in 2000 and still holds that office, and also currently serves as President of the Florida League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. She is on the Board of the National Greyhound Foundation, and has served on the Crystal River Florida City Council and in the Florida House of Representatives,She sees hope that the tide is turning with people finally being able to use solar power economically, and electric cars (fed by solar power of course) helping us finally wean away from oil, and people understanding the need for recycling everything or refrain from getting it to begin with, and conserving water. Long an advocate for composting toilets, she is hoping that too will someday become an item for everyday use.Helen was married to a career Navy Chief Petty Officer for over 47 years when he passed away in 1997. Together they had four children.Helen has donated half of the proceeds from her eBook, "Tepee the Manatee" to Save the Manatee Club at www.savethemanatee.org

Book preview

A Florida Bird Dog ~

REX

By Helen Digges Spivey

Copyright 2011 Helen Digges Spivey

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Chapter 1

The Digges Kids from Lake Jenny Jewel

I remember the warm, and the fun-loving home I grew up in, with a father who loved to play tricks, like dropping the butter dish down so fast when he handed it to you at dinner, you’d think you were going to drop it on the floor.

It’s hard to remember the dates when things actually happened. Was I two or three or was it 1929 or 30 when this or that happened? Memories don’t actually go in chronological order either I found out, particularly when you’re my age of 83.

But I remember when my brother, Charlie, came home from the hospital in a wheel chair because he had been in a hospital bed for so long after they had removed his ruptured appendix; he’d forgotten how to walk. And Mom just knew he was going to fall out of that wheel chair getting it into our sunken living room.

Dad, in his own conniving way, decided to work on that fear and got Charlie and me aside. He showed us a stack of books he’d gathered. Then he helped my brother out of the wheel chair and put him on the floor, then turned the wheel chair over.

Now when I drop these books on the floor, he told us, you both start screaming away! We giggled as we got ready to yell.

Then he dropped the books --- we screamed --- my Mom and our cook Annie came flying out of the kitchen only to see us rolling on the floor with laughter. All except Dad. He was trying to look innocent of the entire thing. He almost let us take the full blame, but laughingly confessed when Mom and Annie really got hot. But my Mom stopped worrying about the wheel chair tipping over in the sunken living room.

When Charlie finally started walking again, Mom decided he was too awkward, so she carted us both off to the Ebsen School of Dance in Orlando. The lady who taught dance there was the sister of Buddy Ebsen, who became a movie star when I was growing up. She also had great patience.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle step. Over and over we learned those dance steps. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle step. Then when Ebsen School of Dance held a recital we had to dance for it, and of course Mom and Dad came. I know for sure Dad was deliberately tapping his feet out of beat with the music. You just couldn’t hear his taps or see his movements and keep in step with the music. We shuffled and giggled and shuffled and giggled away. Mom and Miss Ebsen were very upset.

But I think the winning funny goes to my Mom, Jean Digges. She was struggling one morning to make us pancakes that didn’t leak when you stuck your fork in them, and all the while we were deliberately saying, Hurry up, hurry up Mom so fast she couldn’t let them cook through. It happened every time Annie, our cook, was off for the weekend. Mom had to cook breakfast, and we always demanded pancakes.

Mom finally brought the last stack of pancakes to the table, and with hands on her hips, flour and pancake batter all over her apron, even some on her nose, she glared at us and said, I just know when I die you all will get me cremated and put me in an hour glass so I can keep right on working for you.

We all roared and she finally did too!

My Dad, Charles Carroll Digges Sr., had taught my brother, Charlie, and me to sing a little ditty he had written for whenever company came to visit the Lake house. He would motion us to the center of the living room floor, and then he’d nod. I was to hold out my skirt and curtsey and my brother would bow, and then