Decorating Cecil Ashburn Drive ::

Seems as though the city of Huntsville is playing Grinch this year regarding the short lived tradition of decorating the trees and bushes along Cecil Ashburn Drive although I did see one tree yesterday that was fully decorated. I loved driving over the mountain during the holiday season enjoying the eclectic decorations and I'm surprised by the vehemence of those who are opposed.

The above photograph was not taken during the Christmas season, but rather in August.

Bad Evening To Be On The Road! ::

Normally every day I come home to New Hope via Hobbs Island Rd. which is a frightening road under most circumstances. This evening I got to my turn onto Oak Grove Rd. and could see all sorts of flashing blue, yellow, and red lights further up Hobbs Island. I got home, picked up J. to take her to work and there was another significant accident at Hobbs Island and Hwy. 431. We got up to the stop light at Owens Crossroads and on the little side road to the right an 18 wheeler was trying to make a turn and his load shifted. They had to bring in a crane and a big wrecker for that. I dropped off J. at work and at the foot of the mountain at Sutton Road I could see more flashing blue, yellow, and red lights. I don't know what was going on there and someone just a few minutes ago told me that there was a motorcycle accident somewhere this side of Monte Sano.

The police will be busy with reports tonight!

This leads me to an editorial comment! I cringe every time I see bicycle riders riding on Hobbs Island Rd. I have been driving this road for years having lived down at Honeycomb a few years ago. I try to drive the speed limit and be careful, but far to many people are impatient and pass where they shouldn't be thinking of passing. Speeding is a huge problem, not to mention the big trucks hauling sand from the river operation. This is just one hugely dangerous road and seeing bicycle riders on this road just scares the crap out of me!

[shaking my head over spam] Looks like even blogger is not immune to spam given the comment down below. My mantra: "There must be a special place in HELL for spammers!"

A Monday Update On Earnest Nunley ::

From my anonymous friend in comments:

EARNEST IS IN EMORY CRAWFORD LONG HOSPITAL ATLANTA GA. DUE TO HAVE OPEN HEART SURGERY MONDAY NOV. 24, POSSIBLE 4 BYPASSES WE HAVE NOT SPOKEN TO EARNEST SINCE SATURDAY. MY HUSBAND SPOKE TO HIS SON SUNDAY NOV. 23 EVERYONE PLEASE KEEP EARNEST IN YOUR PRAYERS.

I just spoke with Craword Long Hospital and Earnest is in room 2107 in the intensive care unit. I will be sending him a card and I would like for a lot of people to do the same. Crawford Long's address is:

Emory Crawford Long Hospital
550 Peachtree St, NE
Atlanta, GA 30308

Iron Bowl 2008 ::

Coming up next Saturday! I was up around Gurley yesterday taking a few photographs and snapped this:

An Update On Earnest Nunley ::

I got this e-mail today:

Anonymous said...

Fred this is a friend of Earnest just to let you know some up dates Earnest is in the hospital Ga possible heart attack my husband spoke to Earnest today friday nov. 21 around noon. please keep Earnest in your prayers

And I am thinking of Earnest and Snowey this evening hoping for the best.

Anonymous poster: Keep updating me on any new news in comments to the posts about Earnest. When you post a comment I get an automated e-mail with your comments and I will continue to update here with any new news!

Oh yeah, here's the original post about Earnest, Snowey, and the quest!

And we're wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Beautiful Night ::

Cold and clear down here at the country mansion in New Hope. The night sky is beautiful and the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour should fly overhead the next 2 nights. I'll post the schedule tomorrow evening, but if you're adventurous you can find it at NASA's Human Spaceflight web site.

Fixin' Some Turnip Greens ::

While running errands this morning I decided I needed some greens to cook this weekend so I went by this little barber shop off Clinton Avenue where the owner always has good fall greens. I got a huge bunch of Turnip greens for $4.50 and they're cooking right now. He didn't have any Mustard greens yet so I'll check back in a couple of weeks. Normally I cook half and half: half Turnip and half Mustard.

If anyone reading this wants to know where to find some good greens at a good price just go north on Clinton to Cemetery Street. Turn right and there is a little barber shop on the right and the owner sells the greens. I've been buying from here for a couple of years and have never been disappointed!

He also has sweet potatoes. I don't particularly like sweet potatoes so I haven't tried his, but I may stop back in next weekend to pick up a couple for a Thanksgiving pie.

As an aside, my birthday is on Thanksgiving day this year. I was born on Thanksgiving day 61 years ago! I think the whole family will be here for dinner and I look forward to seeing all of the grandkids at one time!

Another Of Life's Little Mysteries! ::

Why can I never find a stapler when I need one?

Never mind-I found it, but it's out of staples!

Veterans Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Alabama Football! ::

I'm not much of a football fan, but I'm watching the Alabama/LSU game just went into overtime. I have no clear favorites in the state of Alabama but I will pull for the team which has a credible shot at a national championship which is, right now of course, the Crimson Tide!

[update] Alabama punches it into the endzone to win!

