Heart and Soul of Rock 'n' Roll

pork

Alice mentioned that her granddaughter Allie (I wonder whom she is named after?) will be eighteen years old this week. Yes, time does fly. Seems like just a month or so ago when Sammy was born but he is now nearly eighteen months old and can say the word “NO!”. I hope I see him turn eighteen years old but if not, he and my grand-kids and my kids have made me a happy man.

Speaking of aging, I have a pork-barrel project for the government to fund. I would like to know if kids born in winter time cope with cold weather better than summer born kids when they get old. I will gladly volunteer to head this project if the funding is correct.

Any special plans for New Year’s eve? It won’t be a special or social event for me in most traditions; my new year began with the Solstice.

Have a great week!

Presents and piggies

Why can’t angry birds and green piggies get along together? It is no wonder there cannot be peace between humans when critters won’t live in harmony. Yep, you probably guessed; I am for the first time in my life playing the Angry Birds game and of course, I am hooked. For years I put off playing the game, but it came preloaded on my Tab so curiosity got the best of my common sense and I began playing it last Saturday. Don’t fall into that trap or you will most likely become hooked helping the suicidal birds kill off all the green piggies in the cosmos. I now play it in daytime on the PC and at night I turn the sound off and play it on the Tab. I am so ashamed; looks like it will be Angry Birds Anonymous for me.

Chris and Kevin gave me an orange and white Tennessee gnome for Christmas along with a bag of Jelly Bellies and a box of snowball snack cakes. Sammy gave me two framed photos of himself. I was very blessed this Christmas.

Lousy weather.

Have a splendiferous Thursday, everyone!

After Christmas Sale!

Christmas Day 2008 in the mountains

I hope y’all had a nice Christians; I sure did.

There must be a British photo-theft mafia. At least three of my friends have found their photos on sites in England and some of them are being used commercially. Mark even found one of his being used by a law firm in the USA. Another country who has citizens stealing and reselling a lot of photos is Russia. Cyrus found some of his had been stolen from there and resold to an American electronics company which used them in advertisements. Maggie has some shots being used by a British company which sells gardening plants and supplies. One more friend has a costumed photo of her pug dog stolen and placed in a British publication. All this doesn’t count the many blogs, etc. which are using photos without permission.

Wind and rain have been hitting us pretty hard since last evening and they are predicting snow for tonight.

It is time to begin doing business taxes once more. I am usually swimming upstream and this year I have a fiscal cliff to fall off of.

Have a great whateverdayoftheweekitis!

Adventures in bed riding

Chris and Sammy playing

Never let it be said that I am a quitter; a few years back I fell out of bed which didn’t hurt me except for a small knot on my head and a good jolt throughout my body. To make up for that relative non-event, Saturday morning I did it again. This time I have a big knot, scrapes, and bruises on my forehead and carpet burns on both knees, one as large as my knee cap. The pisser is that Carolyn called the rescue people before I could figure out how to extricate myself. They got me back on the bed, I thanked them, and then I went back to sleep.

Hope you had a great Worshday and Christmas eve!

Happy Solstice!

We had a dusting of snow overnight. They are predicting a wetter winter than usual so we may be in for more white blankets.

As far as I know, our wayward children are ok for Christmas. Merry Christmas to Jeremy and Courtney and Keegan and Remy and Bubba.

So much for Mayan calendar technology; or maybe I should say so much for the jerks who misinterpreted their rock carvings. Well, it gave us something to distract us for awhile; sooner or later it will probably happen.

• The Christmas tree is a symbol for the Yule Log
• The first Christmas tree decorations were apples

Have a good weekend, my friends!

“I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus …”

For some reason. I am not in a depressed mood nor am I in an ecstatic mood this Christmas season; I  suppose I am floating where ever the currents of life carry me.

Very windy and wet in the hills today with some snow predicted for tonight; the seasons change.

I wish it was warm enough to go to the creek for a decent bath; with the end of the world coming tomorrow, it seems fitting I should for one last time be in the mountains immersed in a cold stream communing with trees and skies.

Have a super Thursday!

Solstice Bells

Skies are brighter today but the air is colder. Looks like it will be even colder as we ease into Christmas. Solstice will be Friday afternoon, perfect to welcome the weekend. According to astronomer Jean Meeus the Age of Aquarius begins in the year 2597 on the day of spring equinox; I will be breathlessly awaiting that particular day.

Tomorrow is shot day; I hate to go out in the cold but Nature calls. I’ve spotted a good photo op if I can get Carolyn to stop where I can shoot it. I’d also like to get some Christmas shots in Jonesborough but it probably won’t happen this year.

My Lady Vols play Baylor tonight. This game will define this young team for the entire season because Baylor has pounded the Vols the last several times they played. Baylor is also defending National Champions. The game will be in Waco, Texas.

Have a Tuesday!

White Christmas in my heart

Gray, sullen skies in East Tennessee; looks like winter but the temps are mild.

My net speed is terrible today; getting about only half of base speed. It must be a sign that the world is lowing down; it will come to zero by Saturday. Five days from today the world will end, according to translators of the Mayan “Doomsday” calendar. At least maybe my sinus ills will go away. Anyway, I will take Maggie’s advice from her blog and wear clean underwear on Saturday.

Banning assault weapons will be a good start to end some of the murderous idiocy in these here United States. If it happens, I wonder who will be the parties responsible for defining just which weapons are of the assault variety?

Mark sums some things very well on his blog today.

I wish Miracle On 34th Street would come on TV in the original black and white glory. The Turner colorized version has been on but I can’t stand to watch it.

Eye allergies are keeping my computing to a minimum today. Have a Great Worshday!

Matthew 18:3: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

'Long toad six

Ask an old southerner what time it is and he might, after glancing at the sky, reply “Oh, it’s ‘long toad six”, meaning it is approaching six o’clock. It is along toward six. I don’t hear this dialect as much as I used to and I surely miss it.

Mark, if you are using wi-fi, Roku has an Android app to control your Roku box from your phone. It works as well or better than the standard remote control. It is in Google Play Store. Search for “Roku”. Good for emergency or all the time.

Have a great Sunday coming!

Live better; work union.

"Teach your children well ... "

Dedicated to the children, parents, and teachers of Newtown Connecticut
and to
all America

Live better, work union and buy union

Winter comes to Warsaw

It is time for the power of the people to once again be felt across America. I hope to see an invigorated AFL CIO lead the nation into economic freedom once more.

Al Sharpton for U.S. Secretary of State. That should gain John McCain’s interest.

