A Big Christmas

Well, it has been a big Christmas here at the Swann home. We’ve had lots of fun. It has been nice for me to pretty much step away from a computer for a week.

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS ROUTINE. Our schedule this year was pretty much the same as past years. I did not report this last time but Pauline had us all over to her house for lunch after church Sunday where we exchanged a few gifts. That night Kenny and Lori held their annual community Christmas party. Vicki was making Oreo truffles (recipe below) for this occasion as I was sending out the previous edition to this newsletter. That’s when I heard her start cackling from the kitchen. Vicki was at the point where she had rolled all the truffle centers into balls and was about to coat them with chocolate and almond bark when Nate came in. While this is a bit gross the truffles at this point could pass for small deer droppings which is probably what made Nate ask if Vicki was making poop.

Monday was a pretty slow day. Vicki and Jenna did a little shopping that afternoon and we went to the Christmas Eve service at church that evening.

The Christmas day excitement began around 7:00 at our house. We tore into our presents and the kids got a little time to play before we had to get ready to go to Mrs. Connie’s for breakfast. We enjoyed a great meal and visiting with cousins for a few hours. That night we had supper over at Aunt Mar’s house. The following day we went to Opry Mills mall where we met up with Jonathan and Sheila Leach and their girls and let the kids spend some of their Christmas money.

CHRISTMAS LOOT. The kids got a lot of neat stuff this year. The big ticket item was a basketball goal. I set it up over at Pauline’s since she has a concrete drive. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the best of weather for trying it out.

Earlier this year the kids had saved and purchased their own Nintendo Game Cube and there were a couple of presents under the tree related to their video game system. However, this did not deter Ben from asking for a Wii in his letter to Santa that was published in the Robertson County Times. For those of you who are out of the video gaming loop the Wii (pronounced ‘we’) is Nintendo’s successor to the Game Cube. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know this. Mom called up after seeing Ben’s letter in the paper and asked why Ben wanted a will for Christmas. Wii or no, the Game Cube is still popular with our brood and they take good care of it. The other day Nate spotted a kink in one of the cables and bent down to straighten it out. As he stood back up he explained to me the he needed to do this so the power wouldn’t go all twizzley.

LOSS OF WORDS. Ben is at that stage where he is growing so fast it is hard to keep him in pants. The good thing is that Pauline is handy with a needle and thread and can alter clothes. The other day Ben needed some pants and all his pants were dirty. That’s when Vicki remembered she had sent a pair over to her mom to be fixed up and she sent Nate over to get them. Pauline laughs as she tells it because Nate had a hard time thinking of how to ask for what he needed. He burst in the door, out of breath from running, and says, “I need...Benton’s...long sleeve pants!”

Happy New Year!

Joe

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OREO “POOP” TRUFFLES

Crush one package of Oreo cookies in a food processor.

Mix in one bar of softened cream cheese.

Add one teaspoon of vanilla.

Roll into balls. Refrigerate or freeze if desired before coating.

Coat with melted chocolate or almond bark.

Refrigerate when hardened.

Merry Christmas!

I knew it had been a while but I was surprised to see I am two weeks behind. School is out for the holidays and the kids are glad to be home. Nate, most of all, is glad to have his brother and best friend home to play with him all day. And so we find ourselves on the final approach to Christmas.

CHOIR MUSICAL. Last Saturday night and Sunday morning the church choir performed a Christmas musical titled Experience Something New This Christmas. The musical told the Christmas story from the point of view of the Biblical character Simeon.

Everyone did a superb job with their acting and singing—including the children’s choirs. The set looked great and all who were on stage were in First Century costume which made the performance all the more powerful. (I was the only one in the family in modern day dress.)

OTHER HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS. We have not had any lack of other Christmas activities in the last two weeks. Several Sunday school classes got together for a combined party last weekend. Rather than play “Dirty Santa” we auctioned off our Christmas gifts with play money. The first grade class had the PTO program this month so Ben was among those singing Christmas songs at school Tuesday before last. The Cub Scouts had their pack meeting/Christmas party Monday night. The Mother’s Day Out program had a Christmas program of their own Wednesday which Nate was part of. Vicki had a YMCA party, and my office had two events, a pot luck lunch last week and a breakfast Tuesday. Whew!

GOLLUM? We all went over to Pauline’s for lunch today. After eating we took care of our present exchange with her. Pauline included a small bag of quarters in her gifts to each of the kids. Nate opened his and was so thrilled he held the bag of coins to his chest and unabashedly shouted, “My precious! My precious money!” over and over again. We were all in shock for a moment before cracking up. I don’t know where it came from but it was a great impression of Tolkien’s character Sméagol from The Lord of the Rings coming from a four year old.

HEALING. I reported a month ago that Jake, our dog, was hit by a car breaking a leg and possible his pelvis. I am happy to report that he is recovering nicely and even felt good enough to shred our newspaper this morning. He still favors his back legs some but is right with any of us whenever we walk to Pauline’s house.

Jake is pretty vocal about his affection. Sometimes when I come out the door in the morning or come home from work he is so excited he barks. Then I bark back and we start this whole conversation. I have no idea what we talk about, but he seems to enjoy it and if I rub behind his ears so much the better.

Vicki is convinced he really spoke to her. She and Jenna were coming in from basketball practice last week and Jake was right there to greet them. Vicki bent down to talk to him in a voice sort of like one she’d use to talk to a baby. In her discourse she kept repeating the question, “Who’s the best do in the whole wide world?” She then said, “Say me!” Jake, who had remained silent up till now, immediately mimmicked her with and extended, “Meeee!” Vicki and Jenna were wide-eyed and tickled with the conversation.

A CHRISTMAS CARD MOMENT. We never could get this on the video camera but what the kids have done this year will live in our memory for years to come. Jenna has been taking piano lessons for about a year and a half now and her repertoire includes several Christmas carols and songs. What is so precious is that Jenna will be practicing (Up on the Housetop seems to be a favorite) and Ben or Nate will come over to the piano and begin to sing. It is both comical and sweet. Jenna can’t quite keep up with them as they sing but they all have a good time singing together anyway.

So with this picture in mind I will close hoping you have a very merry Christmas.

Joe

Two Answered Prayers!

We’ve had really pretty weather all last week. It’s just been cold, at least compared to the temperatures last weekend and this weekend. Ben has been fighting a cold all week.

TWO ANSWERED PRAYERS! God is good! Here are two things we have requested prayer for in the past that you now can join us in thanking Him for a positive answer. First, back in March we asked you to pray for Brent and Cindy Roycroft in the adoption of their son Ty. As of Monday the Roycrofts got the papers making the adoption final!

By the way, looking back I think I failed to report this: Brent used to be the Minister of Music at our church but he left for a similar position at Calvary Baptist Church in Murfreesboro. Their last day with us was actually the same day Mom was recognized for her retirement. Brent and Cindy, you have no idea how much we miss you!

The other answered prayer is Elizabeth Graves. This was the girl who had the brain hemorrhage back in early September. She and her mother, Michelle, have come home from rehab in Atlanta. She still has a lot of therapy in front of her, but it’s all stuff she can do at home now. Elizabeth even went back to East Robertson to visit her classmates Monday. Vicki saw her briefly and said she looked like she was doing really well.

