Memories

Donny and I were driving down highway 41 through Dalton the other week. We passed the old Coca Cola bottling plant and the bowling alley. I saw the little yellow brick building that used to be the State Patrol Station. I wonder how many people remember that. On up the street was a store standing where my favorite store used to be. Wood's Store used to be there. I always get nostalgic when I go by that place, even though the old building had been torn down long ago.


I told Donny about my favorite memory of going to Mr. Wood's store. Pawpaw took me and my cousins, Randy and Mike, to the store many times. We all lived near Pawpaw and he was a good and generous grampa who bought us plenty of candy and soft drinks. It was always a treat to go anyplace with our grandparents.


One time my cousins were all together so Pawpaw took us all to the store. Randy, Debbie, Stevie, Eddie, me, and probably Mike went to the store. I'm not sure Donna was with us. We all rode in the back of his old cattle truck. I remember how much fun we had riding along with the wind whipping around us as we all laughed and jockeyed around the back of the truck. We lived several miles from the store so we felt like we were on an adventure.


It's a wonder we didn't fall, or push someone out. Nowadays somebody would call the law on you for having a truckload of young ones, but when I was growing up kids must have had more sense because we rode in truck beds all the time.


When we got to Mr. Wood's, Pawpaw told us all we could get one drink apiece and some candy. We all swarmed over the sides of the truck and into the dingy little store. Woods' was unique because you had to walk into the store through an aisle with low tables lining each side filled with every kind of candy you could imagine. It was kid-friendly and heavenly. 


While Pawpaw went on into the store and talked to Mr. Woods we were squealing and arguing over which candy was the best and what we were going to pick. Pawpaw got a coke and propped up against the counter bragging about all his grandkids. He was telling the old coots that liked to hang out at the store who we were and who our parents were. Pawpaw acted tickled to death to bring us all to the store. 


After Pawpaw paid for our purchases we all climbed back in the back of the truck to wait. Pawpaw stood around smoking with the old men from the store and after they finished their conversation he took us home. 


What more perfect memory than that wonderful time that Pawpaw took us all to Mr. Wood's grocery store? 


I have to be honest. I don't remember if it said Woods on the store or Wood's so bear with me if you can remember and know the difference. 

As Always

PIO

Droopy Drawers

What am I? I'm what every dumb guy fears and what every smart man delights in, I am a smart woman. I have a brain of my own and I don't mind using it. I appreciate a pair of strong arms but I'm not afraid to stand up for myself. I don't like bullies. Bullies think they can push you and goad you until you give up. They don't like it and they don't understand it when a woman is smart enough to engage them in a discussion and refuse to bow to their point of view. Nobody can make me sit down and shut up until I'm ready to sit down but I will never shut up. 


I had the pleasure and the frustration of being a part of a long 1000 post thread on HLN News Now on Facebook. The story was about Georgia creating a law fining people $200 for baggy pants. They are actually going to measure you and if your pants are 3" below your waist you will be fined. Get out of here! That is insane. Since when have we become such a 'nanny state' that we are going to fine people for poor taste?


As you can imagine, some people were pro-law and some people were anti-law. Guess which one I was. Go on. Guess. Well, I have to tell you that some people are such poor debaters that they could only focus on a couple of things. One person kept talking about eating and butt-cracks and nasty underwear. The other got upset when I made a joke about him and the other guy 'getting a room' since they both agreed so much with each other. My bad! You would have to hear it in it's context to 'get it'. I really wasn't trying to imply he was gay, "... not that there's anything wrong with that". (Seinfeld) What I was trying to point out was that he and the other guy were really 'getting into' arguing with the people who didn't agree with them. So. That's okay. But he went from preaching to insulting me and saying I didn't deserve respect and I was as big as a refrigerator and lived on welfare. He said all sorts of crap, making personal attacks instead of staying with the thread: Fining People for Saggy Pants.


Some people wanted to claim wearing saggy pants wasn't respectful and they said that the parents were sorry because they didn't make their kids wear regular pants. They wanted to blame every kid who wore saggy britches, claiming it would cause them to join gangs and end up in jail. They kept saying that 'if the parents won't police their kids then the law should.' That's what we need, more laws and stupid rules for the officers to have to carry a ruler and measure everybody's pants instead of patrolling for real criminals. And good luck shaking down those fellows for $200. You will spend so much more enforcing and citing people than you will ever recover in revenue. If they are incarcerated it's a win-win for them because they get a free meal and a bed and when they get out they can contact a good lawyer and sue for false imprisonment and take it all the way to the Supreme's. They'll love that. You can't regulate how people dress. Where will it go from there? They didn't even do something that crazy when mini-skirts came into style. Surely we, as a civilization, can survive the saggy britches fad. After all, our parents put up with us wearing hippy garb and bell-bottom britches. I guess it's okay when women show their behind but they can't take it when a man shows a little skin.


