Posts Tagged ‘Betsy’

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Someone Is Having a Birthday

August 4, 2011

I don’t want to mention any names, but someone is having a birthday tomorrow.  I definitely won’t mention anything as crass as age, but can you guess who this birthday person is?

The picture above shows her with her father before she grew into an accomplished drive-by shooter (with a camera!).  But even at that young age she was in the driver’s seat, making sure the men in her life went in the proper direction.

As you can see, Birthday Girl developed an early appreciation for flowers.  So really, what choice did I have but to promise her a rose garden?

I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that the Birthday Girl is my Beautiful Bride, Betsy.  If you would like to wish her a Happy Birthday, you can do so by clicking HERE.

I’m trying my best to have a proper birthday celebration, so we may not have much computer time through the weekend.  But we’ll both be back on Monday.

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Posted in Betsy | 18 Comments »

I Married a Drive-by Shooter

July 28, 2011

The Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. June 13, 2011. (Photo by Betsy)

No, not that kind — the good kind!

One disadvantage to doing the driving on a road trip is that it’s easy to miss some of the scenery because you have to keep an eye on the road (and traffic).

The Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park. June 13, 2011. (Photo by Betsy)

Fortunately Betsy has become a very accomplished drive-by shooter with her camera.  She took all these pictures as we drove along Petrified Forest Road between Newspaper Rock and The Tepees in the Petrified Forest National Park.

The Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park. June 13, 2011. (Photo by Betsy)

If there was a pullout I could stop, enjoy the scenery, and take some pictures.  But pullouts were few and far between, so I’m glad Betsy got these great shots of the scenery.

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Posted in Betsy | 15 Comments »

Scenic Sunday: Back to the Beginning

April 24, 2011

Fall Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2011.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

This past Thursday Betsy and I went to Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee.  Fall Creek Falls is one of our favorite places to visit.  We had our first ‘big’ date there on April 21, 2001, and we’ve gotten back there on the anniversary just about every year since.  The picture above shows Fall Creek Falls, one of six waterfalls in the park.

Betsy and George at Cane Creek Cascade, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2011.

It was this first date that got us started ‘collecting’ waterfalls.  We’ve visited over 430 different waterfalls in the past ten years.

I also got my first kiss on that day — a tradition that I’ve happily continued.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 16 Comments »

Betsy at Amicalola Falls

March 17, 2011

Betsy at Amicalola Falls, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

Betsy usually doesn’t like me to take pictures of her.  She doesn’t realize how beautiful her smile truly is.  But I think even Betsy can appreciate the ‘drawing’ of her shown above.  It shows Betsy along the lower part of Amicalola Falls back on March 9.

I’m not an artist, but I did create this ‘work of art’.  Scott, in his wonderful photo blog Finding Another View, had a post about changing a photo into a line drawing using Photoshop.  He said it was easy, and it must be because I got it to work for me.


This is the picture I took of Betsy and which is the basis for the line drawing (don’t tell her I posted the picture as well).  I can’t say I like it any less than the ‘drawing’.  I’m just glad they both show that million-dollar smile.

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Posted in Betsy | 17 Comments »

Not Bad For an Old Man

March 14, 2011

Amicalola Falls, Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

Betsy arranged a surprise birthday trip to northern Georgia for us.  We went to Amicalola Falls State Park and stayed at the lodge on top of the mountain.  Amicalola Falls is the highest waterfall in Georgia at 729 feet.  The waterfall consists of a long drop followed by a series of cascades.

We arrived at the park late Tuesday afternoon after visiting some other waterfalls on the way.  It started raining Tuesday evening and rained throughout the night.  It was still raining Wednesday morning (my birthday).

There were some advantages to all that rain.  One was that there was a lot of water going over the falls when we visited it Wednesday morning.  The other advantage was that we had this glorious waterfall all to ourselves.

We drove down the mountain to the pool at the base of the falls, and then started hiking up a trail along the cascades to an observation deck near the base of the drop.  The picture above was taken from the observation deck, and you can see the amount of water coming down the mountain.

