thinking about ....

...the story I heard as a small child when an amusing incident occurred recently. I was getting myself ready for bed one night, putting on pajamas and doing the routine things prior to snuggling in for a few minutes of reading before 'lights out'. Took off my shoes and began to peel off all the layers I wear in cold weather. I have a brace on my knee, with a metal support and a number of velcro closures to hold it in place, sort of  splint like, providing stability for joint going bad. Normally, I would fold the hook-and-loop system closed, but failed to put everything back in order this one time.

I stepped on the brace in my sock feet, causing my sock to adhere to the rough surface of the 'hook' side of the velcro closure. Picked my foot up and the entire brace contraption that was lying on the floor came up with my foot, attached to the velcro by the knitted footwear. It struck me as hilarious, and I laughed out loud. People are always very suspicious when they hear you cackling aloud, knowing you are alone, and there is no one else nearby to cause the amusement. There were other people present, and one came to check, be sure I was ok.

The reason I found the sock-velcro incident so entertaining is it sparked a memory from childhood. When someone probably a parent, was reading me the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. Harris was a journalist, newspaper writer, book author of the late 1800's, best know for the 'Tales of Uncle Remus', which is the basis for the Disney movie "Song of the South". You might not recall the story of the rabbit and the briar patch - but the velcro so firmly attached to the sock caused me to think of "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby", when wily Brer Rabbit who found himself firmly attached to the small figure made of black sticky tar sitting in the road, placed there by his nemesis Brer Fox.

"Arguably the best-known Uncle Remus tale is "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story," in which Brer Fox successfully entraps Brer Rabbit by setting a tar-baby out on the big road right across Brer Rabbit's path. Brer Rabbit becomes confounded with the tar-baby's obstinate refusal to exchange pleasantries. He hits the tar-baby only to become entangled in the black tar. About this time Brer Fox makes his appearance on the road and hints that Brer Rabbit will be his dinner. In characteristic fashion, Uncle Remus ends the tale abruptly, leaving young John in suspense. Several days later, after questioning Uncle Remus about Brer Rabbit's fate, {the young boy] John learns that Brer Rabbit narrowly escaped death by begging Brer Fox to do anything but throw him into the "brier-patch." A gullible Brer Fox does exactly that and quickly realizes his mistake when he sees Brer Rabbit emerge up the hill from him, shouting "Bred en bawn (born) in a brier-patch, Brer Fox—Bred en bawn in a brier-patch!" Quoted from an article by Armisted Lemon in 'Documenting the American South.