We seem to be becoming a more repressed society that wants to point fingers and call people names instead of respecting each other and debating on a mature and cordial level. I tried very hard not to be mean, although I am very good at it, but in the end it became a game of 'I'm a mirror reflecting you' to 'I'm Rubber and you're Glue'. You just can't debate stupid. They keep on hammering about things that aren't even remotely relevant to the situation and don't realize you've out-brained them. 


Gosh, men can be so immature. Sometimes they gotta just let off gas, I reckon. I've always known that when someone starts insulting me and picking on me I've won the argument. It seems I got under a certain someone's skin. He even came to visit my blog. Wasn't that nice? I invited him to become a follower. I told you I wanted to win friends and influence people and now it seems that I've got an admirer. Too bad his mamma didn't teach him any manners. He acts like a teenager but claims to be a grown man. He looks like a dog. No lie! I saw his profile picture and it was a dog. I told you I had a sense of humor, didn't I? That cracked me up.


I promised to pray for him and old blue tonight. I promise to pray that he sees the error of his ways. He kept saying he was a christian but when I called him on it as he was calling me dog crap, he claimed that he didn't have to be perfect, christian's weren't perfect. Well shut my mouth and call me 'momma'! What kind of christian do you call that? Seriously, tell me. I'd like to know. How about turning the other cheek? I should have know. He couldn't wrap him mind around 'judge not least ye be judged'. He went from throwing out scripture to calling me names. He was so damn funny I couldn't help but laugh at him. My, my, my. I told him I figured out why he was so mean. He was so damn ugly his momma wouldn't nurse him when he was a baby so he hated all women. That had to be it. He ignored that comment so I probably hit a nerve. He came across as the type that likes to dominate others. I feel sorry for his wife, if he has one. He probably took out his anger on her since he wasn't having very much satisfaction from me.


I've never liked people who insult people when they didn't have to. I don't suffer fools gladly. I certainly don't allow men to try to run over me and I like to think that I am able to defend myself against vicious people. Lord knows I've met enough of them over the years.


I may not like droopy drawers but I believe people have the right to dress however they want without the government getting involved and fining people for the clothes they wear. The clothes don't make the man. The man makes the clothes. In other words, you can't judge a book by it's cover.

As Always

PIO

Flowers and Such

These are rain lilies. They have been in our family for at least five generations since Daddy gave Scout a pot of rain lilies today. My grandmother had them in a tub by the wellhouse all her life. She got them from her mother. These are my rain lilies on my front stoop. They will bloom every day if you water them. I found this on the internet: "In case you are interested, the botanical name of this is: 

Zephyranthes (species: carinata)."

This is my front stoop and a little angel by the flowerpot. 

Wandering Jew. I like the dark purple leaves.
Wandering Jew is supposed to thrive on misery.

We call this a spider plant. It has little green seed pods that seem to float on the air around it. It's a Cleome. Mine are light purple.

These are my Canna lilies. They are bright fire-poker red when they bloom. Hummingbirds love to feed on them.

My Elephant Ears have finally started growing.

I started to grab the waterhose when I saw THIS on the sprayer.
Hey little fellow.

Look at my mystery plant. I thought it looked like a pumpkin. I was right.

Gardens Reward II

All of this came from our small backyard garden. We had yellow squash, onions, yellow and red tomatoes, and cayenne and banana peppers. This has all been gathered in the last two weeks. Our garden isn't as big as it has been in previous years because Scout isn't here to help. He's the farmer in the family.

As Always

PIO

Proof Positive

UFO crash into asteroid.

Dead Alien.

The number one cause of alien crashes.

 If you want to stay alive, don't drink and drive.

