Posts Tagged ‘American Life’

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Happy Easter

April 3, 2010

Bob and Kelly on Easter Sunday, 1977. Black Mountain, North Carolina.

The picture above is not very good — it’s a copy of an old photograph that I came across recently.  It shows my son and daughter showing off their Easter eggs behind our home on Easter Sunday in 1977.  Bob was eight years old and Kelly was five.  We had come home from church and they were looking for the eggs the Easter bunny had hidden in the yard.

We were living in Black Mountain, North Carolina, at the time.  I was teaching mathematics at what was then Montreat-Anderson College in Montreat, North Carolina, only a couple of miles up the road.  Our house was small, but it had a big back  yard for the kids to play in.

Betsy and I are taking off a couple of days off to enjoy Easter with family.  I expect us to be out of pocket until Monday evening, so my next post will probably be Tuesday morning.  But I hope all of you have a blessed and joyous Easter.  I hope the weekend will bring all of you many happy memories.

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Posted in Family | 16 Comments »

The Days Are Getting Busier

April 1, 2010

Some of our roses from 2009

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in the Glade — the sky was blue and the temperatures were warm.  It was a great day for working out in the yard, which both Betsy and I did in the afternoon.  I’ve got about half of our roses uncovered and trimmed back and I’m happy to report that they all look pretty good so far.  Since I spent so much time working outside today on the roses, I’m sharing a few more from last year in the collage above.

Today (Thursday) Betsy and I are heading over to Hendersonville to help out my parents.  Although they  seem to be fine when we talk to them on the phone, each time we are with them it becomes more obvious that they are quickly reaching the point where they need more than long-distance help.  But it is one thing for us to see that and a completely different thing for them to agree.

We greatly admire their desire to remain independent, but both my sister and I wish we could get them to accept more help.  Until then we will continue to do the best we can to look after them.

We’ll be gone all day today, so I’m going to be even further behind visiting your sites.  But I promise I will get caught up — one of these days!

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Posted in Glade | 12 Comments »

What a Difference a Date Makes

March 29, 2010

The beautiful preacher in the picture above was the Associate Minister at my parent’s church near Nashville, Tennessee, in 2001.  I had started a new job with a company in Nashville in November, 2000.  The preacher started her new job in December.

Early in 2001 The Preacher started a Bible Study that my parents wanted to attend.  Since Dad didn’t like to drive after dark, I told them I would attend with them so they could go with me.  Everything went just fine for the first few weeks, but then my job started taking me out of town during the week.  I missed several sessions of the Bible Study, although I did exchange e-mails with The Preacher in an attempt to keep up.

When my job allowed me to stay in town again, I offered to take The Preacher out to dinner so she could catch me up on some of the things I missed.  The Iris Cafe had a pretty good reputation, so one evening, March 29, 2001, I picked up The Preacher and took her to dinner at the Iris Cafe.  The dinner was delicious, the conversation was delightful — and the Bible Study never came up.

As we were leaving The Preacher said we should do this again some time.  She doesn’t like for me to tell this, but the next two times I asked her out she said ‘No’!  Fortunately I inherited some Irish persistence from both my parents and asked her out for a third time.  I must have worn down her resistance, because she said ‘Yes’ that third time.

The Preacher is now my Beautiful Bride.  The Iris Cafe is no longer in existence, but we reminisce every time we go past where is was.

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I’m very grateful for that wonderful dinner date nine years ago today.

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Posted in Betsy | 14 Comments »

I Got an Award

February 11, 2010

Fishing Guy granted me this award the other day.  He has a very interesting blog about life in northeastern Ohio and I encourage you to visit him.

One of the requirements for the award is that I tell you ten things that I love and which make me happy.

1.  My Beautiful Bride.
2.  All of our children and grandchildren, my parents, brother and sister.
3.  Growing roses.
4.  Searching for and visiting waterfalls.
5.  Music and my iPod.
6.  Hiking in the mountains.
7.  Reading a good book, especially one about history.
8.  Photography — taking and sharing pictures of the things we do.
9.  Visiting and being visited by my blogging friends.
10.  Cooking.

