How Does She Do This?

   Writing about reading, AGAIN...

   As most of you will remember, Mayre and I are reading, well, I am reading aloud, and she is listening, or sleeping, as the situation develops, my reading voice seems to do that to people, but she does get some good naps in, and sometimes I sneak off to another part of the condo to finish up on other things.

   But back to what we have been reading, and here I will refresh some memories out there, The Mitford books, by author Jan Karon. We had read most of the series back when they first came out in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ms. Karan started publishing the series in 1994, and the original first nine volumes hit the market from 1994 till 2005.

   What got us started this time around was the publication of Come Rain or Come Shine, which was another Mitford book put out in 2015. As we went through this later book, we knew most of the characters from the earlier writings, but we had missed a lot of the details that made up the background for the latest novel.

   So, we went back to book one and began again, reading all the way through book nine, which appears to have been the last projected book in the Mitford series.

   Karon's next two books were labeled "The Father Tim Series", and included Home To Holly Springs (2007) and In The Company of Others (2010). We decided to continue our oral readings with these, so we are on the Holly Springs one now.

   As we are reading through Holly Springs, I was stuck with the amount of detail into the early life of Father Tim, which is hinted at in the earlier Mitford books, but fleshed out in great detail here. The stories of how people and situations came about, and their effect on the life of Father Tim Kavanagh make the older books richer in meaning,

   But here is the question that seems to boggle my mind: How much of the detail presented in Holly Springs was present in the author's mind when the series began? Here is a book that gives the background of the life of the main character, whose fictional life began at least 13 years previously.

   The author has done a great job of weaving this background through the first nine books, giving snippets of information and hints as to situations and people, without telling the full story. except what is needed for that  particular book's story line.

   Then she writes Holly Springs and fleshes out the complete story. How does she do that? Does she develop the main character, and then make up situations in an earlier life that fit the current narrative?

   Does she have it all in mind the whole way through?

   I have spent the entire morning looking for a way to ask her those questions, but without success. There must be a way...I'll keep searching.

   After we finish our current reading, we will go on to Company of Others which involves a trip to Ireland, land of the Kavanagh line, and, I'm sure we will discover further information on how Father Tim became Father Tim.

   And now I see that there are four more Mitford books, that carry on the stories of all these Mitford people and their beloved priest, the last one published in 2017. How many more does Karon's mind contain?

   Well, at least, we have good material to read for a few more days, months, years....and that is a real good thing.

   You may note that the photo at the top has no relevance in this post, at least not outwardly. I took it the other night at sunset, and, in my mind, entitled it Peace...

   I like it.

   And, I like the books, a lot...

It Is Snowing...

   It IS snowing, somewhere, but just not down here where the temperature is in the mid 40s as we wake up to a Christmas morning filled with sunshine and memories.

   Our front door is festooned with a fresh wreath, fashioned and brought to us by some dear friends who have done this for us in years past and continue on this year.

   But today, we are...

   Just Granny Lou and Papa, eating a breakfast casserole, brought to us yesterday, by some friends at church. Grits and Summer Sausage, now that is a great feast for this day.

   We have been thanking our neighbors and friends for their gifts of food and goodies for the past several days now, but it does not get old. We are happy to be remembered, but wish we could still be on the giving end instead of always receiving. But, after thinking about it, we happily receive these, sent, or brought, our way.

   Our Nativity set, rests on the credenza, and, as I look at it again this morning, I remember that I need to put Jesus in his manger. Looking in his resting place in the drawer, I find the box, open it, take out the infant, and place him in the manger. Then I look at the box, take out a piece of paper and find a note from Amazon, telling us that one year a person known as just " a blog reader", has sent this.

   I seem to remember a blog post from the past that speaks of not being able to find the Baby when we put out the set, and writing about that dilemma.

   Now I see that I can look up on Amazon and find who the actual sender was. I do, and now I know who "a blog reader" is. Thanks if you are still reading.

   Had to take a break a few minutes ago to drive over to the house where the casserole came from, when we returned there was another bowl on the doormat. It was some sort of desert, and it was good, real good, but no name on the dish. I want to thank someone, but who?

  Oh well, let me get back to the previous few days before Christmas...

   As much pleasure as we get from food and gifts, there is more still from visits and conversations from friends, and even more when those visits come from family.