Did I ever tell you that I saw a UFO one time? My cousin Randy and I were playing outside in the backyard at dark when we saw something funny in the sky. We noticed a light like a high flying jet or something in the eastern sky. It was moving slowly north. It looked too high for an airplane. We were trying to decide what it was when it stopped moving. No airplane could do that. We kept watching it for a long time but it never moved again. I'm not sure if there were satellites in the sky back then so I really don't know what it was but since we were kids we decided it must be a UFO watching us. Not us, specifically, but us as in us earthlings. Maybe we were right. I wouldn't be surprised. Were there satellites in the 50's that moved around in outer space? 

I always loved reading science fiction and dreamed of a world in the future with glorious new inventions and advances in technology that were 'out of this world'. It's amazing how far we have come since I was born. TV was the big thing back then. We progressed to microwave ovens and computers and fiber optics and cell phones today. God knows what the world will be like by the time I die. Maybe we will have animated robots attending us in nursing homes or hospitals in the future.

NASA created and invented new technology and advances we would have never had otherwise. I am sad to see that the government is eliminating the space shuttle program. They said we could ride the Russian space shuttle for about fifty million dollars. Doesn't that sound like the stupidest thing you can think of? We are now going to have to hitch rides to the space station with Russia? What the hell is wrong with our government? We have advanced more in science and technology than we would have in a couple of hundred years without it. Our government program guaranteed America a voice in space travel. Why are they turning this over to civilians like that millionaire Richard Branson? We have left thousands of pieces of space trash floating around in outer space. Can you imagine how much crap a company run space program will leave in outer space? 

Mankind is destructive. Men came to the American continent and carelessly destroyed a culture and numerous indigenous people along the way. Mankind is like a nest of ants that build and build and destroy everything in it's wake. Look how mankind rapes the planet with strip mining and deforestation. Pollution causes global warming and the melting of the glaciers. I worry about how much destruction we can cause.

In my fevered imaginings of my youth I believed the human race would explore and conquer other planets and someday we could colonize planets across the galaxy. Maybe we wouldn't encounter alien species like we saw on Star Trek but we might change and evolve in different ways after being separated on different planets over time. Humans would have to adjust to different conditions on different planets and none of them would be like earth. 

I think the space program should be allowed to continue, not only for the the thrill of reaching for the stars but also for the benefits it affords society because of the human imagination. Too bad my vote doesn't count.

How would you like to do without your microwave? Or cell phone? Or computer? 

Sculpture by Andy Stoner

painted by Pam Strickland 
bottle added by Scout Strickland 

As Always

PIO

A Public Plea

Okay, I know about five or six of you actually read Resaca Rose, or at least look at the pictures, so I'm going to make another plea to you and ask you to become a follower of Resaca Rose. See the thingy on the right? >>>> Well, go there and become a follower. If you want to you can sign up for a Google account and sign in there. But, I think, you don't have to. Try it out and see. It's kind of annoying to me that nobody wants to become a follower. I'm not asking you to give your first born child or anything. Just click on and become a follower and, if you're computer savvy, put your picture up. I had to twist everybody's arm to make them join. It makes me feel kind of pushy but I say 'what the hey'. Anyway I only have 13 followers and one of them is me so how about it? Suck it up and sign up. Please

As Always

PIO

Strange Sightings

I saw this deer in someone's front yard on my way home.

Look what was out in the daytime!

It may be Dracula. I'm not sure.

Little 'Possum.

Letting Off Steam

Sometimes I get depressed and feel like I am alone in the world. I get mad at everybody and everything and become anti-social. I want to scream because I am so upset and angry. I started getting really depressed and upset when Colt was driving my car to Dalton State College and he wrecked my car. He called me to tell me about the wreck but I couldn't even go to check on him because I didn't have a car. I called my parents who lived about five miles away and asked them to go see if they could help Colt. He had wrecked in front of Valley Point School. They did the things I would have done if I had been able to get there, only they told the tow truck driver to take my car to their house and leave it. That ended up opening a whole can of worms because we had to tow it to our house to work on it. The tow truck company charged an outrageous price and I got so mad I was ready to cuss them out but Momma and Daddy diverted me and kept me from going off on them. I went for months and months without my car. That is when I started getting worse and worse. I would become so enraged because I didn't have my car that I would start screaming at everyone.

Donny and Scout and Colt had to repair my car. We bought the front end of another car and they cut it off and replaced the front of my car. It took them a long time to get it fixed. I didn't have it back very long before Scout's truck started messing up and he would borrow my car. He would work on his truck but something else would mess up and he would have to borrow my car again. This went on for a long time. In the mean time I kept getting more and more anti-social. I stayed mad at everyone because they could go anywhere they wanted to go and do anything they wanted to do any time they wanted to but I had to wait until someone came home and took me some place or lent me their vehicle to go shopping or pay my bills.

I suppose my anti-social behavior drove my friends away because I lost contact with my friends. My circle of confidants shrunk down to a very small few. I eventually broke contact with the small amount of friends I kept in contact with when I became paranoid and began to believe that they were talking about me and spreading gossip about me to their friends. I eventually found myself only close to my own poor, put upon sons. I would bitch and gripe and unload on them. They didn't care about my harangues against people and humanity but they were used to me and knew I was just venting my frustration and rage.

During the time I was unable to go any place or do anything I wanted to do I learned that I could keep things in order if I paid my bills by mail and planned out my shopping trips so that I could get everything done when I did get to go somewhere. I didn't get to go anyplace every week so I made sure everything was caught up and we had plenty of groceries. I learned that I didn't have to go everywhere every time I wanted to and I guess that was good. It was just very inconvenient and annoying.

I haven't been driving my car very long but now I don't even want to go anywhere. I stay at home and prefer to stay to myself. I don't have any close friends and I certainly don't want to make any new friends. Every time I have tried to be friends with someone they eventually disappear and I usually don't know why. I guess it could be because I say what I think and don't like listening to bullshit. I don't feel sorry for stupid people and don't put up with fools, gladly. I'm as likely to tell you that you are full of shit as I am to tell you how smart you are. I have put up with too much crap in life to put up with it when I don't have to. I guess I should listen to my elders and remember that if I don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all, but I'm just not cut out like that.

I got on Facebook and made friends with cousins and relatives and people from school. I made some new friends, too. I thought I was developing social skills and learning to interact with other people again. I was having fun with my Facebook 'friends' although I knew they weren't really my friends. How can you be? You don't know me? You don't even care about me? You have no idea who I am. Anyway, I had a couple of people who had befriended me drop off my friends list. I don't know what I did to cause them to unfriend me but I do know that they had befriended me and not the other way around. That annoyed me but I was used to it by now. I would just shake my head and wonder what  their problem was. I'm thinking about deleting everyone but the people who comment or interact with me on Facebook. I don't want people just sitting around laughing at my posts and never responding. I joined Facebook to try to improve my social skills and help me regain my footing again but I still feel like an outsider looking in.

I've always felt like a loner. I was an 'only child' and didn't have anyone close to share my life with. My father's family broke up when my cousin died and have never been close again. The rift is too great to repair. If it wasn't for my cousin, Debbie, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. We were always close and she loves me unconditionally.

My mother's family is very close and they have always had a strong bond. Their love and fidelity is obvious. I love my aunts with all my heart. They have all been through the ringer and come out stronger and better for it. Any time I am in their presence I feel safe and loved. We only had one misunderstanding in which one of my aunts got upset with me and we got into an argument. Considering the fact that she was going through a painful divorce and possibly menopause, I can understand. It didn't help that her sorry ass husband had a girlfriend with the same name as me. I guess she was taking her frustration out on me.

Both of my sons are grown and living their own lives now. Scout moved out recently and Colt comes home between semesters and for summer break until he has to go back to the University. Donny has learned to ignore me and sits in his favorite chair watching TV when he gets home from work. I sit on the computer all day.

If I seem angry and anti-social, that's because I am. I am angry because I don't know how to fix my life and I am anti-social because society sucks. Either you belong with the majority or you don't. Obviously, I don't. The only thing that makes me feel better is when I think about people whose lives are worse off than mine is and I realize how much worse my life could be. 

I got upset recently when I saw something on Facebook and told someone what had been posted. We were both 'friends' with the same person so he would have seen it anyway. His friend had posted something that I considered derogatory. I know it is not my place to interfere but I can't help myself sometimes. He talked to his friend and told her what I had said. She got mad and deleted us both. I got mad and depressed because I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I was only wanting to warn him so he wouldn't get hurt. I guess I still don't have any social skills, do I, but what would you do?

I have these bouts of depression but they blow over with time and then I am my happy, cheerful self again. I become pleasant and friendly and actually likable. I stop licking my wounds and focus on the good things in life. I think I can feel it coming on. I'm waiting . . . 

