FALL CREEK FALLS ...................

One takes for granted the beautiful natural scenery that is located near where one lives. Years ago when the kids were small we enjoyed camping and exploring the natural surroundings near our home. My wife and I have been very busy with the garden this year and now it has slowed down. We have been unable to go any where this summer. My wife said to me Saturday, " lets go some where Sunday." Ok, I agreed but where do you want to go? Do you want to visit Fall Creek Falls State Park which is located about 75 miles from our home? Sounds good to me she said.
We had made the trip perhaps 30 years ago to see the waterfalls. Fall Creek Falls is a rugged paradise of over 20,000 acres of nature high on the Cumberland plateau. Scenic views of waterfalls,cascades,streams, plants, wildlife and virgin timbers will beckon a person to travel and view. The main attraction is the 256 feet waterfall. This is the highest waterfall in the eastern U.S.A. Two other falls in other locations of the park do no compare with the main falls.
A nice breakfast at Shoneys and we were off on a very scenic drive to the park. Are we there yet?? Ok, another 15 miles. Finally we arrive at the park entrance and followed the signs to the famous waterfalls. A short walk from the parking lot to the overlook area. The sounds of cascading water as we get near the viewing area. What a majestic sight as the stream of water spilled over the rock ledges and dissipated into a mist as it traveled slowly to the base of the falls into an awaiting pool. That folks was well worth the trip!! What a sight!!
A rocky trail awaits one if they wish to climb down to view the falls at the bottom. We decided that this might be our last chance in life to made the journey down and back. Some wooden steps to begin with and then a jagged rock trail that continued to twist in and around huge rock formations. One had to stop and let those on there way back to the top pass before proceeding the descend. People laughed and joked as they made the climb. The sound of falling water grew louder as we neared the bottom. A fine cool mist of water filled the air near the rocks as we stood in amazement at GOD'S GIFT TO MANKIND.
The trip down was a piece of cake compared to the climb back to the top. The climb down was about a half of a mile but it seemed like a mile going backup!! Several stops to rest and catch our breaths on the way back. Even the young with their dogs were having a hard time climbing back up. After 40 minutes we finally made it back to the top. We were the oldest ones to complete the trip. A great day and something we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

DOG SPOILS MY DATE......YEAH IT DID!!!!!

I never did like German Shepard Dogs. They say a dog can sense when a person is afraid of them. Once I went to collect an insurance premium when I worked as an insurance agent. My manager was present with me the first week I took on a new debit. The man before me was afraid of dogs and had marked on the page with red ink; BAD DOG. Hey, "Mack, Paul has bad dog written on this page." Oh, Paul was afraid of all dogs, this one isn't a bad dog." A mean German Shepard comes running out of the garage and the next thing I know I have climbed on the back of the car parked in the driveway. The lady comes out of the house and puts the dog up. "You are going to be just like Paul with my dog. My dog wouldn't bite anyone." Next month when you come to collect just blow your horn and I will put the dog up. The next month I pull up in the driveway and blew the horn. Out comes the woman with a huge bandage on her right arm. " You remember me telling you that my dog wouldn't bite anyone, well I was wrong, he bite me when I went to break up a dog fight." I had him put to sleep." BAD DOG!!!!
When I was younger and working for my father, we were remodeling a house in town for a couple. The woman said, " My niece is coming to visit this weekend would you like a date with her?" Is she pretty I asked, Yes, she is a little doll and shows me a photo of her. Man she is nice looking, yes I would like a date with her. She will me visiting my sister over on Bel-Aire drive and you can pick her up around 7:00 pm on Saturday and you'll have a good time. Saturday finally rolled around and I was looking sharp in my new jeans and pink shirt driving my convertible. I arrived at the sister's house right on time. I rang the door bell and out of nowhere comes this big German Shepard dogs barking and going for my leg. I opened the storm door and got in as far as possible with one leg outside the door. The dog had my jeans leg just above my foot and was tearing my new jeans, The woman finally comes to the door and too my rescue. " Let me put Herman up" as she takes him back to the garage and closes the door. " Linda isn't' t ready yet so you can come in and wait on her." I need to go back home and change my pants your dog has destroyed my new jeans, I'll be back in about 30 minutes to pick up Linda. Poor Linda is probably still waiting on me to come back. LOL!!!! I wasn't going to go back, she wasn't that pretty.
Daddy really made my day when I told him what happen. " Son, that girl saw you coming and didn't like your looks and sicked that dog on you." Might have been a true statement. " From then on when I told my family I had a date, Dad would say, "WATCH OUT FOR DOGS.""

I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN??????????????

An Oscar Meyer Wienermobile crashed into the home and outdoor deck of Nick Krupp in Racine, Wis. on Friday morning, July 17, 2009. According to a witness, the vehicle was parked in the driveway. The driver lurched the vehicle forward instead of backing out of the driveway, hitting Krupp's deck and cracking the foundation of his house. Only on wiener was hurt during this wreck. THE DRIVER.

