Merry Christmas!

And Happy New Year to all!

Happenings At Lowe Mill ::

I plan on dropping in tonight.

Alice In Wonderland ::

brought up-to-date:

A Tom Toles Cartoon ::

Negotiation ::

Does it look familiar?

Veterans Day-2010 ::

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

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.

A Cartoon Panel ::

A panel from a Tom Tomorrow cartoon from the election cycle 10 years ago:



You can see the entire cartoon here.

Sad, but true!

Today Is The Day ::

TO VOTE! Get out there and do it!

Sally Elizabeth Hurt ::

From the Washington bureau of McClatchy:

Sally Elizabeth Hurt was born on Oct. 27, 1901, in rural Alabama. She has always remembered her childhood as a happy one, going barefoot in the summer, picking flowers and making mud pies. Later she graduated from the Tuskegee Institute, worked for decades as a public health nurse, and helped the elderly prepare tax returns until she was nearly 100 years old herself.

Amazingly, the story of Sally's life is still being written. On Wednesday afternoon at the James L. West Alzheimer Center in Fort Worth, her relatives joined staff members and other residents in a lobby decorated with balloons. Sally sat in her wheelchair, frail and drowsy but very much alive. Several times in the past decade, Sally has begun to fail, only to perk right back up.

"Did you know it's your birthday today?" said Kay Sharp, the West Center's director of resident services, as she bent over Sally's chair. "You're 109 years old."

Sally herself didn't seem that impressed, but she was probably the only one at her party who wasn't. There was a big birthday cake that an aide helped Sally eat. Her family gathered around, paging through a photo album that contained a note from President George W. Bush on the occasion of her 100th birthday and photographs going back a century.

Her parents were George and Pleasant Hurt, who lived on an Alabama plantation. Sally, the youngest, followed two older siblings into the woods to pick berries and nuts and carried their books home from school until she was old enough to go herself. By then her father had taught her to read, write and do arithmetic using a slate and chalk.

In 1919, her parents sent Sally to the Tuskegee Institute, where she finished high school and three years of nurse's training. She administered typhoid inoculations after a flood in Arkansas, before returning to Alabama to work as a public health nurse among the rural poor.

"In many of the back rural areas, some of the people had never seen a nurse before," she wrote in the 1940s. "Mid-wives were still being used in large numbers. My objectives were ... to see that all school children were vaccinated against smallpox, typhoid and diphtheria, and to organize home hygiene classes. ... Many of the parents would object to having their children inoculated. But we were able to sell the people the idea that health work was to prevent disease rather than to cure one."

Her work earned her a scholarship to study at Columbia University. In 1936, she began a decades-long career as a public health nurse in Washington, D.C. Though she never married, relatives recall a profound love of children, which inspired her to establish clinics for unwed mothers, supervise school nurses, organize clubs for foster children, and teach Sunday school at her church.

"She always encouraged others to do better, to strive to improve themselves," longtime friend Cassie Cundiff wrote when Sally turned 100. "When she retired, she did private duty in homes and hospitals. There was no limit to her achievements."

Sample Ballot For Nov. 2 ::

The sample ballot for the upcoming election can be found here for all alabama counties!

A New Watering Hole In New Hope ::

I haven't stopped in yet and I'm not sure that it's even open yet, but New Hope certainly needs a small intimate little bar!



[update] I stopped in yesterday to check on opening date and guess what? It's today! I plan to stop in this evening and see what's happening.

It's Cotton Picking Time ::

It looks as if the cotton harvest will be down in Madison County this year just based on what I see in the fields I drive by every day. I was over in Limestone County last weekend and the fields I saw there were much fuller with much larger plants.



Farmers have begun harvesting in the past few days and I'm constantly seeing cotton hauling trucks taking the huge bales to the gins every day. I'm going to try to pick up a pickup truck load of cotton seeds to till into my garden.

Another Ernest Nunley Update ::

I got this comment on a previous post earlier today:

Earnest, with three horses and a rubber tired wagon, spent Sept. 30 thru Oct 3 at Brady Lake Park, in central Texas. This coincided with the "Texas Muzzleloading Rifle Club" Fall Shoot. The club members were welcoming and he received hospitality and company during some beautiful weather. Good luck as Winter appraoches. ALR

From This Morning's Huntsville Times ::

Noted without editorial comment!

A 76-year-old man was severely burned in a Thursday morning home explosion, officials said.

Donald Page suffered external burns to his face and torso as well as internal burns following an explosion in his garage around 7 a.m., said Don Webster, chief operating officer for HEMSI.

Emergency officials said Page was smoking a cigarette while using an oxygen tank when the explosion happened at his home in the 100 block of Alpha Lane.

Page was transported by HEMSI to Huntsville Hospital's trauma services and is expected to be transported to the UAB burn center in Birmingham.