BASKETBALL SEASON. Jenna and Ben are playing Upward Basketball again this year. Their first game isn’t until January but practice began last week. They both practice on Tuesday night: Ben at 7:00 and Jenna at 8:00. This is because Jenna has moved up to full court ball and it sure makes for a late evening for them.

SPELLING BEE. Jenna competed in her class spelling bee this year. The first and second place winners get to represent their class in the school-wide spelling bee on Thursday. She wound up being third in her class which makes her the alternate if one of the other two kids can’t compete. I think Jenna was disappointed she didn’t make first or second place. She made the comment that she hoped one of the other two kids get sick Thursday. Then feeling a bit guilty she quickly added, “but that they’ll be okay.”

WAKING UP A NIGHT OWL. Vicki is not a morning person. Saturday morning she planned to go to breakfast with several ladies from church so she asked me to make sure she was up by 6:40. By 6:42 I was really trying hard to wake her so she would not be late. I knew I finally had her attention when she exclaimed, “Quit shouting at me! I’m just now aware that I’m awake.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKI. Vicki celebrated her birthday today. Pauline had us all over for dinner yesterday and then we went out to eat tonight (between piano lessons and Cub Scouts). I think the best thing that happened to her today was right as the kids were going to bed. We had actually sent the boys to bed and Jenna was still up talking to Vicki. Right in the middle of their chit-chat she stopped and said to her mother, “I could just talk to you all night.” Vicki knew from the expression on Jenna’s face, the twinkle in her eyes and the tone of her voice that she meant every word.

GROWING PAINS. I’ve had to make a change. If you are really observant you have already noticed a new URL to our family web site above. Why? In a word: dial-up. I was really happy with what I had done and the site was getting close to what I had envisioned. However, behind the scenes the site was already over 200 pages and when you change links on one page that has a huge ripple effect. Making small changes sometimes meant uploading dozens of pages to keep from breaking links and the integrity of the site. Doing that on a 48 Kb connection from home is awful and taking the site on my laptop to somewhere with a faster connection is getting old. And all this isn’t even thinking about the more public side of the Cygnus Chronicles site and what I want to do with it.

Following the example of two friends of ours I created an account on Blogger and set up a blog of our own. This will be the new home for our family site. You can find it at swannfamilynews.blogspot.com. It isn’t exactly what I had in mind but I can log in, paste in a new post and log out within a couple of minutes.

Our pictures are the next project to tackle. These will have to be uploaded away from home of course. Again, following the advice of friends, I have created an account on Shutterfly. I don’t have anything up yet but when I do you can find the images at swannfamilypictures.shutterfly.com (there is a link to this from our blog).

I’ll save the upcoming change of email address for another time and stop here before I confuse anyone any further.

Joe

Rolling into December

You know, a week can get away from you before you turn around good, especially this time of year. I don’t think we’ve had but two evenings at home since I last wrote. If we can just survive three more weeks until school is out I think we’ll be able to make it the rest of the way through the holiday season.

On a sort of sad note, one thing that has been on my mind lately is that today marks the 40th anniversary of Dad’s death.

A GREAT THANKSGIVING. We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Will, Darice and their kids came on Thursday after spending the first part of the week in Mississippi visiting other relatives. Pauline and Vicki had all the food prepared and we all (Mom and Aunt Mar included) sat down to a wonderful meal around 6:00.

The visit was pretty typical, their boys slept at our house so all the adults (except me) could play some late night Scrabble. Friday the kids spent a lot of time playing the Game Cube and Vicki and Darice went Christmas shopping. The only damper on the whole visit was that Pauline began feeling ill Friday afternoon and Vicki took her to the hospital. By the next day she was feeling better though.Then the Jones family left and we got down to the business of decorating for Christmas. The whole visit was just so fast!

Saturday night the Yerglers stopped by for a quick visit on their way back home from spending Thanksgiving with family in Michigan.

SCOUTING. I have mentioned before that Ben has become a Cub Scout. His den meets weekly and the whole pack meets at the end of every month. He was awarded his Bobcat patch at the October pack meeting. This last pack meeting he received several beads that show his progress toward his Tiger patch. We haven’t been to the Scout store to buy his uniform yet so he has been wearing my old one, which looks band new. You can tell the style has changed a bit but it fits and gets the job done for now. It has been neat to see him wear it and participate in the Scouting activities.

CHRISTMAS PARADE. Cross Plains had their annual Christmas Parade yesterday. Since Ben is a Scout we were part of the parade this year. All the Tiger Cubs piled into my truck and chunked candy at the poor innocent spectators. We ran out of candy WAY before we got to the end of the route. I had to laugh about using my truck. I bought it exactly 13 years ago today and it now has 176,000 miles on it (and sporting a band new alternator under the hood!). They put us right behind the antique cars, so I guess I made a good segue between the old and the new.

I have joked a little about the Cross Plains parade in years past. I can’t do that this year. It was a nice long parade for a small town and I was surprised at the number of people who had turned out to see it. I think the parade was actually longer than Cross Plains itself! It has grown a lot from its humble beginnings.

CHRISTMAS SHORTS. One thing that has monopolized our schedule this week has been the Children’s Choir musical titled Christmas Shorts. We spent last Sunday afternoon helping to put up the set on the stage at church and they had rehearsals Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. They had performances last night and this morning. I must say all the kids did really well. I was impressed will all the talent we have.

I was also a very proud father. Jenna was selected to sing with a small group of girls for one song, sang a solo part on another song, and played the character “Burna Wick.” Ben was a “Gift Rapper.” He rapped a few lines and sang when the whole choir was singing. There was also three or four numbers that involved the Preschool Choir so Nate was on stage some too. Did I say I was a proud daddy?

Vicki was one of the stage managers. Backstage can be crazy when your getting 28 kids into three costume changes and cueing them for stage entrances. (Thankfully the preschoolers sat on the front pews.) She had a blast. Everyone is looking forward to the next musical while the lady who directed this one and the previous one is just glad the show is over.

Joe 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have enjoyed mild weather until today when the rain moved in. Many farmers have been scrambling to get their tobacco down while it’s in order (not dry and brittle). And for those who had any luck with soybeans they have been working to get those in before the fields get too muddy. Will Ed Osborne, reflecting on the drought, commented to me that it’s pretty sad when you can fit all the beans on the farm in the combine without having to unload it even once. (In a normal year the crop would produce many truck loads of beans.)

TURKEY X 3 AND THEN SOME. I reported last time that we had several Thanksgiving activities lined up for last week. On Wednesday we went to lunch at church where Nate goes to Mom’s Day Out and enjoyed a big meal there. This is Nate’s last you in this program as he will be in kindergarten next year.

Thursday night Mom and I went to the Cross Plains Heritage Commission’s annual covered dish meeting. Funny thing was that only one person brought dessert. This means that everyone will remember this year’s menu next year and all we’ll have a plethora of sweets next year. Gene Davidson, our former State Representative, spoke and sang for our program. He was really interesting.

East Robertson Elementary had their Thanksgiving dinner Friday. I had been saving a work order for a teacher out there so I could eat lunch with the kids. Their cafeteria ladies put on a great meal.

