I call this one "Lookout Mtn. Lake". It's what the valley looks like some mornings, as the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, whispers in my ear..... whether it's going to be flyable or not. :^} That's from a song I grew up with,,,,In the Garden.
Someone erected their own monument to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

I heard an interview with this grandmother this morning. She praised the new CMT movie coming out about him. She said that it was well worth the watch. It is suppose to be the closest to what he was really like than any other version.

I was very surprised that this red-tailed hawk let me get as close to it as I was. John Stokes tells me they are very skittish birds, and anything out of the ordinary will make them take flight. Seemed comfortable with me being there. It wasn't until I tried to get out of the car that it took off.

Wonder if this means that summer is almost over?

Thought this cloud was very intense. Saw some lightning under it, however wasn't able to catch any of it.

The song I just put on here has a powerful message. I hope some get it's message. My job is just to plant the seeds.
I have some pics from the road that I will post tomorrow. Gentle breezes !

All the pictures that Dottie & I took at Scott & Lia's reception party are now posted on Dan Barkers web page. She did a wonderful job capturing the spirit of the day, and evening. By the time that I finished working that evening, most of the stuff was already over. I'm glad that she was able to get some nice shots so that I could see who all was there earlier.
Here's the link: http://photos.visioncomm.net/index.cfm
That link also has a lot of other picture posts.
Enjoy !

I never said that I was normal. I really don't know the meaning of that word, actually. It was one of those days, when I was running wide open, and it seems that my thought pattern gets a little 'Far side" during that period. So, please endure. The light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train !
This one's from the movie, The Emperor's new Groove. "You Llama", haha! waves!

Ya think? lol I did warn you, lol.

Another gorgeous sunset tonight, to end another HOT day. I spent all day inside working on a honeydew list, and other things. I walk outside, and Wayne---XC-driver extraordinaire', pulls up in Terry's vehicle. Out of curiosity, I asked him,' sup? He told me that apparently I hadn't been outside in a while. It was more than soarable. Over 10 pilots had launched and no one had sunk out. Most were at cloud base, 6000' over. Weatherman missed it again, and dang it, so had I. Fixed that tho, will be in touch with him from now on ! Bet that I don't miss another one, except when I'm working those 12-13 hour days !

This is the explosion at Mountain Creek Grocery at approx. 10:30 friday night. It was taken by Tony, the guy that was working at the convience store next door to it when it went up. Notice if you will, all of the gas pumps. That could have been a very bad situation, if it hadn't been for the West Brow Fire Department ! They were still working on it when I came thru saturday morning, as you can see from the pictures below. This is a once in a life time shot~~I'm sure Tony is hoping that anyway ! Thanks for the picture.

For the people that don't already know, I have taken a job with Google doing their City block job. It's hard to say how long that it will last, however, I'm glad that I have the job so that I may do my small part to get it done for this area.
Here is a link provided by Google that tells everyone a little about it. Hope that you enjoy it,,,I know that I do. I am very excited to get the data for this entire area 100%.

http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/index.html Have funn with it !
Another link once you get the hang of it. http://maps.google.com/


From the picture above, you can tell where I was mapping today.

A local grocery store on top of the mountain burned last night about 10:30. Mountain Creek Grocery was gutted due to an explosion of gas in the back. No one was hurt, however, the fire department was still working on it at 9 this morning. My hat goes off to those guys & gals!

Saturday was a really full day for me. First,,,, I went on my first Dalton Chapter HOG ride to, of all places, Huntsville, Alabama. Since I had lived there for over 15 years, when it came to directions I was able to be of use in that area. I was able to get us to Hooters without any problem for lunch. Great food there!
There was a total of 16 bikes, one with a sidecar, that went on the ride this week. A lot of people have many mis-conceptions of the word HOG, when talking about Harley's. HOG stand for Harley owners Group. It has nothing to do with how much we eat, or the sizes of our,, bikes, :^}

And Second,, after returning from a 300 mile short ride, I had the pleasure to RSVP a wedding reception held by some great friends of mine, Scott & Lia. This first pic is of the happy married couple, with someone else in the background that wanted to be in the pic. Great smile Paul, ha ha!

