Launching "The Carodon"..

    At long last, the weather and the water have cooperated. Both are warmer.

   And the graduation circuit of May, has been completed, in person and on time.

   First the new graduates in the family and their immediate plans:

   Conway, AR was our first stop for Archer's graduation from University of Central Arkansas. This amazing young man is working with a career coach to determine his path forward. Proud parents and sister Ash celebrate.

   Next stop, Blacksburg, VA for Drew's graduation from Virginia Tech. He will be working in Richmond, and ready to spread his wings. Mom and Dad are proud for sure.

   We spent the week in Blacksburg to be able to watch Lucy graduate from Blacksburg High. She will enroll at Virginia Tech in the Fall. Go Hokies.

   Now back to goings on in Chattanooga, specifically, Clark Road and Chickamauga Lake.

   Remember this pic from Christmas Time? The inflatable kayak, our newest toy.

   The Lady in the front seat, keeps us out of harm's way as we manage to paddle down the slough and then head back to our dock. We were sorta awkward in the water, but we will get better if we don't fall out of the boat.

Perils of Beach Life

    Carolyn and I took a quick Beach trip over the weekend. We have not felt able to spend much time in St. Simons, but a few days presented themselves and we went South.

   One of the great advantages of going to that locale is that we have great friends living there and they always invite us to spend our time with them. They not only have a great B&B with a comfortable room and bed, but they are quick to feed us, and their home is familiar to us because it is the same house that Mayre and I sold them when we moved to Virginia some years back.

   We feel right at home here.

   One thing we miss is the beach at sunrise, so we got up one morning at 6, dressed and went over to the beach area at Gould's Inlet for the 7:15 event. 

   On arrival we could see the beginning to the prelude, a lighter sky off to the northeast.

   So we gathered our stuff, left the car, and began our walk out to the ocean. 

   Problem number 1: the boardwalk from the parking area to the sea, which used to run over the sand and small inlet over to the beach, had been washed away by a recent hurricane and had not been rebuilt as yet.

   Problem number 2: The no-see-ums, or sand gnats were out in full force in the calm morning, and they wanted us for breakfast.

   So, back to the car, any remaining camera shots would be made from inside the car, and we would watch the coming sunrise from there, in safety.

   The sunrise itself was fantastic:

   Then, low and behold, the sound of a weed eater.

    County employees chose this spot to begin their morning work right in front of the car.

   The sunrise had been splendid, but a couple of early morning hassles gave us the excuse to go "home".

   Beaches are great, and St. Simons is a wonderful place to live and to visit, but there are drawbacks.

   Paradise, but spelled with a small "p".

The Fallacy of the Unplanned

    There is no way to know if we can do justice to a subject unless we try. That said, I am going to do my best to put down how my mind is working this morning, although "working" may not be the right word.

   Stick with me on this..

   My sweet Wife and I have an understanding. We agree that gifts are not the reason for any celebration. 

   Gifts are given because we want to celebrate the person, along with the significant occasion that is meaningful. Significant occasions are Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries and any other time that we feel like it

   Gifts can be expensive, cheap, or free. 

   Gifts can be full of meaning or laughter.

   Gifts can be anything except an obligation.

   OK, last Thursday, March 16, 2023 was my wife's birthday, a significant occasion for sure.

   What to do? 

   I had no specific plans or gifts in mind. 

   Fortunately plans were being made that would make this special day a success.

      A. I got an email from Publix. We had put our phone number on a list that would make us eligible for discounts and other items. If I would go to our nearby store, the email stated, we would receive a gift. 

   A bouquet of fresh flowers, and all I had to do was pay the sales tax, the flowers were free. Cost me $.21. Some person at Publix, or their advertising agency had come up with this plan, and I was the recipient, plus it was right on time.

      B. Thursday is the day that we volunteer to man an information desk at the BX. We needed a prescription for Carolyn, which, coincidently was at Publix, so I could pick up my gift and the meds after our volunteer stint. What timing!

      While we were "working" one of our supervisors appeared at our desk with food, two Chick Fil A boxes, complete with chicken sandwich, chips and even a chocolate chip cookie.  Supper furnished by some organization, meeting at the BX, who ended up with extra meals. Again, great timing.

      C. The Day of Unplanned Events was not finished. 

      A chocolate chip cookie pie, which was this Day's dinner dessert, delivered to our front porch by our Fed Ex man, but which did not arrive at the table whole. 

