JANUARY 2025

Welcome members! 

~ to the OKEFENOKEE JOE ‘JANUARY 2025’ NEWSLETTER ~  

Happy New Year! We’re inviting everyone who has been touched by Joe’s work to take a few moments to complete the Okefenokee Joe survey. You’ll help guide us toward what truly matters to preserve and honor the spirit of Okefenokee Joe.

January is the month that you can make a difference. Please let us know what you need or want from the Okefenokee Joe Enterprise to make it truly meaningful for you to stay connected and inspired. Your voice is invaluable, and together, we can ensure this legacy thrives for years to come. Thank you to those who have taken part in the survey, your input is important and the results will be included in the next newsletter!

This is your chance to help keep Joe’s legacy alive, bringing his wisdom and spirit to new generations to come. To all of you who have supported Okefenokee Joe over the years—whether by purchasing books, CDs, DVDs, or merchandise—thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The Flood family are deeply grateful for your love and support.

Let’s keep his legacy alive together. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! 

Help spread Joe’s words ‘Streetwise is cool, Swampwise is Awesome!’

David Flood
Partner
Okefenokee Joe Enterprise

OKEFENOKEE JOE ENTERPRISE SURVEY

FROG GIGGIN’
 

Wadin’ knee deep in a cypress pond

A light on my head, a gig in my palm

Slappin’ at mosquitos, watchin’ out for bears

With one eye on that gator in that hole over there

 I’m frog giggin’, lookin’ for the big ‘uns 

Frog legs sellin’ five bucks a pound

Folks up town just a’munchin’ ‘em down

I’m frog giggin’, down on the river swamp

        They called my daddy “Iron man” 

He raised me to live off the land

And I won’t forget his dyin’ wish

I’ll go on trappin’, catchin’ them fish

And frog giggin’, a family tradition,

Down on the river swamp

I know this land like the palm of my hand

And I know things people don’t understand

While the rest of the world is sleepin’ sound

          Like an ole’  bull gator I’ll be prowlin’ around 

And frog giggin’,   my daddy’s way of livin’

I’ll trap snappin’ turtle, coyote and coon

When warm weather hits on a night with no moon

I’ll be frog giggin’, down on the river swamp

They tell me the law is changin’ things

The old ways are gone, they’re only a dream

You can’t kill a gator, can’t fish with a spear

There’s a limit on ducks, wild turkey and deer

But frog giggin’, is still an honest livin’

I ain’t gettin’, rich but life is fun

And I’m proud to be old Iron Man’s son

And I’m frog giggin’, down on the river swamp

They say they’re buyin’ mussels at the button factory

So today I’ll be divin’ but tonight I’ll be

Out frog giggin’ down on the river swamp

       Maybe I did not look hard enough, but I found only a few spots in the Okefenokee, where I could find big bull frogs in any great numbers.  So most of the frog legs I put on my grill came from the much smaller, but just as delicious, pig frogs, or the smaller yet green frogs, and the bronse, or leapard frogs.   Every now and then some folks in Waycross would hire me to catch them a mess, and even back in those days I got five dollars a pound for them!  As I wrote this song, I remembered how sometimes one of my sons referred to me as “Iron Man”.  That name seemed to fit the mood of the song, so I used it in several of the verses.

    One night, in a river swamp, I was hunting frogs in a shallow bog.  I had already bagged four nice pig frogs, and one smaller green frog, and I was just now zeroing in on another green, when I was surprised to hear a loud and frightening splash behind me!  Prior to that I had heard nothing but the crickets, the frogs, and other such great, and wonderful summer night swamp sounds.  The sounds of freedom

    My head lamp had an extremely bright, but narrow beam set to zero in on the eyes of an individual frog.  And in the pitch darkness of the night, everything in front of me was lit up almost as broad as daylight.  But I could see very little around or behind me!

    But I did not need a light to tell me what it was that made that splash!  Because as it made the splash, it also gave out with a loud sound that is difficult to imitate, but I'll try to do it.  It was a “Humph Humph!” sound!  But much louder, and much more ferocious than any human could do!  That's right !  I'm not sure how big it was, but It definitely was an American Black Bear!

    Now  I am a survivor, and as always I was really paying attention to my surroundings.  But I surely did not hear that bear coming up on me!  Like all wild animals a bear can move silently when it wants to. 

      Because I had four bears that I was caring for at the swamp, I knew exactly what that bear sound meant!  For some reason it wanted me gone from there!  That's all!  I knew that if it had wanted to hurt me, or make a meal of me, it would have already done so without the warning.  The bear made no more sound or movement.  So, hoping for the best, I began to slowly move away from the spot!  Without looking back I waded straight ahead for about twenty-five yards, to make sure I would give it a wide birth.  Still the bear made no sound.  When I felt I was far enough away from it, trying not to antagonize it, I made a wide uturn.  Praying to God that the  bear would leave me alone.  I then moved as quickly as I could, and finally I made it back to my jeep!  As I drove off, you can bet I thanked God for my safety!

    A week or so later, curiosity had overcome fear, and I went back over there during the day, to see if I could figure out why that bear wanted me gone from there.  Cautiously I searched what I thought was the approximate area where the encounter had occurred.  I heard a more than usual sound of buzzing insects coming from over near the base of a big cypress tree.

    I waded over that way and found a huge, yellow jacket nest.  It was almost the size of a small riding lawnmower!  I had not noticed it in the darkness the night of my bear “encounter”.  There wasn't much activity around it that night, because most of the yellow jackets were sleeping in it.  But today they were more than active!  It could well have been simply the bear's favorite fishing hole.   Or, and I am just guessing, that huge hive full of yellow jacket honey could have been that bear's private property, and maybe it considered me a trespasser.  I never went back there again.  But I surely didn't stop frog giggin' either!

***Don't forget to get your FREE SONG!*** 
DOWNLOAD AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEWSLETTER
' FROG GIGGIN’ by OKEFENOKEE JOE! 
 

~ Okefenokee Joe Enterprise, 2024

Okefenokee Joe aka Dick Flood 1932 - 2023