Day twenty-three of our photo journey …
How is it that this child can scrunch up her face at an algebra book while still maintaining the look of a perfect southern belle?
School is back in session. Being the wonderful mother that I am . . .
I have just one thing to say . . .
Yeeeeeeeeeeehaw!
Day twenty-two of our photo journey …
Something about the evening sky always brings me peace.
It is a feeling of closure, or maybe assurance that I have done everything that I can do today, and that I can give it all a rest now.
Tomorrow is a brand-new day.
Day twenty-one of our photo journey …
Narration Provided By: Lady Katherine and Jacko (Chunk)
“She has the camera again. Just don’t look at her. Maybe she’ll go away.”
“Just a minute Katherine. I am trying to steal a kiss from Haley!”
“Jacko! Just turn away from her! Don’t let her see your face!”
“Katherine! I am telling you that I just about got her that time!”
“We aren’t part of their stupid photo journal project! Scrunch up your face and scratch behind your ear. She hates that!”
“Tee hee hee! Tee hee hee! I got her that time!”
“I’m so cool! I told ya I’d get her!”
“Oh crap! She got me, but she can’t make me smile!”
Day twenty of our photo journey …
The sun was coming up for the second day of the Watermelon Carnival before I had even closed my eyes from the day before.
Everything starts out very early with an all you can eat breakfast of pancakes and sausage, along with plenty of hot coffee and orange juice, served up by the Water Valley Lions Club.
As much as Haley loves pancakes, it is a distinct possibility that she considers 6am to be just a little too early for breakfast.
There is an entire row of food vendors to tempt you with sinfully delicious smells all day long. Don’t get too excited about the sign for daiquiris that you see here. Right smack in the middle of the Bible Belt here, they are definitely non-alcoholic drinks!
If you have a hankering for fresh lemonade, you will find the real thing!
The most tempting smell of all though is all the meat on the grills!
If you are wondering how all these people get around in this town during the Watermelon Carnival, well that all kind of depends on where you want to go . . .
If you don’t care where you end up, since you usually find yourself going around in circles anyway, grab a ride on the Boogie Train.
If you want to get downtown though, the shuttle stops here.
If you were thinking in terms of a shuttle bus though, you will find that they do things just a bit different around here.
This big tractor stops here, about every 15 minutes or so, to shuttle everyone to the activies downtown.
This shuttle has what I like to call, built in air conditioning.
Giant watermelons hitch a ride to the gazebo (for the contest) in this little trailer pulled by an all terrain vehicle.
I am now officially tired out from all the excited caused by our 38th annual Watermelon Carnival. Until next year . . .
Day nineteen of our photo journey …
With the temperature hovering in the upper nineties all day, it was definitely a sweaty start to our 38th Annual Watermelon Carnival.
You cannot help but spend the entire day smiling and eating!
Can it be? Is it possible? Is Elvis alive at the Watermelon Carnival?
This scene of a man and his boy watching one of the concerts looked so heartwarming that I had to grab a quick picture of it.
The most valued commodity of the Watermelon Carnival so far has been the tubs of ice hiding under some of the vendors tables.
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Princess Haley and Shona!
The performance of the Derek Stone band out of Tupelo, Mississippi was a hit with everyone! Haley had the band sign the back of her new Derek Stone t-shirt and also bought the band’s outstanding CD.
You can hear their music on the Derek Stone Band MySpace page.
Oh wait! I almost forgot!
You can’t have a watermelon carnival without a ton of watermelons.
This man is very proud of his 122 pound watermelon. Yummy!
Since there is still a few hours left of the street dance tonight, I am headed back there to make sure the kids are staying out of trouble.
If I am busy keeping them out of trouble, I wonder who is going to keep me out of trouble?
Never mind, there is still another full day of this tomorrow. I am more worried if I will survive it all. 
Day eighteen of our photo journey …
Our tiny town is in the middle of a whirlwind of activities as everyone prepares for the 38th annual Watermelon Carnival this weekend.
I wasn’t real eager to get out in the middle of all the masses people and traffic to escape long enough to take a few pictures.
Okay, I realize that with a population of less than 4,000 people, it doesn’t sound like there would be that much of a commotion, but let me tell you, I think every single one of them was on main street today!
As I stood on the edge of the main street park looking at all the activity, I glanced over at the building across the street. Once again, my mind saw things as they may have been 100 years ago.
Doesn’t this picture remind you of a scene that you might see in an old western movie? Do you remember the TV show called Gunsmoke?
For no reason whatsoever, I suddenly find myself wanting to learn more about what this community was like back in the early 1900s.