Janie at Janie & Steve’s Utah Trails gave me the same award for my photo blog, Photos by Senior Hiker.  Janie features wonderful pictures of the wide open spaces of Utah in her blog.

One thing I do NOT love is having to pick from among the many wonderful bloggers I visit on a regular basis and who visit me in return.  So I’m passing this award along to all of you.  Feel free to copy the badge and tell us ten things that you love and make you happy.

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Posted in American Life | 17 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: Family Wedding

February 4, 2010

Scenes from Matt & Amy's wedding. June 16, 2001.

One advantage of winter storms is that I can spend more time at my computer without feeling too guilty about doing so.  And time spent at the computer can lead me to folders that I’ve almost forgotten about.

June, 2001, was a busy month for the Adams family.  I was going to marry a certain blonde preacher, but the week before we were married my nephew Matt married his fiance, Amy.

Matt and Amy were high school sweethearts who stayed together after Matt went off to the Naval Academy.  They were married after Matt’s graduation from the Academy, and the groom and groomsmen were in full dress uniform for the ceremony.

Matt and Amy’s wedding gave Betsy the opportunity to meet some members of my family for the first time.  My daughter, Kelly, and her husband, Chuck, attended Matt and Amy’s wedding, as did my brother and his wife.

We had a wonderful time at the wedding, and the Adams family must have passed muster since Betsy did marry me a week later.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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I’m grateful for the wonderful gift of family.

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Posted in Family | 12 Comments »

A New Year Is Dawning

December 31, 2009

Sunrise on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. December 4, 2008.

It’s hard to believe that 2009 is drawing to a close.  It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, watching football on TV, and eating Betsy’s special Hoppin’ John, a New Year’s Day tradition at our house.  Now we’re getting ready to do it all over again.

Life certainly didn’t slow down in 2009.  We seemed to have more projects in our yard rather than fewer.  (I wonder if we’ll ever get it looking the way we want it to?).  Sometimes the work was downright hard, but it became worthwhile when we could see new roses for the first time or enjoy old favorites again.  The other flowers didn’t seem to cause as much work, but they sure brought a lot of enjoyment as well.

We managed to enjoy our families in 2009.  We were able to see four of the five children in person, along with their children.  We didn’t make it out to Las Vegas, but we were able to virtually visit thanks to phone calls, text messages and video calls.  Our faithful Prius took us to Hendersonville every other week (sometimes more often than that) to help my folks.  That involved a lot of miles, but my parents appreciate each and every trip we make.

We managed to get in some waterfall trips.  We ‘discovered’ Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia and fell in love with the waterfalls and the trails.  We enjoyed our first trip in June so much that we went back in October.  We also visited new waterfalls in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.  We revisited some old favorites in each of those places as well.

We also got to do quite a bit of virtual traveling through all the wonderful people we have met in the blogosphere.  I can’t begin to tell you how much we have appreciated your visits to our blogs and how very much we have enjoyed visiting with each and every one of you.

What will 2010 bring?  I don’t know.  But if it’s anything like 2009 it definitely will NOT be boring.

We’re going to Hendersonville bright and early this morning (Thursday).  We want to help the folks finish up a few year-end details and get the new year off to a good start.  I’ll try to visit you as I get a connection, but I don’t expect to post myself until Monday morning.

So until then let me wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year!

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Posted in American Life | 18 Comments »

Christmas Odds and Ends

December 28, 2009

Betsy and George on Christmas Day.

First of all, I hope you all had a Christmas as wonderful as the one Betsy and I shared.  Every Christmas is special, but this one seemed to be extra wonderful.  I think part of the reason was that this was the first Christmas for a while on which we didn’t travel.  People came to us this year.

