Hijinks at Thanksgiving!

My nephew up to some hijinks at the Thanksgiving day gathering of the Scott clan :)

Working Backwards in Time

Sorry for the time confusion- we need Dr. Who to straighten us out. The picture here is from the last trip to the North Carolina mountains, way back in October. For the first time we travelled during peak leaf peeping season (say that 10 times really fast). Here is a small sample of the coloration we saw. Those of you who are more awake than I am now, will note there are no mountains in this photo. True! However, had the photographer turned the camera 180 then a picture of the "front range" of the North Carolina mountains would have covered the horizon. This photo was taken on I-40 just after driving out of the mountains.


The other photo is of the Biltmore Mansion, in Asheville, NC. The statistics on this "home" are too stunning to recall. I just remember that it contained more bathrooms than a certain 16 story office building in downtown Birmingham.

The third photo is one taken of the view from Granfather Mountain. Here we are 5,000' above sea level. Just ignore the photographer on the left side of the picture.

I going to stop now.....especially since while previewing the photo's here the layout seems a bit askew. I'm really not sure how these pictures will correspond with the text. More photos next time!

A trip to the Farm (again)

How time does fly. My last post prior to the blistering heat of summer and now, Thanksgiving is past and Christmas approaches rapidly from the starboard bow. In an earlier post I told of the birth of a cria, to Paco and Rose, two llamas who live west of Columbus, MS. Three weeks ago, Shiloh, was born to the same proud parents. Shiloh is a thriving youngster who requires bottle feeding each day. Here is a picture of her tethered prior to her thrice weekly "training". These sessions last 10 minutes and are designed for Shiloh's benefit.

More later :)

Food for thought

Well, it is time to provide another provocative quotation worthy of thought.

From Theology Today, January 1964, comes a book review of Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy In Art, by Gerardus van der Leeuw, 357 pp. New York, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, 1963. $6.50. The reviewer is Joseph M. Kitagawa, from the University of Chicago. The book is discussed here:http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jan1964/v20-4-bookreview13.htm but the quotation that leaped across my desk to hit me between the eyes comes from van der Leeuw's book:

"It is the curse of theology always to forget that God is love, that is movement. The dance reminds us of it" (p. 74).

Now that is food for thought !

Laura Rebecca Scott, my eldest niece, graduated today magna cum laude from the University of Montevallo. Needless to say she was really excited. We, of course, as her aunt and uncle are really proud of her!

Today is our anniversary. We were gifted by a visit from a beautiful butterfly.

The sky today was a vivid shade of blue, similiar to that day we tied the knot. Wow, time sure goes by fast, and then again, it goes by slow too.

Love to Debbie !

My anniversary is coming up soon....and this is the beautiful girl I married those years ago. The most amazing thing about it all, is that we are closer and better friends today than we were then.

All my love to Debbie !

AAAAArrrrrrgggggggggg !

TAXES ! TAXES ! Arrrrrrggggg!
Every year we have an obligation as citizens to pay our legitimate taxes. Most of us in this country try to pay our fair share, but also want to take advantage of every possible legal deduction. Some of the more subtle parts of the tax code are lost on me, but, Hey! that is what tax software is for, right?

I've used tax software for more years than I can count...but my experience this year has left me a broken shell of my former self :). Intuit's, Turbo Tax Deluxe, recommended for those of us playing with capital gains and capital losses, is a software pile of junk. I've used Intuit for years and years and marvelled at how intuitive (pun intended) it seemed to be. This years distribution is a throwback to the worst software I've used in 10-15 years.

It is not intuitive, it is bull headed! It is not slick, it is gooey. It is not software, it is a headache. :)

Ok, I feel better now. After about 8 hours of tax work I completed my taxes. Last year it took between 3-4 hours. Over half of my time was spent in rebooting the PC due to frozen software, deleting files and re creating files, de-installing the entire application and reinstalling it. Then it took 9 separate attempts to transmit the returns.

Yep, feeling better and better now....the refund will be on its way in a week or two, and when the little bump happens in the account, I'll feel that it was almost worth it.

However, this blog will help me remember to never forget------------>> I'll not buy TURDO TAX again :)

Happy 80th Birthday, Dad !

Yesterday our family and Dad's friends celebrated his 80th birthday. The family gathered for a lunch around noon. The food was as fantastic as the fellowship. Then after lunch, plan B went into effect. This is where we kept Dad busy downstairs while his friends secretly arrived upstairs. When Dad was "allowed" back upstairs we had the huge surprise crowd singing "Happy Birthday!" Thanks to everyone who participated and assisted, and special thanks to my sister-in-law Donna who did the cake.

Morning storm genesis.

Another Poem

GARDEN STORM
By Rod Scott

The garden's disheveled appearance belies the
meticulous care exerted last evening.

Testifies now to the fury of the nocturnal visitor
who,
armed with the powers of the four winds,
arsenal of fork'ed lightening,
reservoirs of cold liquid
flood waters,
threatened
tomato serenity and
prevented
frightened robins from
reproduction.

-------------------

Birmingham, AL
May 13, 1992

Meet Rose! She is the mother of the cria that I spoke about in an earlier post on this blog. Rose is a very friendly llama who allows anyone (even me) to hand feed her. Rose has a male llama companion, Paco. These beautiful animals live on a farm where they are loved and cared for by two wonderful people, our good friends David & Becky.

If you have never hand fed a llama, then you may be in for a shock. A llama's upper lip is split, and they gobble the food with a dry mouthed suction that is a cross between a hoover vacuum cleaner, and an elephant's nose.

Rose would only let me stroke her neck when she was allowed to put her entire mouth in the bowl to gain the last scraps of food. Now I know why llama fleece is so prized, she was as warm as toast as we shivered in the 40 degree wind chill.