Just what I need, another project, huh?
Day seventeen of our photo journey …
We are without a doubt right smack in the middle of the dog days of summer here in Mississippi, with our hottest and most sultry days.
Even though the sky was blue today there was a steamy haze everywhere we looked.
The weeds along the fence caught my attention. The flowers were so tiny and so perfect, but it took me about 6 tries to get a clear shot because sweat kept running into my eyes and burning like the dickens.
Yeah, I realize that southern ladies do not sweat, they perspire.
At this point though, my language about the heat wasn’t very ladylike so I figured the moisture running into my eyes was just plain sweat.
It wasn’t long after that, driving around in our old beater without air conditioning, we figured out that if even the cows were soaking in their watering hole, it was time to head back to the house and call it a day.
Day sixteen of our photo journey …
I have always been fascinated by the history behind small towns. When I was walking downtown today, I realized that in my mind, I tend to picture our town in black and white, almost as if I am imagining old time photographs from 100 years ago.
But, when I look up at the top of our town pavilion, I always see the eagle in living color, almost as if it were a United States flag flying proudly in the sky.
Day fifteen of our photo journey …
It was a slow lazy day here in Small Town, USA so we decided to invite you along for our trip to McDonalds.
Trips to McDonald’s are a special treat for us, mostly because we have to drive anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes to get to one.
“I can’t bear to look. Someone PLEASE tell me that Mom isn’t taking pictures in the middle of McDonalds!”
“Mom” can we pleeeeeeease eat the fries now?”
There are more carbohydrates in a supersized order of McDonalds fries than any sane person should consider eating in a month.
But, they are so dang good!
We spent half the meal fussing with each other over which dip is best for fries. Haley likes good old fashioned catsup. My son Nick swears by the Big Mac Sauce. I on the other hand, dip them only in tarter sauce.
Who in their right mind orders healthy stuff in Macdonald’s?
My son’s sweetie (Shona) bypassed all the good stuff on the menu and ordered the fruit, yogurt, and walnuts plate.
Isn’t that unpatriotic, or sacrilegious, or something?
Day fourteen of our photo journey …
As I stood on the front porch today, wondering if the weather would ever clear up long enough to take a few pictures, I looked over and noticed my daughter’s bike. It’s a retro style bicycle, and for some reason it brought back memories of my childhood.
As a child, I would spend hours riding my stingray (with a banana seat) style bike with all the kids in the neighborhood.
All of us had playing cards clipped to the spokes of the tires so we could hear the loud clicking sound it made. Remember that?
We loved pretending they were dirt bikes while we raced through all the trails and jumps we spent months making throughout the woods.
It has been many years now since I have been on a bicycle. They say that you never forget how to ride. Ya think that’s true?
Maybe I will start riding again, just for the heck of it. If nothing else, it might give my daughter a good laugh.
Day thirteen of our photo journey …
There are at least a gazillion ways to get to various hideaways on Enid Lake. Our mission today was to find a new way that we hadn’t tried before. When my kids are involved though, there is always a pretty good chance that means we will embark on an adventure that we won’t soon forget.
Turn left Mom!
No wait a second.
Maybe it was supposed to be right?
It wasn’t long before we found ourselves on a dark curvy road that seemed to get more narrow with every curve. About the time I began to wonder if this road was really going to lead somewhere or if we were setting ourselves up to get stuck in the middle of nowhere without even so much as a cell phone with us, the road in front of us became impassable.
Of course it was way too narrow to even think of turning around.
You can do it Mom! Keep going!
Ummmm… Son?
We’re not in a four wheel drive pickup truck anymore. We’re in a old beater, and I don’t think I can make it through here.
Sure you can!
You can do it!
You can make it! (Everyone now chiming in.)
Of course we got hopelessly stuck when our old beater bottomed out. I just sat there and laughed when Haley mentioned that we really should have turned right.
The kids finally pushed us out of the rut, and then laughed hysterically while I had to go back up that curvy dirt road in reverse for about a mile before we could finally get turned around.
Finally, after a series of disagreements on which left and which right we needed to take, we voted on getting there the old fashioned way, following the signs to the other side of the lake.
Yeah! I think we made it!
Then this drop dead gorgeous guy walked by me, and ummmm…
Well, my photography skills instantly deteriorated.
I think this is a picture of the bathroom door.
I figured I better at least pretend I was taking a picture of something.
Wasn’t there a tree here somewhere?
I have no idea what those things are in the tree. Baby pinecones?
Kids?
What kids?
Oh yeah! Where the heck are the kids?
I remember when I thought it was romantic to take walks like that!