One of our Christmas traditions is to take a Christmas photo.  This year’s photo (above) was more informal than most have been.  Thanks to a roaring fire in the fireplace we wore T-shirts from Santa Claus, Indiana, given us by our good friends Judy and Charlie.

The mailman actually brought these on the day before Christmas, but we put the package under the Christmas tree unopened.  These beautiful mats came from Mary at Faith, Fabric and Photos.  They are absolutely beautiful and the rose patterns are perfect for us.

It’s another tradition at our house that Betsy comes up with a gift that is completely unexpected.  She did it again this year with this baseball cap.  The cap says ‘Don’t Forget My Senior Discount!  (I Know I Look Too Young For It)’  I’m sure there’s a message there, but I’m not sure exactly what it is!

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Posted in American Life | 10 Comments »

Happiness Is A Blueberry Muffin

December 22, 2009

Mom enjoying a blueberry muffin.

Yesterday Betsy and I made our delayed trip to Hendersonville to check on and to help out my parents.  Fortunately we found both of them in good spirits and good health.

Much of our morning was devoted to going over Dad’s finances, paying bills, and trying to get their Medicare Part D coverage straightened out.  We then took them out so they could do their grocery shopping.

Dad usually takes us to lunch when we go over there, but yesterday we wanted to treat them since it was close to Christmas.  They usually eat at a meat-and-three restaurant, but we wanted to take them to someplace a little different.  We took them to Mimi’s Cafe.  Some friends had taken them there and told us that Mom really liked the blueberry muffins Mimi’s served.  Since Betsy and I had never been there, we decided to take Mom and Dad back so Mom could have another muffin.

Mom is a little woman — five feet tall and less than 100 pounds.  But she polished off that muffin without any problems.  Oh, yes, she also finished her salad as well, but the muffin is what made the greatest impression.

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Posted in American Life | 14 Comments »

Christmas at the Opryland Hotel

December 21, 2009

Christmas decorations in the Cascades at the Opryland Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee. December, 2001.

One of the advantages of wintry weather is that I can get more work done on my computer than I would if the weather were nicer and I spent more time outdoors.  This weekend has enabled me to make progress on a couple of projects, for which I am grateful.

The Opryland Hotel (or more properly the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center) has been an attraction in Nashville, Tennessee, since it first opened in 1977.  It has gone through several expansions and renovations since that time and is now a tourist attraction in its own right.

One of the traditions of Opryland is A Country Christmas, which makes Opryland ‘The Most Christmassy hotel in the nation” according to the Travel Channel.  A Country Christmas is now in its 26th year and includes more than 2 million lights and more than a dozen shows and attractions.  A Country Christmas runs from before Thanksgiving to after New Year’s.

I’m sure the decorations have changed quite a bit since 2001, when Betsy and I toured the Opryland Hotel one evening during Christmas season.  It was our first Christmas together, and the grand display at the hotel seemed a perfect complement to that special time.

To see more of Christmas at the Opryland Hotel click HERE.

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Posted in American Life | 8 Comments »

My Beautiful Multi-Tasking Bride

December 19, 2009

Betsy 'relaxing' at home. December 18, 2009.

We had planned on going on going to Hendersonville today, but when we got up there was ice on the driveway and road in front of the house.  Since the weather was expected to get worse, we called Mom and Dad to see if they could get by until Sunday or Monday when the weather was expected to be better.  They said they were well-prepared for any emergencies and that we shouldn’t try to come when the weather was bad.

The only time I went out all day was to get the mail — it was a nice change of pace from our usual routine and I must admit it was very nice.

Late in the afternoon I came upon my beautiful bride seated on her throne (recliner) in the living room, wrapped up in a quilt, enjoying the Christmas tree, watching television, visiting blogs on her laptop and texting on her telephone.  Oh, yes, you can’t see it, but she was also enjoying the fire in the fireplace.

Who says senior citizens can’t do more than one thing at a time?

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Posted in Betsy | 14 Comments »

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