   Thanks Becky! We couldn't wait.

   Now, I probably should go back and change the title of this little piece. It was indeed a Plan, just not mine.

   How many items, or situations, or people show up unannounced by any plan of ours. 

   It is definitely beneficial for us that we are not in charge

A Very Unusual Winter

    Back in December, we had single digit cold temps. The thermometer hovered around the 5 degree mark for several hours, and we had several nights like this. Shucks, we even had a frozen water pipe.

   Fast forward to February, 2023, we had a day in the 80s, and another day like this in early March. 

   The red bud tree down by the road is flush with color, and some kinds of grasses are showing a lot of green for this time of year. 

   I even got out the mower and trimmed some of the back yard. I can't remember ever doing that in February.

   We can't do much about the weather, worrying about it is not worth the time.

   Just enjoy what we are given.

   What we see outside is what we will get.

   

Four Years In and Just Keeps Getting Better

 

   On January 19, 2019, on a dark and stormy day,  Carolyn and I married and ushered in four years of health and happiness. God has blessed us together, and we are happy to have these days. 

   On our first honeymoon, we drove through the storms up Highway 58 to Whitestone Inn, and spent two days just being together.

   What better way to celebrate 1/19/23, our fourth anniversary, than to hit the road to Whitestone again, this time in sunshine and milder temperatures.   

   Arriving in mid afternoon, we checked in and found our suite in the Lion and the Lamb building, then spent the rest of our time checking the campus before dinner.

   The view from our room included the north end Watts Bar Lake where the Tennessee River comes into the lake. Even a barge showed up and proceeded North. It was a beautiful afternoon to just sightsee from the gazebo overlooking the lake.

   There were a couple of horses in the field next to our suite, and in the next field, a flock of Jacob sheep, 2 with lambs. 

   We thought they were kinda funny looking, but I guess we were to them also. 

   After a good dinner in the farmhouse, with too much dessert, and hitting a ping pong ball, we turned in, almost going to sleep in the middle of a Gunsmoke episode. 

   As the morning broke on Saturday, the light of an early hour streamed through our drapes, and we awoke to a brisk, clear day. Around 40 degrees, high clouds, but a beautiful time to be up and to be rewarded with a glorious daybreak.

   

      

Smoke rising from the farmhouse, lights on where breakfast was being prepared.

   

   The Chapel was ready.

   Even the outside gazebo was glowing in the early morning.

   What a wake-up call!,

   

   But there was a Saturday in front of us. After a good breakfast, and some good conversations around the fire place in the Farmhouse, we hit the road, promising ourselves that, God willing, we would be back sooner than the 4 years this time.

   

Other travelers were on the move, too. But I am guessing that their travels and destinations were not as soul-warming and peaceful reflections as ours.

   Thank you God

Their's Not To Reason Why

    There is a poem, by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade, one of whose stanzas  included these lines.:

    

                   “Forward, the Light Brigade!”

                 Was there a man dismayed?

                 Not though the soldier knew

                 Someone had blundered.

                 Theirs not to make reply,

                 Theirs not to reason why,

                 Theirs but to do and die.

                 Into the valley of Death

                 Rode the six hundred.

      There was once upon a time a card game, Authors, a game we played for hours when children. Collect all 4 of the  author's cards, one each of his/her works till you get all 4, and retire the poet into your piles of authors identified and won.

     Nowadays someone may ask, "Who wrote that?" 

     Someone answers back, "Tennyson". 

     "How did you know that?" comes from a disbeliever. 

     "We played Authors a long time back, and some of those writers are forever held somewhere back there in my brain." I would answer.

     The setting of the poem's quote above is the 1850's Crimean War, the same Crimean territory that was taken from Ukraine by the Russians in 2014, and still a bone of contention today. Russian troops were defending a strong position and the British Light Brigade, mounted troops, were ordered to charge and take the position. It was a suicide charge, and the troops knew it. The order came down from above. The British troops realized what they were being called on to do.

                 Theirs not to make reply,

                 Theirs not to reason why

                 Theirs but to do and die.

     They didn't, and they did, and they did.

     How did all that old History get us into a discussion of technology and traffic signals?

     Aha.....

     Sometime last year the county government decided to put a traffic light at the junction of Clark Road and Highway 58 to aid workers going to and from the new Volkswagen plant east of 58. Even with all the technology in traffic signals, this light has a mind of its own it seems.