   Doug and Dawn have made us a part of their Christmas for a long time. Early on it was at their home in Blacksburg, but now they make it a point to visit down here during the Christmas season. One year they will come to us before Christmas and then visit the other grandparents over in Pensacola for the actual Holiday. The next year, we get the Christmas Day celebration and the Bucks get the before, or sometimes after.

   But they always include both sets of parents.

   That is good.

   No, that is very good....we always enjoy all the kids (5 now) and it makes Christmas for us.

                                                                   Drew 17

                                                       Caroline 15

                                                           Lucy 13

                         Laken (celebrated her 13th while here)

                                           David 10

   For several years, we had all the kids and grandkids down here to our Island.We rented a big house near the beach and partied.

   But times change, and kids grow and have travel schedules of their own, and other responsibilities, too. So they come when they can, and we love it anytime.

   So, this year it was just the Blacksburg contingent, and it was three days of food, fun and fellowship.

   Beach time

   Games in the condo

   Food on the table (and still some in our refrigerator)

   We may not remember all the memories we made, but we hope those with more mental capacity will remember these times fondly, and think about family times that are enjoyable and memorable.

   It may not be actually snowing, but we will carry a snowstorm full of great times away with us, to remember while we can.

   Let it snow...

A Road, A Church and A Mystery

   It has been almost two weeks since I last sat down to write, and, frankly, I miss getting to put some thoughts down on paper.

   Not that I am that busy, but it takes some undivided time for me to do this, and that is in short supply most days. It is harder to write with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. Much easier to say "maybe tomorrow will present some time to do it".

   The other day there was a picture on Facebook of a Primitive Baptist Church over in Brantley County, and it looked like a potential road trip. (Any chance to get us out of the condo, even if it is to photograph an old church way out in the boonies.)

   So we left this morning, taking our lunch and drove west on US 82 to Nahunta (county seat of Brantley Co.). Turning south on US 301, I followed what directions I had till we got into Charlton Co. and realized, too far.

   Going by the Georgia map, we should have passed through a town, Hickox, then the church would be off Bethlehem Rd. , but we never encountered Hickox. We could not have missed the whole town, it was shown right on 301.

   Turning around and heading back towards Nahunta, I spotted Bethlehem Rd. on the right and pulled in. It looked like a man's driveway, and, with a man in the yard working, I stopped to ask. (He was picking up pecans from an old tree in his front yard.)

   He proceeded to inform me that this was indeed the road to the church but the bridge had washed out several years earlier and the county did not have the money to rebuild it. So we had to drive back south and find the other end of the road (a dirt road by the way).

   We did find our church with his directions, about two miles off 301.

   Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church, organized around 1880.

   Typical construction , no frills, but a nice setting back off the road.

   From the website of the Historical Rural Churches of Georgia:

"We are not certain of the exact date of organization for Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church.  We do know that in 1905, Bethlehem joined the Alabaha River Association (Crawford), but based on earlier dates on a few of the headstones, the organization of the church could have preceded that, perhaps by a number of years. The oldest marked grave in the Bethlehem Cemetery bears a date of death of 1881, and our estimate is based on that. The church served its community until 1991 when it disbanded.  Today the Satilla River Association is down to two churches and one elder."

   The front door only had a latch,  and by pushing, I could get inside. It was dark, and the only light was that that filtered in through the cracks around the doors and window shutters.

   By using an extended shutter time, I was able to take some shots without using my flash.

   And there was my mystery:

   Take a look at these shots as I narrowed down to a small wooden boxlike structure on the floor in front of the pulpit.

   What was the little boxlike thing used for? It opens to the ground below.

   Anybody out there that can cast a little light on this?

   Anyway, a 4 hour journey into the unknown, looking for a church with no sign, on a road with a bridge out, that is getting out of the condo, for sure.

   And finally, a shot from the cemetery to the north of the church with a tombstone that told of a funeral just a few days prior to our visit. There were also some Hickox family headstones there.

   So, where did the town of Hickox go, and what was the use for the mystery box.

   Just another day at the office...

   

  

Thoughts of a Caregiver...

   I confess that not so very long ago, back when this household was healthy and rarin' to go, I was like the boy, standing outside the candy store, thinking about how each piece would taste. Then he went in and found out.

   When my wife was diagnosed down at Mayo in Jacksonville, we had no idea what to expect and how the progression would move along. Even the doctors there could not be definitive.

   So we came home and just took things as they came along.