I think it is about time for me to take off the old tights and cape and return to the world of my birth. I left planet Krypton as an infant many Earth years ago; I was sent here to help defend this world against crime and tyranny with Truth, Justice, and the American Way. People on Krypton don’t age as fast as earthlings therefore my parents are still alive. I have aged much faster, yet not as quickly as citizens of my adopted world; I still kick ass and take names at the useful age of 68 Earth years. It will be good to visit my old buds while I am there and pay respects to my ancestors. Don’t worry, my fellow citizens of Terra; I shall return and guard you against yourselves. Until then, Up,Up, and Away!

New Sammy video … head banging to Pink Floyd.

Photo courtesy of Jola.

Have a good weekend, my friends.

Drone on

Why does the United States need a Department of Defense and a Department of Homeland Security? Homeland Security was a way for the likes of Dick Chaney to involve the government in the everyday lives of Americans. The Central Intelligence Agency tried a similar approach during the Vietnam war but fortunately the hippie generation was able to “out” too many of the agents to allow the system work. The Department of Homeland Security is unneeded prying into our lives by any means accessible including electronic surveillance, and now, the dangerous and hated flying drones which every backwoods constable in the nation seems to have at his service.

Mr. Goodie-two-shoes Obama is the worst user of such tactics, around the world and especially on his own people. And as long as we have superficial and easily fixable things going on like “fiscal cliffs” and worker’s rights to grab the headlines, the drones drone on.

Have a great Worshday!

Tab

The rich get richer and the sick get sicker

Glad to be back blogging today; it has been an interesting week so far.
Chris was in hospital for a couple of days; her boss had to take her from work to emergency room Tuesday morning. She still has the recurring heart problems but this time they also found her gall bladder is full of stones. She needs surgery but has no insurance, so she had to check out and go home. Tennessee’s Medicare won’t cover her for some reason and Obama care is nowhere to be found. No one in the family has the wherewithal to pay for the surgery and the surgeon will not accept payments.  She also needs some heart surgery but that doctor said he would work with her on payments. I am so pissed over the American medical system.

Cloudy and cooler today but still better than this time of year should be.

Have a good Thursdy, my friends.

Blessings

Grandpa: “Here comes Luther riding that old swayback mule he let Zeke talk him into buying.”
Grandma: “Bless his heart.”

Just an innocuous conversation on a lazy, summer afternoon between a couple passing the time on their front porch rocking chairs? Maybe not as sympathetic as it sounds. Actually, grandma just called Luther “stupid” for making the deal with Zeke. Most old-time southerners would know what she meant and had Luther heard this little conversation, he would have known what grandma meant and the mule would probably have known it too. But Luther would probably have stopped and talked about the weather or such for a minute and then gone on his way without having his feelings hurt too much. Now, if a stranger had done something foolish, grandma would have said in plain words that he was stupid, but probably not when he could hear her. This is a way the south differs from the rest of the country. Had a non-southerner heard her say it, he would have thought she was feeling sorry for poor old Luther for making a bad purchase of the mule. If grandma had said “Well bless his heart”, adding the word “well” would have made a difference; she would be sympathetic. If you are not from the south but are planning to travel the back roads here, be aware that language can have a different meaning for the native people than what you think you heard; our South is a world unto its own.

Have a great weekend!

Kid face

Christmas cookie man

Marwencol

Mark recommended that we watch Marwencol, a documentary about a man who suffered serious head trauma which caused him to mostly forget his previous life and and he had to create a new life for himself. His ensuing photos and the stories to go with them has made him one of the best photographers of our time. After watching the flick last evening, I too recommend seeing this dramatic new life and real life of make-believe; I surely found a bit of myself in Marwencol and I believe you will see reflections of yourself, also.

Have a great Wednesday!

Fe-fi-fo-fum

December nears and I still haven’t seen a snow flake for this winter season. Suits me fine. Skies are gray and threatening but fortunately it is a bit too warm to snow.

Hope this Jack and the Beanstalk type movie turns out to be at least decent. I like giants  now but at one time I feared them. When I was a small boy living at grandma’s house there was a giant lived in the community. Charlie Malone once ran a sawmill at the corner of our road and Boones Creek Road. When he had no more room to make huge piles of sawdust, he closed down and moved on to another site. However, when he left, the giant moved in. I never did figure out just where the giant was living under the sawdust but I do know he was there and that he was big and hairy and ugly. Many times after I went to sleep at night, I would walk down the hill to play in the sawdust and as soon as I became immersed in my doings, the giant would suddenly appear, reaching for me and roaring with all his might. I was always able to get away from him and run to the safety of home but he has remained with me all my life. After I got a bit older, I stopped dreaming about him and began playing in the sawdust a lot with other local boys but I never did stop believing that somewhere beneath the piles the giant was waiting for me. Even after the sawdust caught fire and burned away, I could shut my eyes and see the reaching, gnarly hand of the big man.

Have a Tuesday!

Sunday's child

Light

My life has been very dull lately which is not good for an ‘up and at em man’. However, I ain’t so much the ‘shake a leg’ type person these days as I used to be so I guess I can live with laying in bed an extra hour some mornings. I dream the dreams of passionate lovers, dragon slayers, courageous warriors, and little boys.

Very dry autumn this year with outside burning banned in most local areas. Several forest fires are being fought in the mountains, one near Hampton where I’ve done a lot of photo shooting. The little church I shoot (photo above) a lot in autumn is nearby as well as the beauty of Watauga lake.

I’m glad I don’t have to do Christmas shopping; being broke makes everything so simple.

Have a great week coming!

The Holidays begin … the Year begins to end

The Occupy movement is still paying dividends. We got word today that one of Bank of America’s two branches in Johnson City will be closing in February. Credit unions and small local or regionally owned banks are doing good here, especially credit unions; new branches are popping up everywhere. I can’t help but think that Occupy’s calling attention to the misdeeds of cold, corporate Wall Street entities had at least something to do with this. Our local Occupy picketed Bank of America more than once last year.

Did you ask me what the worst song I ever heard was, excluding opera? In case you did and I forgot to reply, it is Achy Breaky Heart. That song shakes my nerves and rattles my brain. I hate the song, I hate the singer, I hate the song writer, and I especially hate line dancing. Line dancing would puke a buzzard off of a gut wagon. As for opera, I just plain don’t understand Italian lyrics and I don’t know why they have to scream them. I understand screaming vocals at a rock concert but why do opera singers have to yell their words to a hushed audience. Recently, I have found one fine exception; it is a commercial jingle on TV for J. G. Wentworth. High Opera at its best!

Have a good Thanksgiving, my friends … where ever you are.

