Earthlife

Are you kidding me?

I’d take the dairy farm any day. One more example of global warming going too far.

Trust

We’ve been married 10 years and 10 months.

It’s needless to say that I trust the man.

So, when the temptation was offered, I hopped on back.

Who wouldn’t trust a man with a face like that?

He lured me into a sense of false security.
It was a perfect day to enjoy the scenery on the back of a four wheeler.

A dare was given.

And no double dogs were necessary.

Somewhere in the middle of all this water,

LG and I are either affixed on top of the four wheeler, or catching air.

And then, the air became very very muddy.

And, yes, I still trust the man.

And I trust that George fixed the four wheeler’s damage.

And, this damage is also history.

As well as any of the other reasons

the man has given me not to trust him.

That’s the beauty of a marriage.

Next time there is an opportunity for four wheeling.

You know that silly old me will be the perfect back seat passenger.

Or maybe he should show his trust in me and let me drive?

Almost Heaven

West Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains

Shanendoah River

Life is old there.

Older than the trees.

Younger than the mountains.

Growin like a breeze.

Country Roads.

Take me home.

To the place, I belong.

West Virginia.

Mountain Momma.

Take me home.

Country Roads.

All my memories.

Gather ’round her.

Miner’s lady.

Stranger to blue water.

Dark and dusty.

Painted on the sky.

Misty taste of moonshine (or hamburgers)

Teardrop in my eye.Country Roads.Take me home.To the place I belong.
West Virginia

Mountain Momma.

Take me home.

Country Roads.

I hear her voice.

In the morning hour she calls me.

The radio (or campfire songs) reminds me of my home far away.

And drivin down the road,

I get a feelin

that I should have been home

Yesterday.

Country Roads.

Take me home.

To the place.

I belong.

West Virginia.

You’ve arrived at your destination.

A few weekends back, we went to visit George’s home away from home. George Karnes is our good friend and his family roots go way back in a place call Ten Mile, West Virginia.

Here are some pictures of our journey. For those of you not interested in our travelogue (including pictures of our children) you must ignore the next several posts.

We arrived in West VA without too many problems. We decided to make our journey a little more adventurous and let LG navigate while I drove. Mostly, he just HAD to do the navigating because George had let us borrow his GPS, and LG couldn’t wait to use it. Trusting a GPS 100% is not just a bad idea, but a completely stupid thing to do. We should have never had that darn little evil device. We would have been better off trying to follow George’s written directions and stopping and asking locals when we were unsure. We didn’t figure this out until we drove about our 50th mile. Yep, we most definitely missed that 10th mile our first time around.

After missing one interstate connection, we wasted about 30 miles. We knew we were finally getting close when we started to see license plates like this.

hmmm….cheat Mtn….sounds like a place Mormons should not visit.

And where would West Virginia be without the coal industry?

Probably in the dark, like the rest of the country.

George had warned us that the gas prices were higher up there.

It’s a good thing we filled up in Virginia.

This is when we started to be lulled into a false sense of security.

We had reached Buckhannon with only one wrong turn.

When we finally reached Ten Mile, we were approximately one hour later than expected.

We had called George from where we should have turned off the last road of true civilization.

He expected us 10 minutes later. Oh, but how George grossly underestimated our ability to sight see.

And for our three day stay, we would all try figure out where our GPS had taken us.

Using our best detective skills, we combed through my photos on my camera.

We would all be fired as Nancy Drew. We all missed this sign. LG and I had traveled up the civilized highway about 10 additional miles before we made one very wrong turn onto Sago Drive. (Maybe this is why they call the place ten mile – you have to drive 10 additional miles in every direction until you find the place) The wrong turn made for some very fun travel on crazy old mining roads.

My camera didn’t seem to mind.

What a nice place West Virginia is. They have these little red sheltered bus stops along the school bus route. (Don’t you think a kid could get into some trouble inside one of these? – They must really trust their kids, huh? – There is no way that I would let my kids hang out in one of these, at age 6 or 16…both ages could be very very dangerous for different reasons, if you know what I mean, it only takes two minutes – and those of you that read me often, know what I am implying here.)

Here is the coal mine. The first I have ever seen in real life.

It really brings home the stories that I have heard only on the news.

I guess this is the actual mine of the most recent mining tragedy.

West Virginia is also known for it’s lumber industry.

Between old mining and lumber roads, West Virginia is the perfect place for four wheeling.

This adventure will be in another post.

And, the cows.

All of the family was moaning and groaning because I just HAD to take their pictures.

These pictures would be a HUGE part in piecing the puzzle together of our GPS backwoods tour adventure.

Here was another piece of the puzzle.

Notice the reference to the”red man”.

There is something very liberating about visiting a place that hasn’t been forced to catch up to the rest of the politically correct world.

Sure tale sign that we were REALLY lost.

The wild life turns from domesticated cows to undomesticated dear.