Saturday Bill Letsinger brought Aunt Sarah, Alec and Kate up for a brief visit. (Bill’s wife, Jen, had gone to South Carolina in preparation for a surprise birthday celebration for her mother. Bill and his family live in Georgia and Aunt Sarah lives in Alabama.) We all went out to eat at Cracker Barrel for lunch. We were joined by Hancock relatives from this branch of the family that live locally: Aunt Sue, her sons Neil and Mark, Mark’s wife Debbie, and their son Tracey. The only bad thing was that the visit was so quick. Since the Letsingers were not spending the night up here they didn’t have a lot of time to spend and had to leave.

Sunday night was our annual Community Thanksgiving service. This year it was held at our church. This service has traditionally been followed by a finger food fellowship. For some reason the participating pastors planning the service this year decided not to do the fellowship. I am hoping this isn’t a trend.

INSIDE JOKE. Sunday morning before church Vicki was ironing clothes in the kitchen while Jenna was eating breakfast. In their conversation Jenna expressed her astonishment of how quickly Christmas is approaching. Vicki who is beginning to feel the pressure of getting ready for the holidays jokingly exclaimed, “I’m going to smack the next person who mentions Christmas!”

Well, the next person to mention Christmas was Bro. Bill in the morning worship service as he was announcing all the upcoming Christmas activities. That’s when Vicki, sitting in the choir, locks eyes with her daughter in the congregation. Jenna is holding her hand over her mouth as her body convulses with stifled laughter. After the service Vicki, who tries to be a woman of her word, grabbed Jenna and found Bro. Bill. After she smacked him on the arm she filled him in on the rest of the story.

A THANKFUL REPORT. Jenna came home from school yesterday with a folder full of Thanksgiving activities. Part of this assignment included telling about all the things she is thankful for. To summarize her list included Aunt Mar (she elaborated to imply how glad she is to still have time with Aunt Mar who is 92 years old), her teacher and classmates, remote controls for the TV and DVD player, the Game Cube, and our dog. While the rest of the family didn’t make the list we were included in a very nice drawing with everyone holding hands around a table with a turkey on it. The scene included Uncle Will, Aunt Darice and the cousins as they are due to arrive tomorrow to celebrate the holiday with us.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. That’s what Jake, our dog, is today. Monday we came home and found him sitting by the mailbox. He would not get up. He was obviously hit by a car which broke his right femur and possibly his pelvis. Jake spent the last two nights with the vet and came home today. Right now he cannot stand on his back legs but there is hope of a full recovery as long as no internal organs are ruptured. He is to have complete “cage rest” for eight weeks.

Joe

The Pause before the Holidays

Boy, time sure is flying by! Halloween is behind us, Thanksgiving is next week, and all the stores are decorating for Christmas. We even have several Thanksgiving activities lined up for this week. Here comes the holiday rush....

HURTING FOR NEIGHBORS. The big community news around here happened Thursday night when Don and Betty Kate Henry’s chicken house burned down. It was a total loss. I guess I should explain why I am reporting this.

The Henrys are neighbors of ours. I have known them all my life. They live across the field in front of Aunt Mar’s house. The building I am referring to stood right behind their house. It was originally 30’ x 160’ and when they raised chickens housed about 8000 fowl. I remember going over there to help pick up eggs on occasion as a kid. In the late 1970s they sold their chickens and eventually started their peach/blackberry orchard. The empty chicken house became a shop for the farm, a place to strip tobacco and a front end for their orchard business. Mrs. Katie is a very creative decorator and put her talents into fixing up the place. After many years of improvements the “chicken house” featured a full working kitchen and a place to serve many guests which allowed them to operate a catering business during the off season. They had also built a nice guest room and an apartment for some of their unmarried immigrant labor. While the Henrys didn’t sleep there they actually spent about as much time there as they did in their house. We have fond memories of fun times there, as recently as Halloween night. But we’ve also had family dinners there over the years.

No one knows how the fire started but it was a full blown inferno by the time the Henrys were alerted to it. When the fire departments from Cross Plains, Orlinda, and White House got there the best they could do was protect the surrounding buildings. The worst injury I’ve heard about were some minor burns on one fellow’s arm as he was taking a shower and barely escaped the fire. Mrs. Katie had put a lot of herself into that building and I know the loss is especially tough for her.

MY BIG SCARE. The night of the fire a neighbor that lives behind Aunt Mar called and said she heard noises that sounded like they could be gunfire coming from Aunt Mar’s house. She also told us she heard their alarm system’s siren and saw a strange car in their driveway. Fearing they were in terrible danger I headed out. When I got outside I saw the fire lighting up the sky. The Henry’s chicken house is in line with Aunt Mar’s house from here and not knowing anything else my stomach sank as I then guessed the fire was Aunt Mar’s house. I was soon relieved but that sure was a scary moment. It turns out that the neighbor who called can’t see the Henry’s place from her house due to a stand of trees so it was impossible for her to understand the context of what she saw and heard (fuel explosions in the fire, sirens from the emergency equipment and curious neighbors turning around in Aunt Mar’s drive).

FINDING THE MISSING CREW. I had a really nice thing happen this weekend. As you know I have been very interested in learning about Dad’s service in World War II. For many years we’ve only known the whereabouts of nine of the eleven members of Dad’s crew. Several of us have searched for Irwin Moskowitz (bombardier) and Achilles Stathas (tail gunner) but with no luck. I recently discovered a web site devoted to preserving B-29 history (http://www.b-29.org) and signed up to be part of the discussion group there. I posted a query on these two names and within 24 hours someone replied with several potential addresses and phone numbers. This person happened to be correct on both counts and I got to talk to both men on the phone. It has been so nice for me to make these connections. Today I put out a query about finding the Star Duster’s ground crew. I have less info to go on there so it remains to be seen how that will pan out.

TELLING ON JENNA. Being an only child myself, the dynamics of a family with three children is always an adventure for me. I’ve always known that bossiness can be a trait of the first born and from our end of things Jenna exhibits this some. We have always accused Jenna of being a “little momma” over the years. This morning we were running pretty tight in getting out the door for the bus mainly because Ben was moving in granny gear and no amount of admonishment by Vicki was doing any good. Seeing this Jenna jumped in and starting nagging her brother to move faster as well. This made Vicki turn to Jenna and say, “Benton already has a Mother and I’m on the case.” Vicki was right in correcting Jenna but it sure took the wind out of her sails.

Ad then there was the conversation at supper tonight. Somehow we got on the topic of girls taking the last name of their husband when they get married. Vicki, in her explanation to Ben, used Jenna as an example with the last name of various boys in her class at school. She turned enough shades of red to give a chameleon a headache.

Joe

Halloween Fun

Can it be November already? Bill Chatman has been sowing wheat. We went trick-or-treating Wednesday night. So all the evidence points to the fact that it’s now November. Wow, Thanksgiving is two and a half weeks away!

We’ve had a lot happening around here, but the highlight of the week for us was Halloween night. Since becoming a father I have always struggled to keep a positive attitude on Halloween. It’s not that I get all hung up on whether or not we should have Halloween activities, I’m all for that, just save the Reese’s Cups for me as my chauffeur’s fee. What gets me is fooling with the buckling in and out of car seats for the 20+ stops when the kids were smaller and wearing bulky costumes.