Ain't gonna study war no more

Chucky farm

Looks like congress vs. president for at least two more years. Status quo has once again prevailed in America. I’m wondering whom I like the least, John Boehner or Nancy Pelosi. One thing for sure, I have lost all respect for John McCain.

Israel: Let those people go! Get out of Palestine’s affairs and then fight your own wars. You took your Biblical ‘homeland’ but you cannot live with your head in a historical fog of four-thousand years ago and at the same time have your hand on the switch of modern mass destruction. I don’t blame you for everything but you can sure do a lot better than what you are now doing.

I’m grouchy today; I had to get my shot early this week. My knee surgery will not take place until after the first of the year. I have to be cleared by my regular M.D. and then by my heart surgeon. I will have to undergo another heart stress test; should I not do well with it, I will have to have stints or even by-pass. Phooey!

Have a Tuesday!

End of week sale

Wilbur Lake 2009

I let Sammy try out my tablet yesterday. He knows more about such stuff than do I. He immediately began moving screens around and moving things on the screen around.

Tomorrow is shot day; nothing like a good “fix” to begin the weekend.

Carolyn finally has her van paid for; I suppose it will break down.

Have a splendid Thursday!

Sammy was here

New Sammy video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y3k8nV2rsY

I have been singing the Spongebob Squarepants theme song to Sammy today; between my crackly voice and the song lyrics, he gets a good laugh.

Mild days and cold nights here; ok as long as the snow stays away.

A lot to think about came out of the late election; I will write some of my thoughts here if I believe they are pertinent to Obama’s big win and a few other things.

Have a good Wednesday!

Little girls and rainbows

I know of a little girl who needs her daddy to come home from hospital. If you have a moment to spare, please send them both some good vibes.

We had a mild earthquake Saturday afternoon; I felt it through my chair and the water in my glass jiggled a tiny bit. No damage done as far as I know. That was the third one I’ve felt in my life, all minor.

I had no net connection yesterday except for the Droid. I now have it on the PC and am working to restore the wireless. I’m glad I have a modicum of tech savvy.

Have a Tuesday!

Tomorrow is Veteran’s day; I think it and Memorial Day should be combined into one and that we should have another summer holiday and we should name it ‘Ken’s Day’.

Friday was the 20th anniversary of Carolyn’s business. It was also Tammy’s and Jerry’s 21st wedding anniversary.

Today is Poland’s Independence Day. Poland and independence have served each other well.

Have a great week!

Pigging out

My favorite pic from election day; the faces of Fox News anchors when they realized Obama had won

 

 

When I was a smaller kid than I am now, my dad used to take me to the stockyard to sell our shoats which usually weighed between one-hundred and two-hundred pounds (45 to 91 kilogram). For you city slickers, a shoat is a large pig that hasn’t yet become a hog. When we could, we “pen-hooked” them, saving us the cost of the auction. Pen-hooking was merely selling them from the truck; there were always several pen-hookers greeting each truck coming in.
It was easy work for me—especially if we didn’t have to go through the pens and auction—and left me with plenty of time to roam around. My favorite distraction was buying a steamy hot dog and a soda; twenty-five cents for both. Once, while scarfing my tasty meal, I looked over at the pens and one of our bigger shoats was watching me eat. I thought nothing of it at first but a few seconds later I looked back and the pig was still watching me and I swear he had a look of contempt on his snouty face. Somehow I knew the pig knew I was eating and enjoying one of his kinfolks, probably his uncle Ralph. For some reason I felt terribly embarrassed and quickly dropped the remainder of the frankfurter into a nearby trash barrel. Seeing this, the big pig grunted and turned his tail toward me and as soon as he did my guilt mostly left me and I retrieved my dog, wiped as much well-chewed tobacco spit from it as I could, and finished eating. I suppose parts of my porky accuser ended up in more hotdogs and maybe even as a country ham hanging in someone’s smokehouse. With my remorse mostly subsided, I eagerly awaited my next trip to the stockyards, knowing a fresh hotdog and soda awaited me.
Note: The stockyards were located less than a block from where Carolyn grew up; fortunately she lived up-wind from the stink of the place. She related a story to me about she and her cousin walking down to the yards one day and buying a baby goat. They led it home with them but her mamma made her return it and get her money back. A person could buy almost anything at the stockyards.

Have a great weekend, my friends.

Karl Rove + Koch Brothers = Losers

It was a hot election but now it is time to cool the engines.

Night sounds

I gotta learn how to use the Droid X smart phone. It has gotten to the point where it beeps, groans, burps, pings, sings, and gurgles at all hours of the night. They are alerts from various programs wanting my attention for some inane reason, mostly advertisements. The heck of it is on many of them, I can’t disable the audible alert without removing the program. Yahoo mail is one such and until a recent fix, Facebook was another. It isn’t bad enough that I have to lay all night and listen to Carolyn make every noise humanely possible while she sleeps, the phone seems to want to either accompany her concerts or try to out do her. The Tab is different; I’ve been able to control all it s aural rackets.

Hopefully on Monday I can call the orthopedic surgeon and make an appointment for an exam and then, within a couple of weeks, have the knee surgery. The foot wound hasn’t completely healed but the replacement is going to have to go forward; I cannot stand much more.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Do not allow a  family member or a friend to suffer alone

 

Bookoos of DEAF

Jeremy is using one of my photos on the back cover of his new album “DEAF” which will be released to retail next month. I am proud of that young man!

Today my favorite word is bookoo. Bookoo means ‘a lot’ of something. On this blog, you get bookoos of bullshit. Bookoo is a word that my friend Fred used often, in fact he used it bookoos of times over the years I knew him. Bookoo and bookoos. Thank you, Fred.

Sammy went to his first circus last evening; he didn’t make it all the way through before deciding it was time for him to go home.

Cold and rainy here with snow showers promised for tonight. Looks like Mark’s folks will be spared the brunt of Hurricane Sandy as it moves inland along the Appalachian Ridge. Congress can legislate all they want to but they cannot pass a law against global warming; it is already a fact.

Have a good Worshday!

Misunderstanding

I forgot that Phil Collins once had hair

Yesterday was shot and errand day; today Carolyn went to ophthalmologist for the first time. She had her eyes dilated and now she is bitching because she can’t half see.

According to the weather man, the first real blast of winter is due here by Monday with below freezing temps.

Life’s three greatest pleasures:
Making love
Having my back scratched
Eating chocolate covered peanuts

Have a great weekend!