   We started out with a right hand that did not function, and that is still the case, but now there are other issues involved with walking, talking and thinking.

   Without going into any great detail (she would not want me to anyway), I have been both blessed and challenged in the role of the primary caregiver. I tell her all the time that she is "stuck" with me.

   There are a couple of things that I have learned over these past few years that I would like to share for some that are new to the role, or don't expect ever to be.

   1. Never say never. "It won't happen to me",  either the caregiver role or the receiver. We just never know the way God will work out your life. But be certain, God will be with you in whichever place you are. I could not do without that.

   2. Hold all your plans loosely in your hands. I found out after some delay of trying real hard to make my plans work, that it is a lot more frustrating than just not making any in the first place.

   3. Never assume that what strategy worked yesterday will work again today. A case in point; I found one night that just holding my wife's hand, the one that was for all practical purposes, dead, caused her to settle down and the hand to quit twitching. Next night, using it again, had no effect whatsoever.

   4. Don't try to be a half-committed caregiver. That is a recipe for disaster. It will frustrate everyone.

   There are other others that I could mention, if I could only remember them right now, but here is a verse from Ephesians:

   "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,"

   Back when all of this began to happen, I asked God what I should do about the various other things in my life, even good things, and the overwhelming sense came to me that my primary service was to be to my wife during this season.

   Then came the word "wholeheartedly", which, I admit, is hard to continually live by, but, which if followed, leads to a much better resolution.

   Just thoughts from a far-less-than-perfect caregiver.

   But, with God's help, one that is trying.

Some Events Are Just Better That Way

   A quick background of this story.

   The score is 20-14 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. The homestanding Hokies have just given up a long pass that brought the Pitt Panthers all the way to the VT one yard line with little time left on the clock.

   First down, Pitt runs left, and is stopped short of the goal line.

   Second down, Pitt runs again, and again is stopped.

   Third down, a fade pattern into the end zone, broken up by the cornerback.

   Fourth down, and in the words of the Hokies radio announcer:

   "Pitt's quarterback will operate from the gun, Hokies crowd the line of scrimmage, a quick handoff to Hall, he slips a tackle in the backfield,

   BUT...THE...HOKIES...WILL...STONEWALL...HIM...

   Hokies make an unbelievable goal line stand to take the victory 20-14...unbelievable"

   Those words as written above don't hold a candle to the noise of the crowd, the yelling of the announcer and the color man in the booth. So what if I could not see it on TV, the mental picture described on the radio was something I will remember for a long while.

   The game will be remembered for its unbelievable outcome, but for me the voices over the airwaves made the day.

   I can remember growing up, listening to all sorts of games on the radio.

   Chattanooga Lookouts in the Southern League

   Chattanooga Mocs football and basketball

   Major League baseball, College football (especially the Tennessee Vols)

   And it was all by mental picture, described by the guy in the booth, no TV yet.

   You could listen while doing something else, raking leaves, working in the barn, even playing tennis.

   I guess it just fits in to my old fashioned idea that college football should be played in the daytime, in any kind of weather, outdoors and on real grass.

   And added to that list hearing your favorite team on the radio, and now on a streaming feed out of the computer.

   Some things are just better that way...

A Perplexing Pelican and Posing Relative...

   One afternoon on last weekend, we decided to go over to the St. Simons' marina; just wanted to look around and see if there were any interesting birds. While setting up for a pelican-on-a-post shot, a man walked up and began a conversation.

   "You gettin' any good shots of pelicans. My daughter at home loves those birds, and she would be real happy for me to send her a shot taken by a "real" photographer", he asked.

   OK, that got my attention, and so, I told him that I was getting ready to take one now after I got set up. Unfortunately, by the time I turned back to the scene, the brown pelican had flown away. Some pelicans like to pose and others don't.

   I told Nate, a man working on hurricane Irma"s dock damage to the marina, that I had taken a pretty good shot the day before, and, on receipt of his email address, I would sent it on to him for his little girl.

 

(I sent him this shot)

   Fast forward to this morning. On our way over the causeway to a doctor's appointment around 8:30am, all of a sudden the traffic in both westbound lanes came to a stop.

   A wreck perhaps?

   I could see a car in my lane turned in a diagonal posture, and another stopped car in the median coming east. A funny wreck for sure since there is a concrete barrier in the center of that road. No other cars were stopped there.

   As I got closer, and moved into a new lane that was going to turn right at the next light, we noticed a lady out of her eastbound stopped automobile, and another in front of the her's going west.

   They were animated in their gestures, but I saw no sign of a wreck. What was going on?

   Then there (he/she/it) was, in the middle of the lane-----a pelican sitting contentedly in the road. The bird was not injured that I could tell, but there had to be something wrong for it to be sitting there in rush hour traffic.

   I'm sure, although I could not stay to witness what happened, the ladies managed to get the big bird off the pavement. What they did after that, I don't know.

   We saw no sign of anything out of the ordinary when we returned past that same spot going back home to the Island.

   But I thought it was cool (or neat) that those folks would stop and help a bird.

   I heard no horns as the others driving to work and school this morning seemingly agreed with the rescue, not giving way to frustration for the delay.

   A small token of civility on a Monday morning.

   And I hoped that the pelican was able to be appreciative, and survive another day.

   What relationship between the Pelican on the Pavement and the Pelican on the Post?

   Perhaps they were related, and now both are happy.

   Let's keep Georgia's Wildlife Safe

I Gave My Wife A Car Ride and Look What I Found...

   When you are a care giver, and you live on an island that is like 12 miles long and less than 2 miles wide, you look for places to go to give your charge a change of pace from the condo and its views.

   It does not take long to exhaust the possibilities, and then you begin to revisit and look for reasons to go there again.

   Often I resort to the camera to give me an excuse to get out to various places where I have been before, an area which is subject to changes in wildlife and opportunities for new angles and different lighting.

   The other day, I asked my wife if she wanted to get out of the condo and take a car ride, to which she replied, as she most always does, in the affirmative.

   Harrington Park is a small Glynn County plot a couple of miles from our place with a couple of lakes, well, ponds really, where I have been before, several times. As usual, Mayre made a choice to stay in the car while I take a look around and see if there is anything new.

   Taking my backpack with camera and a couple of lens, and my tripod, I take off pond #1 where I look for birds or whatever. From my vantage point at the south end of that pond, I could see some white waders at the north end, so I move to that point.

   Setting up I shoot a Little Blue Heron, which is white, not blue or grey when immature, and take a couple of shots.

   Here is a shot taken with my 24x105mm lens from a fair distance away:



   After putting it into the computer with the processing program, I got these:



 

   Moving to my east a few paces, I was standing on the overlook of Pond #2, so I took a look for any more shots before heading back to the car.

   Sensing movement at the far north end of the pond, I saw what looked like a log moving across the water.

   Now the picture is not very good, and I cropped it to see what it was, and sure enough, it was a gator. I had heard rumors of one around here, and there he was.



   I go back to that park and those ponds on occasion, but have never seen the gator again. Surely I can get a better shot with a longer lens.

   An outing to get my wife out of the condo turns into a photo op that gives me more excuses to revisit that area. Perhaps I can get her out of the car to go down to those ponds, but probably not if I choose to tell her about our reptile friend.

   But she will let me go anyway, and that will be good.

A TV Update

   A few days back I wrote about doing away with the big all-encompassing internet and tv provider after my bill had dramatically increased.

   So I did.

   I cancelled my subscription to AT&T Uverse and shipped the equipment back to them.

   I contacted Comcast for Internet and residential phone service. They installed it last Friday.

   I took the 1 week free trial on Hulu with their live TV service and subsequently went with them on a monthly basis.

   After one week's use of the new set up, here are my thoughts and takeaways:

   1. I got the channels I wanted at a big savings.

   2. The streaming seems OK, with some glitches inside the programs, like it cannot buffer fast enough. I have not checked it all out for the reason, but it is only occasional and not a material problem (I don't think).

   3. There are 50 hours of available DVR and it has recorded the programs I wanted. This has come with a downside also. Whereas I used to skip through the commercials and only watch program content, you can't do it here. You record an hour newscast, you get the whole hour with no ability to skip some.

   4. The sport content has been good, ESPN channels, Fox Sports channels, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports along with the Golf Channel. There are some games that appear on ABC Sports that I cannot get, but that is not very many.

   5. The picture quality is good, can't tell any difference from the AT&T setup on the HD TV.

   So, those are my thoughts on the first week. I have seen other live streaming sites advertising, and, if mine shows signs of not living up to my expectations, I will check them out, but for now, I am here.

   If anyone else goes this route, let me know, and we can compare. If anyone goes another route with another site, I'd like to know that also.