If you are a reader from Facebook how about leaving a line to let me know that you are reading this and want to stay on my mailing list. If you don't want to read any more of my rants you can skip them. And if you don't want to be my friend on Facebook, do me a favor and delete me. I may quit sharing Resaca Rose because there are only about seven or eight people that read it anyway. I know who reads and comments on my blog, and for that, I thank you.

As Always

PIO

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My Mission Statement

LIVE, LEARN, LAUGH AND LOVE BECAUSE NOBODY'S GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE.

I am probably a conundrum if you look at me closely. I am deeply liberal and believe in equal rights for everyone. I believe in free speech and also support your right to speak, even if I don't agree with what you say. I do not believe that gives you the right to harass me though and vis-a-vis. After all, isn't that what freedom of speech means?

I support old people and poor people and women and children and government programs that protects them. I also support the poor old soldiers that are eventually coming back to America stressed and bewildered to be back in civilization again and suffering from post traumatic stress and government programs that protect them. I believe anything less than that is unchristian and unfair. I know life isn't fair, but it ought to be and, with equality and democracy and a republic which supports these core values, it could be. America's compassion and aid should extend to it's citizens first before aid is extended to foreign countries.

We have to pay our bills and maintain our budget so I see no reason why our counties, states, and federal government can't do the same. I don't think it helps to bail out a business (ie wallstreet) with no strings attached and the companies can continue to waste investor's money on parties and meetings in the Bahamas, or wherever. I hate wallstreet. They are blood suckers.  Also, since corporations are now considered 'people' by the Supremes that includes them, too, and they should pay their fair share of taxes. Common sense tells you that is where the majority of taxes should come from. Big businesses get nice little 'tax free' incentives to locate in local communities. That puts the brunt of the taxes on the rest of the community. They should provide benefits that guarantee their retirees a secure retirement. Companies don't care about most employees future retirement anymore. Years ago, Barwick's promised a nice retirement package when I went to work there. A few years later Barwick's shut down because the company had been run in the ground and so many employees were robbing them blind.

I believe in the right to bear arms and the right to bare arms, also. I may be a mulching, saving, storing, gardening, food processing, flybaby but I also think it's not a sin to hunt and fish and protect yourself or others. I would think that anyone living in the south understands the importance of having the right to bear arms. The south will rise again! Actually, I believe it already has. The south is one of the best kept secrets in the world that has finally gotten out. Too bad, because it used to be such a quiet and peaceful place.


I believe that the government has the responsibility to protect it's less fortunate members of society who are poor or indigent or otherwise helpless. Social security was created to help old people who were too sick and old to work to have a decent living. It was money they spent into the government system by taxation that they were supposed to be guaranteed when they retired. Social security paid my aunt and her children for years until the children were adults after their father died. Social security is most needed by the lower income members of our society. Everyone who works pays into social security and should be entitled to it's benefits. Without government programs in place to protect the lower class many American's would be living in squalor without necessities like we witness around the world. I don't think you can call yourself a caring and compassionate person, much less a Christian, if you want to deny poor people access to the basic needs we all have. A home, job, food, medical care, and an education. Education is the key to success.

I believe the government interferes in too many things and causes too much damage without considering the consequences. They change the laws that are on the books and when people realize the new laws are ridiculous and ineffective we are stuck with the changes made by the Suits in Washington.

To name a few: nuclear energy is unacceptable because of the radioactive water which stays radioactive forever. If something produces harmful waste, you should reconsider. As Homer Simpson says, "Duh!"

Next on my list is those screwy florescent lights which are supposed to be handled as hazardous waste and with great caution and recycled. Have you ever read the warnings and directions for disposal? Seriously, they emit mercury! To top it all off, incandescent bulbs are being banned in America. Nobody ever said, "We'll let the market decide whether to eliminate incandescent bulbs". They outlawed them. Lighting is a very small percentage of energy use in America. Someone must have padded their pockets with 'kickback' money.

My third, and final example for now, is corn. The government is screwing around with corn which is valuable for more than your corn on the cob, or cornbread. Corn syrup and corn ingredients appear in many foods. Corn is also an important and valuable food source for the farming industry to feed livestock and pets. The price of corn affects the price of beef. The price of corn affects every part of our food culture. Corn is food for us and our animals. It is the staff of life for beleaguered people in poor countries around the world. When the price of corn increases it tilts the scales against the countries that need corn and grain the most and can afford it the least.