Going up the down escalator

Another movie you may consider watching is Hugo. It is nothing like Winter’s Bone but it does tell a very good story and is a well made flick. I have the Blu-Ray version and the panoramic views of Paris at night are spectacular.

Independent voters in states like North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia are in a bind. Even though many of them voted for Obama last election, they don’t like his wimping out to Republicans and they would like to vote third party. But the way our antiquated electoral system is set up, any one of the voters in a few key states may decide whom will be president. I wonder how it would make me feel to know my single third party vote caused Romney to be elected president?

Pogo for Prez!

 May your day be filled with visions of Tammy Faye Bakker!

Stores

Arney store

The photo is a different view than I’ve posted before of the store I wrote about a few times in the blog. It was in easy walking distance of where I was born and raised I spent a fortune (a fortune to a little boy in the early 1950′s) in small change for candy, ice cream, and sodas  The store remained in business until the late 1950′s when my cousin opened his own store/service station a bit closer to where I lived and both buildings are still standing today. I would like to get inside this one; I have a feeling there is a picker’s delight in there. Pic was made on Oct. 23, 2008.

From what I saw and heard from last night’s presidential debate, Romney is endorsing many of Obama’s policies. MSNBC is claiming Obama won big in the exchanges between the candidates and Fox News is saying Romney didn’t lose any ground.

Sammy is still sick with a cold and now Carolyn and Chris are feeling bad. My nose is starting to run.

Have a Tuesday!

Good movie

Autumn Paradise

I watched a very good movie last evening; Winter’s Bone. It presents a decent view of life in the hills in modern times and has a darn good story, too.

I didn’t get out for autumn shooting this past weekend; each thing in life has its own time and this wasn’t mine for photography.

Have a great Worshday!

TV

Roan Highlands – Miller farmstead

I used to love to watch a couple of semi-reality TV shows called American Pickers and Pawn Stars. I’ve been trying to watch them more since we got the cable last month. Both shows have evolved into soap operas which I hate; I want to see the pawn merchandise and the pickers at work and not the drivel and bad jokes between the celebrities. I now end up watching news and a movie nearly every evening and then reading myself to bedtime.

Some movies I’ve watched lately:

• Thor — didn’t like it
• Transformers-Dark of the Moon — didn’t like it
• Iron Man 2 — liked it a little bit
• Captain America-The First Avenger — didn’t like it
• The Expendables — liked it
• The Lincoln Lawyer — liked it
• Running Scared — liked it

Have a good Saturday!

Shooting

Miller farmstead barn – Roan Mt. State Park, Tennessee

Megashot.net is signing on new members at a decent and steady pace; there are now more than five-thousand registered members. If the site’s FB pages are included, there are many more. I still try to greet each new member on their profile page and a couple of weeks ago we had a small surge in members and I got behind on my greetings and I ended up with more than a hundred to do, which I did. In the next day or so, Cyrus moved the site files to different storage site and when I next checked, all my latest greets were missing. Being the good boy that I am, I re-did all of them and finally got caught up once more.

Sammy is on his way over for a few hours; he has a cold but I will do my best to entertain him.

Still hoping to get into the mountains this weekend; should be some fine leaf shooting left but it will have to be done from the van windows; I can handle it.

Have a good weekend!

Humble

Walnut Mt. 2008

Not much on this part of Walnut Mt. except an old church, cemetery, and lots of Nature.
Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home

Have a great Thursday!

Wednesday wandering

Canal and street in Delft, Holland
Photo courtesy of Jola

Ever notice that American corporations are all for free trade everywhere in the world except in the USA? In America, they fight hard for monopolistic trade practices. Vying to be the one and only manufacturer or seller of specific types of products is what is bringing on the huge patent battles going on worldwide, and along with limited brand suppliers setting prices, these patent lawsuits are driving prices through the roof. Wake up America!

We are having mild days and cool nights; this weekend looks good for shooting leaves in the mid-highlands like around the old Walnut Mt. church I’ve shot so many times before. I didn’t make it up there last year and I also missed shooting the Christmas tree farms; I hope for redemption this weekend.

The Green Party presidential candidate and vice presidential candidates both were arrested for trying to be parties to the powers-that-be debate last night. They spent most of the night handcuffed to chairs and were released this morning. It is the only way they can get recognition at all from the press and very little publicity goes to them.

Have a good mid-week, everyone.

Happy Birthday, Alice!

Original site of Tweetsie RR line.

Happy Birthday, Alice. Are your years weighing as heavily on your shoulders as mine are for me?  We got at least twenty more years to go.

I can remember when employees were considered as a company’s best assets; now they are treated like unwanted overhead.

I’ve about decided to drop my Netflix subscription and go with Amazon Prime. Amazon doesn’t have as many movies but they have several for streaming that Netflix doesn’t, such as L.A. Confidential, Logan’s Run, and several others I like.Amazon is also a bit cheaper and has newer releases which I can rent for a night or even buy for cloud storage at a discount. I also get free two-day shipping on any merchandise I order which is sold by Amazon store.

Have a wonderful Worshday!

Sammy

Red light

Carolyn finally decided to replace the weakening l.e.d. night-lite in our bathroom. The night she did so, I woke up to an eerie blue glow coming from that room which quickly turned red then to normal white.  She had bought one that changes color every two or three seconds. Next morning I asked her where she was going to put the piano and of course she didn’t know what I was talking about. I told her she had the bathroom lit up like a whorehouse and all we needed to make it more real was a piano player in one corner, a few girls, and that she would make a great Madam. I also told her when the leaves fell and the window could be seen from the railroad tracks, she should get some custom from the train people. That night I noticed there was once more a plain, white light in the bathroom. I think she got pissed because I said she would be a good Madam instead of saying she should be one of the girls. I was going to ask about spousal discounts but thought better of it.

Vice-presidential debate tonight; I hope Biden doesn’t roll up into a ball like his boss did last week.
Shot tomorrow; I missed a week hoping the lack of methotrexate would help my foot wounds heal and it has worked. I don’t want to miss another injection until surgery.

Have a great Thursday!

Winter creeps

Lyrics

OK! Mom Nature, I’ve had enough of winter and am ready for a fresh breath of Springtime!

Time to get out the flannel sheets and heavier comforter. I suppose I should turn the heat on; Sammy is coming for the day.

