Deer 4, Birds 0

Mother Nature can be cruel!  I planted about a dozen sun flower plants to generate seeds for the birds. (mostly because I am too cheap to buy bird food at Lowes).  This is the lone survivor.  It's been mowed down 4 times by the local deer. As you can see, it's a persistent little cuss.  It is trying very hard to generate some leaves and ultimately flowers and seed for the birds.  Theresa! Go fetch my rifle!!

Perpetual Deer food!

Proud Father, Great Son, GO ARMY!

Although lots of info has already been shared about our trip to Oklahoma, I would feel remiss if I didn't post a few things.  There are lots of good stories to tell about the 36 hour drive, watching a guy wipe-out on a motorcycle, getting milkshakes along the way and drinking 5 Hour Energy during the drive. (more on that in another post).

But the obvious best story is the story of Nick.  It was so good to see him.  I really missed that kid!!  I gave him a huge hug the first chance I got.  As you might imagine, 40 pounds later, there was a lot less of him to hug.  Looking at Nick I saw a confident young man......a bit different than the kid that left Chapin. The tough physical and mental training made an impact on him and the best news was that he LIKED it.  To say I am a proud father doesn't give justice to the feelings I had that day.

We didn't have a lot of time with Nick.  8 hours on Thursday and another 8 on Friday. We went out to eat a couple times, went to a movie, did some shopping, played some board games in the hotel room, and generally talked and relaxed. It was what Nick wanted and that was perfectly ok with us.  With an 18 hour drive behind us and another one merely hours away, we weren't up for anything strenuous.

The graduation ceremony on Friday was awesome! I tried to upload some videos from the event but the "error" messages finally got the best of me.  (I promise I will learn how to upload videos in the near future......)  I wish I could explain the ceremony but I know I can't do it justice.

Regarless, here are a few pictures that you may or may not have seen on facebook. 

Soldiers! You better be back on base by 19:50! I THINK the Sargeant had their attention!



                      

 Now THAT'S a hug!  Not sure which one is squeezing harder...



Proud Mama getting some attention from her Soldier.  Nice haircut, Nick!

My lovely escorts to graduation

...and their lovely shoes, for those of you that were wondering.

Hiking Trip Gone Bad

Well....last weekend I had a hiking trip that I will never forget. Theresa and I  left Chapin early on Saturday morning, headed up to Clemson to see our baby girl. I was told that we were going to pick up Amanda at her "new" house and then head to the mountains for a great day of hiking.  Somewhere along the way our hiking trip veered off course and turned into something completely unexpected. If I were a betting man, I would wager that my two travel partners only fed me the parts of the plan that they thought would lure me in. 

So as the trip unfolds we end up in a cool little mountain town called Highlands.  I thought we were going there for lunch and then head to the trails! Silly me....  Heck no! We hit just about every little shop up and down the main drag in Highlands.  Luckily for you, I took a few pictures so you could see this great "hiking" trip.  Sure glad I wore my boots. 

Anyway a few pics below captured the event fairly well.  If you want more details just post a comment....


My Shoppers!!  The guy behind the camera is not smiling.

 

We saw wonderful things like carrot shaped scrubbers!

 

I knew things were headed south when Amanda started talking to this wood carving!

 

We also found scented beans that you can buy in Bulk!  How nice!



I needed real AMERICAN nourishment after shopping for so long! In my opinion, this was the best part of the afternoon.



 

After lunch Theresa spilled her drink.  It landed perfectly upside down with the water STILL INSIDE!  This was a sign from God that this trip was meant to be.  Is this amazing or what?  Can you see the water inside? I calmed down after this. I took a knee and did two "Hail Marys".



This is as close as we got to "hiking". Taking pictures from the road.  La Te Da!  Well, in this picture Amanda was helping these nice strangers by taking a photo, all the while avoiding oncoming traffic.  Looks like the mountain air made this guy a little frisky! Hey! STOP THAT!

 

After we bought all the junk, I had to help them hang it!  EXACTLY as they told me to.



Your odds are 50/50!

Does this mean I can mow them down on the other half of the road?  More "Duh" to follow!

City Slickers

                                  ................Some City Slicker or Government Agency developed this sign.  The only problem???  That's not a deer, it's an Elk.  Duh!  More "Duh" signs to follow....

Against the Wind

Not only is that the title of one of my favorite Bob Seger songs, it's what I was facing tonight as I was taking old faithful (aka pontoon boat) to the marina.  There was a serious storm brewing behind me. Luckily the wind was blowing it the other way!  Anyway, the new Yamaha is in for it's first tune-up / maintenance.  That thing is SWEET!

Tennis Match at Rawls Creek

Just won tennis match tonight.  I forgot to take some pictures or video.  Man, how can I be a good blogger if I can't remember to take pictures?  The good news is that the old men (my team) beat the youngsters (their team).  Good Golly it feels good! 

July Fishing on the Broad

Caught this nice smallmouth bass around 2pm on the Broad River. Caught 25 fish that day and this was the only smallmouth.

First Post

Tennis tonight at 6pm. I thought it was at 5pm so I have some time to kill.  I have always wanted to start a blog, so today is THE day.  By some stroke of fate, my tennis match is delayed and this could be the start of something big....ooor, it could be a short lived hobby.  I will take a picture or two at the courts tonight and attach them later.  I love playing tennis! Great exercise in a very short amount of time. The short amount of time is the best part.  Speaking of time, you can count on virtually all of my posts being short and hopefully sweet.  I don't have all day for this sort of thing.  Hopefully over time you will find this blog mostly humorous (maybe sick at times) and informative.  Well, sticking to my word, that's it for today.