Ethanol has been incorporated into gasoline across America as an appeasement for the high price of gasoline. Ethanol is made from corn. Ethanol actually lowers your gas mileage and wastes valuable corn in a bid to pacify the masses. I'm not buying it. There are better alternatives. Not additives. Check out I Got Gas.  

I dream of a future where there are better ways of distributing electricity and anything that comes into our homes and buildings using fiber optics. I used to believe that electric poles and power lines would be phased out and all those wires would be buried underground to protect them from storm damage and wear and tear. I thought they would be incorporated in city designs and all power poles and electric lines would someday be hidden. When I was a child I thought there was nothing uglier than power poles strung along beautiful city streets or country scenery. Sometimes new subdivisions and gated communities bury their cable underground but the practice hasn't caught on in the American landscape like it should.

I thought we would be much further along as a society than we are by now. I believed we would be in the Buck Rogers future or the Jetson's future but we're still stuck in a rut in the twentieth century. After all, women around the world are still considered chattel and our leaders are still grunting and beating their chests. It's a wonder we ever made it out of caves. This is a messed up, screwed up, crazy old world and god knows what the future will bring but when you've always been waiting for enlightenment and progress for all human beings it's a sore disappointment for a child of the sixties.

My mission in life is to live as simply and as peacefully as I can. My goal in life is to win friends and influence people. That's kind of hard when you're an old grumpy bear. My only hope is my undeniable charm and natural charisma. I just hope people don't figure out I'm a grumpy old bear.

"Back to the future, Marty!"

As Always

PIO

It's Growing

The new squash plants have grown.

Our fenced in garden.

Can you identify this? It was a volunteer and it is huge.

Squash plants.

Our green garden.

What the heck is this plant?

It's getting longer, and longer.

Cleome / Spider plant

Bloom on vine. I wonder what it is.

Look how long it's gotten now.

We should have some peanuts this year.

I planted seeds from a loofah plant.

Look at our mystery plant.

It's setting fruit . . . or something.

It's yellow like a squash but I think it is a pumpkin. We'll see!

This is pretty good for a volunteer.

You can barely walk in the garden now.

Momma calls this Monkey Face. 

The garden is growing by leaps and bounds.

Click on the pictures to see close up. This is our fenced in garden. You can tell how much that 'mystery vine' has been growing in the pictures. It is spectacular. The tomato garden is growing, too, but half of that garden is overrun with weeds because we didn't put down papers and straw around the okra. The okra never came up and now it is covered in weeds again. We will have to re-till it if we want to replant okra.

As Always

PIO

Opossum Baby

We found this little 'possum in the barn.

He looks like he has a Mohawk.

I was probably blinding him with the flash.

"I'd like to go to sleep."

"Oh-oh, I have fleas." 

"Maybe she'll go away now."

Colt found this little 'possum in the barn. I went outside to check on him last night and thought he would be safer up on a bale of hay in the barn. I crawled up there and put him on it. We have so many cats and dogs I was afraid they would hurt him if they noticed him. I went to check on him today. He had disappeared. I hope his momma got him because I'd hate to think the cats did, even if he did look like an ugly rat. Possums make me laugh.

As Always

PIO

Our Celebration

Today was a good day. I raked leaves out of the front yard under the Magnolia trees and put them in the mulch pile outback. It didn't start raining until I got them all up. 

Scout came over to work on his car. He is putting a new carburetor and radiator on his car. He stopped working before it started raining.

We had about three thunderstorms today. The front yard was standing in water  after it started raining so hard. About a month ago Don sowed some grass seeds in the front yard. I hope it will start growing now.

This evening Donny and I went to Kim and Scout's house to celebrate the 4th with them. Kim is a very good cook. The barbecue ribs were delicious. Later we went outside to set off some fireworks and watch Layla swim in her little pool.

Donny had fun playing with Layla in the pool. Kim had fun setting off fireworks. And, naturally, Scout had fun starting a fire. I had fun taking pictures of everyone.

 Scout cleared out the brush in back of their house. Now you can see all the way to the railroad tracks. He also has a little garden at the edge of the woods.

This train had eight engines and no cars on it. It went by while we were standing in the backyard. 

The rain was nice. It cooled everything down and the steam rose off the roads like fog. Today was a great day to spend time with our family. Thanks for a wonderful day Kim and Layla and Scout. Happy fourth of July everyone.

As Always

PIO