We could be on a deserted island and Haley would find a boy. Way down in the corner, that’s her talking to a boy in the water. I think they were discussing exchanging email addresses right about then.
One last look back at the water before we lose the sun.
Gosh it is pretty!
Does anyone know where that drop dead gorgeous guy went?
Day twelve of our photo journey …
Goodness! Today was filled with a whirlwind of activities and errands so we didn’t have a ton of free time, but we still made a few stops to make sure to keep our commitment of at least one picture a day.
Our first stop was a cotton field …
The flower blooms on a cotton plant are absolutely beautiful.
The first day the flower blooms are a creamy white.
By the third and fourth day the blooms deepens to a deep pink.
No matter how hard I tried, I knew I was going to end up taking a picture of the tall grass before I left the cotton field.
Along the way we had to pass an old bait shop that serves some of the best barbeque sandwiches this side of the Mississippi river.
It turned out to be way too difficult to drive past without stopping for a bite. Yup! That is coleslaw you see on the sandwich. We have a few strange eating habits around these parts of the country.
Hey lady! Do you think we’re stupid? We have all the grass we need right here. How on earth do you plan on coaxing us up to the fence with a handful of grass?
Howdy ladies! I may be just an old cranky mule, but I sure aint too proud to accept a handful of grass when it is offered!
Hey camera lady! I know ya said you already have all the cow pictures you need, but when was the last time you saw a calf as cute as me? How about if I stand real still? Will ya take my picture now? Will ya? Will ya please? Awww… C’mon! Will ya take my picture?
Day eleven of our photo journey …
It was so grey and dreary outside today that my plan was just to take a picture of my favorite coffee mug and call it good.
BUT . . . I knew that there was no way Haley was going to let me get away with that, so I didn’t even bother looking for an excuse.
C’mon Haley! Let’s jump in the car! Let’s see if we can find anything worth taking pictures of. There has to be some color somewhere.
So we cranked up the radio in our old car, and headed out the nearest county road, in search of something, anything . . .
Out near the Cossar State Park, we started seeing color every direction we turned.
It is instinctive for me to head straight to the flowers.
It was as if God had reached down with a giant paintbrush and changed our world from black and white to full living color.
We were so busy looking at everything around us that we almost missed these guys quietly watching us. We sat there for several minutes, afraid to even breathe for fear that they would run away.
It was then we realized that there was one lone deer behind us that they must have been waiting for, so we continued on our way.
I couldn’t help it. I had to take one more flower photo.
The sun was nearly gone when I glanced back at the edge of the stream, and it nearly took my breath away.
In that moment, I realized what my heart has been missing.
I don’t just like to be surrounded by the natural beauty of nature, I thrive on it. Soon it will be time to consider another move – back out to a country setting where I feel most at home.
On the lighter side, we learned a very valuable lesson today. Never, I mean never, even consider drinking a 32 ounce iced coffee drink before heading out for an early evening drive down a long country road.
Day ten of our photo journey …
Relaxing on the park bench, just enjoying the sunshine on my face, I looked up and saw Haley leaning on the edge of the pavilion.
The look of pure peace and tranquility in her eyes made me begin to understand how far our photo journey has brought us.
Day nine of our photo journey …
Have I ever told you that I have a thing about mailboxes? I think maybe they bring back memories of when I was a kid. You know, when people used to mail real letters to you. Yeah, I know, that is too far back for most folks to remember, but as a kid I remember literally running to the mailbox to see if anyone had sent me a letter.
Since I finally put a real mailbox up (not just the one at the post office) I thought maybe I could get away with this being my picture of the day, but the kids had other thoughts, so off to the boat ramp we went.
Haley and Shona (Nick’s Girlfriend) decide to show you that it is day nine of our photo journey, but somehow in the process I got distracted by all the vivid colors surrounding me, and had to take a few pictures.
I love the colors in Mississippi this time of year. Everything is so bright, that at times, it doesn’t even seem real.
Oh wait a sec! I have a new model to frame in my lens, don’t I? Okay, let me stop for a second to grab a picture of Shona when she is staring all dreamy like at my son! I figure if she is still staring at him like that, even though we’ve told her every possible embarrassing story about him, she must be okay.
Ooops! Sorry! I got distracted by all the color around me again. If you put a bunch of shades of green around me, I can’t help myself, I am sure as heck gonna end up taking pictures.
With smiles like these, I think these two girls could probably get away with just about anything, as long as it wasn’t criminal.
Everyone was getting hot and tired, but there was simply no way we could drive by the park and not stop for a quick climb on all the playground equipment.