Dinner! ::

Every couple of weeks I stop in G&G Pizza in New Hope for take-out dinner which will last us a couple of days. I did it again tonight and I recommend them highly! I've never been disappointed.



I took this photograph about 3 weeks ago early on one morning when the area had a lot of fog. I liked it!

Vivian Figures Loses Badly ::

Too late out of the gate and no legs on the campaign!

Arab Going To Hell!

Looks like they voted for alcohol sales! That'll drive the bible thumpers mad!

Voting On This Historic Day! ::

J. and I got to our polling place at the New Hope city hall this morning at about 6:45 am and there was already a nice line forming around the building. The poll opened at 7 am and the line moved nicely and we were out by 7:30am. I was very happy to see the turnout that early and I imagine that it evened out during the day. I drove by just about 20 minutes ago and there were still people inside waiting to vote.

I'm looking forward to the returns coming in this evening and, so far, I am encouraged about an Obama victory. I have no illusions about which way Alabama will break, but I sincerely hope that the margins are much narrower than projected.

On my way to work I drove by my old polling place in south Huntsville and the road was lined with cars which meant that the ample parking lot was full.

I am really looking forward to seeing the demographics in Huntsville and surrounding areas.

Election Day ::

In the words of Walt Whitman:

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,

'Twould not be you, Niagara - nor you, ye limitless prairies - nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,

Nor you, Yosemite - nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyserloops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,

Nor Oregon's white cones - nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes - nor Mississippi's stream:

This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name - the still small voice vibrating -America's choosing day...

[quote snagged from DailyKos!]

A New Spam Attack Begins ::

I am just now beginning to see the start of a new spam attack on my g-mail account and before the day is over I will probably have deleted several hundred e-mails. I hope there is a special place in hell for whomever propagates these things!

Voting Tomorrow ::

I'm going in to work late tomorrow so we can vote early tomorrow morning. I don't think there will be any problems with lines at our location, but early morning will work best for me and J. I had hoped to help out at Dem headquarters tomorrow afternoon with giving rides to the polls, but that is looking pretty grim right now. I have a morning meeting and had to accept an afternoon meeting tommorow so that would severely limit any time I have available as I have to get J. to work by 6pm. If the afternoon meeting is canceled I'm going to take the afternoon off and offer my services.

Robocalls ::

Let's see. I got them at work today from Parker Griffith, Wayne Parker, and Bill Clinton. Got them at home today from Griffith, Deborah Bell Paseur, and one that was barely intelligible. I have to say that no matter who they're from they're irritating!

Earnest Nunley-One Fat Cowboy! ::

I was heading toward Huntsville yesterday afternoon when I saw this guy on horseback leading a packhorse. I didn't have time to stop then to ask if I could take a photograph, but on the way back in an hour of so I drove halfway to Guntersville futilely looking for him. I figured that he was on some sort of quest and I was curious.

I had to run to the store this morning and I saw his horse at my neighbor Mike's place. I had to unload some things and by that time he had gotten on the road, but I caught him just before he got to Hwy. 431 and I had a few minutes to talk with him and take a few photographs.



His name is Earnest Nunley and he is riding his horse, Snowey, to San Francisco. Here, in his own words, are his reasons for making the trip:

Hi!!
I 'm One Fat Cowboy (Ernest Nunley) and this is my horse Snowey.

I am traveling across America by horseback.
Please, keep the children for whom I am riding,
Snowey and myself in your prayers.
We have alot of rough miles ahead of us.
After completing 400 miles of our journey,
we have 3100 miles left to go.
Just me and my horse against the elements,
with no comforts of home.

Hopefully, this trip will accomplish several goals:

*Bring awareness that there are still way too many children
suffering from Catastrophic diseases and cancer,
as did four of my family members,
whom did not live to adulthood.

*Not all children that need help are physically
or mentally ill, but have parents that are too self involved.

*That you are the one who can make a difference,
by the donation of your time and/or money,
to the different charities, organizations or churches
that provide services for these children.

*To honor the memory of all the children who have succumbed
to childhood cancer and other illnesses like my family members.

As for me personally, it will give me a chance to meet people
and talk about my favorite subjects. Those subjects being
children and horses. It will, also, reunite me with my brother in
California that I have not seen in 17 years.
I will, also, join the ranks of a very few, in recent times,
that have ridden horseback from coast to coast.

The only way I can accomplish this is
with God's help through you.
Any donations, horse food, use of pasture,
food, board, cash, etc. will be appreciated!

I am not affiliated with any charity or group
so anything you give is strictly to help Snowey and Myself
complete this Quest.

Earnest has a web site, onefatcowboy.com, where you can make a donation to help him on his trip. Consider tossing him a few bucks to help him out on his journey!



[postscript]

I meant to also say that Earnest was getting ready to head south on Hwy 431 toward Guntersville, Albertville, and points south, but he always needs a place to stay and to stable and feed his horses. If you see him on the road and can offer a night at your inn please do so!

"Don't Speak For Me, Sarah Palin" ::

Q & A With Josh Segall ::

Over at The American Prospect.