Living out in the country you just can’t walk door-to-door to do your trick-or-treating. One of my fondest memories as a boy came courtesy of Mr. Kenneth Swann, Kenny’s dad. He would load all of us up in the bed his ‘72 GMC truck, the one we named Old Jessie Mae, and haul us all over the community. It was a truck full of Swanns, Freelands, Henrys and anyone else that would fit. I would not be surprised if we traveled 15 miles making candy stops. And a number of folks, not worried about the quantity of spooks that would be coming to call at their door, went for quality. A large part of our loot was actually homemade stuff, and we weren’t worried about it because we knew all the cooks. These days you’d probably be put under the jail for hauling all those kids around in the back of a truck like that. And a bag of brownies or cookies would be tossed without a second thought.

Well, this year has to be the best year for trick-or-treating we’ve had as far as I’m concerned. Jenna dressed as a medieval princess. We teased her about being a mid-level princess. Ben donned Superman’s cape. He attempted, but failed to leap a building in a single bound. Nate was Spiderman and was very impressed with his bulky muscles. Vicki and I went as ourselves.

Orlinda Baptist Church had their second annual Trunk-or-Treat and we started there. If you aren’t familiar with the concept it works like this: members of their church dress up and decorate their cars and all assemble at the church parking lot. Then all the trick-or-treaters come to them there. Their pastor and his wife dressed up as a nun and a priest, respectively. Another group came as the castaways of Gilligan’s Island. And then we ran into Santa and Mrs. Claus and some elves.

After leaving Orlinda we stopped by Steve and Connie Freeland’s to get some pictures around their pumpkins and then headed to Don and Katie Henry’s. They had invited several neighbors over for supper and we had a great time slowing down for a visit. We even had a costume contest for the kids who were dressed up.

The final stop of the evening was our church where we were having our own Trunk-or-Treat. This was our first one and we were impressed with the turn out. We had over 40 cars there who had come to give out candy and no telling how many kids came to do their trick-or-treating. Mrs. Judy DePriest (she cuts our hair) said she left after her 250 bags of candy were gone.

What amazed us was the creativity! Bro. Bill and Cindy were George and Martha Washington. Another couple came as Johnny Cash and Little Jimmie Dickens. One family even brought a horse trailer made up as a one room haunted house. There was simply too much variety to recount here, but I’d have to say Kenny was the most memorable. He came a Madam Kendra, the fortune teller (“she” predicted Jenna would have 16 husbands, including Tom Cruise and Donald Trump, and 35 children). If you didn’t want your fortune told she also ran a kissing booth on the side. And this was a last minute idea! If laughing is good for your health then everyone had a good dose of medicine Wednesday night.

Joe

Feeling Like Fall

Here it is the end of October. The heat and drought of the summer seems so far away now that the days are cooler. It rained most of last week, enough to make a dent in the rainfall deficit for the year. It still amazes me how quickly the ground soaks up the water. Normally when the fall rains start we don’t dare drive across the yard to Pauline’s. Even with several inches of rain the ground has been solid enough not to worry about miring up.

LISTENING TO A HERO. This year East Robertson High School offered Military History as an elective course. Their assistant principal and I had talked about the class, and I told him about Mr. Krantz. The school invited him to speak to a couple of classes on Tuesday. His wife, Vicki, and Mom joined us for lunch before he spoke. He had never before talked to high school students, but I believe he captivated his audience. I have heard pieces of his story, but I had never heard everything from start to finish in one sitting.  What is sad to me is that my kids will probably never hear first-hand accounts from him or other World War II vets.  By the time they’re old enough to appreciate the sacrifices and heroism the opportunity will be gone. 

TOO BAD IT WASN’T APRIL 1. My mom is one of those women who has a standing weekly appointment with the hair dresser. Every so often she’ll tell us some “interesting tip” she has read in a magazine while sitting under the hair dryer. Thursday she read that insufficient iron might contribute to thinning hair.

Now at the age of 41, I do not have a serious balding problem, but I am thinner at the crown of my head than I was 20 years ago. (Now gray hair is a whole other issue but mixed with red I just look kind of blonde now.) With this in mind, Mom called the house. Vicki happened to answer and in their conversation she mentioned this and suggested that I get some iron pills and pop one every so often.(She said a daily dose might be too much.) If you are reading this in stunned disbelief then you are having the same reaction Vicki and I did.

Knowing we really didn’t need to let this one go without getting a little mileage on it, I called Kenny (whose hair is much thinner than mine). I told him what Mom had said and suggested he do whatever he imagined with it. Well, he played it to the hilt and called Mom, groaning as if he was feeling terrible. He said to her he had heard that iron was a cure for balding and that he had licked an iron bar all day and now his stomach was hurting. He wondered if she had anything he could take for it. Mom immediately (after she and Aunt Mar had lifted him up in prayer) called us telling all about Kenny, even wondering if he had lead poisoning now, and frantic to tell me not to get any iron pills as they could make me sick. Never suspecting anything between us and Kenny, she had fallen for it hook, line and (iron) sinker. We have been laughing about this all weekend.

In the interest of trying to keep the score even, I must admit that this morning as I was getting dressed for church I absent-mindedly clipped my ID badge from work on my belt. I wore it around church for quite a while. Kenny (of all people) was the one who called my attention to it.

A GOOD LAUGH AT WORK. I have said before that I am blessed to work with the people I do, people I think of as friends. While we take our jobs seriously we don’t take ourselves that way. Our new office situation, while nice to have a place to call home, is not ideal. For example, the only route to one of the bathrooms is through my office. Because this is the only facility on that end of the building we have labeled it for both genders with a sign that reads “Knock First.”

Jeff, the biggest cut up of the crew, makes a big production of knocking when he needs to answer nature’s call. One day I was at my desk watching the show and as he opened the door I screamed to make him think someone was inside which startled him. It has become a running joke.

We have a new colleague, Nicole, who started with us right after Fall Break. Sherri was giving her the tour of the office. I happened to be in the bathroom as she was showing her where the facility was located. I could hear her approaching the door telling about knocking first and the joke Jeff and I have started, even mimicking my scream. That’s when she opened the door WITHOUT KNOCKING and I screamed from inside. The sound of them squealing and their feet scurrying away was humorous. Their faces which were still red when I came out.

FASHION SENSE. Vicki and Jenna went shopping yesterday. Vicki bought Jenna some new shoes. Showing the shoes to the rest of us when she got home she told her brothers, “These are fashion shoes.” Perplexed Nate observed, “But they don’t light up.”

Joe

R and R

We are having some of the most pleasant days now. It is very comfortable being outside. The leaves are also starting to turn.

TIME OFF. We have been on Fall Break this week and it has been so nice just to spend time at home. I started off the break attending the Middle Tennessee Men’s Conference in Springfield. It was hosted by an area church and was really good. There were over 300 attending.

We got to a few of those things we never seem to have time to get to in the normal routine. We also went to visit Aunt Helen who has recently been in the hospital with a crushed shoulder. She is now at a nursing home in Hendersonville.