   For me, a lot of this is uncharted territory, but I think it will work out.

   OR, It will work out, but I'm not sure how, yet.

  

   Back to this maybe?

There is This Word...

   I was struck the other day with a word that I thought should be a part of one's life, or at least, one's attitude..

   Wholeheartedness or Wholeheartedly

   I noted this in reading 2 Chronicles 31 the other day in verse 21 referring to King Hezekiah of Judah..

"In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered."

   And I saw this in the same book, chapter 25, where it talks about King Amaziah in verse 2..

"He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly."

   What a contrast in a life of halfheartedness, and one fully absorbed.

   I would call halfheartedness a type of reluctant obedience, knowing the right thing to do, and doing it, but holding back on a real commitment.

   Unfortunately, I find that I often fall into the "reluctant" category. It is not a problem to see what is obviously the right thing to do, but then "me" gets in the way. I do the "right" thing with the "wrong" attitude.

   It is not hard to remember to do things in an "all in" manner, it is the following through, doing them joyfully as to The Lord.

   Moses, in Deuteronomy 6 writes these words:

   ALL your heart, soul and strength.

   That is the right attitude, all the time, even when no one is looking.

Bargain Entertainment?

   When we moved back to the Island in 2008 and bought a condo, we decided to go a different route on our TV watching. Up in Blacksburg we had used Sky Angel, a Christian satellite, but we wanted something more in tune with what we wanted to watch, sports, news, weather and still have access to Christian programing.

   So we bought a new tv to hang on our wall, a Mac mini computer and tried to find what we needed on the internet. It was not the easiest way to watch what we wanted to put on the screen, but we persevered for a time.

   Then we broke down and got a new system, a bundle that included TV, Wi-fi, and residential phone. We had everything but the premium channels.

   We plugged along, and when they attempted to raise our fees, we complained and they made a way to keep our rates somewhat the same, even adding new features along the way.

   So, two months ago our bill was in the $150 dollar range. Then our promotional discounts ran out, and our bill escalated to just over $200. Customer service had no new promotions that would do us any good, and the only suggestion they had was to downgrade our services which we did not want to do.

  We began to look around, and now we are ready to go another route, and, just in time, too. Today we got our new bill, and it had ballooned to over $235.

   Whoa, that is out of reason...

   We took at look at what we had actually been watching over the past few months. College football on ESPN, CBSSports, NBCSports Fox Sports, and Fox News.

   So we ditched out subscription tv, changed Internet providers to get a faster speed for less money, and got our residence phone for $25 less. Then we went with an Internet based site that gave us about 50 live channels, including those sports and news programs that we wanted.

   Our old outlay with the big company, the aforementioned $235.

   Well, what will be our new monthly bill with the new set up? Around $120 plus tax...

   Sure, we had to buy an Amazon Fire Stick to stream from the computer, but since we are saving $120 a month...well, that looks okay to me.

   So far it is good as I sit here watching the World Series, so stay tuned.

   See if cutting the cord away from the big providers actually is a valid way to get the entertainment we want at a fraction of the cost.

   I'll let you know..

Gold Stars

   Now I was only 5 years old when WWII began and 9 when it ended, so a lot of things went on that I did not understand, or maybe partially understood.

   Scrap drives, ration stamps, blackouts, these were things that we lived with. There was a large contingent of soldiers at Fort Oglethorpe, just south of Chattanooga in Georgia, and we saw them everywhere. I remember when some of the guys would come into town on Sunday in uniform and attend our church services, families would invite them to Sunday lunch. I remember the times, but not much of the details.

   I also remember seeing the little flags in windows of homes around us. The blue stars represented homes that had boys in uniform during the war, and...

   Those gold stars represented those who did not come back alive.

   I do not know how it feels to be inside the house, looking out from the back side of that little flag with the gold star, but I know it must be very hard.

   I salute those men and women who go in harms way to protect our country and our way of life, and I do not like to see the politics of the land intruding into what is a sacred time and event, and the memorial of a life given in service.

   Let's not use a families tragedy to push our agenda, regardless of what it is.

   Let's respect the service, the death and the life, the courage and the bravery, and the willingness to serve, regardless of the outcome.

   God bless, strengthen and comfort all those hurting tonight.

   and God Bless America

   and Help All of Us do our part to somewhat deserve that Blessing.

