Happy 4th of July!!!!!

Happy Independents Day!!!! A time to celebrate living in the greatest and most wonderful country in the World in all of life's history. A time to remember our past and how we came to live here as well.

Not to be out done by yesterdays picture, here is Erin at Walmart enjoying the same charade. However, it is kind of scary how natural he looks with the gun in his hand in a Tennessee Walmart. LOL

This is my son's girlfriend who just had to take home a picture of her and guns sold in Walmart. Seems that's not something that happens in England. She is a 1st generation Brit and a Muslim and she drew quiet a lot of attention from the proprietor of a Confederate memorabilia store that sells hate along with mis-information. But it seems the Europeans like the idea of "The Rebel". Seems to be a romantic thing. If only they knew the facade is covering a hate infested fear of diversity.

Henna is a wonderful girl, bright and inquisitive. I enjoyed her visit and hope our paths cross again.

It may look like a pennet store display but it's one of the walls of my favorite breakfast places in Fayetteville, The Chuckwagon, owned and run by my wife Emily's cousin Chris. I had to share that with my oldest.

My Son visited from England last week with a friend and I had a great time. Here we are at one of the local eating establishments that serve the world famous Honey's Slaw Burgers. Laugh if you must, its made it into print. Erin has returned to his studies at Leeds and I miss him greatly. It is tough on a parents to enjoy the company of their kids so much and yet, know they must allow them (and encourage them) to make their own life where ever they see fit.

Have I mentioned how beautiful a place I live? While this is early morning, I find even with the 96 degree evenings, sitting on my front porch with the recently installed outdoor ceiling fans and a couple of mountain man size rockers a pure joy. When you have a lot of quiet around you, your conversations take on a more harmonious quality. Oh and when the sun comes up flooding the porch with tanning rays of sun shine, it’s nice too. Just ask the cows that gather out front.

A weed to some. But I think this confirms my belief that most of life is beautiful to the eye at some point in its existence and beautiful in design most of its existence.

Who thinks to have their faces saved in bronze to decorate their headstone? I have no idea but I'm intrigued and will as around to see if there is a story worth telling here.

I took this picture of this unusual house this past spring. I thought it was an interesting piece of architecture.

Looking at this picture, what do you see? Trash? Woodpile? Sculpture? A mess? I see color and I see the discarded remains of an unwanted tree that will probably be burned in place rather than in someone's fireplace. Sad that even in a small country town (probably most especially in a small country town) a lot of things are wasted.

I have a cousin who isn't happy about the way some things are going. Most of it has to do with changes that make it hard, if not impossible, to share memories with different generations. This wall reminded me of him. The old days of painting advertisements on the side of brick walls is gone for this old town. Putting up metal signs will only leave holes and a weakened brick wall. None of the style or nuance (as crappy as it tends to be these days) will survive for discovery by my children’s children. “I must be getting old”, I think to myself as I snicker.

If there was a god, this is where he would live.

Here is a small portion of Gimlet Creek. I've talked about it. It isn't any different than 1000's of other creeks in Tennessee. But it is my creek - in the sense I live next to it - and like most places of sustenance, it is full of life.

Here is an abandon house that has no interesting details from its construction. But with the help of mother nature, time and Photoshop it can be seen with some character.

There are many abandoned houses out here in the country. The history of most is lost. But when I see one with this kind of architectural detail, I can't help but wonder what happened. This house was once owned by a family of means. They took pride in their home and added details that are for looks only. Tomorrow, I post a picture of an abandoned house that has no detail, just functionality.