DREAM FULFILLED. I reported back in July that the kids had decided to save their money for a video game system. Last week they reached their goal and we went to the store and bought a used Nintindo Game Cube along with four games including Monkey Ball and the Lego version of Star Wars. They have had the best time playing together. I came into the living room one time and the boys were standing there with controllers in hand. They were so absorbed in the action that whatever direction they moved their player on the screen they also moved their bodies that direction and even held the controller out as far as their arms could reach.

A NICE VISIT. Last year the Yerglers, my cousins that used to live in New Jersey, moved to Marietta, Georgia. On Thursday morning we packed up and headed south for a quick visit. Daryle and Ann Beth have a beautiful home. We had a great time while we were there. Ann Beth found her daughters’ old train set which won Nate over from the moment he saw it (the wooden type with the magnetic couplers). They also have a ping pong table in the basement which got a good work out.

Friday we went to Stone Mountain (just us, as was is near a tax deadline for Daryle’s accounting firm and Emily had school). Vicki and I had been to Stone Mountain before but the little amusement park was new to us. The kids enjoyed an interactive treehouse, obstacle course and barn with fun activities. We took in a science show and a train ride as well. We also took the cable car to the top of the mountain for a spectacular view of the surrounding area. That night the Yerglers joined us for a late dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. We came home Saturday.

PROUD OF MY GIRLS. Back in the summer Sharon Robinson suggested to Vicki and Jenna that they sing a duet at church as she accompanied them on her harp. That came to be Sunday as they sang a medley of As the Deer and You Are My Hiding Place. They sang in both services and did a great job. I was a proud husband/father.

Joe

The Cygnus Chronicles Are Born

I did not mean to wait so long to write, but I’ve had something in mind for the 200th issue and my schedule has prevented my plans from coming together as quickly as I wanted. And I must confess that when I’ve had an evening at home I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ The War. At any rate, here we are with a huge milestone for me and our family newsletter.

THE CYGNUS CHRONICLES. It is hard to believe it was over four years ago when I released The Call of the Whistle. I really enjoyed working on that project and as time has gone by I have been so glad that I did it. What has been so frustrating over the years is that I’ve had several other projects like that I’d like to do, but unfortunately, the reality of making a living gets in the way of all that. All these ideas have just had to sit there and stagnate.

This summer I got the idea of shifting from the medium of film to the Internet and the Cygnus Chronicles was born. You will find the site at www.cygnuschronicles.com. At present I have taken the book form of The Call of the Whistle and made it part of this web site for all to enjoy. This content is fairly complete, but I do not consider the site to be at a mature stage yet and it will continue to evolve. I also plan to add two more sections to this site. The next one will be the Missions of the Star Duster and behind that will be stories about raising tobacco here in Robertson County (Kenny, beware -- something about seven pieces of chicken keeps coming to mind).

There will also be a semi-private part of the site devoted to our family. I have taken all the past issues of the Swann Family News and posted them here in blog form (it has an RSS feed but no means of leaving a comment as other blogs do). I also plan to keep some current pictures on the site for you to enjoy. You can find this site at www.cygnuschronicles.com/family/. Be sure to bookmark this page (or subscribe to the RSS feed) as I do not plan to link to it from the main part of the site (i.e. you’ll have to know its there to get to it).

For those of you who like email delivery don’t panic, it is not going away just yet. Sending this out in email form has held me accountable to the project for 200 newsletters now. So for now I will keep the email coming and the blog updated. Actually, as long as dial-up is our only choice for connecting to the Internet here at home updates to the blog will probably lag the email version, especially when pictures are involved. (If you are up late reading this tonight don’t check on the site until morning.)

PAULINE’S BIRTHDAY. Pauline celebrated her 75th birthday Sunday. Celebrating was extra special this year because Will, Darice and the kids came in for a quick visit. They arrived Friday and left Sunday. We partied all weekend long since Will’s and Emily’s birthdays were on Friday. We all ate way too much.

Cameron, who celebrates his 12th birthday today, is now taller than me and Vicki. I think he got a big thrill as I let him get behind the wheel of my truck and drive it around the farm. He’s off to a great start.

All the kids spent the night at our house which allowed those adults who are night owls to stay up late at Pauline’s and play Scrabble. The kids enjoyed playing together. At one point I saw them running around the corn field trying to hit each other with dirt clods. They also took in a couple of movies together.

READING. One of the neat things about first grade is learning to read. Ben is struggling with this some but he is getting there. What was neat was the other day when Ben asked Vicki to read the trivia question printed on a tube of yogurt to him. Vicki looked at it and handed it back to him say, “You read it.” It had not occurred to Ben that he could read anything outside his textbooks and his face flashed from protest to surprise as he took the package and read the question for himself.

DEALING WITH IT. Nate came to me today and showed off a picture he had drawn of our family. He informed me that he had drawn me a silly face. In mock protest I asked, “What if I don’t want a silly face?” He told me, “You’ll just have to deal with it Dad!”

On the subject of Nate I’ll have to say he is one happy kid. He is happy from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed. He is happy playing alone or with others. He has the gift of making you feel good. When Jenna, Ben and I leave for school/work in the mornings he stands on the porch and gives us a very enthusiastic send off. He likes to give hugs and when we hug it becomes a contest to see who can squeeze the hardest. He’s pretty strong too!

HOW’S THAT? Vicki warmed up chicken quesadillias for supper tonight. Jenna decided to have a bottle of Lipton’s Green Tea to drink. She ran up on a green pepper in her quesadillia and after test tasting it she said, “That’s hot! If I eat that I’ll have to drink all my green p.... I mean green tea.” At the point she started blushing and cracked up with her parents. He brothers, who didn’t catch this comment, looked at each other and joined in with the laughter.

Joe

High Flying Adventure

Our days are still warm, even hot, but it is beginning to feel like fall. The Pinsons combined all the corn on the farm this week and Bill Chatman has begun firing the tobacco.

NEW ACTIVITIES. We’ve added two things to the schedule now. First, the kids are going to Awana. Since our church doesn’t offer the program Vicki is taking them to Providence Baptist near Franklin, Kentucky. They came home last Sunday really excited about it, and Vicki is going to help out with the second graders.

Ben has added Cub Scouts to his schedule. This meets on Monday nights. Our first meeting was more about paperwork and information for the parents than being exciting for the kids so I hope he isn’t left wondering what he’s gotten himself into. One neat thing for him is that we stopped by to see if Mom could dig up my old Cub Scout uniform on our way home. The shirt fits, but he doesn’t have much room for growth.

WELCOME JAKE! Tuesday afternoon after work I brought a new puppy home. One of Vicki’s colleagues from the YMCA was trying to give a litter away. Nate was the only kid home when I arrived (Jenna and Ben were at Aunt Mar’s and Mom’s) so he got naming rights. Jake, or Jakey as Nate calls him, is a brown mutt and he was seven weeks old yesterday.

At first poor Jake was depressed having been yanked away from all his siblings, but he has settled in very well now. The kids have had the best time playing with him. Nate spent almost all day Thursday rolling in the grass with him. When he came in at one point Vicki said, “Nate, you smell just like a dog. Why do you have to roll around in the yard with him?” Nate defended himself saying, “But he’s so cuddly Mom.”

