For Renee

Keeping a candle
burning for Renee

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night,

and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend the sick, Lord Christ;

give rest to the weary,

bless the dying,

soothe the suffering,

pity the afflicted,

shield the joyous;

and all for your love's sake.

Amen.

Potholes

Snitched from High Desert Diva
via Pete Dungy
but it could just as easily
be the street where I live!
Love this imagination.

Just finished reading...

Just finished reading Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees. I seem to be drawn to southern writers, especially those who write of the rural south.

Being from Georgia originally I identify with the 1960s culture illustrated in this book. It is a culture in which I lived until my 29th year.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson and this story revolves around that particular era. I can visualize every aspect of this story as though I were there living it with the characters.

Lily Owens is the protagonist in the story. A 14 year old white girl being reared by a hard-hearted & distant father who has no love for anyone including his daughter who desperately searches for love.

There are several lines by Lily that jump out at the reader:

In the first chapter, the reader realizes how difficult a life Lily lives when she makes this statement:

"People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life."

After the suicide death of of a close friend Lily thinks:

"I was afraid, though, the blame would find a way to stick to them. That's how blame was."

Referring to her own feelings as well as those of others Lily believes:

"People, in general, would rather die than forgive. It's that hard. If God said in plain language, 'I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die,' a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin."

Lily believes that imagination brings out the goodness in people. She imagines hard people can have a soft side, that they can let love into their lives & let it shine out toward others.

"I know that is an absurd thought, but I believe in the goodness of imagination."

This story is very simplistic and yet complicated. In it the reader can experience love from the simplest acts. In the unusual analogy of living with bees one comes to understand how bees are cared for and protected and goes far in understanding community.

along the Danube

along the Danube
the lover's walked,
old ladies sat
on benches,
old men strolled
arm in arm

the sun shone
on that first day
in November,
All Saint's Day

bright, shiny, glittering
was the water

young men performed
their break dancing,
people window-shopped
on cobblestone streets

leaves glowed
orange, yellow, red
as the autumn chill
brought beautiful color

all seems right with the world.
Peace.

Savannah Highlights

Savannah, Georgia is a city proud of its Revolutionary history. Years ago my brother explained in a rather derisive tone that Savannah relies on its revolutionary background rather than that of the Civil War because they met Sherman at the gates to the city & turned it over to him. Many Georgians have never forgiven Savannah for remaining safe from destruction by the Union Army. I guess they wanted it burned down like Atlanta and other cities & towns that were in the path of Sherman's March to the Sea.

Savannah is a beautiful city and one I hope to return to for a better tour. It is smaller than Charleston, South Carolina, but has some of the charm exhibited in its sister city. I hope you'll enjoy this very short drive through the historic area.

After leaving the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
we drove into Savannah from South Carolina
over this lovely suspension bridge.

From it we could see the Savannah River
and a good deal of industry along the river.

We drove into the historic area of Savannah in search of some lunch.
There are many restaurants along the water front, along with hotels and bars.

One has another view of the bridge from the walkway along the river.

All the streets in this historic area are cobblestone.

Above is a view of the Westin Hotel across the river.

A view from inside the restaurant where we lunched.

Shops.

Peacemaker

Residences in the Garden District.

There are many parks in this old area of town.

Plane Crashes into IRS Building in Austin, TX

Plane Crashes into IRS Building

Today a man supposedly angry with the IRS flew his small plane into the Internal Revenue Service building in north Austin. Two bodies have been found, one the pilot of the plane and the second a person within the building. Two other people are hospitalized as a result of the crash.

Prior to this act of anger and violence, the man, Joe Stack, posted a letter on his web site and set fire to his home. The letter can be accessed through the Austin American Statesman by clicking here. It is indeed sad to read. He tries to explain going back years to speak of events that have influenced his thinking. His suffering is evident, but the outcome unforgivable.

I ask why, but know there is no real answer. I'm sure that each of us has felt overwhelmed and perhaps defeated at times, but to come to this extreme measure is unthinkable. To attack this office building full of individuals who have families, problems, lives of their own is insane.