When I was a kid, I loved this time of year … except for going to school. Frosty days meant snow was soon on the way and snow meant days off from books of knowledge. One winter in late 1950′s, we had deep snowfalls three Saturdays straight and school was closed for more than two weeks. Kids loved it and teachers loved it; parents hated it. Not only could they not get out to go to work at times, we kids soon got on their nerves. Most of us young’uns knew about how far we could push our luck being under foot before the adults would explode. Most of us were pretty good kids in pre-Christmas days away from school, but after the new year began it became more snowy and it was open season on parent’s nerves. We didn’t have snow make-up days before school began each year and in bad winters it was mid June or later before we were paroled for summer. The worst winters even brought Saturday sessions which of course meant those particular days were always bright and warm while we toiled behind our desks, adding to our misery. Some of the farm kids actually liked school on Saturdays; it kept them from their hated weekend chores at home. Most of us managed the discomforts of mandatory school, though and graduated within a year or so of when we were supposed to.

Have a warm Worshday!

Mirror

Very cool weather; cloudy and damp. Carolyn is working today and I am doing quarterly tax reports which I put off from yesterday.

Keegan is due back in mid-week for a short visit before being transferred to the environs of Frankfurt, Germany. Jeremy is deep into his music and I am looking for big things from him. Tabby is living somewhere in North Carolina as far as we know. Sammy got three shots at doctor visit and is not feeling well.

Mitt and Barack keep fooling most of the people most of the time. It is a terrible thought that we will have the future of the USA and–to a great extent–the well being of the entire free world in one of their hands for another four years. A Romney Supreme Court should just about finish undermining the constitution.

Have a great weekend.

Yakkity-yak

Seems like Obama wimped out again in the debate last evening. His truth-spinners say he was just acting presidential; I say another performance like that and he will permanently stop acting presidential on January 20.

Carolyn has gone to take Ashley and Sammy to his doctor for his checkup. To me, he looks to be a normal little boy. Hope he comes over again today; he was here yesterday and the day before for a few hours.

Got some business taxes to do … have a great Thursday!

Church

Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church

Five weeks from today until presidential election. Some polls have usually solid Republican Tennessee as a bit wish-washy this time. If so, it could mean a big win for Obama nationwide. On his blog, Mark asked if we were going to watch the debate tomorrow night. I probably will watch at least a bit of it; I need a good laugh. I’m still going to vote for Jill Stein.

Next Monday is Columbus Day and a U.S. holiday.

We’ve had a bunch of rain the past few days.

Have a Tuesday!

Catching up

Jeremy seems to be making inroads with his music; he reported on Facebook that his group is now the Reverb Nation number nine hip-hop band in all of the Marin Valley of California. I also think he is negotiating with  and agent so he can have wider exposure. I wish him well and I know he can do what he sets his mind to doing.

Keegan is back in Japan; he was home on leave for a couple of weeks before finishing up his Pacific duties and shipping out to the Frankfort, Germany area. He will again be home for a few days before going to Europe where he will receive some kind of promotion. We wish him the best, too.

Carolyn, Chris, and Ashley took Sammy to the market yesterday so he could pick out his Halloween pumpkin. They bought the one he liked and the market owner gave him a small, orange gourd with a curved handle on it which he loved and would not put down.

I like my Roku video streaming box and service. It comes with a nice little remote control but instead of using it I use my Logitech 650 universal remote to control the Roku, TV, cable box, and Blu-Ray. The 650 is fairly easy to set up; all you do is download a piece of software from Logitech which will walk you through connecting your remote to the net via usb cable, inputing all your devices makes and models, updating the remote via net, and then testing and if all is ok, using it. Mine replace four remotes.

Carolyn fried some green mater slices yesterday; great with mashed taters and peas.

Have a good week, my friends.

Meandering

Just a reminder to enjoy the warm weather while you may

 Very warm with hazy skies in Telford today. Nice but dry early autumn.

I’ve managed to drain six pounds (2.8kg) of fluid from my old body during the past three days and I feel much better all over. For the first time in more than 12 years, I weigh less than 250lbs (113.4kg).

I wonder if Mitt is sane?

Have a great day!

Lazing

I won’t be on the net often for a few days; I am keeping my feet up to try to rid myself of some swelling which seems to be keeping the wound on my foot from healing. The sore is from the infected blister that I got on my protruding bunion from the new shoes. They will not do the knee implant surgery if there are any infected places on me. I will still keep up with y’all by using the Tab.

Everything else seems to be normal; in other words, a total snafu.

Have a Tuesday and a great autumn week; we had our first frost in the hills Sunday night.

Zoo

Sammy treated his mom, dad, Granny Chris, and Granny Carolyn to a trip to Knoxville Zoo yesterday. They all had a very good time. When they got home last night, they all were worn out … except for Sammy. He played long and hard at our house for a couple more hours before he went home. He found himself a little girl his age at the zoo; I think it must have been love at first sight. Carolyn said all they did was touch each other’s faces. Hope to post a photo or two in a day or so.

Have a great week!

Sweet Carolyn

Happy Birthday to my still young and beautiful Bride

Arghhh!

Today would have been my friend Fred’s 66th birthday.
Fred Gregory 1946 – 1980

Today was Fred’s and Alice’s Wedding Anniversary

Happy Birthday Vanessa
Fred’s and Alice’s daughter

—-

Have great Wednesday!

Random

Raining and a bit chilly and we are also under a flood watch. It is supposed to be nice Saturday when Carolyn takes Sammy et al. to the Knoxville Zoo.

Sixty-something cable channels and still the same old same-old. Never trust a Comcast sales rep. The installer even managed to bend one of the ceiling fan blades in our bedroom … very impressive workmanship.

Are the Roku internet streaming devices worth the money?

Have a Tuesday!

Peace

Thank you world for sending us the people who made America great.
I but hope this generation realizes all the sacrifices made.
I hope original Americans will forgive us.
Peace

Getting there

Cherokee Lake from Clinch Mt.

Yesterday was shot and errand day; we both ate at local Taco Bell and became sick; Carolyn worse than me. Didn’t have a chance to get Sammy.

Hopefully, the Escape is fixed. Parts came yesterday and two hours later JJ had them installed and then test-drove around the block. He said it was ok. It will take a few miles of driving to make sure.

Well, my countdown has finally begun and the big event should happen in November. I am anxious with trepidation; I know it will be a long and painful road but not as long and painful as it has been. Wish me luck.

Have a wild weekend!

Blues & Greens

Some mid-week blues from Hank and is one of a very few cover songs he performed.

Not much happening except flu is going around; Vicki and Ashley both have it and the schools are reporting a lot of sick kids.

I’ll get my shot tomorrow and we hope to pick Sammy up and keep him for a few hours.

A recent nationwide poll has the Green Party’s Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala ticket garnering two-percent of the upcoming ballots. Folks, that doesn’t seem like much but it is enough to decide which of the clone parties gets elected in a close election. Green will be heard this November!

