Child Prodigy

MyGoo and Doc have been working for some time (I'm talking years) to clean out their attic space upstairs. Each of the four siblings have had to take their turn going through boxes and bags of memories to separate the junk from the keepsakes. My turn was last summer, but thankfully, MyGoo and Doc know me better than I know myself. They saved a precious object of which I had completely forgotten - my keyboard.

I took piano lessons for several years in my younger years, and I received my keyboard as a gift during some point in that phase. It's a pretty nice one, too. I say "nice" because it has lots of buttons and lots of different sound options. Basically, you can make the keys sound like all of the instruments I've ever heard of . . . and many I have not.

Barry and I have played music for Canon since we brought him home from the hospital. Both of us want him to have a hearty appreciation for it. So, when MyGoo and Doc reminded me of my keyboard when I was in Greenville recently, I was so excited. I knew that I would find plenty of time to play with it, but I was also excited that Canon could experiment a little as well. He had his first try at it today, and while his attention span didn't last more than two minutes at a time, he returned to the keyboard several times to push the keys (and the many buttons!).

This very short video will give you a taste.

Coon Dog Day

Every July, the people of Saluda, North Carolina - and thousands of other people from around the country - gather together to celebrate the rabid-beast-hunting mutts we call Coon Dogs. The population of this tiny town grows exponentially for one weekend only as people come to watch the parade, compete in the Dog Show, eat man's unhealthiest concoctions, and witness the treeing of a coon. It truly is an unbelievable sight. A few years ago, I watched a 400 lb. bearded man in a gray t-shirt and overalls hold the index finger of one hand to the tip of his coon dog's nose while the other hand straightened the dog's tail out behind him. Meanwhile a judge with a clipboard slowly circled the duo, clearly impressed. With what, I cannot be sure. Were it not for the lack of Cavalier Spaniels and other pure bred lap dogs . . . oh, and some sophistication . . . I'd have sworn we were at Westminster.

Canon and I joined MyGoo, Doc, Ann Steiner, Jason, Amelia, and Ceil for this year's Coon Dog Day. Because I had the little man, I wasn't able to take pictures of all of the festivities, so you won't get to see a picture of the slightly overweight 17-year-old beauty queen who rode in the parade in her bikini. What you will see are pictures of the family - ok, mostly the children - enjoying being together.

Amelia and Canon fell in love immediately. She is so great with him, and he pretty much lets her do whatever she wants. Ceil shows her love a little more aggressively, but it's obvious how much she loves him, too.

On the way home on Sunday, MyGoo, Doc, Canon and I stopped by G-G-Mama's to visit. Of course, no camera again, but lots of sweet memories of G-G-Mama trying to coax Canon over and him being too shy to comply. He did perform for her, though, showing her all of the body parts he knew and trying to climb on her motorized stair chair. She was delighted, of course, which always delights everyone around.

A Botanical Morning

As we linger here in the middle of our summer vacation, I'm seeking out new things
to do with our time. We've had a couple of unusually "cool" days - and by cool, I mean less than 95 degree temperatures - so today we decided to explore Dothan's Botanical Gardens. I think the pictures will show it best, but I must warn you. This was really an opportunity for me to try to take some half-way decent pictures of Canon, so expect to see more of him than anything else . . . as usual.

We had a snack on the lawn first. Canon really enjoyed his Cheetoh Cheese Puffs.


Then we began walking around the gardens, stopping at fountains, bridges, and benches as we felt the need.




And, of course, the post-excitement nap that we never miss!