Happy Friday!

I'm very excited today.   Even more excited than I am on most Fridays.  Why?

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/Jason%20Aldean.jpg

Jason Aldean (one of my favorite country artists) is coming to a nearby city tonight.  I'm trying to contain myself.

No, seriously.  This is me. Contained.

Ok maybe I'm not cool, calm and collected.  I'm flat out HYPE about it!  I can tell I'll bounce off the walls at work today.

Must. Calm.  Down.

And one cool thing about the concert is that all proceeds from it go to the Susan G Komen Foundation.

You see, Jason, like many of us, has been personally affected by breast cancer, losing a friend to this dreadful disease when she was just 29.  This concert will be sure to be an emotional one. 

I've said it before...

... but I'll say it again:  I LOVE THE RAIN!

The summer here in Mayberry was dry.  Very dry.  I considered going into the cactus business and buying a sombrero.

Ok, so in all seriousness we're 8 inches below the normal amount of rainfall for the year.  It's affecting the crops they're harvesting, the grass in my yard and the color the leaves will turn in the next few weeks.  We've been under a burn ban for a couple weeks now to keep the whole place from going up in smoke and the fire department has been busy.

That's why the entire area rejoiced on Tuesday when we saw this:

Look at those clouds!  Their movement, their color, the adrenaline rush they give me as they dance across the sky.  Sadly, clouds like these have passed through the area lately without anything registering on the rain gauge, as it all went to our north.

So, when I first heard the thunder rumble, I was puzzled.  What was this strange and unusual sound?  Then I stepped outside and a strange substance hit my face.  It was.... wet?  What in the world?

Could it be?? RAIN?!

Omigoodness!

I danced for a little bit.

What do we have here?

After a few minutes of moderate rainfall, the clouds started parting to the west and the golden sunset came into view.

Yes, we finally got rain.  Sweet precipitation fell from the sky, bringing with it a renewed hope and a many smiles.  Keep in mind, the ten minute shower we got  wasn't enough to catch up on a summer of less than adequate rainfall, but it was still much appreciated.

Best Good Friend

There's an apple pie baking in my oven right now.  That has nothing to do with anything, I was just making a mental note so I don't forget about it while writing this.

Back to my story....

Earlier today I was talking to my best good friend about random things like crop sprayers, apples, Mexican restaurants and red lights.  (Hey, I didn't say we were normal.)  We joked and laughed for a bit about people in Mayberry, a couple of our friends who are tying the knot soon and about the previously mentioned apple pie currently in my oven.

One thing you should know about my BGF is that he isn't from Mayberry.  As a matter of fact, he's from a town about 16 times larger than my hometown, and no, I'm not exaggerating. To be honest, I called him a "City Boy" just yesterday and he got offended.  The town he lives in, unlike Mayberry, has "more than one fast food restaurant and seven red lights."  Then he called me a Yankee.  Go figure.

In all fairness, Mayberry has 5 chain restaurants, including four that I would consider "fast food."  And the city he lives in has TWO movie theaters!  TWO!  To watch a movie in Mayberry you either have to cross a state line either to the North or West, or cross two county lines to the Southeast.  Either way, you have to travel at least an hour to get your fix of theater popcorn and a box of Reese Pieces in stadium seated comfort.  Needless to say, I don't make it to the movies much.  However, there is talk of a cinema being built in a neighboring county to the north, which would only make for a 35 minute trip one way.  Oh, the endless possibilites!

So, back to my BGF.  He's a funny guy.  Hilarious, even. Well, except for when he is making fun of Mayberry and the sometimes backward ways of this town.  Not to give him a big head, but I kinda can't help but laugh and have a good time whenever I'm with him no matter what we seem to be doing.  His personality is infectious and addicting, just like double chocolate cake, except being around him doesn't give me the urge to chug a gallon of milk.

And no, he's really not a city boy.  In fact, he might be a little bit country.  Sure, he hits golf balls into the river, but then he puts on boots and plays in the mud in jacked up trucks.  He doesn't play around on tractors at the farm, but he can drive a stick shift and sing along to Mickey Gilley with the best of em.  But I still worry about him and his lack of enthusiasm for football.  I just can't wrap my head around that one.  For such a rugged and manly kind of guy he just doesn't like football. Strange.

So here's to my BGF.  For always making me laugh, for always answering the phone, and for always being just plain cool.  Oh, and for beating up guys who deserve it.

I'm just kidding on that last one.  Well, unless the opportunity ever arises.

As promised

Scenes from this year's parade through Mayberry.  Better late than never, right?

 

People begin to line the street at least an hour before the parade begins.  Lawn chairs are a necessity and the main intersection in town gets closed to all traffic.

To get it kicked off, the police make their way down Main Street.   I promise they're not looking for me.  And if they are, I was with you on Tuesday night from 9 until 11, ok?

