Tupelo Festival and Bubba's Buddy

It you didn't visit the Tupelo Festival in Wewahitchka, FL, this weekend, you missed out.  Bubba and I usually go to the festival and almost always leave feeling like we have wasted our time.  This year was very different.  All the vendors' booths were well arranged and there were plenty of interesting things to see.  The food looked really good and there was a wide variety of things to eat.  The festival was well attended and the crowd stayed constant up until closing time.  We saw a lot of people we hadn't seen in a long time and really enjoyed the outing.  

The main reason for attending the Tupelo festival was to visit our friend Charles who had set up a booth to sell his hand crafted wood projects.  We found Charles and his wife, Helen, surrounded by a crowd of people who were admiring his work.  Charles started working with wood a few years ago and since he retired, he has had more time to devote to his hobby.  He makes everything from wooden chests to toys.

My favorite things that he makes are the trivets which are pictured on the right.  I have one or more of each one of them and today I bought one of the fish trivets for Amy's kitchen.  I know that she is going to love it as much as I do mine.

Charles is a unique individual.  He and Helen have been our friends for as long as I can remember, but Charles has been Bubba's buddy.  Years ago Bubba had surgery on his back and it was a very traumatic experience for him.  Charles was there with him through the surgery and was waiting in his room with him as he came out from under the anesthesia.  Bubba was very groggy and I leaned over him to tell him that Charles and Helen were there.  He said, "I know, he's my buddy." and he went back to sleep.
Charles has always been the person Bubba called if he needed help. He was the person he called if we broke down on the road.  He was the person he called if the hot water heater was spewing water everywhere.  He was in Milton with us after my nephew died in a house fire.  He was there when Bubba's mother and dad died and when my mother died. He was there when I had my pacemaker surgery. His wife, Helen, is also a very special person. She is a cancer survivor who pushed herself while taking chemo to get Amy one of her special afghans finished for a wedding present thirteen years ago. (Go, Helen!!)  I'll tell you all about Helen another time.
Charles is the person Bubba calls when he needs help, but he is also the person he calls when he wants to have fun like fishing or floundering.  
Charles plants a big garden every year.  He is an excellent farmer, but I think he gives away more than he keeps.  Whatever he has, he wants to share.  We have enjoyed everything from figs to satsumas to corn to squash from his garden - and it's not just us, he shares with anyone who stops by.
There is not a person in our community that he does not know.  He loves people and they love him.  
There is a quotation that says the more you give away, the richer you are.  According to that, Charles is a very wealthy man, but Bubba is even wealthier because Charles is his "buddy".