Last week we read of a female professor in Alabama who shot and killed 3 fellow professors and injured 3 others because she was angry at not receiving tenure. Her anger had been in evidence prior to this event, but was not identified as such except now in retrospect.

We have serious anger issues in this country. If something does not seem to go to a person's liking then violence is the answer. These are not some poor, under-educated individuals, but people with higher educations. We cannot say this happened because they are underprivileged and uneducated, on the contrary they were highly educated.

I am deeply troubled by violence. What are the answers? Where do we go from here? What can we do to overcome or alleviate the anger that we see around us? I find myself feeling fearful of others... even people in my own town...

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

Near Port Wentworth, Georgia and driving just across the Savannah River into South Carolina we found the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

The unidentified water fowl has been identified!
It is a Common Moorhen from the Coot family.
It looked different from the other Moorhens we saw,
but perhaps the light was not shining so well on it
to help with identification.

It is a very beautiful area of wetlands where various wildlife call home.

Snowy Egret

Tri-colored Heron

Coot

Little Blue Heron in the background.
There are two Common Moorhens (with red beaks) in the foreground.

Woodpecker or Sapsucker (type unidentified)

Beautiful dirt roads that run through the marsh.
The area was part of a plantation in times gone.

Moss hangs from the beautiful live oaks found along the roadside.

It looks sunny and warm, but there was a chill in the air
on this beautiful February day.

A bare tree with many Red-wing Blackbirds
Most of the males flew leaving the females to be photographed.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Birds as seen from our back window -- truly a "backyard bird count"!

Record ID: S5910178

Locality: 78602, Bastrop, Bastrop County, TX
Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010
Start Time: 8:00 AM
Total Birding Time: 5 hours 15 minutes
Party Size: 2
Skill: excellent
Weather: excellent
Snow Depth: No snow was present
Habitat(s): coniferous woods
Number of Species: 16
All Reported: yes

Checklist:
Wild Turkey - 2
Black Vulture - 30
Turkey Vulture - 10
Mourning Dove - 2
Inca Dove - 3
Buff-bellied Hummingbird - 1 Confirmed
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 2

Tufted Titmouse - 5

Carolina Wren - 1
Chipping Sparrow - 30
Northern Cardinal - 30
American Goldfinch - 1

Comments ----------------------------------------
The Buff-bellied hummingbird has been in our yard since October and was included in the Christmas bird count. There is no doubt that it is a male buff-bellied hummingbird!

Wood Stork on Jekyll Island, GA

This Wood Stork was posing for me.
We spotted him as we were driving
along the highway at Jekyll Island, Georgia.

I don't know much about Wood Storks
but he looks old to me.
He sat and posed for several shots
and then flew away into the marshlands.

This is some beautiful country!

Camp Verde General Store Since 1857

Monday the G-man and I were in Kerrville for one of his golf tournaments. Of course, I like to look around the town and out-lying area. We were at a beautiful planned community, Comanche Trace, just outside Kerrville. I look at some of the homes there & talked to a woman about the community. As I was leaving to go do my "thing" she mentioned that I might enjoy visiting Camp Verde General Store located about 10 minutes down the road toward Bandera. I jumped at the chance so Gertie & I drove through the fog to the area where Camp Verde was once located and to the site of the general store.

The fog was very thick on Monday and was supposed to burn off by 9 AM, but at 1 PM it was still pretty thick. The following are photographs that I took at the store. It was a delightful place and they have a great restaurant within the building.

For years I have heard about the Camel Corps that was in existence in the mid-1800s. Camp Verde is the place where the experiment of using camels as beasts of burden for the military took place. The following is a brief history of the fort and the camel experiment. I think you will be able to read the text if you click on the photo to enlarge it.

Entrance to Camp Verde General Store

The camel signage is everywhere.

Interior of the shop

More camels.

Window looking into garden.

Garden entrance

Camel topiary in garden

Creek running near the store and trees in the fog.