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...