A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval....Mark Twain.........Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest....Mark Twain.....Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time....Mark Twain....It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt....Mark Twain....Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please...Mark Twain....Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed....Mark Twain...Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint New beginnings and other musings...: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Blue Ridge Parkway Adventures...




Last weekend Diana (my wife) and I decided to journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is one of the prettiest drives in Virginia. The leaves are already showing signs of fall with some color changes;  it won't be long until the peak season comes to the Parkway. We have never driven too far on the Parkway; usually we just go find a nice overlook close to home and set up our chairs, enjoy the view and commune with nature, God and our books. This journey carried us into North Carolina and then back into Virginia, stopping for the evening at Galax, VA. Some of the neat things we saw on this trip were the Mabry Mill in Floyd County (Va) a variety of wildlife, including deer that were everywhere, especially in the early evening hours when they come out to forage in the grassy fields along the Parkway. We saw wild turkeys that were so magnificent - they are such beautiful birds. I saw my first ever live skunk. I was beginning to think the only skunks that existed were road kill since that is the only way I have seen them. Skunks are really very pretty animals, almost like a cat.
We stopped in Mt. Airy, NC to visit Andy Griffith's home town and see all of the Mayberry sites. We got there just in time to visit their brand new Andy Griffith Museum and caught onto the tail end of a Mayberry squad car tour around the town. We followed the squad car as it stopped at all of the attractions related to the Andy Griffith show.
One of the most humorous things we saw was at Mabry Mill, VA. There's a pond next to the mill, with ducks that hang out and swim around. A couple had stopped to let their large Spaniel off his leash so he could run - not the smartest thing to do, since Spaniels do love water and love chasing things.  This funny dog spotted the ducks and decided that one would be a great catch, and jumped right into the water. All but one white duck flew out of the pond to safety - the poor white duck couldn't fly.  I saw this dog swimming around in the pond chasing the duck, and it was so funny I just started laughing.  The owner corrected me - saying it wasn't funny at all because the dog had been in there for more than 30 minutes and wouldn't come out.
The funniest thing was that every time the dog paddled close to the duck and was ready to snatch him, the duck would disappear under the water, leaving the dog totally baffled.  The duck would reappear 20 to 30 feet away, swimming calmly. This went on for at least twenty more minutes. Finally one of the ducks that could fly decided to help out his buddy and  got back in the water. Now this Spaniel didn't know what to do, since he had two to chase now! The flying duck would swim close to the dog to distract him, and then would fill his face full of water from a very splashy take off; then the non-flying duck would swim close to the dog, only to do his disappearing act. I have never seen such team work from ducks and it gave me a whole new respect for them! Finally this thoroughly frustrated dog, and, I am sure, totally exhausted, decided to head for shore and back to his waiting masters.
Next time I'm sure they will be smarter and keep their dog on a leash when they are out in a public place. Their punishment was a ride home with a wet smelly dog!
Next time you are in Virginia or North Carolina, treat yourself to something special, and take the Parkway. You will find wonder and blessings with each turn you take, surely a show of God's handiwork.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Happy Trails...Roy Rogers and Dale Evans





We have been making slide show for some time now; they make nice gifts for our family and friends. 
We have been successful with some paid projects and hope to see that expand.
Anyway this is an example of a show we put together for one of my wife's friends who is
moving on to New Mexico and it is my first You Tube video posted on the Internet.


Thursday, September 17, 2009

Good bye to Mary Travers, she will be missed...



Mary-Travers-of-Peter-Paul-and-Mary--Died-today  September 16, 7:44 PM Tucson Celebrity Examiner Darla Hanger

Swagbucks

You may notice the Swagbuck widget on my blog now. After hearing about Swagbucks for a long time, I finally decided to check it out and sign up for it. I figured that I was doing searches on the Internet anyway, and Swagbucks uses Google and Ask search engines, what would be the difference if I used them instead of my usual Google home page on my computer. It took a little getting used to, but after awhile it seems normal to be using it for my searches.
You don't earn "Swagbucks" with every search, it seems that in the mornings you usually earn 1 for maybe your second or third search and sometimes two "Swagbucks"
Now this may seem silly, but you really do get chances to enter sweepstakes spending your hard earned searching bucks to buy entries, plus if you accumulate enough "Swagbucks" you can purchase gift cards to various stores, like Starbucks, Amazon, Lowes and more. 
I am up to 13 "Swagbucks" bucks now, had more, but decided to spend 2 to enter the sweepstakes for the Barnes and Noble $100 gift card.
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to open my mail and find a notice from them that I was the winner of the Barnes and Noble gift card, and after confirming they sent me the code and pin number for it.
Now how cool is that, no money outlay from my pocket and now I have a 100 dollars to spend at one of our favorite stores, Barnes and Noble. Just for doing what I do anyway, searching the Internet.
If you decide to try it for yourself, just click on the widget here which will take you to the Swagbucks signup page. You do get credit if others sign up using you as a reference and it is a way to quickly boost your earnings since for the first 100 swagbucks your friends earn they match it in your account.
Give it a try, now that I am 100 dollars richer I think it is the best way to search the Internet.
Oh yes... I was still a little skeptical about it but went to the Barnes and Noble site and entered the code and pin for the gift card.... balance is 100 dollars!!   Time to go book shopping! I'll bet Elliott will be wanting some new baby books soon!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Elliott Carter and Elliott Carter new beginnings...

When my daughter and her husband told us they were naming their new child, Elliott Carter,  we thought to ourselves, that's a nice name. It had a good ring to it...how little did I know at the time that our grandson carries the same name as the famous classical composer,  Elliott Carter. One of my visitors, Joe, passed that information on to me and I really appreciated it. Thank you Joe...


I was thinking at first, seeing all of the visitors from all over the world, stopping by to visit my blog, boy am I a popular guy or what? Now I know the draw is my grandson and his famous name. Little Elliott doesn't have a clue right now, nor does he care that his name is tied to a famous person, but as he grows over the years, I will now be proud to tell him how special his name is. To all of my visitors stopping by, I can only say thank you, and I hope you enjoy what you see on my blog site and have taken a little time to explore it and check out the pictures and slide show of Elliott in his beginning stage of life. Perhaps Elliott will also become a composer or at least have his interests moved toward the arts. I will teach him the best I can with my new found knowledge. For all of those searching for the composer, so you won't be disappointed, I am going to add some links to Elliott Carter, the composer, and for me also, so I can research and learn about this man who, from what little I know, is a very talented person. Thank you all for stopping by to visit this once lonely blog... leave a note if you want to, as I would love to hear from you and one day I will pass your words and thoughts onto my grandson... thanks
 
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval....Mark Twain.........Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest....Mark Twain.....Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time....Mark Twain....It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt....Mark Twain....Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please...Mark Twain....Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed....Mark Twain...Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint...