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Harvest Time

Hello again, it's me ya'll! Long time no read, huh? Sadly it seems that I've been been a miserable failure at time management, and Blogland has fallen to the back burner so long that I had all but forgotten my password. Even the spam bots seem to have forgotten about little ole Tadpoles and Teacups!

As always, it's been a super-busy summer with a never ending stream of kids, puppies, tomatoes, sunburns, cicadas, 95+ degree temps, and, of course, mountains and mountains of laundry. I love summer and the perfect blend of excitement and laziness that it brings; but when I made my way to the porch this morning to drink my coffee and to watch our hummingbirds, there was a definite crispness in the air, a hint of the fall season right around the corner. It reminded me of how much I love the fall, and harvest, and bright orange pumpkins, and the sound of crunching leaves underfoot, and......schedules.

Thumbs Up!

"Just keep p-wacticing. You will get the hang of it. I know it!"
Wise words. Wise words, indeed.

USA! USA! USA!

“I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Independence ... I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men.”

~Abraham Lincoln, at an impromptu visit to Independence Hall

Irony

Editor's note: Here is another addition to my ongoing, semi-regular "Weird and Wacky (and often humorous) News File." This article kinda sounds like a Seinfeld episode, or maybe the makings of a really bad Bond movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Athens taxi driver reports book missing

Athens Banner-Herald. Published Monday, June 27, 2011

An Athens taxi cab driver reported his book about the Constitution stolen after a man climbed into the driver's seat of his cab as it sat outside of College Park Lakeside Apartments about 4:55 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report.

The driver had been standing outside the cab, arguing with two passengers about how much money they owed when a 6-foot-tall man with a Russian accent climbed into the driver's seat and told the passengers still in the cab that they did not have to pay their bill and that they could leave, police said.

The man then began to jostle the keys and attempt to drive the cab away, the passengers told police. The passengers stopped the man, took the keys from him and returned the keys to the driver. Everyone then paid the driver what they owed, police said.

When the driver returned to the cab, he noticed that his book about the U.S. Constitution was missing. He then reported it stolen to police, who were unable to determine if the man with the Russian accent or one of the passengers was responsible, according to the report.

[In case you're interested, you can read other similar posts here, here, here, here, and here. ~cn]

Summer Time

Summer. It's a time for slower schedules, long walks on a quiet country road, and being able to hit the snooze button more often. It means watching the acrobatic flower dance of a million honey bees and hummingbirds by day, and marveling at the rhythmic lightning bug light show by night. It means listening to the harmonic blends of the neighborhood songbirds and playing children, and also enjoying the nightly orchestra of crickets, whippoorwills, and bullfrogs. It means being thankful for a soft summer breeze to stir the hot sticky air, and occasionally getting soaked by an unexpected pop-up rain shower. It means sunburns and mosquito bites and bee stings and poison ivy, but it also means the cool soothing goodness of aloe and calamine lotion. It means cannonball splashes and swan dives, blackberry picking and tadpole catching, and watermelon eating and corn shucking. It means impromptu fishing trips at a local pond, smelling the pungent sweetness of newly-mowed grass, and enjoying a fresh-off-the-vine tomato sandwich.

It's also a time for lazing on a creaking porch swing, listening to our kids playing music and singing family favorites like Johnny Cash, The Avett Brothers, and songs written by their great-grandfather. It's a time for cherishing family and time spent together. It's a time for remembering the past, savoring the present, and daydreaming about the future.

Summer. I hope it never ends.

Perfection

On the Road. Again.

I love the quiet life of living on a farm way out in the middle of nowhere, and my roots are firmly (trans)planted here in Georgia. However, it seems that the other members of "Nash-ville" are not quite as content with cows and dandelions as I am. Our crew of adventurers is determined to go to as many different faraway places as they possibly can. And apparently they've decided to do it all at roughly the same time. (Translation: instant gray hair for me!) The revolving door of world travelers keeps swinging so frequently that I can barely keep up with it all. Yes, it's why I've been AWOL from blogging; and don't even ask me about my laundry room! Recently we welcomed home one beloved member of our family from Afghanistan for a couple weeks of R and R. Next week, another family member is leaving the nest for three weeks of work at an orphanage in Ecuador. Another kid returns to Georgia the following week, after an extended study abroad adventure in Turkey. And, a few days after that, yet another family member heads off to live in NY. Talk about frequent flyers! Holy moly, me, oh my! My head is spinning. Somebody pass the dramamine, the Miss Clairol, and help me remember my Skype password.

Here's to having family home, even for tiny bits and pieces of time.

Gripping

This is one of my favorite photos of my youngest kid when she was about 5 years old. And today I can kinda relate to the other subject in the photo, our cat Friendly, who is the hapless, semi-willing recipient of this inescapable (albeit loving) vice grip. In a little while I'm off to get my yearly mammogram, or as I like to call it, The Big Squeeze. Yeah, I'm about to get a double order of pancakes with an extra helping of steam roller, and a side dish of jaws of life.

You can read about one of my previous hilarious Big Squeeze adventures here.

Later, y'all.

A Bright Idea

April 2nd is officially World Autism Awareness Day. Its goals are aimed at promoting autism awareness, and shining a light on the disorder as a growing, global issue. The Puzzle Piece symbol reflects the mystery and complexity of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Also, since every puzzle piece is different in some way, a puzzle piece accurately represents the diversity of the individuals affected.

Understanding autism, one blue light at a time.....