GIRLS NIGHT OUT. Vicki and five friends went to see Rascal Flatts in concert at the Sommet Center (Nashville Arena) Friday night. I hear they had a great time letting their hair down (though not too much since one of the friends brought her eighth grade daughter).

LATE BIRTHDAY PRESENT. It has taken about eight weeks for Ben to get his birthday present from Vicki and me. Ben and I have been known to stop by the airport to watch the planes on occasion so that gave me the idea to give him his first “flight lesson” for his birthday. But with the recent heat wave it just didn’t work out to go flying until now (if you are wondering why look up “density altitude”.)

Saturday we all loaded up and headed to the airport where local flight instructor, Kevin Black, took us up in a Cessna 172. This is a four seater so the boys and I took the first trip. We flew out to Cross Plains and circled over the neighborhood. Then Nate and I got out to let Vicki and Jenna go up. Ben rode both trips since it was his birthday present. They added a tour over Springfield as well.

I was actually sort of surprised as I looked back when we were returning to the airport. Ben was sitting with his head between his knees. I asked if he was sick but he said he was just scared. He admitted to being scared after the second ride as well. And while I think Jenna was glad to have the opportunity to go up I don’t think she wants to ride a small plane again either. Nate on the other hand wouldn’t look away from the window and pouted when he had to stay behind on the second trip. It was a very smooth flying day. Scared or not, I think that will be a day they’ll always remember.

Joe

Green Again

I really didn’t intend to wait two weeks before writing. I know we’ve been busy but I can’t for the life of me remember anything special that we’ve been doing. Life has been fairly routine around here. So, this will be short even though it has been longer than usual.

GREENING UP. We have had several nice gentle showers. Nothing that would make a dent in the rain deficit for the year, but enough to make all the grass and other foliage look a whole lot better. As a matter of fact, I had to get the mower out to trim a few spots of taller grass in the yard the past two weekends. It had been so long I was afraid the mower wasn’t going to start.

On the flip side of all this, several trees are beginning to lose their leaves. Not a lot of trees, but some of the older ones, or those that grow where they have to compete with other trees for water. So, while I was mowing Aunt Mar’s yard yesterday the kids were raking some leaves up in our back yard.

What seems strangest of all is the temperature, it’s normal again! Our thermometer recorded 50° for the morning low this morning. It was just over two weeks ago our daytime highs were more than double that figure!

A RULE OF COURTESY. When you have only one bathroom in the house privacy sometimes goes out the window. Because of this we have trained the kids to place the box of tissue on the toilet seat instead of flushing when someone is taking a shower. It really saves on those unexpected flashes of cold or hot water as the toilet refills. Nate really doesn’t understand why this is, he just plays by the rules. So the other morning when he came in and I told him to go ahead and flush even though I was in the shower he was really concerned. He was scared all his waste was going to come through the shower head and rain down on me. Boy, that thought will give you the willies, won’t it?

A PRAYER REQUEST. Elizabeth Graves is a third grade student at East Robertson. Our kids don’t know her all that well but I know her mom, Michele, as she is also on the faculty there. Elizabeth recently suffered a hemorrhage on the brain due to a wad of capillaries that decided to start leaking. This happened on Labor Day weekend and the doctors at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital had to operate to remove the tangle of vessels. They don’t think she has suffered any permanent brain damage but at present she cannot speak and is partially paralyzed. They are optimistic this will heal in time. Last week she was moved to Children’s Health Care of Atlanta for rehab. She has a long road of recovery ahead and her family needs prayer.

I will not be updating Elizabeths’ progress here as she is listed on www.carepages.com. If you are interested you can log in to that site for updates and leave notes of encouragement for her there. You will have to create an account for yourself on that site and then you need to know the account name for the patient. You can email me privately if you need this information and I will say it has been very uplifting to read about her progress. Of course, you don’t need to do all this to pray, which is what’s so cool about God in the first place.

Joe

RAIN!

We finally got rain! One really good soaking rain. It came Tuesday night. More importantly we’ve had a break in the heat. We were still suffering from daytime highs reaching 100°, now temps are still above average but its cooler than it was. I have noticed a few trees are beginning to lose their leaves already. Also, Bill Chatman has been cutting tobacco.

FOUR YEARS. I can’t believe that Thursday will mark the fourth anniversary of the Swann Family News! It doesn’t seem like we’ve been doing this that long. Looking back over the record I am amazed at what all we’ve done in that time. God has blessed our family in many, many ways.

SICK BOYS. The boys have suffered from a stomach virus. It started with Nate week before last and he missed both days of Mom’s Day Out. Last Sunday morning Ben began to complain as we were getting ready for church. When we went to the choir’s pool party last week Vicki and I decided to drive separately because of Ben’s complaints. It was a good thing we did because he hurled as soon as we got there. Fortunately it happened in the yard and not in the pool or my truck. He wound up missing school Monday and Tuesday. I’ll just spare you the messy details and summarize it by saying we washed a lot of sheets, underwear and pajamas. However, when Nate first got sick Vicki was cleaning up his mess while he was sitting on the toilet. When she came back to the bathroom to check on him she mentioned that he had diarrhea as well. Misunderstanding what Vicki meant he asked, “Oh no, you mean I’m turning into a girl too?”

COULD YOU DEFINE OLD PLEASE? Vicki and the kids were about to get on the highway the other day when Vicki pointed out an old car. It wasn’t a Model T but about that old passing by. This car was painted bright red which made Vicki recall Henry Ford’s famous statement that customers could get any color they wanted as long as it was black. With this on her mind she proceeded to explain this to the kids. Then Jenna asked, “Oh, was that in the late ‘70s?”

HANCOCK FAMILY REUNION. This year’s reunion was held Saturday evening at the old Hancock homeplace which Matthew and Jodi Hancock have renovated and made their home. Matthew farms and it is so nice to see what they have done to the place and how it is still a working farm. The house had been rented for many years so this was the first time many of us have been back there for a family function. After enjoying a dinner catered by Baldwin’s Barbecue a friend of Leslie Hancock’s flew over in his ultralight airplane and landed in the field beside the house. It was just breezy enough that he didn’t feel comfortable giving rides (darn), but it was neat talking to him and getting to see his plane up close.

On neat thing they did was to make index cards available so that everyone could jot down their memories of the old homeplace. While I shared this here a couple of years ago one memory I had was of Aunt Myrtle teaching me to jump rope there when I was seven years old. At the age of 77 she could jump rope with the best of them. Another fun thing I remembered was of a family dinner we were invited to about 30 years ago. Someone had hosted a foreign exchange student that year. This student was part of a folk music and dance group back in their country (I think it was Sweden) and they came back to the US that summer. They were all invited to the dinner and then entertained us afterwards as they danced on the concrete driveway and we watched from the yard. There was such a commotion that all the cows came up to the fence and enjoyed the show as well.

Yesterday morning we went to Hopewell Baptist Church as part of the reunion activities. Many of my ancestors attended Hopewell before Mt. Carmel was organized in 1894.

LABOR DAY. We grilled out at Pauline’s for Labor Day today as is our tradition. We also invited Kenny. Lori, Andrew, Wil, and Mrs. Connie over to eat with us. We had a really fun time together!