The happy couple dancing the night away.

This shot is to show you the t-shirts that all of the people invited to the party wore last night. Scott is a fantabulous airbrush artist. That is his vocation actually. He hand made ever customized t-shirt that was worn at the party. Each and every one of them were different in a minuet way, as you can see in these pictures.

They had catered the meal for all 300 guests, 3 kegs of beer, and a superb band. They really rocked the house/deck all night. I don't think there was a song that they played that the dance floor wasn't full. The food was baked Zita, meatballs, salad, and a bunch of other delectable dishes.

This is a picture of James playing his air guitar to some of the great music. There was a couple of times during a song, that I caught myself playing one, ha ha. I also caught myself with my eyes closed, feet tapping, and just getting lost in the jam ! I was say that at least 90% of the people that was there, are in some way associated with hang gliding. A great time was had by everyone that attended. After riding all day in the heat, singing Christmas songs, I started not to go to it. What a mistake that would have been for me, I really had a great time.

This is one of the best representation and informational clip I think that I have ever seen. Plus, it has Kari Castle in it, which is a great spokesman for our sport and one of the best female pilots around. Take a look !
http://newtonsapple.tv/video.php?id=1294

Here is another link to look at, if you think hang gliding is hazardous to your health. I will probably think about this clip the next time that I fly on a commercial airline. How they pull some of these landing off, I have no idea. However, it's funn to watch.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vOGB2PMQUCM

Another lovely view this evening to end the day !

I call this one " Quill in the sky". Was a gorgious sunset !

A buddy of mine made this for me for a b'day gift.

I know that it's one of a kind, ha ha ! Thanks Barry B. We are thinking about using this for the frame, and when I get into my stainglass-- add it to this. I think it will turn out great !

At the end of the day, after the cross wind had died down, 5 newer pilots & Scott(a bi-wingual pilot oh so past new) decided to take an evening sledder. Scott didn't break his silk out of the bag, and decided to jumped on a falcon for his. I had already taken mine. I'm trying to stay current and no wind launches and landings help to do that. The Sport 2 is a sweet glider with or without wind. Just more fun when there is some wind & thermals !

Lucas launching into the evening sunset, as it starts to tail just a bit. 5 of the 6 pilots that was set up was able to get off before it started tailing too much to safely launch.

We are sooo ready for the haze to go away ! ! !

Lookout Mtn. was part of the "Longest Yard Sale" probably in the world. I forget how many years this thing has been going on, but it spans about 4 states. You have never seen so much treasure/Junk in all of your life. Most people had really nice stuff, like Mary's in this picture. However, there was some people ( like Wendy & I) that was just trying to get some stuff out of the garage, ha ha! This couple from a local church stopped by today, and told me of a family that their house had burned, and I was able to help them out some. Actually, I was able to get rid of most of the stuff in my garage, if truth be known. I hope that it was as much a blessing for them, as it was for me ! :^}

Before~

After !

I don't know what kind of moth this is, however, it is the biggest one that I have ever seen. I have seen some big Lunar Moths, but this one dwarft them! Beautiful, what ever it was ! You can see the normal moths around it.

Okay, my curiosity got the better of me. I googled this, and found a great site. What's that bug? From all of the comparisons, I deem this to be a female Imperial Moth. I am awaiting an answer from the bugman to confirm.

We enjoyed a full moon and a bon-fire at the Saturday's night party in the LZ.

I have an update on Ollie, for all of his friends. He is in good spirits, and doing us all a favor on a daily basis now with weather forecasts & blip map updates. He will probably be out of the flying part of our sport for about a year. He can only bend his knee at this point, about 10%. He will start PT tomorrow morning and will be in a walking brace to allow him to build up some strength and hopefully some flexibility. He says he is having to ride in the back seat of the car, as Jackie takes him to work. He is really missed around the LZ at nights on the volleyball court, and at the Saturday nights' get together. Wish all of this was already behind him ! ! ! Get Well soon, buddy!