One Shared Adventure, Of Sorts...

   I have been reading a book on my Kindle that was written by a man who, up in his 70s, decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. The book is entitled Over The Hill, by Jim and Zhita Rea.

   Now he did not do it all in one shot, but hiked some each summer from 2004 through 2010, and even had to go back in 2011 to complete one section of the Sierras that he could not do because of a deep snow pack as he worked his way north in May.

   Now, most of you know that I am drawn to accounts of people who take off toward a goal to accomplish something, especially physical, and persevere to its completion, sometimes against all odds.

   But the part that struck home to me as I finished reading were the comments by both the Jim and his wife, who was his support vehicle and resupplier. Zhita made it possible for him to hike by transporting him to trailheads and picking him up some days later at road crossings, and taking him to a motel or some place to get some rest for a day or sometimes two.

   They both said that, the fact they had done it together, and he could not have done it on his own, had grown them closer together, a result of the shared journey and a shared goal in completion.

   That resonated with me because of the shared journey Mayre Lou and I took when we photographed all 159 courthouses in Georgia back a few years ago. Now ours was not the physically demanding haul that the hikers had, but we did it together, and we shared the fun and adventure of traveling over the state for 4 years or so, to complete our quest. We still talk about places and events that happened to us along the way.

   I remember that we began our project close to home, with a short trip down to Woodbine to take a shot of the Camden County Courthouse, the first one. We thought this was a snap, we can do this, and then the counties got further away.

   Up US 341 to Jesup and Wayne County.. and on and on and on.

   As I lay in bed the other night, just thinking our adventures in some of these off the main highway spots, two specific ones came to mind.

   Way over in the western part of our state lies Clay County and its county seat, Fort Gaines. You don't just find yourself there one day, you have to intentionally get off on GA39, driving south down beside the Chattahoochee River till you get there.

   Two things happened to us there. For starters, we found the town, and it was not big at all, but we could not locate the courthouse. After driving around the two or three blocks of downtown, I finally stopped at an alterations shop and asked where it was. Not only did the black lady who ran it take me out in the street and tell me, she then pointed the way. She was not satisfied that I would find it, so she stood in the middle of the street watching me until I parked in front of the county seat. I can still see a large southern lady waving joyfully to me in my rear view window when she realized that this city boy could locate her town's main building.

   Then, as I stood in the front lawn, a car pulled into the drive to my left. A uniformed man got out, introduced himself as the sheriff, and asked what I was doing. After showing him my camera and explaining our mission, he told me to go inside and not to forget to go upstairs to the courtroom which had been in use since the completion of the building in 1873.

   So, after taking a couple of outside shots, I proceeded in the front door and climbed the creaking wooden staircase to the second floor, where I snapped a few more and got ready to descend back to the main floor. Reaching the top of the staircase, I looked down to see a small crowd of people watching me. My guess is that no one ever came just to visit the courthouse, much less venture up to the courtroom. I'm sure they could hear me walking around up there and had to wonder "who in the world?"

   Maybe I gave them a break in their day.

   That was Clay County, and we still laugh about that today.

   One other memory from Jenkins County and the county seat of Millen, located northwest of Savannah.

   It was no trouble to spot the courthouse slightly uphill from the "town center". While there taking pictures, we heard music coming from the direction of town, we could see people moving down there and vehicles passing along the main street. In a few minutes the music got louder, and we could see a caravan heading our way. A convertible, a tractor and a couple of flatbed trailers, being pulled by even more tractors

   It was a parade, of sorts.

   The time was August and high school football was right on the horizon. It was like homecoming, but too early, just a prelude to the season right before our eyes. We stood and waved to the participants, and I took a few pics.

   "Who are those people? Is he a reporter or something? Why are they here on this afternoon anyway?"

   As we drove away, we had to chuckle at what the other sidewalk viewers must have thought and said. Maybe the football players, too.

   Another county seat and courthouse and another adventure of sorts, good for their curiosity and good for our spirits.

   Even as I write this, and then as I read aloud it to my wife, it is fun to remember and laugh, but the best thing is that we did it together, sharing making the memories and sharing reliving them again, right now.

   We did not cooperate in walking 2,000 miles or so on the PCT, but we did share an adventure that we can still enjoy, because we did it together.

   What's next?

Perseverance &...

