I have a dream......

Leaving it to the next generation....

Snooping about, looking for interesting things to share with y'all, I came across this pic. At first it was just one of the pics that is interesting, but no big deal. It was only later that I realized my mind continued to return again and again to this image.

Why? It's just a ramshackle old thing, falling apart and going to rot. But, if you look closer, you can see pretty pink curtains, comfortable wicker chairs, and even what looks like a welcoming wreath. There are the remnants of planted flowers, a lawn of grass, and what looks to be the chimney of a stove. Point; at one time this was a place where people lived....at least for a short time. Here there was love, laughter, and in my mind I see an old couple looking out through the last days in this little haven they built.

And, ironic and oddly seperate, yet seems so attached in my mind is an image, again, that I can't shake. I took my dog for a walk down paths I wore into the land as a child. This was the woods, the ravine through which flowed the crick. No, not the creek, the crick. And, this was the place we kids would run and whoop and play all day, returning at the end of the day with burrs in our hair and mud in our ears. This was where I first went skinny-dipping....it was an actual swimming hole, if that isn't straight out of Mayberry RFD. I spent so much of my childhood down there, but things had changed.

The trails were faded, existing more as a lost road in my memory than an actual path anymore. I followed the faded paths, and my puppy walked them with me as my dog did when I was 10. Now there were "No Trespassing" signs....how ironic that the very sign which trespasses upon my memories tells me I'm about to trespass upon the very center of my childhood. There were no children playing "war" in the woods, no screams of play coming from the crick. It was like walking into a ghost town; the structures of my memories were still in place, but the life was gone.

Sadly, I turned around and left through the very overgrown trail I used to enter this area I once loved. I guess I couldn't understand why kids no longer played down there. The silence was deafening and heartbreaking.

I don't know where kids play in this area now. Don't really care. Somehow we failed to leave this area to the new generation. Perhaps if there was a place to plug in the X-Box? Somehow it became illegal to even be there. Somehow it probably became considered "dangerous". Whatever happened, the memories stop with my generation. The pretty pink curtains and lawn chairs are no longer in the sight picture

National debt. Afganistan. Iraq. The Gulf of Mexico. The Beaches of Pensicola...... What do we leave our children? Will my generation be the last to remember the Gulf? What moments of love and childhood will disappear next?

Some beautiful and calming vids...

This posting will have two vids by boy singers.....I seem to be on a particular line with that lately...one who you will know is Libera singing Time. A very peaceful, deep song. The other vid I know nothing about. Zero. I don't even know what the man and boy are singing....so I hope it's appropriate. I liked it, though, and both are cute. JR, listen very closely to the words of Libera. You will find something mirroring your last comment. Miles, is the other something you can translate a bit? I hope so....he is a good singer, and singing in something like German or perhaps the Norwegian tongues. My friends, this music so settles my soul. I hope you will find them enjoyable.

An inspirational effort to help the community...

These boys.... What hero's! This is the way to stand up and help your neighbor, America! This is what the boy scouts.....this is what youth!....is all about. Ready, Willing, and Able. Good show, boys!

I found this video on youtube..... and it is so refreshing to see youth standing by to help. :)

I only wish I had been so enterprising and helpful in my youth. he-he-he. It just never occurred to me. he-he-he.

Some very thought provoking and intense pics....

Hello my friends;

I stumbled, quite literally, upon a site today that had some of the most intense, alive, vibrant and concerning pics. I had to post these as an applause to this site adm. He has such an eye for a form of beauty such as I have never seen in others. I am awestruck by the intensity of some of the pics. I hope you feel it too.

The first one chimes....

Hello....Scottie was the first one with captions for the recent pictures. His ideas are posted. Any others? Miles...this is perfect for you.

A bit of help here....

Ok, some pics are loaded today that are just dying for captions. So, chime in there, folks. Give me your best.

How about some new pics? A bit of cute, a bit of goofy, and then there is the clouds...they are from the "uh-oh" gallery. Enjoy!

1 Miles says: "So I can take those dirty shoes off when I get home. 2

3

Miles says: Hope the next one uses better tasting shampoo.

4 One of these things is not like the others..... Miles says: Hurry up guys, I have to do another 100 miles today.

5

6

Another pic dying for a caption....

7

When you are this beautiful, it's ok to strut!

8 Miles says: Know a way to more bodycontact?

9 Miles says: We don't sleep if Mom doesn't tell us to.

10

11 Miles says: Turn me around please. What do you see now?

- a pic top-down of course.

oops, got this one twice. Don't look.

12

13

14

15 this one's just dying for a caption....dang if I have one though. Scottie says:

* Another politician gives a speech....

* Class size gets bigger and bigger.....

16

17

Dude, you need a tic-tac!

18

19

20 Yep, me and my buds helping eachother hang in there amidst the goofy things in life. This one is for y'all. Thanks!

21

22

23

24

Inspiration for the Day

Hi everyone......today I think I'd like to be inspired; to be encouraged. It feels good to hear a positive story; makes me feel like there is hope in this world. And, with that thought in mind, I find this video. It was so filled with cuteness and hope. I hope you will like it too.

Bang-Bang

Hello to all, I hope you are all finding today to be filled with beauty and joy. If not, I bring you a vid - one of my all time favorites. This little guy, so graceful, so beautiful, sings right to my soul. I hope you enjoy Elie as much as I do.

Bro.Iz.....What a Wonderful World.

My great thanks to the producers of this video. I hope all who see this vid will go see the rest of thier work.

It still bothers me....

That picture of the boys playing .... well, as I wrote to one nice man, that picture of the boys making death a plaything.....it still bothers me. I can't seem to get it out of my head. No, my friend, they are not to blame, they are but children. Nonetheless, that picture is in my mind. And, so, I seek to find someone beautiful, joyful, real. I seek hope, renewal, peace. And perhaps I will find it....over the rainbow. I hope you enjoy this video. I have loved this song since a child, and find this particular rendition so moving. Maybe this can wash my mind a bit. Sing it, big brother Iz! Peace, my friends. -randy.

Some pics of beautiful things....to wash my mind of my earlier post.

Hey Mom, are we there yet?

When you are cute and fuzzy, you sometimes need attitude.

And so begins the story of Pinnochio..

This, of course, is the carpool lane....

Somewhere a mother is screaming "Wash your hands"!

We just couldn't take Billy anywhere.

Another Monday?! How many of these things are there?

In rememberance of those lost. May they rest in peace.

The most troubling picture I've seen in a long time....You may want to look away..

Hi Everyone.... I really don't have a lot to tell you today. Life is slow, but sometimes slow is good. I've heard people say that the Chinese have a curse that goes something like "may you live in interesting times". Well, perhaps if I was a bit less focused on the small town world in which I live and focused instead on the national or global, I would say we live in interesting times. My mind is far more settled if I keep it in my little town world. I hate to let it wander....But, .... I have found a picture in my wanderings that is so very troubling and horrible, but so very powerful. I hate war....that is no secret. It seems like we are at war all too often. There was a story on Fox News today about the war in Afganistan, the time we've been there and the cost of being there. Of course, they were speaking about the cost in dollars. What the cost is in other forms is not really mentioned. What is the cost to the soldiers and their families? What is the cost to our country's economy? Morality? And, also, what are the costs to the people of these countries? Are the people of Afganistan better off for our involvement? What would happen if we just went home? I don't have answers to that, and perhaps that is the beauty and bliss of being the complainer rather than the decision maker. So, here is the pic I found. It is horrible on so many levels. It truly tells me that somehow, somewhere, we need to find a way to end war. A pipe dream worthy of John Lennon, for sure. But, God please! Isn't there some way?