Tuesday, March 12, 2024

41 Pictures of John

Today is John's forty-first birthday. Here is a pretty random group of forty-one photos from my computer that include this fine young man. John is Brannon's life-partner and the father of our three grandgirls. 
We love you John and celebrate your forty-first birthday, your eighth as a part of our family. We wish you much happiness, joy and adventure and many, many happy returns!











































 

Monday, March 04, 2024

2024 Azalea Storytelling Festival

Between the two final performances on Sunday the four headliners posed for pictures. L-R: Regi Carpenter, Bil Lepp, Paul Strickland, and Donald Davis.

Sheila and I spent the weekend in Lagrange for the Azalea Storytelling Festival. It is always a great show. We stayed at the Comfort Inn of Lafayette Parkway. Panther Drive is closed by construction around the railroad overpass, so Siri directed us on a circuitous southern route from the hotel to Callaway Auditorium, though we eventually realized is was at least easier and probably quicker to drive straight through from the hotel to Park and then to Dallas -- two turns.

Josh Goforth, one of our favorite musician/tellers came down with civid on Wednesday and the festival folks had to scurry to find a last minute replacement to join Regi Carpenter, Bil Lepp, and Donald Davis as the fourth teller. Guess who they came up with?! Our buddy the 2019 Big Fibber himself, Paul Strickland. This was the first time we had heard Paul as a headliner and he acquitted himself well. 

A plaque commemorating the three Azalea SF founders. I never knew Pat or Evelyn, but Pat's husband is our friend Sidney Gay. And Joyce Morgan we have come to admire not only as one of the prime organizers of the festival but also of the annual Donald Davis summer storytelling workshop in Lagrange. Sheila gave me that workshop as my 70th birthday present in 2017.

I have attended ten or more of the ASFs so far I imagine, and Sheila has accompanied me several times. It is a great festival. During my times at the festival they have always featured four nationally respected storytellers. Donald Davis seems to almost always be there. Bil Lepp makes it about every other year or so. Regi was the original newbie for the festival this year, but Josh's illness meant there were two newbies this year. I rate this one among my favorites. 

On Saturdays there is always a soup lunch at Belvue, the beautiful antebellum home of Georgia's Senator Ben Hill. We almost always participate. Here are a few pictures from that gorgeous historic building.






At the ASF the Callaway auditorium is a wonderful place to hear stories. First, you always hear them. The sound system is great. The upholstered seats are comfortable. The emcee (always in recent years our friend Carol Cain -- except when she is a headliner herself) is entertaining BUT keeps it short and makes sure the spotlight on the tellers and not herself. 



I took notes so I could write up some lists of stories told and favorite lines each day. Unfortunately by the time we got back to the hotel each evening the bed beckoned the old bones. I hope I get back this to jot something about the stories and the tellers. But this'll have to do for now.
 

Monday, February 26, 2024

A Poem to Start the Week: If I can stop one heart from breaking

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.'

By Emily Dickinson

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Walking With Lil & Jordan

 It's great to have Lillian and Jordan with us this weekend and so glad to have their company for an hour or so on a walk along the river. 

Since the last time we walked the trail -- quite a while actually -- the local geocache folks have added a bunch of bollards containing caches. Jordan was not familiar with this activity, so we told him about our few geocaching exploits and about the big annual geocaching weekend that is held in Rome. Naturally of son-in-law, always curious to know about stuff, consulted Mr. Google (or DuckDuck or whatever) and downloaded a geocaching app. On our return walk he found one cache under a rock near the levee. 

Lillian and Jordan have two cats, Waffles (15) and George (8) so we pointed out the grave of Tom Cat along the trail:

Lillian and Jordan sit ion the bench at the trailside grave of Tom Cat near the Mount Berry Trailhead.

As we neared the Little Dry Creek bridge on our return walk I noticed a tree full of berries near the creek. In sandals and pants not meant for bushwhacking I made my way to it and took some pictures. My plant ID app declared it "Possumhaw Holly,"  (Ilex decidua). Maybe


that's right. I'd like to have a couple of these in my yard.





When we got to the railroad bridge and the shelter beneath it we paused for a selfie in indirect lighting. 




In the afternoon we went over to my mother's house where Lillian picked up some of her choices from her grandmother's estate. Then in the evening we visited River Remedy where a charity "chili cook-off" was going on. Good to see several friends. Ty & Caroline were there to eat. James Schroeder was one of the chili cooks. And it was good to see our CRBI friend Amos Tuck and my former fourth grade student and now Australian football enthusiast, Dylan McLaughlin.