Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Every place is different, and every place has unique beauty.  These photos are things I don't see every day in North Alabama. The spots on the photo above are from our dirty windshield; sometimes, it is just not smart to have the windows down. I tried to get a picture of the 80 mile an hour speed limit signs.  Unfortunately, Hub was always driving 80 plus, and all I got was blurs.  Maybe next time.

We have been to the panhandle, the hill country, the coast, and many places in between, and we have learned this: Everywhere you go in Texas, there are wildflowers. On our trip this summer, we drove more than eight hundred miles in Texas, most of it off the interstate.  And everywhere we went, there were wildflowers. Thank you, Texas, for Austin and its history, the river walk in San Antonio, the beaches of Galveston (we slept on the Galveston beach in a tent once, but that is a blog for another day),  the Bush family, windmills, the Pulpwood Queen, oil wells,  George Strait,   and Luckenbach.  Most of all, thank you for the wildflowers.

Last Friday night was supposed to be the kick-off for the W. C. Handy Festival, but it rained straight down all day and night and most of the events were cancelled.  There was some lingering rain on Saturday with more events cancelled. On Sunday, things started looking up, and yesterday was absolutely fantastic.  We attended the Midnighters lunch show at Scope310 from 11 until 1. They did not disappoint, but then, they never do. There were so many events going on Monday night that you just had to pick one.  We picked The Pine Hill Haints at the St. Florian park, because it is a great place to hang out and because WE LOVE THE PINE HILL HAINTS! We were able to sit with two good friends, which made the night even better. Not everybody can do Saint Louis Blues on these instruments, but the Haints can. Trust me, don't ever miss an opportunity to see this group. We are looking forward to attending many more events this week. All ou...

The only squirrels we saw when we were children was on the eating table, fried or surrounded by dumplings.  The squirrels respected my daddy's shotgun enough to stay hidden in the woods.  Nowadays,  they are everywhere.  It is a constant battle with the bird feeders, one that I have lost up 'til now, but hope springs eternal.  I usually try not to get too steamed up about it, but they have made me fighting mad this time. We live in a subdivision, with a lot that is roughly .6 acre.  After room for the house, the driveway, and the front yard, we have very little space to garden.  We have to carefully decide what we are going to grow to make the most of our tiny space.  We don't have enough to share with squirrels.   Above, you can see they took a tomato and discarded it after a few bites; maybe they didn't like it quite so green.   This year, we decided to plant three small rows of corn, looking forward to a freezer s...

But you, Israel, are my servant.      You’re Jacob, my first choice,      descendants of my good friend Abraham. I pulled you in from all over the world,      called you in from every dark corner of the earth, Telling you, ‘You’re my servant, serving on my side.      I’ve picked you. I haven’t dropped you.’ Don’t panic. I’m with you.      There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.      I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you. ~Isaiah 41:8-10

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