Joe

Mom's BIG Day

We’ve had more of the same weather this week. Not even the ragweed can grow in these conditions.

The big news I want to report on in this edition is what happened at church today. To do this right I must tell this from the beginning.

Mom began work as the secretary at our church in August 1982. Her career started with her first job at Nashville Sash & Door Company in Nashville. She worked there for a number of years, quitting sometime after she and Dad married. After I came along she was a stay at home mom. When I started school she went back to work on the tobacco market at Hancock’s Loose Floor which was perfect because she would have the summers off. When I was in high school the opportunity at church came along and she worked full time until early 2005 when she decided it was time to cut back her hours. Her knee replacement surgery later that year really kept her home from church more than she wanted but she still managed to get up there and work some. Knowing how much Mom still enjoys popping in to work in the office and realizing this is happening with less frequency Bro. Bill called me back in May and told me they were planning to recognize her for 25 years of service. I said, “I guess I don’t have to tell you just how uncomfortable she is going to be with any kind of public recognition like this.” All these efforts culminated at church this morning.

To start with, this was all kept secret from Mom so it would be a surprise. Today was promoted for weeks as “bring a friend” day but a letter was mailed out to the entire church membership last week explaining exactly what was going to happen. A fake letter was sent to Mom and Aunt Mar. The amazing thing is that with several hundred people in on the secret, it held until yesterday. The leak came from Indiana where Shelley Harvey, a former church secretary who worked with Mom, sent Mom a card Friday, not dreaming the postal service would deliver it the next day! When Mom called me and Vicki to ask if we knew anything about any special recognition we flat out lied.

The funny thing was that Mom went to work Monday when they were trying to fold and stuff the letter to be mailed out to the church regarding today’s events. Roni, the other church secretary, wound up having to come back to church after supper to get the letter and envelopes and take it home. She and her kids spent the evening getting the letter ready to to be mailed Tuesday. Mom also wanted to hear Brent’s last practice with the choir Wednesday. Fortunately, Brent knew she was in the hall listening but it kept him from giving the choir any instructions about today.

I guess it was a good thing Mom had a bit of a heads up so she could be somewhat prepared for what happened today. Because all this was on Mom’s mind she and Aunt Mar were running late for Sunday school. Kenny had to go to their house and insist they leave with him immediately. He dropped Mom off at the front door of the church where she walked in to a reception set up in the main hall for her complete with pastries and chocolate. She spent the entire Sunday school hour visiting with folks. She got several gifts and a large stack of cards. A few of the children’s classes made cards for her and brought them to her as well. Mom was also given a portrait of herself painted by David Head. David, the art teacher at White House Heritage High School, has been busy painting lately and recently gave us portraits of Jenna and Ben. He has promised to paint Nate.

If Mom thought the whole affair was over when the second service started she was wrong. After a baptism and a couple of songs Bro. Bill called Mom to the stage. He presented her with a locket and spoke about working with her for the last quarter century (we called Bro. Bill to be our pastor a few months before Mom became church secretary). He also announced that the church would be starting the Anne Swann Scholarship to benefit high school seniors from our church who plan to further their education. Mom was totally blown away by this point.

This was followed by Tennessee State Representative Robert Bibb who presented her with a framed copy of House Resolution 204 recognizing her retirement (see below). Mom had also been active in the Tennessee Baptist Church Secretaries Association (TBCSA) and two good friends, Lana Rose who heads up the TBCSA and Kay Woods, the secretary of the Robertson County Baptist Association, spoke briefly. It was really a good thing Mom was sitting in a chair for all this.

When Bro. Bill handed Mom the mic she told everyone how overwhelmed she was. She went on to say what a blessing it has been to work in the Lord’s House all this time and see all the ways people minister to others. So much of this has blessed her life as it has been done behind the scenes and her job has made her privy to all this secret good will. She also talked about how nice it has been to work with each of those on staff as well as get to know their spouses and see their kids grow up.

After church we went to Pauline’s house for lunch. She and Vicki had been fixing a few dishes for the last few days and while the main course was sandwiches they had several of Mom’s favorites: chicken salad, pimiento cheese, potato salad, deviled eggs. Dessert is the most important part of course and they served peanut butter balls and coconut cake. Derek, Amanda and the girls came for the occasion and stayed for lunch and we sure enjoyed visiting with them. Judy also came for church but her job required her to return to Ashland City so she missed out on lunch with us.

This evening Mom went to the choir pool party and had a great time visiting with everyone.

So Mom has had a very big day and I suppose thank you notes will keep her busy for a while. I was very proud to stand beside her and share the day with her.

By the way, for those of you who had Mom’s email address at church, you can remove it from your address books. I deleted it at her request. If you want to contact her you either have to call or send a note by snail mail (which isn’t all that slow as it turns out).

Joe

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STATE OF TENNESSEE

HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES

HOUSE RESOLUTION 204 

By Representative Bibb 

A RESOLUTION to recognize Anne Swann on the occasion of her retirement. 

WHEREAS, it is appropriate that the members of this legislative body should honor those citizens who have performed with uncommon devotion and enthusiasm throughout their years of industry; and 

WHEREAS, Anne Swann is one such estimable person who has served with distinction for twenty-five years as an employee of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church; and 

WHEREAS, a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist for more than sixty years, Ms. Swann has rendered sterling service in many positions within the church, including those of Secretary, Church Clerk, GA Missions Leader, Sunday School Teacher, Vacation Bible School volunteer, and Choir Member; and 

WHEREAS, prior to her employment with Mt. Carmel Baptist, Anne Swann, a 1949 graduate of the Nashville Women’s Business College, dedicated her time and energies as an employee of Nashville Sash and Door and Hancock Loose Floor and as a stay-at-home mother; and 

WHEREAS, Ms. Swann will be taking a much deserved retirement on August 26, 2007; and 

WHEREAS, Anne Swann is an active and important part of her community and her profession, participating in numerous worthy organizations, including the Robertson County Home Demonstration Club; and 

WHEREAS, the widow of the late Joe Caner Swann, to whom she was married in 1958, Ms. Swann is the proud and loving mother of Joe Swann and his wife, Vicki, and the doting grandmother of Jenna, Benton, and Nate Swann; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Swann exemplifies the spirit and allegiance to family and community that are characteristic of a true Tennessean; and 

WHEREAS, throughout her estimable career, she has demonstrated the utmost professionalism, ability, and integrity, winning the unbridled respect and admiration of her colleagues and the membership of Mt. Carmel Baptist; now, therefore, 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, that we extend to Anne Swann our heartfelt wishes for a happy and fulfilling retirement and every continued success in her future endeavors.

ADOPTED: June 7, 2007

SIGNED:

Jimmy Naifeh, Speaker of the House of Representatives

Robert T. Bibb, Representative

It’s still HOT!

We have had another week of triple digit temperatures. It is so hot that the cold tap water even feels tepid! The drought also continues. Jackie passed along this joke that is making the email circuit:

It is so dry in Tennessee that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back to water!

RAIN! We got a brief shower this afternoon. I have a bad habit of mowing over rain gauges so I don’t know how much we got. About all it helped is morale, but it sure was nice to see it...and sort of strange. Vicki and the kids went outside to play in the shower while it lasted.