Alabama Football Fans! ::

Photographed a couple of years ago in Gurley, Alabama.

Yard Sale Heaven ::

I was just up in Grant visiting my vet to pick up some pills for my dog and today is yard sale day up there with sales all over the mountain. I should've taken a photograph, but I didn't. If you love yard sales you should head up there! It's also a pretty drive!

Another Ernest Nunley Update ::

I got this just a few minutes ago in comments:

Ernest Nunley is back on the road and made it through Spicewood Texas today on Hwy 71 west headed toward Llano. His one horse wagon has been set up now for two horses to pull it. Pulling his wagon are Shorty and Big John, and of course he still has Snowey. Today is Saturday Sept 18th, 2010.

I didn't know that Ernest was using a wagon now, but that must be easier than just riding Snowey.

Here's a photo of Ernest riding Snowey from when he passed through here a couple of years ago:

Governer's Race Debate ::

I forgot about this debate and came into it about halfway through. From what I can see so far Sparks is winning and is highlighting more positive programs than Bentley.

[update] Unfortunately Sparks seems to have bypassed the grammer classes in school, or at least he didn't learn anything. One thing that really turns me off is bad grammer!

[update] Bentley doesn't believe that the tax code in Alabama is unfair to lower income Alabama residents? WTF!

[update] Yep, Sparks is kicking Bentley's butt on health care.

[update] Closing statements and Sparks was very forceful, but I wonder just how the few who watched this feel about the outcome of the debate. I'll also be interested in seeing how the newspapers write this up tomorrow.

I will head over to the local Democratic Headquarters this weekend and pick up a Sparks for Governor sign!

The Owens Crossroads Volunteer Fire Dept. ::

The great news is that the Owens Crossroads volunteer fire department won the fire engine that was being given away by E-One, a manufacturer and marketer of emergency vehicles.



Here is the complete article about the winning fire department:

CHICAGO, Ill. -- An Alabama chief still struggles to find the words to describe what winning a new fire truck will mean to his community.

"Unbelievable, unreal -- I just can't think of all the adjectives I want to use," a jubilant Owens Cross Roads Fire Chief Dan Kelly said Monday.

Kelly said he and his firefighters are still awestruck that they were the winners of an E-ONE Tradition ES commercial pumper. The announcement was made Friday afternoon at FRI 2010 in Chicago.

The engine replaces a 1968 truck that recently failed a pump test, he explained.

The story about the rural department -- one of several hundred received by E-ONE --included a very personal tidbit along with the need for the replacement engine.

Members wrote about the dedication and devotion of a founding member, the late Robert Murray Maples, who spent a lot of his own money to keep their old engine in service for many years.

"I think we told a very touching, heart-felt story about our assistant chief of 51 years," Kelly said.

When the department was notified in April that it was one of the seven finalists, members were stunned. "I thought it was a joke at first," Kelly said. "I just couldn't believe it."

Knowing they were up against some really tough competition from other needy departments, Kelly said he brainstormed with members about how to get people to vote for them. Their efforts, that included contacting organizations across the country, paid off.

People voted for their favorite department online, and Kelly said his crew is grateful for those who chose their story.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience for our small department," he said. "We can't thank everyone enough."

While the engine was lettered as they watched, Kelly said he was so excited he didn't mention that they got the name of his department wrong. "They've promised to fix it, and add an 'S' to road," he said with a laugh. "I was just so blown away..."

Kelly said he still doesn't know when it will actually be rolling into their little town of 3,400.

E-ONE officials also haven't told them when the firefighters will get training on their new engine that comes with five-inch hose and tools.

Whenever the training is set, Kelly said he and his crew will be ready.

"The friendships I made with the folks from other departments was something else. We were close, and everybody was rooting for everybody. It was just incredible."

Late Monday afternoon, the chief still sounded like a child on Christmas morning. "I'd again just like to thank everybody involved twice or three times again. We still can't believe we're getting a new truck here."

E-ONE CEO Peter Guile said in a prepared statement, "We were again moved by the compelling nature of the stories and the immense need for equipment and apparatus in the fire service. We are very proud to be able to offer another deserving department a new fire truck and would like to thank all those who entered."

My congratulations to the Owens Crossroads fire department and to the entire community which made this possible.

I hope to have some photographs of the new fire truck after it is delivered!

Madison Co. Democratic Headquarters Grand Opening ::

Here's an update on this morning's under publicized event as published in the "Today's Events" section of The Huntsville Times:

Grand opening of Madison County Democratic Headquarters, music, food, speeches and meet and greet candiates, Old Huntsville Times building, 216 Holmes Ave., 10am., ddermody@prodigy.net

It looks like I'm going to be in town at some time during that time period and I hope to have the chance to stop by. Hope to see you there!




Note that this is a cross post and the event is this morning, Sat., September 11 at the address above.