Have a good Thursday!

Sugar sugar

From Jeremy and Courtney; this is their view from their bedroom window in Riverside, Calif.

On Saturday, Carolyn decided she would take some day-old biscuits and make bread pudding like she has done many times before. She began putting ingredients together and realized she was out of nutmeg and cinnamon but not one to be easily thwarted, she continued forward into the culinary unknown. When she asked if I wanted to try some of it, I was more than a bit leery; the color of the pudding wasn’t “right” and all I could smell was vanilla. Being a realist and knowing that if I didn’t at least try the less than tempting dish, she would be unlikely to ever make bread pudding again even if she had the right ingredients and I dearly love her bread pudding. I boldly took a bite and was unexpectedly rewarded; it tasted like my favorite cookies which are sugar cookies. Bless her heart!

Have a Tuesday!

New beginning

Vistula beach

Didn’t do much but sit around this past weekend; listened to the Tennessee Vols football game on radio and watched Peyton Manning and his new team on TV. The Vols are ranked in the top 25 after Saturday’s win but their first real test of the season will come Saturday when the Florida Gators come to town. Tennessee hasn’t beaten Florida in football in a coon’s age.

Beginning to feel much better once again; I had the can’t-help-its for a few weeks.

I ordered parts for the Escape yesterday; not being definite about the problem, I bought the cheapest ones I could find. If coil packs are not the problem, I won’t be out a terrible lot of money. We cannot find a mechanic who can tell us what the problem is but a couple of them hinted that Ford coil packs are often the culprits and internet research seems to agree.

Sammy is coming over today; I hope to get a video or some pics of him but he seems to always be in a hurry to go where the camera ain’t.

Have a great Worshday!

Seasonal blues

Fall is rapidly approaching and I have a case of the blues which is common for me at this time of year. A lack of bird songs along with waning daylight and disturbingly cooler nights intensify the symptoms of melancholy. I love making autumn photos but I doubt I will be getting to do any again this year; my knee is seemingly getting sorer each day and riding in the car for more than a a few minutes makes me uncomfortable. Nothing I shan’t overcome, though.

Sammy was here yesterday; I tried three times to get a video of him walking and playing but each time he managed to scoot away from me just as I began shooting. I will have to find a place to ambush him. It was only a bit more than a month ago that Carolyn said she wished how soon Sammy would be walking … now she spends most of her time chasing him to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble; he explores everything. He had her pots and pans out yesterday making as much noise with them as he could.

Keegan is in from the Air Force for a few weeks; I hope we get to see him before he returns to Japan.

The Escape is still broken and barely drivable at times; it badly needs attention. Just going to get my shot is an adventure.

Mark should be back from visiting his parents in Connecticut; hope he had a good vacation.

Have a great weekend!

Journey

Look for it ... the bright side of the road

What day is it?

Aunt Ivy: Mid-1940's

Holidays keep my entire week messed up; I thought today was Monday.

Labor Day was quiet until along came Sammy running through the house naked; well, he wasn’t running but he was at his fastest walk. I didn’t have time to grab a camera before he was gone. Reminded me of Jeremy streaking through my mom’s house jay-bird naked when he was small.

Happy 84th Birthday to my Aunt Ivy; I was lucky to have three “moms” when I was little: Dot, my birth mother, Mom Phillips, my grandmother, and Ivy, my aunt. Ivy still treats me like one of her own.

Have a Tuesday!

Honor the working people

I darned sure am not going to miss Sun Myung Moon and hopefully many more of the rip-off televangelists around the world soon follow his example. Always preying on the most gullible and the poorest. I hope that Pat Robertson and Billy Graham will soon follow the Korean to whatever heaven is appropriate for such filth.

We must be getting the leftovers from the hurricane which hit Louisiana last week. I have seen but one robin in the past week and other migrators have also thinned out or disappeared. A few trees are shedding early leaves and the photo-sharing sites are already posting autumn color shots. Wrens are cuddling in Carolyn’s Boston ferns but she will bring the greenery in before first frost. The little birds seem always to find another place to winter until she once again hangs the baskets in mid-spring.

Have a good Worshday everyone and a great Labor Day to all the working men and women of the world.

Politick … tick … tick … tick

Democrats are as blind as Republicans. Some of my FB pals are blaming G.W. Bush in entirety for T.A.R.P. bailout of Wall Street. They don’t seem to remember Obama and McCain both making big productions of sacrificing campaign time to rush to Washington, D.C. to vote “YEA” for the giving away of America’s future. These Democrats are more worried about a vote for the Green Party hurting Obama than they are about what is right and what is wrong. If Obama loses, he will have done so on his own merits.

I decided I would vote this year; I was so pissed in 2008 that I pouted and did not do so. This year I am still mad at the political setup and I am still pouting, but I will vote for the Green Party anyway. In Tennessee, it won’t make any difference; whichever Republican runs for president will get the state’s electoral votes. Mine will be a vote of protest against an archaic and failed system.

Have a fine Thursday!

Tuesday

Our wandering kids in front of L.A. skyline

Jeremy and Courtney seem to be doing fine in their California digs. He is having a good time with his music where it is having an impact on the local scene. We love ya, young'uns!

Not much else going on today in the hills; hot outside with rain again possible.

Have a Tuesday!

Rosa Parks we need You

This country needs a new-era Rosa Parks; someone who has enough gumption to lead the non-wealthy from the grimness at the back of the financial bus to a place of equal opportunity for anyone willing to work for it. Americans have for many, many years worked harder and produced more per capita than any other nation in the world and we need someone to stand up and show the public why our so-called ‘Free Trade’ policy has not and will not work unless it encompasses Fair Trade. If free trade should become fair trade, of course prices will rise but so will job availability and wages. We will once again be able as a nation to compete with anyone in the world.

I think Carolyn has given up; she decided she wants more television channels especially after I told her the Republican convention would probably be on all the main local networks this week. She has decided on the most inexpensive cable package with internet and phone; we don’t need the phone but it is the cheapest way to go and after a year she can drop the phone part of the package. We don’t even own a land-line type telephone.

My new shoes are getting the last laugh; I now have an infected blister on my right bunion and am having a heck of a time getting it to heal.

Have a splendiferous Worshday!

Dust in the wind

Sammy was over yesterday to use his swimming pool; he had a lot of fun and Ashley made a few photos of him. Earlier, he made his first visit to the fair and he was not impressed. H paid no attention to the animals and rides and didn’t even like cotton candy.

The passing of Neil Armstrong is being noted and lamented around the world; he was the right man for the time.