When we got to the observation deck I noticed a bridge across the falls higher up the mountain (you can see it in the picture above).  I wondered if I could get better pictures from the bridge.

A sign gave a good reason for not going up there, but I thought I would give it a try.  What better way to celebrate my birthday?

Well, I made it to the bridge.  Betsy, who has more sense than I do, stayed at the observation deck and got this picture of me (you have to look closely — I’m waving to her) up there.

I made it back down to the observation deck.  You have to look closely, but I was even smiling as I got back to Betsy.

All in all I had a great birthday!

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Posted in Waterfalls | 24 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: Our Wedding

February 3, 2011

I recently came across a file of pictures from our wedding and posted them online.

Betsy and I got married on June 23 in a small ceremony at a Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.  It was an outdoor ceremony, and although it had poured down rain the day before, we had a beautiful day for the wedding.

We only invited family to the wedding, and everyone was able to come except Betsy’s youngest son Jeff, who was told at the last minute that he had to work that day.

I often tease Betsy because she made me wait until June before we could get married, but I have to admit that the wedding — which she mostly planned — was very nice.  She did good.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in American Life | 21 Comments »

The Way I See Betsy

January 13, 2011

Betsy at Crooked Creek Falls, Langley, Arkansas. February 22, 2010.

Betsy got her new camera about a year ago, and she has become a very good photographer, as you know if you have seen the photographs on her blog.

The good thing about her photography skills is that she gets some wonderful pictures and shares them with me (and with you).

The not-so-good thing is that when we visit waterfalls or other scenic places, the view above is how I most often see Betsy while we are there.  This picture was taken when we were at Crooked Creek Falls near Langley, Arkansas, last year.

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Posted in Betsy | 22 Comments »

Don’t Believe Her

December 16, 2010

Snow in the Glade, December 12, 2010.

If you listen to Betsy, I’m sure you think that it never snows at our house.  But although we never get enough snow to please her, I offer these pictures as proof that we do get snow.

The picture above was taken Sunday evening.  We had light snow most of the day on Sunday.  The worse thing was the very low temperatures that came with the snow.

For some reason Betsy likes this picture.  She says it just shows what a dedicated photographer I am.  I think it’s just because she likes to see me on my knees.

Betsy in the snow in front of our house, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. December 12, 2010.

So the next time you hear Betsy complain about the lack of snow here in the Glade, just reminder her that you’ve seen her bundled up in the snow in front of our house.

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Posted in Betsy | 24 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: The Smokies in the Spring

August 26, 2010

My Beautiful Bride is a mountain girl at heart and is one reason she moved to Tennessee from Texas back in 2000.  (I’m glad she did!).  In May, 2001, we visited the Great Smoky Mountains for the first time.  Betsy had been there many times before, but I had only driven through it once.

We spent a weekend exploring Cades Cove, Little River Road and Newfound Gap.  We also added a waterfall — Meigs Falls — to the collection we had just started.  We were even able to experience some good mountain music at the lodge at which we stayed.

We’ve been back to the Smokies many times since then — it’s much more convenient to get there now that we live in the Glade.  But this first trip in May, 2001, was — and still is — very special.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in Travels | 15 Comments »

Why We Need to Sweep the Deck

August 23, 2010

Our friendly helper. August 19, 2010.

Betsy has become a very enthusiastic birder over the last few years.  It all started with a Bluebird family in the box in our back yard, but she now has several feeders on and over our deck.  Most of the feeders are located so that she can see them from her chair in our Great Room.

There are now a dozen or so variety of birds that visit our feeders on a regular basis.  And although Betsy has gotten very good at recognizing the birds by sight or by their call, the birds are not very good about cleaning up after themselves.  I hate to say it, but those birds are some of the messiest eaters I’ve ever seen (and that includes two kids!).

Betsy does a pretty good job of sweeping the deck, but one rainy day last week she got distracted doing other things and didn’t sweep as often as she usually does.  So this ‘friend’ decided to climb up on the deck and help with the clean-up effort.  Fortunately it went away without gracing the deck with its ‘fragrance’.

We really do need to keep the deck swept!

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Posted in Glade | 20 Comments »

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