   Most of you all know that our Island is well known for golf. After all, we have a bunch of good courses to play and a world class training facility at Sea Island, but it is the golfers that live here that keep us in the limelight.

   I may miss a few,  but right now Matt Kuchar, Davis Love III, Brian Harmon, Jonathan Byrd, and Zach Johnson, live here full time. Some others come to train as part timers as well.

   Zach and Jonathan both attend our church and have been active there for a number of years, but today my focus is on Jonathan.

   JByrd turned pro out of Clemson in 2000. He was rookie of the year on the PGA Tour in 2002. He won 5 times on the Tour, the last being in 2011. In other words, he saw success, made a lot of money as well as a name that the golfing world recognized.

   Then times changed. Jonathan had injury problems and surgery. His game deteriorated, his winning stopped, and he lost his PGA card.

   For three, and I suppose for him, long, years ensued. Practice, getting into a few events on exemptions, and finally the Web.Com tour where success did not come either.

   For a multiple winner on the "big" tour, it must have been hard to drop back to the lower level with those younger guys in order to try to work himself back to the big time, especially at the age of 39 in 2017.

   I know this man when I see him at church, and we are only passing-in-the-hall friends, but people I have talked to who do know him on a personal basis, say that this time was very difficult for him and his family, wife Amanda and 3 kids.

   On the verge of quitting golf altogether, he went for the Web Tour Championship series, four tournaments where he had the opportunity to play well and win his card back to the PGA Tour.

   Round 1, JByrd made the cut and finished 31st,

   Round 2, he missed the cut,

   Round 3, he missed the cut again, and he almost did not want to show up for Round 4.

   As he says, Amanda prodded (maybe a not-so-gentle prod) him not to quit, but to persevere to the end.

   He did, and the rest is history.

   Perseverance led to Payoff...

   He played very well, won the tournament, made money, and got his card back.

   But, was winning that event, money, and card the end of the story? Was it the Payoff he was working for?

   By his own words, the things that God taught him, during that 3 year period in the valley, was worth it all, winning or losing on that last Monday.

   The payoff in golf may, or may not, stop there, but the payoff in living a life for God is eternal.

   Perseverance is great, especially in adversity, but realizing the true meaning of the outcome can be a beacon for a family that he leads, and the community around him.

   And I am proud for him and for them...

The News Cycle Has Passed Me By...

   Well, the news cycle is a fickle thing..

   First it was Charlottesville and the Confederate Statue thing

   Then it was Harvey and Houston and water

   Next was Irma and Florida and destruction

   Then came Maria and Puerto Rico

   And currently it is NFL and President Trump and The National Anthem

   Each was important, in a way, but dropped out of the headlines once the next big thing came along.

   But here I am this morning thinking about CSA monuments in Brunswick, GA, and I guess that makes me a little behind.

   Maybe it is the fact that this is South Georgia, and we do move a tad slower..

   We were over in Brunswick the other morning and decided that we should look around in the historic district. It had been several weeks since the eruption of the Charlottesville doings, and I had wanted to see if any CSA monuments were standing on our public property. We had visited the old courthouse on our GA courthouse tour, but I could not recall any statuary over there.

   Maybe there could be some in one of the several public squares scattered through Old Town in the historic section of early Brunswick.

 

   Sure enough, the first square we spotted, Hanover Square, was home to this memorial, no specific soldier or general, but a depiction of the common soldier of the CSA.

   On the base of the memorial were these words on the four side panels:

        "CONFEDERATE STATES of AMERICA

1861 to 1865

Lord God of hosts be with us yet, lest we forget. Lest We Forget"

" ... the sacred dust of warriors tried and true, who bore the flag of our nations trust; and fell in the cause, though lost, still just; and died for you and me.

In honor of Confederate soldiers who died to repel unconstitutional invasion and to protect the rights reserved to the people, to perpetuate forever the sovereignty of the states"

"Erected April 26, 1902

A tribute of love from the

Ladies Memorial Association of Brunswick Georgia

to the heroes of the Confederacy

1861-1865

I take it that this monument was not erected with public money, but by an association wanting to honor the war dead of that conflict on the Confederate side. Perhaps this might be allowed to stand undeterred as a monument to an historical event, just as those honoring the war dead of WWI or WWII or Vietnam or Korea, but we shall see.

But perhaps I am not so far behind on news since the Brunswick News top headline on page one of today's paper reads:

"Bill could put Confederate Monuments on the move"

Who knows?