A bit of good news on our economic situation; one of Carolyn’s old accounts wants her back. It is only a three evening per week job but right now, every little bit helps. She has only three more payments and her work van will be free and clear. That is another $400 per month we hopefully won’t have to worry about.

Yesterday I downloaded The Lord of the Rings all in one volume. Haven’t read it since high school. A couple of weeks ago I read Ghetto Diary by Janusz Korczak, a beautifully written account set in WW2 of the final sad days of most of the remaining Warsaw Jews in Nazi death camp. This is a heart-breaking story we should all read and understand. I also read The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. It has good lessons for all of us.

Have a good week a-comin’!

Summer's end

One of the bridges which is located in a part of Warsaw’s Łazienki park called ‘Ogród Belwederski’. Jola’s photo.

 

I like making photos in late summer. Weather has usually moderated to where it isn’t too hot to spend some time in the sun and humidity isn’t so oppressive to keep us reaching for a hanky or bandanna to wipe our faces. And then there is the sunlight which speaks of summer’s end. The lower seasonal angle of the sun along with thousands of leaves have softened the bright sunlight and bestowed that peaceful, easy feeling that is the hallmark of warm weather. Lots of open lawn, a whispering stream with hungry ducks, and kids to enjoy it; what could be better for soul-survival of young and old? Thank you Jola for allowing me to use your fine photo.

I bought Sammy his first real book; Shel Silverstein’s A Giraffe and a Half. Now to get him still long enough to read it to him.

Not much planned this weekend; I am have a bit of fluid buildup and do not feel the greatest but it ain’t near as bad as it was when the RA pills were not helping.

Have a great Saturday!

Cool

Saturday Nite Bluegrass

Nights are cooler and days, though still hot, are milder than what they were. It all must mean something.

Sammy has a unique way of hugging me … he does this to no one else. Instead of putting his arms around my neck like he does everyone else, he grabs my hair on each side of my head and pulls me forward to where he can lay his head on mine. I figure the harder he pulls my hair the more lovin’ he is giving me. I call it his “papaw hug”.

Until he was here Wednesday, I had never been able to pick him up from the floor or someone’s lap. RA had me so weak and sore that some days I could not lift a fork to my mouth to feed myself; I basically bent over like a pig at a slop trough and did the best I could. Sammy and I were alone in the office Wednesday and something in the hallway slightly frightened him; it has happened before and he always crawled to me for me to pick him up to protect him and I was never able to do so; I had to call out to Carolyn to help me. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t pick him up and the way he looked up at me with his pleading eyes broke my heart. But this time when he came to me, I easily picked him up and he immediately grabbed my hair and gave me a “papaw hug”. The RA shots are finally working for the most part and I’ve had a pretty good week.

Got my shot yesterday and also my blood work in preparation for my RA doctor checkup next Friday.

 Have a good weekend!

Sammy walks

Floods and flops

Sunday, Carolyn and I revisited the scenes of the Dry Creek flooding. I could have made some pics of the work going on for people to rebuild their lives; I could have made pics of them sitting in front of their tiny, temporary camper homes. I could have made pics of their facial expressions as another idiot with a camera gawked by, I could have tried to capture the strained emotions on their faces, and I could have tried to catch the glimpses of hope as they waved when we drove by. Instead, I kept the camera in my lap and they kept their dignity. Many agencies, both government and private, are helping out in making homes once more liveable or even replacing the ones that could not be fixed. Jerry has applied for assistance in getting his HVAC unit replaced; he has already spent $350 of his own on it just to find out it is not repairable.

Augusta National Golf Club has finally admitted female members. If I were a woman, I would be so pissed at the club I would tell them to fuck-off! Really, who these days cares if some rich old bastards elect some rich old bitches to membership? They never did invite me to join.

Have a Tuesday!

“Back To The Island” … for Brenda and Ken–they lived their dream

Back To The Island lyrics

Now the day is gone and I sit alone and think of you, girl
What can I do without you in my life?
I guess that our guessing game just had to end that way
The hardest one to lose of all the games we played

But the time is past for living in a dream world
Lying to myself can't make that scene
Of wondering if you love me or just making a fool of me
Well I hope you understand I just had to go back to the island

Chorus:

And watch the sun go down (sit and watch the sun go down)
Hear the sea roll in (listen to the sea roll in)
But I'll be thinking of you (yes, and I'll be thinking of you)
And how it might have been (thinking how it might have been)
Hear the night birds cry (listen to the night birds cry)
Watch the sunset die (sit and watch the sunset die)
Well I hope you understand I just had to go back to the island

Well all the fun has died, It's raining in my heart
I know down in my soul I'm really gonna miss you
But it had to end this way with all the games we played
Well I hope you understand I just had to go back to the island

 Have a good Worshday, gentle friends.

Coming down

The annual Appalachian District Fair begins tomorrow; it draws folk from most of northeast Tennessee plus many from western North Carolina, southwest Virginia, and southeast Kentucky. I want to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl; I enjoy that infernal machine. I also like the Ferris wheel (London Eye) but no way will I ride anything that turns me upside down and there is a loud “hell no” to riding a roller coaster. I’d as soon dare ride on an airplane.

Tammy is making soaps for Christmas orders; I highly recommend them.

Will Tampa Bay Bucs football ever be a consistent contender or are they the Detroit Lions of the South?

Less than two weeks until college football officially begins its season. I hope my Rocky Top Vols can make some kind of positive showing this year. If I could walk well, I would attend one of the home games. One-hundred thousand people clad mostly in orange and white and singing Rocky Top as loud as possible is something to behold. I haven’t attended a game in Knoxville since 1983.

Have a good Sunday!

Dixie skies

Watauga Lake

Sullen, gray, foreboding, lowering, threatening, ominous; today’s local sky.