  Orientation: You are on Ferdinand Piech Rd. traveling west. We live 1.2 mile on Clark Rd traveling west away from the signal. South TN 58 is to your left and north 58 is to your right.

     In a normal sequence, the vehicles traveling 58 have a right of way unless there are cars on Clark waiting. Let's say there are cars and trucks going both directions, north and south, on Highway 58, and there are other vehicles waiting for a green light on both sides of 58 on Clark Rd. In this situation 58 traffic has the green light.

     The light on 58 goes to yellow and then red for its traffic going both directions. Then the Piech Rd. traffic coming from the east gets the green light and merges into the north and southbound traffic. The next sequence for the light is the green one for Clark Rd. traffic coming from the west. 

     The other day, I was the only car coming from the west , and stopped at the light. The light proceeded to stop the 58 traffic, and then the westbound traffic on Ferdinand Piech Drive (the road into Volkswagen activity and the road directly across from Clark Rd. at that intersection) moved onto 58 North and South.

     Next should be Clark Rd. getting a green allowing me to go north or south on 58 or preceding straight across and onto Piech.

     But there was no recognition for me, as the light changed back to green for the 58 folks. This was not the first time I had waited through a couple of cycles before moving through the light.

     Now this morning: When I pulled up to the light on Clark Rd, at 58, there were 5 or 6 cars waiting on Piech for a green to merge onto 58. After the finicky signal light stopped the 58 traffic I got a green and crossed 58, headed east on Piech. Looking in my mirror, I noticed traffic moving again on 58 and the Piech cars still at the light. They had gotten no green.

     That was when the Tennyson quote suddenly became relevant again. All the cars left at the light could only shrug and quote. The light had struck one more time.

     My story, as trivial as it was, had combined 19th Century military history, technology, and poetry. Did this make me a 23rd Century Renaissance Man?

     "No way", you say.

     "I can spice it up with some Pickleball, a couple of frozen pipes, and a jigsaw puzzle. Will that qualify?"

     But alas, you were gone....

     

     

Christmas 2022...Cold Outside and Warm Inside

      The days preceding Christmas 2022 were cold all over the country, and especially so in this corner of East Tennessee. Low temps of 5 and 7 degrees and windy caused the wind chill factor in minus territory for a lot of the time when Santa was getting ready.

     The inlet across Clark Rd from our house was iced over and got a snow dusting, and one small corner of the front porch showed a tiny spot of white. 

     But inside it was cheery. With a Yule log or two blazing in the living room, and with the tree and hearth providing good cheer, we had the perfect place to ride out the cold Canadian blast.

     We had invaders from Virginia, looking for an overnight accommodation. David, Lucy, Laken, Drew, Dawn and Doug stopped by on their way to Pensacola for the Holiday.

     Instead of putting up our "fake tree", we went with a live one. A Norfolk Pine that Carolyn had raised in the living room for a few years from a small seedling in the living room fit the bill, but did not take many ornaments. The sparse decorations fit in with the sparse number pf presents.

     The coffee table was the go to spot for any thing from a manger scene to presents.

     Presents included a good book, which I have already finished, and a gradient jigsaw puzzle which I have not, although I do have the outer frame done. Green on one side, blue on the other and the middle filling in shades a green on the one hand and shades of blue till they merge together in the center. Interesting concept, but not much to go on to finish. We'll see.

     We did have some gifts for opening on Christmas Day including goodies, Flower Bulbs, a rain gage for Carolyn's flower bed, a computer plug in to store all my photos, and a gift for both of us. An inflatable kayak that we look forward to using in the warmer weather. It was a good day to be grateful and we were as we worshipped with others at a morning service on that day. 

     Needs some air I believe...

     After Christmas we drove to Charlotte where we visited with Dwayne and Karen, Sawyer and Sydney, and a future family member, Prags, who is now officially Sawyer's finance. Fun time.

     Carolyn's three kids (adult children) visited after Christmas, which is always good.

     As I sit here looking out the window on 1/2/23, with temps supposed to reach 70 today with sunshine, it is hard to remember minus 20 on the wind chill meter just 10 days ago

     In actuality we have been blessed with both sets of temperatures, inside by the fire and outside. We have been blessed by family, ones that visited and ones we went to see. We were blessed with those who could not come during this time, but whom we will see in the days ahead.

     Looking back, I should have entitled this piece "Octogenarians are blessed, for sure"

     God has blessed us with good health in these days. We know it and see it around us every day.

     And we are grateful. ....and inside.