Joel Hartman's Thanksgiving

Did you hear this great story about the homeless man in Atlanta? Living on the streets he had discovered a woman's wallet when he had been looking through garbage for food.  Seeing that it belonged to a woman from France, he went to several nearby hotels to see if he could locate the owner. The Omni Hotel showed a photo of the man from their video cameras and asked if someone  could identify him since they wanted to thank him for returning the wallet to their guest.  The man was identified as Joel Hartman and he was brought in and the hotel manager gave him a room through the Thanksgiving weekend along with $500.00.  After this was broadcast on the news, other people gave him more money and several job offers.

But guess what? That is not even the BEST part of the story!  His family saw him on the news and they flew into Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day to see him!  I have the video from WSBTV for you...here.  His step-mother said that they had been looking for him for ten years. It appears that he will be going back to Indiana with them. You might have already heard of this story and it is a good one, but the happy ending with the hugs from his family is my favorite part! Joel Hartman, I wish the very best for you.  Please, leave your well wishes for him here, he just might see them one day!

Thanksgiving, indeed!  God bless you, Joel Hartman, I wish the very best of luck to you!

Skies might not always be blue, but always look on the bright side of life!

Happy Birthday To Our Son

Pretty yellow tree on right, that is where we are going!

Happy Birthday and Happy Thanksgiving to our son, Christopher! (Same day this year!)

It was raining the day that we visited C. at his home which is on the OTHER side of Atlanta (which means we have to go through Atlanta traffic to get to him!).  There are so many trees in his neighborhood and even on a foggy day like this one, you could still see the color!

 

See Richard talking with C. and with his friend Jim? I am taking this photo in the rain!

 

 

 MUSIC!  It is so important to our son.  He has written music all through his teen-age years and is a very talented young man.  I only wish that he had more time for it.  The world is in great need of melody just now!  I thank all of you who left encouraging comments on the posts where I have mentioned his band!

Listen to the lyrics of "Simple Man" from Lynyrd Skynyrd and think of me singing this to Christopher!

 

Of course, I have to have a song from England on here for Christopher! He always loved this song by The Hollies as a little boy and you can tell what good taste he has always had in music! (And I always thought that "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" sounded like it was from a Southern band anyway!)

 

  Please note that all of these photos were taken by me! You can always tell my photos, mine are always a bit crooked, or else  I manage to get in a lot of pavement.  I think I must be lower to the ground than Richard!  HA!
 (Oh, just one by Richard...the one of C. on top of Arabia Mountain, touching the tree...I love that one!)

                                                  Happy Birthday, Christopher!  LOVE YOU!  xx



Georgia In November

We have been having beautiful weather here in Georgia.

 However, today was a very rainy, cold day and tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 37 degrees with high winds which will make it feel like the teens!  Never mind, I will look back at some of the photos from November and remember the warmth and the color... 

 

 

Hello from Panola Mountain State Park!   Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!  Kay & Richard  xxx

And sending love to everyone else in the world!
 

C.S. Lewis

 C. S. Lewis died on the same day as JFK - November 22, 1963.  Yesterday, on the 50th anniversary of his death, there was a memorial service for him at Westminster Abbey and he now has a memorial stone placed in Poet's Corner.  There has been a bit of controversy about it, since some people say that C. S. Lewis is not really a poet.  I say that that they shouldn't get their knickers in a twist about this. (A nice British expression that I think should be used here, it says exactly what I want to say to people sometimes.) 

Clive Staples Lewis (known as Jack to his family and friends) lost his mother at a young age which affected him deeply and made him question his beliefs.  He was a professor at Oxford where he was great friends with J. R. R. Tolkien, who was such a deep influence upon him that he became a champion of the Christian faith, writing many books.  His most famous books are the Narnia books, which for those books alone, I believe he deserves a spot in Westminster Abbey. (Although, you can't help but wonder if Tolkien might have felt a bit...not annoyed, but dismayed perhaps, because Lewis kept to his Anglican faith instead of Roman Catholic like Tolkien!)


Wouldn't you love to go to Oxford and visit where C. S. Lewis lived?  Well, guess what, Laura from her blog, Happy Homemaker UK has already done that for you!  And she said it was perfectly fine for me to link to her post...so please do not miss her fantastic photos!  You may find it here!


This is the quote that is on his memorial stone...

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen,
Not only because I see it but because by it,
I see everything else.

I very much believe that C. Lewis deserves a memorial in Westminster Abbey, this house of worship.

BBC Report/ Book About JFK

There has been extensive coverage on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy this week.  Today, the president laid a wreath on the JFK memorial at Arlington Cemetery.  Peter Watson from the BBC was in New York in 1963 when he heard of the shooting in Dallas and he quickly flew there and filed a report.  This report has been reprinted on the BBC website this week and not only it is very well written but I find his observations to be thoughtful and insightful.  You may read his report here.  It has been reproduced as if you are reading his actual type-written notes, and I found it very effective that it was done in this manner. (Could this actually be his report typed on a typewriter? I have no idea, I only know that it is moving for me to read it this way.)