Yup! Haley is clowning around and making funny faces.
Just another day in my life. Yeah, life is almost normal again, and I am feeling pretty dang good about that.
Day eight of our photo journey …
When we moved, it felt at times as if our lives had been uprooted, right down to the flower bulbs we planted early in the Spring.
For weeks after we transplanted them, the leaves of the flowers looked brown and wilted. We were certain that they would die, but we just didn’t have the heart to dig them back up again.
Day after day I watched for signs of life, but it was really starting to look as if they didn’t survive the move. Over time, I forgot about them.
This evening, sitting in my old rocking chair on the porch . . .
I happened to look over . . .
Imagine my surprise to see that not only had they survived, but they were actually beginning to bloom!
Heck, I don’t even know what this flower is called, but I reckon if this flower can survive, and actually flourish, so can we.
Day seven of our photo journey …
One of my biggest weaknesses is that I tend to have a slight case of tunnel vision. There can be an entire herd of cattle in front of me, but I will see, and focus in on, the one that catches my attention.
You cannot tell me that this isn’t the most adorable face that you have seen in a long time. Look at her! I bet the bulls chase this beauty all over. What do you mean you don’t see how gorgeous she is?
You must be blind!
Okay, if you don’t see what I see, have a closer look at those eyes! I bet she is thinking the same thing about me. Or, maybe she is just wondering when the crazy woman pointing the camera in her face is going to be dumb enough to try to climb across the fence.
Here I go again. There is a huge beautiful field and pond beyond here, but I have always loved old fences, so guess what I can see.
Yup! You guessed it.
I see the fence. Everything else is just an afterthought in the horizon.
Okay, I refuse to take the blame for this picture.
This is about the ugliest dang cow I have ever seen but I am telling you, she absolutely, positively, without a doubt, begged me to take her picture. Since my head was pretty much through the fence by this point, I figured I better go ahead and grant her wish.
I wonder if she would fit in my freezer . . .
Well what do you know? It turns out that if I look even a little bit beyond my own personal focus, sometimes I will find beauty that I didn’t even know was hiding there.
I hung on the fence and watched these beauties for close to an hour just enjoying this simple moment in my life.
Day six of our photo journey …
If you are visiting my blog today with the hopes of finding new incredible pictures, you chose the wrong day to visit.
Do you ever have one of those days where you really don’t feel like doing a dang thing? You know what kind of day I mean.
One of those days where even getting dressed feels like it might be too much effort. The only thing you really want to do is curl up on the couch with a huge mug of coffee and your favorite novel.
That was me today.
Of course about halfway through my day of vegetating on the couch, I suddenly remembered my promise to take at least one photo a day for 30 days and began some serious grumbling.
I have to admit I was truly tempted to take a quick picture of the couch, but I resisted when the dogs started grumbling too.
Okay…
Okay…
Okay…
I needed to go to the post office anyway, so I grabbed my camera while mumbling to myself that there must be something in town that I could take at least ONE picture of.
I figured that as a last resort you were going to be stuck with a picture of a fire hydrant since that was about how artistic I was feeling.
I walked out of the post office feeling just a bit better since somehow there wasn’t even one single bill in the mail. How exciting is that?
So maybe, just maybe I would take ONE more picture, but dang it, there better be something worth looking at right on this same block because that is just about how long I intended to be out there.
Oh yessssss! Right across the street there is this incredible mural on the side of the old dry cleaners. And, with a zoom lens I don’t have to take a single step. Zoom in, click the shutter and I’ve got it!
Yeah, I know I could have taken a few extra moments to at least crop the picture and make it all pretty like for ya, but I wanted you to see that it really is on the side of an old building.
Besides, I am pretty sure I can hear the couch calling my name . . .
Day five of our photo journey …
Just about anywhere you go in our town you can see the steeple of the First Baptist Church. Even at night you can see the lights softly illuminating different parts of the building.
I don’t know why I find comfort in that thought. When I am feeling a little lost, I think perhaps it feels like a reminder to me that God is always there to help me find my way back again, even during the darkest of times.
Day four of our photo journey begins …
Leaving the house with no particular destination in mind, I am not surprised to find myself in the country, wandering near the fields, and then into the woods, to special hideaways that bring me comfort.
There is something about barbed wire that fascinates me. I think it is the thought that I can wrap my heart in barbed wire to keep me safe.
Just a few steps beyond there though, I begin to understand that even with the barbed wire fence, life continues to grow right over the top of it, and actually flourish.
And, if I choose to step out into the sunshine, I find nature handing me a bouquet of beautiful wildflowers.