The hubby and kids in the car are also turning into wild life at this point.

And, at some point, our GPS decided to tell us that we had “arrived at our destination”.

There was one problem, we saw nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING but trees.

Could George and Lanette’s hideaway be THAT hid away?

We started asking locals where to go.

They were able to look at us crazily and question how we had gotten so far off track.

One very kind man was able to direct us back.

He read our directions and said,

“Oh honey, you are looking for ten mile. How did you get way up here?”

He said, “When you see the tunnel (well it’s kind of a culvert – note to self, look up culvert) you will be close.

This is the tunnel that George told us not to travel under on the way in.

We never saw it until our way back. We were so happy to drive through it.

Side note: a culvert is a drain or waterway under a road.

We should have just followed these tracks in.

Ten Mile got it’s name by being the tenth mile on the tracks.

Knowing our sense of direction, we would have followed the wrong set of tracks.

Oh, wow, look at this. The tracks do go RIGHT to George and Lanette’s front porch.

That’s our car. We had finally arrived.

Don’t you think the view alone was worth our hour long adventure in the back woods. (You can all sing along now….a one hour tour, a one hour tour.) Oh, wow, we could really take this Gilligan theme song through the whole story….

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip
That started from this K-ville port, aboard this tiny Ship.
The mate was a GPS trusting man, a driver brave and sure

And, there is nothing like, joining up with the family at a campfire.
Of course, there was a campfire. It was dark outside, duh?

This picture was taken the next day.

George and Lanette wanted us to forgive them for that stupid GPS.

They sure know how to flatter.

Magnolias

may show up in the place you least expect them.

Like the allergist’s office.

That is, if you live in the South.
And, you have allergies.

Sometimes it seems that allergies like living in the South.
I can’t say I blame them.

Look at those magnolias.

(I am saying this in the nicest way possible and to whoever the cowardice anonymous commenter is, please disregard these pictures of my children, they just seem to jump into so many of my photos – the subject here is most definitely the magnolias)

I have to say that this week I experienced a first.

I was grateful to be at the allergist.

Even though it means that Bella’s lungs don’t agree with the South.

Another place

When I get sick of being home.

Because it’s just so boring.

There are places I like to go.

Some are close.

Some are far.

Some are fiction.

Some are real.

Some are beautiful.

Some aren’t.

Some are happy.

Some are sad.

Some are all of the above.

And, some can’t help but be my favorite.

Fulfilling my duty

Everyone is pestering me. EVERYONE…not just you blogging stalkers!

Here is a post, just to calm you people down and to fulfill my duty to the blogging world.

If I were to let my hair down right now, it might look like this beautiful, yet crazy. flower.

It would most definitely be standing on end.

I am overwhelmed. I have been very busy. I am tired.

I often try to find comfort from nature. At times, I just need an escape from my frazzled mind.

This photo pretty much sums up how much “calming comfort” I have been finding lately.

Did I mention that I am tired?

So, there you have it.

I expect at least twenty more blurker comments before I will force myself to post again.

[ And they don’t all have to be from you Sheila 🙂 ]

Of course, I am hoping for the morning to be lucky for me.

I am going to bed before 10 pm for the first time in three weeks.

Supporting American Economy

Thanks to Valerie for a great e-mail forward.

If only my tax stimulus check didn’t have to be used for all of the necessary things listed.

As you may have heard, the Administration said each of us would

get a rebate check to stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.

If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If we purchase a computer it will go to India.

If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.

If we purchase useless junk it will go to Taiwan… …and none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at garage sales;

since those are the only businesses still in the U.S

Life’s not fair

Life is just not fair.

I preach this message to my daughters.

I figure if they get the message into their tiny little bodies now,

they will be able to enjoy life’s injustices in their bigger mommy bodies later.

Here are some pictures to illustrate my point:

Last week, LG got this.

Abigail got this:

Abigail, Sophia, and Bella got this:

(I have to be honest, I kind of got this too, but if I admit it, the fact would ruin my point)

And, on Friday, here is what I got.

Oh, and I won’t forget to show you what else I got, even though I cringed when LG photographed it.

(I have to say now that I am grateful for LG’s assistance in my blogging goal last week – even if I was too busy to think of it, he didn’t forget)

And, the real reason that life is not fair.

On Friday, after helping LG with his practice all week guess what I got?

After catching up on all my housework,

I then got to spend 4 hours doing my favorite thing ever

and pack the whole family for the weekend!

(I, too, got to enjoy the weekend get-away, along with the rest of them, but if I told you about that here, it would also ruin my mother martyring moment)

Needless to say, last week was extremely busy.

I missed my blogging time. But, hey, life’s not fair. I’ll take it when I can get it.

I will also take the moment from last week when I bonded with a mother of a different species.

I couldn’t help but wonder how this mother bird feels about her duties on the home front?