 "The waste and pathos brought me closer to tears more often than I have ever been before".  It is interesting for me to read how someone from another country lived through these events.  I was only six years old but I remember very well, the shock and the sadness that the country experienced.  If you don't have a chance to read this article just now, please read it when you can.

And in case you miss it, it says that Peter Watson died just last week.

I still have to tell you about the services (I went to two of them!) that I attended on the weekend before Veteran's Day.  I took this photo of the young men who reenact the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima...they hold this for several minutes and it is quite impressive.  John F. Kennedy was in the South Pacific, during World War II and the best account that I have read about his heroism after the sinking of his PT boat was written in a book entitled "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye".  If you get the chance, read that book, it's very good. ("PT 109" by Robert J. Donovan is another one.) You might have seen the movie made with Cliff Robertson playing JFK, if not...I highly recommend it.

Snake! Panola Mountain Lake Loop Trail

Richard and I met our dear friends, Mary and Steve on Saturday for a late afternoon walk at Panola Mountain and look what I spotted! A long black snake that was so completely still that at first, I thought it must be dead...but it was completely ensnared in the netting that was beside the trail. (The netting was there to stop erosion on the sides of the trail.)  It was well and truly stuck.  Our friend, Steve pulled out an impressive knife and worked for several minutes to free the snake.  (The photo above was taken, after much of it had been freed.)

 

 This was on such a steep slope that it was even difficult for Richard and Steve to stand, let alone to try and rescue a snake!  Mary and I were on the trail lending our moral support and encouragement..."Even though it's not poisonous, doesn't mean it can't bite"...(Mary)

"Careful, it's very steep, you can fall down, you know!"  (Me)

 

 

 

Who needs super heroes when you have guys like these around?  Do you see where we are here? The  husbands have gotten the snake down on the paved trail (that's the boardwalk just behind them, see it there?) and it is almost free, just a bit of green netting was clinging on...and just at that moment , a man came across the boardwalk, who seemed to be very knowledgeable about snakes and he picked  the snake up by its head in a very expert manner and the netting just fell off. I took the best photo of this man on the bike posing with Steve but I neglected to get his name! So...man on the bike with the dog who helped with this snake, let me know if it is okay with you and I will identify you and show the photo! (Yes, you read that right...he had a dog on a leash trotting along with him!)

 

The man told us it was a king snake.

 

Black king snake...predominantly black with traces of white or yellow spots on its sides. (Lampropeltis getula nigra)  Greek for "radiant" or "shiny" shields.. has very shiny coat, a truly beautiful snake.

All king snakes but especially the black king snake eat other snakes, even poisonous ones, in Georgia, that would be from rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths.

 

There are 41 species of snakes in Georgia...I am glad we found one of the NON-venomous ones!

 

 If there are any herpetologists out there, then please feel free to leave a comment here!

 

Do you see the eye of the snake in the first photo? Compare it to the eye of the snake below.

Of course, you might not want to get this close to any snake!

 

What about you, would you rescue a snake entwined in netting like this?

 

And hey!  I took all the photos for this post, just goes to show how much I want to take pictures if the other choice is getting close to a snake!

 

 

 

Copperhead (I took this photo in our front yard last July!)







 

Lake Alexander/Walking On Water

Lake Alexander at Panola Mountain State Park is beautiful in all seasons and at all times of the day.  Richard and I just stopped on the boardwalk yesterday and had a chat with a fellow walker. We spoke quietly as the sun was setting, the almost full moon was reflected in the lake and a heron on the shoreline totally ignored us...it was quiet and still and the air was fresh and cool.   He told us that it was a shame that Mr. Alexander did not live long enough to see the completed trail...he said that although Mr. Alexander wanted to leave his six hundred acres to Panola Mountain State Park, his family was against it, that some members of the family wanted to develop it and build houses on this beautiful land.  I am so thankful that this did not happen and that we are able to enjoy this natural beauty.

The lake is lovely.  If you look at my last post, you will see that there is Upper Alexander Lake and Lower Alexander Lake, separated by the small road.  As you walk on this road, it is like walking on water. It is for bikers and hikers only (although the park rangers will sometimes drive their trucks on it, they always look out for us, since WE are the ones with the right-of-way!)  The boardwalk that is across the wetlands area of Upper Alexander Lake is wonderful, it arches out so much into the lake, that it too feels as if you are walking on water.
 I found a poem by Sarah Rossiter. I hope you like it too.


Would you believe I walked on water as Jesus did, and
Peter too, that is, until fear weighed him down? It wasn’t
A miracle, not like his, though as I slid across the pond,
Lily pads swayed underfoot while minnows slipped,
Slim silver needles through water like transparent silk.
Which is to say it felt like one for even though the black ice
Held, who can trust what can’t be seen, and, so, like Peter,
I felt fear. And yet, I walked--I didn’t sink--on polished glass
Between two worlds, the one we live in, and the next where
From cold depths, a turtle rose with eyes like dark seeds, bright,
Unblinking, until he stopped, surprised by ice, a mirrored sheet
Of shining light through which, as I lay down we looked,
To see each other face to face.   

by Sarah Rossiter