Work

Back at work…the bills keep coming.

Although, this first day back from time off is not so bad.

This morning I got up and cleaned the leaves from the front yard. That was a full days work before I even left the house. But it was good work. The sun was out, the sky blue and I could see that something had been done when I was finished. Most of the leaves have already fallen so I may not have to do it again. Love trees…leaves?…not so much.

The weather has definitely taken a fall turn. My favorite time of year for sure. Oh wait, I said that last year…I must be off.

2.0

WordPress 2.0 for iPhone…humm…hope this works better than the one that ate my homework.

This is a test run of 2.0, if it works that’s why your reading this. If not you didn’t miss anything. There’s a paradox in there somewhere…I think.

At any rate, it’s 3am and I must be off.

Where

I had a perfectly good post all prepared and sitting in the draft section of the phone. Then I attempted to upload said post and it was lost in translation. Somewhere in the ether between the phone and the servers…it was nabbed. That was yesterday, now I sit here back at home connected to a more reliable means of getting it done. Hopefully this one won’t get away.

The last couple of nights were spent around a couple of nice campfires. Good conversations with friends and family were had. Saturday’s weather was gray and dreary but as the night wore on the clearing began and by 10pm we had a bright moon and thousands of stars to keep us company.

We had a fine meal at the Hemlock Lodge at Natural Bridge and we came away with full stomachs and warm hearts. We needed the warm hearts as the temps camp side were dramatically cooler than Friday night.

Then Sunday morning came all too quickly and we had to break camp to get back home.

So, here we are…home, unpacked and relishing in the relaxation of the last week and hoping it could last another.

As always…I must be off.

Extremes

This afternoon we arrived here at Natural Bridge State Park and after setting up the camper, found out that our water hose was a bit too short. Deciding that we were hungry and in need of more water hose we left the campground and headed out in search of a restaurant and a hardware store.

So we jumped into the truck and after getting some gas hit the highway to Stanton, the nearest town. We were following a new Chevy truck when all of a sudden a big doe jumped right out in front of it. The scene of what happened next is something I never want to witness again.

The deer hit the right front of the truck, but this just caused it to whirl around through the air and hit the bedside. Then the deer bounced off the bedside with it’s front legs flailing about in the air trying to recover it’s footing. It was too late as the deer fell to the side of the road and slipped off down into the ditch. The image of the incident is something Becky and I won’t soon forget.

We feel blessed in the fact that it wasn’t us, but watching it was almost as painful.

We pulled over with the Chevy to make sure the driver was okay. The lady driving the truck got out to survey the damage. Visibly shaken but otherwise alright, all she could say was how her husband would be upset at the damage to his new truck. I told her that’s what insurance is for and to be thankful she was not hurt. We lingered for a few minutes to make sure she would be okay. Feeling confident that she was we were on our way again.

Reaching Stanton a few minutes later we found a hardware store and purchased a water hose. When checking out we asked the clerk where we could find a good place to eat. She recommended a local eatery named Bruen’s. We decided to heed her recommendation and after getting directions left the store in search of this local hot spot.

Finding the eatery behind a Chevron station and seeing the state of the building housing it to be a bit run down, we began to have some trepidation about our choice. However, walking into Bruen’s was like visiting Becky’s grandmother’s house years ago on a Sunday afternoon. The smell of cigarette smoke and home cooking hung in the air like a dense fog. But we were not disappointed…

The food even tasted like Becky’s grandmother’s cooking. We had pork tenderloin, green beans, mac and cheese, mashed potato’s and deviled eggs with a side of cornbread and coleslaw. Words can’t describe just how good it was…needless to say we left with full stomach’s. And our hearts were lightened too by the wonderful service we received from our waitress, Claudette.

In the span of less than an hour we had been witness to a terrible scene and treated to a fine home cooked meal delivered with loving care. Life does deliver extremes sometimes…

As always…I must be off.