LOST LOVE LETTER...................

Lost love letter reunites couple.

 

 

AFP/File – A British man and his Spanish former sweetheart have finally married 16 years after they drifted apart, …

Mon Jul 20, 5:33 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – A British man and his Spanish former sweetheart have finally married 16 years after they drifted apart, reunited by a love letter lost behind a fireplace for over a decade, reports said Monday.
Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez, both now 42, fell in love 17 years ago when she was a foreign exchange student in Brixham, and got engaged after only a year together.
But their relationship ended after she moved France to run a shop in Paris.
A few years later, in a bid to rekindle their love, Smith sent a letter to her mother's home in Spain. It was placed on the mantelpiece, but slipped down behind the fireplace and was lost for over a decade.
The missing missive was only found when builders removed the fireplace during renovation work.
"When I got the letter I didn't phone Steve right away because I was so nervous," Ruiz-Perez told the Herald Express local newspaper.
"I nearly didn't phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again.
"But I knew I had to make the call."
When they were reunited, it was as if time had stood still, said Smith, a factory supervisor.
"When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other's arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing.
"I'm just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be," he said, after the couple married last Friday.

KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS..............

As I listen to young kids in our family and circle say and do some strange things that makes everyone laugh. Here are a few.
Monica, our minister's four year old daughter sitting on the front row at church beside her mom as her dad delivered his sermon. Brother Roy was noted for his long sermons. Monica left her seat and walked up to the pulpit and said to her dad as the church was quite. " Roy, CARTOONS ARE ON, LET'S GO HOME."
My wife's niece's five year old son, Brandon has kept us all in stitches with some of his actions and sayings. He too is the son of a preacher man. His great grandmother keeps him on Fridays. Her husband Parker suffers from Parkinson disease. One day out of no where Brandon says, " I just don't like OLD PEOPLE."
Brandon is into Thomas Trains and has over 40 of them. His mom told him to be nice and share his trains with one of his friends from day care that would be visiting. When his playmate and his family arrived; he went up to his room put all his trains except two or three into his backpack and wore it the whole time his playmate was there. LOL!!!
Brandon was visiting his grandmother. " Brandon are you going to spend the night with us??" "NO, YOU DON'T HAVE A NEW HOUSE!!!!! I DO." Son of a preacher man......look out world.

FIRST KISS.......REMEMBER YOURS?????

Do you remember that first kiss. You know the one I mean. The one that's embedded in your memory from childhood.
What happen that day so long ago. Her name was Martha Jane, we were 8 or 9 years old. She only lived two blocks from our school and I would walk that way on my way home. I had a plan to steal a kiss from her. " Martha Jane I want to tell you a secret as I went to whisper in her ear." I kissed her on the cheek. Her little sister said I'm going to tell mom on you and she did. I'm not one to kiss and tell but this is my memory of my first kiss and I didn't ever get near her lips.
Another kiss still lingers back to when I was a teen. I call this one my most embarrassing one. At a birthday party we were playing spin the bottle. You know that game; you spin a soda bottle and the girl it lands on you two get to kiss. Man, was I lucky, my spin landed on Elaine, just the prettiest girl in the entire Junior High. I was very excited as we went outside in the dark to kiss. Our lips meet and we kissed!!!! What happen during that kiss still haunts me. I FARTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soon it was all over school, don't kiss Nick. LOL!!!

GARDEN AT OUR HOUSE....................

The last several years we have only planted a small garden but this year I opened my big mouth and said, " Lets plant a big garden one more time." My wife agreed with me this time so we decided to plant a variety of vegetables. We hadn't planted any corn in two years so that was the first two rows in the garden. Our planting was late this year because of the amount of rainfall we had. Once planted we thought all the seeds would be washed away. Finally it quite raining and the garden began to thrive. A long row of okra, tomatoes in the wire cages, green beans two rows , three rows of peas, cucumbers, squash and bell green peppers and some hot peppers. Two rows of later sweet corn which I call Wal-Mart corn because the Coop had run out of garden seeds in bulk. My wife relented to plant this but It is growing quite well. The string with the yellow ribbons attached is to discourage the deer from entering the garden, they think it's an electric fence. So far it works but not all deer are smart??? We are beginning to see the fruits of all our labor. We have had cucumbers, squash, green beans, peppers. The first corn should be ready this next week. The garden has required a huge amount of our time but things are working out great even though we have had to water from our city water supply.
Not to be out gone I decided I wanted to try and raise some watermelons and cantaloupes and sweet potatoes. The fence in area around the sweet potatoes are protecting them from rabbits.Yeah, those bunnies found them and ate three or four plants down to the ground  before I came up with the fence idea.
We will be very busy canning and freezing the vegetables in the near future. HOE, HOE and HOE some MORE. PRICELESS???????