Just kiddin'!  I have to keep you on your toes.

Here's one of the area priests in his fully restored '63 Impala hardtop.

Commandment # 10 says I'm not supposed to covet this.  The fact that it isn't a '64 Super Sport Convertible makes it easier.

And here's the football team!  They stopped right in front of the courthouse to stand up and sing the school song.  They're good kids like that.

But sadly, this is where my camera died and wouldn't come back to life.  It's been temperamental like that lately.  So that means no pictures of tractors and none of the delicious lemon shake up I drank during the parade, either. 

There's always next year.

10-10-10

A lot of people have made a big deal about today's date.

But to me, it's Sunday.  The Sabbath.  The one say a week that moves a little bit slower than the rest, but I'm perfectly ok with that.

"This is the day that The Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Hope you do the same.

Things I should be doing

This morning when I stepped outside I realized something.

It was 45 degrees in Mayberry this morning!

Ya know what that means?  Well, besides the fact that I had to turn on my heated seat on my way to work, it means that fall is rolling in.

Sure, the high today is supposed to get up to 88 degrees, but these morning lows are an absolutely wonderful preview of what's to come in the next couple of months.

Weather like this makes me think of a few things:

1.  Football season is in full swing. My camera needs charged for tonight's game.
2.  I have to close the swimming pool before the lows dip to below freezing.
3.  It's almost deer season so my gun needs sighted in.
4.  The yard needs fertilizer ASAP.  I love nitrogen!
5.  With all that stuff to do what on earth am I doing on the computer?

With that said, I'm going to go get something accomplished now.

 

Or maybe I'll just dream of the view from my deer stand in sweet anticipation of November.

Thought for the Day

This morning I woke with this picture in my head.

 

This is the Angel Oak.

Actually, it's a live oak tree.  The trunk measures 25 feet in circumference so you can imagine how huge it is.

I managed to snap this picture on a family vacation earlier this year and since then, I look at it when I just need a break.

While you may not be able to tell, it's estimated to be one of the oldest things East of the Mississippi River.  If you're ever in South Carolina, go to Johns Island and check it out!

And it's huge.  And Massive.  And breathtaking. 

Just soak that up for a second.

Here's the Deal...

This is my kitchen this morning.

Today is my boss's birthday, so in preparation for the blessed event, I baked last night.

Now this is nothing new or out of the ordinary when I bake, but I last night I was quite busy since I decided to not just make a birthday cake, but rather 3 different batches of chocolatey goodness.

There were red velvet cupcakes.

Delicious chocolate cake.

And last but not least, Oreo balls.

Ok, so I only snagged a picture of one Oreo ball because I couldn't take one quick enough of all of them.  They're good and they go fast.  And they're delicious and sinfully rich.

This is why I love celebrating people's birthdays.

All for a dryer

Mayberry is hopping this weekend.  It's not a sporting event or a big parade or even a festival dedicated to various types of trucks.

Rather, its a yard sale.  Yes, a yard sale.  As a matter of fact, its a 200 mile yard sale that stretches throughout 8 counties here in my neck of the woods.

Personally, I've never been a fan of yard sales but a several friends absolutely go nuts over them.  They're the ones out at 7 am with high expectations of snagging the best bargain and negotiating vendors' prices down to un-recognizable lows.  Then, when they get the price they want for their preferred item they take part in a victory dance of sorts.

But this isn't about yard sale victory dances, although that's an interesting topic.  Instead, lets make it about this:

Yes, that is a dryer.  On a car.  But not just any car, a Mercedes.

I couldn't help but take a picture.  This was just too dadgum hilarious!

If I ever come into possession of a Mercedes, will somebody please keep me from doing this?

Please and Thank You!

Will the Cirlce Be Unbroken

I love country music.

LOVE.

That's a word I don't say much.  Just ask my mother.  Or my sisters.  Or my brother.  Or my preacher.  Or my truck. Wait, don't ask my truck, because he hears it every day.

But country music is deep in my soul.  It's embedded into my brain as the default music genre and I'm perfectly fine with that, considering that I was kicking along to Patsy Cline in the womb. Then last year I got the opportunity to go to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to see the Patsy Cline tribute show with one of my best friends from college.

Yes, she was the awesome friend who trekked to Nashvegas with me, even though she isn't the biggest PC fan.  But we had fun, and saw some of my favorite sights.

Like the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Ryman, of course.

And Tootsie's.  But I love all of Broadway and downtown.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that Nashville is the one city this girl from Mayberry wouldn't mind taking up residence.

Considering the feelings I have for this city, my heart broke earlier this year when I saw this on my tv:

But in every cloud there's a silver lining, and last night I saw it when the curtains came up and Little Jimmy Dickens and Brad Paisley strummed "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."  I got goosebumps.

Have I mentioned that I love country music?