A river in the morning can have a calming affect on me. The peaceful dew floating above the water. The wet rocks and stones surrounding the banks. Trees glistening with the sun's rays streaming through. Laying in wait before man releases the flood waters of adventure. The silence of this scene takes all my cares away. Reflecting on who I am, where I have been, all the lives that I have touched and those who have touched mine. I need times like this to catch my breath and be thankful.
Last weekend I traveled home and back to Chattanooga with Reiner, a German photographer and company manager. On the way to Chattanooga we stopped at the Nantahala River in Western North Carolina (pictured above) and the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Riener made a statement that I may never forget. "This is such a beautiful country." It made me stop and think about this because it came from a person whose home is on the other side of the world. We are so lucky to have all these natural surroundings within a few hours drive. The back roads can give you such a wonderful side of our country. A side you never really get to experience when traveling the interstate roadways.
I challenge you to slow down every once in a while and ride the scenic highways through the small towns and forgotten places hidden by the fast lanes.
Friday and Saturday we spent the two days with my parents and their first time meeting Dean. Friday we gathered at Patrick and Jessica's house. We got to meet a very distant cousin of ours from the other side of the tree. What would the other side of tree be? How about 10 generations up our side then 9 generations back down George Hairston's side. The strange thin is, he resembles my Father and Grandfather being that far apart on the family tree. Needless to say, it was nice to meet another Hairston family. After a pizza dinner and some discussion about the family tree, Mom presented Patrick with framed pictures of her parents, my one year old picture and my Grandfather's garage. My Grandfather build his garage, then made a scaled model of the garage. Mom gave Patrick the scaled model of the garage. It was great to see my son receive such a special gift.
Saturday we regrouped at our house for lunch and dinner as well as the usual catching up. Caris and Thomas joined us for the day as well. Mom presented Caris with framed pictures of her parents, my one year old picture and a picture of her Mother in her kitchen. My Grandfather also build the kitchen, and as you probably guessed, he made a scale model of that kitchen. Caris received the model of the kitchen and all the little details of knick-knacks that were in that full size room.
We took a break mid afternoon to attend Mass with my parents. I think they enjoyed the small church and acappella hymns. I never really thought of it before, but it is nice hearing all the voices in the church sing without being drowned out by the organ or piano.
Dean was passed around to nearly everyone and he did his best to grunt, whine, cry, fuss, fart and burp. He had a few hard times getting a good burp out, but over all he did fine with all the family love that was provided.
Sunday proved to be the day of rest. Both Gin and I were pretty worn out from the previous week as well as the weekend. I managed to squeeze in a two hour nap in the afternoon, which may have been the cause of my not sleeping well last night. It also didn't help having a possum eating the outside cats' food at 3:30 this morning on the front porch table. I need to teach the cats to clean their bowls when fed at night. Who would have thought the ugly little possum would be so noisy.
Time to go back to the river in my mind. Time to relax and forget about the worries of the day.
Goodnight all!
P@
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