DAY 35: NEW DOG IN THE TRAILER PARK

 

DAY 35: NEW DOG IN THE TRAILER PARK

I felt so lucky to witness this sweet scene...a little boy on a bicycle, making friends with the new dog in the trailer park.

All the kids there were SO excited about this new dog in their neighborhood--of course! 

This little boy came riding along on his bike, and the dog left a group of adoring children to chase after him; finally the boy had to stop his bike before he wrecked - that dog was eager to greet him, and was playfully impeding his ride.

It was a precious scene I'm glad I witnessed.

DAY 34: POUTY

DAY 34: "POUTY"

  

Meet my nephew, Benjamin.

He is the only son of my youngest sister, Gail.

He now has THREE sisters!

When the newest little girl was born....he cried.

There he was...hopelessly outnumbered - forever.

But you should just see how he loves her now!

I understand Benjamin.

There have been times in my life I've thought I was faced with something just awful, but in the end those things turned out to be my biggest blessings!

DAY 33: GROUNDHOG DAY NEWS!

DAY 33:  GROUND HOG DAY NEWS!

Two things in life can be very unpredictable – but especially so in Kentucky:

the weather…

…and politics!

No one knew what this Ground Hog Day would bring, but when all was said and done, there was good news… and there was bad news.

As America’s eyes turned to small-town PA, a loveable ground hog named “Punxsutawney Phil” ventured out to much fanfare, and – egad! - saw his shadow before lumbering back into hiding to wait out his prediction of 6 more weeks of winter weather. That’s the bad news.

But on the political front, there was good news! A small-town Kentucky district held a special election, and with only a few short weeks to campaign, Terry Mills (a/k/a  “Punxsutawney Mills” for today) emerged the victor.

The voters chose him as their State Representative to fill out the remainder of State Senator Jimmy Higdon’s term.

But there is more to come for Terry Mills, and little time to rest on his laurels; next on the horizon is a contest in the May Primary between the Republican candidates, and the winner will take on the Democratic candidate Mills in the fall for the opportunity to represent the district for the next full term.

A group of Mills supporters gathered at Chaser’s in Lebanon to await the poll results tonight. Here is a glimpse of the happenings there.  

   

 

DAY 32: OLD - TIMEY

DAY 32:  OLD-TIMEY

It’s the beginning of a brand new month in 2010, but I am thinking of “Old Timey Things”.

That line of thinking naturally led me to thoughts of my dear old friend, John Greenwell (a/k/a “Snarepole”).

I knew him for a long long time, but never realized until after he died that he still washed his socks in a bucket, with the help of a big spoon. Who else does that, in this day and time? No one I know - except John Greenwell.

The picture shows his last socks that never made it over into the rinse bucket and eventually to the line outside to dry. I imagine they were just tossed out with many other things after he died. But now you have it: Snarepole’s last socks. He liked to be clean. It was important to him.

__

Snarepole told a story more than once of brutally hard times in the winter when he lived in the knobs of St. Francis, and of one time in particular that he and his mother desperately needed food. From the way he told it, they surely were in danger of starving to death. He set out on foot over the knobs, trying to bring some food back home. He said his feet were frost-bitten from his effort to obtain sustenance, and his feet had given him trouble ever since.

But he came through for them, and they survived the winter – and many more winters.

He loved his mother dearly.

This is my brother, Joe, with John Greenwell during what I believe was Snarepole’s last stay in the hospital. I had stopped by to visit, and when I arrived, I found Joe there with him. They were both used to me taking pictures, so I was able to get this one without much grief.

Several of us would regularly take food to Mr. Greenwell.

On this afternoon, I showed up at the door with my bounty; once I looked through the door window, though, I hated to disturb him. It seemed to be one of his “lonely” days when he’d crank up the stereo and play some Hank Jr. as he drank some (correction: a lot of) whiskey. At those times, I’d just knock, put the plates at the door, and leave without visiting. I loved him, so I couldn’t leave without snapping a photo that might be memorable – and this one sure is memorable in my book.

DAY 31: THE VIEW

DAY 31: THE VIEW

We visited my mom and dad this afternoon. They live at Mattingly Funeral Home, where we sat and talked as we enjoyed all the birds and squirrels just outside the window, snacking.

Our family’s funeral home is definitely a country funeral home. I wonder what city dwellers think when they come there and see such purely country things like this cob of corn mounted on the side of a big oak tree? : )

The city folks might sometimes be befuddled by the abundance of country charm there in Loretto, but the birds and squirrels must be thankful with the steady source of food there no matter the weather.

I just wish I’d been able to capture Mr. Squirrel’s beautiful bushy red tail. But he is still cute, even without it.

 

P.S.  On a walk around town we saw this cat in a window. The close up photo looks like kitty has left his footprints on something in the window…plastic??? Not sure.

And this photo is from the window at my desk, looking out on West Main Street in Lebanon. These young people had been walking through town, playing in the snow; here, I am threatened with a snow ball when they notice I’m photographing them.