Fear no weevil

So, direct from my "how could I go through life without writing about this department", I must tell you about one of the truest forms of proclaiming good things that I know of. Near Dothan, there’s a little town called Enterprise.

I guess, by virtue of the name, the forefathers proclaimed an enterprising mentality for the people who live there. So much so, that from 1910 to 1915 when the Boll Weevil was eating up all the cotton crops in the Enterprise area, those enterprising farmers started planting all different sorts of things like peanuts, and corn and they suddenly realized more prosperity than they’d ever known before. And, in case you didn’t know it, raking in tons of money tends to make people very, very happy and very grateful.

They were so grateful to the Boll Weevil for ruining the cotton crops and forcing them to diversify their plantings (and helping them make huge deposits in the banks) that they erected a statue right in the center of town in honor of the Boll Weevil.

You heard me right, there’s a statue in Enterprise, AL in honor of a bug. You know, I could end this article right here because I think a bug statue is pretty funny all by itself. But I can’t stop now, my editor requires at least 700 words and we have a ways to go--so fasten your seatbelts.

I know by now you’re probably trying to visualize what a bug statue must look like. Well, this isn’t just a big plaster bug, it’s a statue that looks an awful lot like that green lady in the New York harbor, but in this case, instead of a torch she’s holding a platter over Her head with a big bug on it.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture (err, I mean statue)? Besides the fact that this statue honors a bug. I challenge you to show me any women in the south that would stand that close to a bug. Maybe there are women that like bugs that much, but I really don’t want to meet them. But, for arguments sake let’s say the lady didn’t mind standing that close to the bug, would she put it over Her head? Better yet, would she let the bug sit on one of Her china platters? I don’t think so, least not the women in my family.

I don’t know how many times my Grandmother called me to go to Her house to find a bug that she had seen at some point during the day. I’d usually arrive to find Her standing on a chair describing this bug as if it was an escapee from Jurassic Park. Whenever that happened a bug had to die, even if I had to go in the yard a find some innocent creature to dispose of. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even sleep in the house. Imagine what the Boll Weevil monument would look like if they used my Grandmother as the model for the statue.

So, maybe choosing a woman holding a bug is not the best choice, but we mustn’t forget that this statue honors a very hard time for some hardworking, "enterprising" farmers, and yet they were grateful. Amazing!

I think placing a reminder that good things can come out of bad times is something we all need to remember. If many of us look back, in almost every case hardships resulted in better times. So why not build statues honoring bugs? I’m beginning to believe it is a good idea.

So, let the good people of Enterprise, AL remind us that a bump in the road is not the end of the road. Maybe it’s just the comparison between bad times and good times that make us so grateful. That’s why, when you’re visiting Enterprise, you’re likely to hear someone say "Fear No Weevil"… I couldn’t agree more.

Wow, 700 words about a bug statue—I’m good!

Ya’ll come!

To find out more about David Zack Holmes and read other features, visit http://www.davidzackholmes.com/

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