I’ve restarted occasional emailing to some political cronies who live on the west coast. When my friend Dave died last winter, I got out of the habit of commenting on their thoughts and arguments. I did keep up with their goings-on, though. Of course we discuss more than politics; they must have found out that I am from the South and they began a discussion saying the North would have been better off if they had allowed the South to secede in 1860. I realize they were baiting me but they grabbed the wrong bear by the ass this time. I am no history expert, but I have extensively read, studied, and thought on the matters of why the southern states left the Union and why the North–especially Abraham Lincoln– could not allow it to happen for any reason or excuse. Following is part of my reply; I kept it simple because, like I said, they are all west coast men and really very ignorant of the South. They are all well educated but have chosen to believe the southern stereotypes. They are all–less one tea-partier–Obama-crats.
Me: Had the South’s nullification and secession attempt succeeded, it is my opinion as a Southerner that some of the wayward states would soon have reapplied for admission back into the Union. My home state of Tennessee may have been the first to do so; most of the population of the eastern, mountain dominated section of the state were die-hard Unionists. … It is my belief that the Confederacy would never have held together and slavery would have died out as the industrialization of the continent progressed.
>This is part of one of their quotes and my response:
They: ” … we would now be faced with huge numbers of marginally illiterate southerners flooding over our borders … .”
Me: Easy to speculate here but hard to put a handle on in reality; time stands still for no man or nation. The world was changing fast and the South would have been forced to keep up or possibly fall into anarchy or come under heavy influence from outside; they would not have had the money to keep up and I don’t think the North would have allowed too much help for Dixie from outlanders.
I can think of many reasons why the nation had to remain united and these guys have yet to show me why the states should have parted.

Enough of my drivel that no one is interested in anyway; have a great weekend!

“They didn’t want it good, they wanted it Wednesday.” ~Robert A. Heinlein

Sammy was here for a few minutes this morning and then he took Carolyn shopping. He is happy and growing; I hope to spend more time with him Saturday.

Our weather still isn’t settled; rain nearly every day or night or both. Some fair skies are mixed in but it is hard to decide what is going on.

I am very much liking the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 tablet. Typing is still a chore but not a heck of a lot worse than using my PC keyboard with crooked fingers and is much easier than using the Droid X keyboard. Reading books, etc. is much easier than with the Droid  and; I’m not forever tapping for the next page.

The phone company this month raised my internet access bill by thirty dollars; it is now seventy-five bucks per month to have net access. I will not continue to pay it; Americans pay the highest prices in the developed world for only mediocre service. For thirty bucks per month, I can use my wireless phone service as an access point and for a few dollars more than that, I can have net access through the TV cable.

Have a gentle mid-week crisis, my friends.

Worshday political Rant

The tea party express is heading for D.C. this fall and I don’t see much in the way to stop it. Obama cannot stand on his record for it is tainted with Republican idealism and backroom sellouts. Obamacare is just that; a tool for reelection. Without the public option such as Medicare for all, it is more mind-numbing bureaucracy for millions of Americans who need basic healthcare the most. Americans want and insist on easy fixes and the economy is not fixed nor will it ever be unless we strengthen its foundations; Obama has not the moxy to take on the hard jobs nor does the middle-class voters. National infrastructure is four years older and in graver danger of collapse for the most part. Our service people are still dying in Afghanistan, a place completely lost in the middle of the nineteenth century. Its top exports are heroin, terrorists, and foreign causalities of war. Obama nor Romney have no definite plans to withdraw from a place where the Red Army gained sense enough to know they could not win a war, and the USA plows on like victory is just days away. Young lives are cheap when you are the sitting power in Washington, D.C.

Maybe the surprise of the Democratic convention will be when Obama tosses Joe Biden and takes Hillary Clinton as his running mate, to have and to hold.

Phooey.

Did you attend church today?!

Jola's Amsterdam

Lovely day so far in East Tennessee; Carolyn is working and I ain’t. She took off Friday night and is making it up today. I planned to have her haul my butt around for a bit and see if I could find some more quilted barns to shoot for my gallery on Megashot but that project will have to wait.


Carolyn fixed a meal for the family last evening. Chris and Kevin, Ashley, Sam, and Sammy came to eat with us. Jerry was up to his ears trying to get his outbuildings and area cleaned up after the flood damage so he and Tami didn’t come. It was good to have something other than a sandwich for a change.

I am cutting down on my Facebook usage; I’ve never spent a lot of time there but I am becoming bored with some of the stuff I post which is mostly shares about politics or religion; too much of either one is enough. I will still check in on my family and you, my dear friends.

Have a great week a’coming!

“No individual raindrop ever considers itself responsible for the flood”

Quiet and beautiful street in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Thanks to Jola for allowing me to use her photo

What is it with the internet? If it gets any slower it will be going backwards; if so, maybe we can see if Al Gore really did invent the net.

Jerry was over yesterday to get the pressure washer; he has a lot of cleanup to do. Tennessee Emergency Management is doing their thing in Dry Creek where he lives and where the most damage was done and Federal Emergency Management is due at any time. Though no human lives were lost in the flooding, many pets and farm animals died. One family lost twelve miniature horses along with other livestock. Dry Creek has changed its channel in a place or two because of the massive movement of soil by water; a fish pond belonging to Jerry’s father-in-law is gone. Jerry’s worst loss was his heating and cooling system for his house; it quit working soon after the flood water receded.

Dog Days ended yesterday and school is starting. Long, frosty nights and days of little sunshine are just around the corner. I need a long vacation away from this desk; do I hear Florida calling? Not likely, probably just the wind around the shutters teasing me a bit.

Out yesterday getting my shot and running errands. Carolyn had a craving for a fish dinner at Long John Silver’s so off we went—against my better judgement. LJS used to have good food back in the 70′s, but now it is nothing but grease bombs. Carolyn is more tolerant of it than am I, so after eating I became sick at my stomach and she didn’t.

Have a good weekend!

Just Wednesday

Emergency management crews are in the flooded areas, assessing damages to property. Jerry has several thousands of dollars in damages but like nearly everyone else in the United States, he has no flood damage insurance. I don’t know if there will be any government aide for these people, may of whom lost nearly everything. One family lost at least a dozen miniature horses and other livestock. Was all this an act of God or just Nature doing her thing?

Sammy was over yesterday and he is walking. He walks some, crawls some, and as with most toddlers, he prefers to be carried. I hope to get a video of him walking and dancing when he returns.

Have a great Wednesday!

Dry Creek flood

Jerry called us at about nine o’clock last evening saying that they were flooded by the heavy rains. He had no power and water was a few inches below his door. Later he called back and said the flood was receding a little. We drove down to Dry Creek this morning and it is a mess down there. He is very lucky the water didn’t come up another foot. In just a sort time last evening, they had six inches (15cm) of rain fall. This flood was more severe than the one I witnessed in 1980 when many of the bridges washed out on the same stream. They were replaced by better structures and most of them seem to have held. A few houses, mobile homes, and out buildings were washed off their foundations with one house ending up on the main road atop a car. The mayor of Washington County was in the area this morning handing out bottled water and the Red Cross along with other emergency services were in the area. The worst damage to Jerry’s property was muddy water getting inside a couple of his vehicles, including his nice Camaro, and his work and storage shed were also flooded. I got a few pics with the Pentax and 50mm lens but nothing of real importance.

Have a good Worshday!