MORE STARGAZING. I mentioned the meteor showers last time--well, I was successful in waking all the kids up about 1:30 Monday morning. We all trouped outside and watched some of the most spectacular shooting stars for about 30 minutes. Nate was just excited to get to see the “Milky Wave.”

AN ANNOUNCEMENT. Vicki comes in to the living room where we are watching TV and says, “Well guess who’s having a baby!” Nate’s guess: “Us?” This brought much laughter from Vicki and me. Then Ben guessed his best friend Ethan which brought down the house again.

To cut the guessing game short the good news belongs to Derek and Amanda! We hear Riley and Harper are really excited. And I know that the parents to be again are excited as well, now that they have gotten over the shock. Their baby is due at the end of February. You know, I’ve never known a leap year baby....

A SAD GOODBYE. I have mentioned our friends Brent and Cindy Roycoft several times over the years. I have asked you to pray for them in the adoption of their son Tyler. Last Sunday Brent announced that he felt God leading him to a position with another church in Murfreesboro. He and Cindy have been at Mt. Carmel for almost five years. Next week (the 26th) is their last Sunday. Brent was not seeking this new opportunity, it found him and he said no to it twice. Cindy had even just accepted the job of being our Mother’s Day Out coordinator. We were all blind-sided last week and will miss them very much.

The last we have heard about the adoption is that they are still waiting for the final paperwork to go through. This has not gone smoothly as the birth father is not responding to any attempts by the adoption agency to contact him. Brent told me he hoped it would be wrapped up by Thanksgiving, but that would be fast. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

MOVIE REVIEW. Vicki and I watched a movie this weekend that was recommended to us by her brother, Will. Facing the Giants is a movie everyone needs to see--very inspirational. It was produced by a church in Albany, Georgia, and is about a private high school football coach who has had five losing seasons and the season the movie focuses on starts out with three straight losses. The folks who produced this film felt called to do whatever it took to reach people for Christ. The project was largely a volunteer effort. I am figuring you can find the DVD in video stores as it came out in 2006 (we put it in our Netflix queue). If movies aren’t normally your thing we highly recommend you make an exception for this film. You will be glad you did. You will laugh. You will cry. And you will be challenged to reevaluate your relationship with Jesus.

Joe

It’s HOT!

Summer has gone into overdrive. We have had several days where the mercury got above the 100° mark. We have gotten within a few degrees of breaking a record. Not a “this day in history” record, but the record for Nashville’s all time high temperature of 107°! The humidity has been down which means going outside feels like stepping into an oven instead of a sauna. It is very easy to get dehydrated. We are getting a break in the heat wave this weekend with highs only in the upper 90s.

DROUGHT. While I don’t think we have it as bad as folks around Chattanooga and northern Georgia, we are really seeing the effects of the drought. It is not a good year to be a farmer. The freeze back in the spring destroyed a lot of fruit and wheat crops. Now the corn and soybeans are looking really bad. Nobody has been able to cut hay since early June and pastures are so dry and brown that the grass crunches under your feet. The ponds are really starting to dry up too. About the only thing doing well is tobacco, which thrives in a hot, dry climate.

BACK TO SCHOOL. As you know from the last newsletter, the kids have started back to school. Jenna has Mrs. Reneé Fehrman as her fourth grade teacher. Ben has Mrs. Vicki Rippy as his first grade teacher (she was Jenna’s first grade teacher as well). We dropped in at open house on Monday. The kids went to school Tuesday. Wednesday was a holiday for them before classes started on Thursday. Ben was truly disappointed that he would not be going to school on Wednesday. This is good!

Actually, Ben came home from school Tuesday saying first grade was easier than kindergarten. Jenna rolled her eyes and reminded him that it was only the first day of school. Thursday Ben reported that they did homework all day long. Nate, who has one more year at home, misses his playmates.

GIRLS DAY OUT. Ginger and Angi, two of Vicki’s friends from high school (and college), happened to both go home to Camden this week to visit family. Vicki drove to Camden Thursday to spend the day with them. She had a great time chatting and catching up on what’s been going on with them.

THE LITTLE LADIES WHO CRIED “SALAMANDER.” Mom picked up the kids from the bus Thursday since Vicki was in Camden. When I got there after work the big excitement of the day was over the salamander that had gotten into the house.

As it turns out, Mom and Aunt Mar had misidentified it. It was actually a blue tailed skink. Either way, it was a lizard which is bad enough--worse with it being in the house.

Aunt Mar actually spotted the lizard’s foot under the door to the garage, and when she tried to see what it was it scurried under the dryer. Being intent on evicting this cold-blooded creature from her house she began her vigil to watch to see when it would get bored and make a run for other cover. This is where Mom found her when she came home from getting her hair fixed and she was still there when the kids came home from school.

To be as brief as possible, Aunt Mar is not the one to pull guard duty when your house has been infiltrated by lizards. Later the skink easily got past her and made a dive for cover under the dishwasher. Even later they saw it make a break toward the living room. That’s when Mom called us. Vicki answers the phone to hear my frantic mother shout, “Come quick! Tell Joe to come quick! Come quick! Come quick!”

Hearing this from across the room I figure something is wrong with Aunt Mar so I bolt out of my chair and nearly knock Jenna over in the hall as I head for the door. Fortunately, Vicki had gotten a little more info from Mom before I got out the door in a panic. As Jenna overheard Vicki’s end of the conversation and realized the whole thing was over the lizard she doubled over the couch with laughter. Vicki did not know Jenna had caught on and thought from the way Jenna’s shoulders were shaking that she was crying in distress.

When I got there the lizard was taking refuge under the living room couch. It had already lost its tail from the whole ordeal. I caught it and carried it outside. When I stopped by the next day I noticed a towel on the floor in front of the door leading out to the garage. Mom now has strict instructions to calm down before calling about small reptiles in the house.

STARGAZING. If you would have driven by our house this morning between 3:00 and 4:00 am you might have seen Jenna and me sitting out in chairs staring up at the eastern sky (no one else wanted to get up). That is because we wanted to catch the Perseids meteor shower which actually peaks tonight and tomorrow night.The shower happens this time every year and gets its name because the meteors seem to originate from the constellation Perseus. This is because we are passing through the debris trail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Each “shooting star” is traveling about 37 miles per second as it burns up in the atmosphere. That’s really moving!

Jenna and I saw several flashes as we were outside (they come about one per minute or better). I only caught one really spectacular one that had a long trail as particles broke off the meteor. One thing that is helpful is that we have a new moon right now so you only have to deal with the pollution of city lights. By the way, we are in for a lunar eclipse at the end of the month.

Another interesting, but slower moving show is Mars as it approaches the constellation Tarus. Tarus , the bull, is a “V” shaped pattern in the sky. The point of the V is the nose and the ends are the tips of the horns. There is a bright red star, Aldebaran, in the middle of the lower leg of the V--making Tarus look like he is glaring at you with his red, right eye. Over the next two weeks Mars will be moving into position symmetrically opposite Aldebaran to make Tarus look like he has opened his red, left eye. This whole spectacle rises in the east around 10:00 or 11:00 pm.

Joe