I had the best day yesterday.

Carey and I woke early and had a great time with God – more about that coming up in this week’s column – later this week.

At 7a yesterday we agreed to go to the rope swing over the Harpeth River. That’s right – the place the Bone & Joint Clinic says they get most of their customers.

We have driven past it dozens of times and have seen lots of teens having fun there but it never seemed right to join them. Yesterday morning seemed like the right time to jump in the spirit (water) in a bigger way.

We swung out over the water and dropped in, one at a time. It was shallow (only about chest deep,) but we didn’t land deep, and had a great time. While we were in the water, a thunderstorm came up and it poured down rain for about ten minutes, creating thousands of bubbles on the surface of the water. It was beautiful and reminded me of the “diamonds” on the table the first night I met Carey.

After a very relaxing, releasing morning in the Harpeth, we went straight (we were in the Jeep, it didn’t matter that we were wet) to the Loveless Cafe to receive a big country breakfast and to give them a little love. We both know that the Loveless on a Saturday morning is going to be touristy and crowded, but it was still fun.

From there we drove the Jeep down the Natchez Trace until I saw a good place to go off road. I saw a gravel road not too far from the Trace and cut down and across a little field. We turned right on the gravel road and rode a little ways until we saw a picket fence across the road. We turned around, not wanting to trespass and go in anyone’s driveway.

We drove about a half mile, crossing through a creek and climbing steep hills, back down the gravel road to try to find the paved road that leads to the gravel road. That’s when we came up on the house – a big, columned southern mansion amidst the trees.

We turned around again, thinking we would have to exit off road – the same way we came in – when I saw a car in my rearview mirror. I pulled over, turned the Jeep off, and the woman driving the car said, “There must be an explanation.”

She was about our age, angry, and menacing. I said, “I can’t think of one . . . we were on the trace, saw this road, and wanted to see where it goes.”

“This isn’t a road, it’s a driveway,” she said. “People around here have guns and shoot trespassers.”

“We didn’t know we were trespassing. I thought it was a road,” I said.

Carey was smiling at the woman the whole time and simply asked, “How do we get out?”

The woman begrudgingly (I think she wanted to shoot us) led us back to the gate we saw, pushed a few buttons, and the gate opened. We left and stayed on known public roads the rest of the Jeep ride – pretty much.

After our morning out, we came home, cut grass, weedeated, and trimmed dead tree branches.

Darcy was home all morning. Just as Carey and I finished yard work, she went out to visit Taylor at work but her car wouldn’t start. After calls to the parts store, we decided it is the crankshaft position sensor. I spent the rest of the day – and until 9:30 last night – getting the part ($15,) jacking up the car and finding the part on the car. But the sensor is above and behind the starter. I can’t get to it laying on the street, on the hill in front of our house.

Matt spent the night out night before last but we got to see him a little last night.

Father’s Day last weekend was fun. Carey and I went to her brother’s house on Tim’s Ford lake to ski and visit with family Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Darcy and Matt were invited, neither could go. Darcy went shopping for apartment accessories with her new room mates. Matt went to visit Micah and worked. We all met back home for dinner Sunday night.

Carey and I started the day yesterday with our Insanity workout.

Insanity - with the grandkids.

While we were still exercising, Lindsey brought the grandkids to our house for the day. They exercised with us.

One of the calmer sections of the Amazon.

After exercise, we went on our Amazon River Jungle Adventure. (We walked down the creek behind our house.) We saw piranha (minnows,) a giant snapping turtle (but it was plastic,) and heard alligators (the water in my boots sucking at my feet.) We had a great time.

Our trophy from the adventure.

Rock climbing, cliff diving in the Amazon.

We also went cliff diving in the creek. (Climbed this rock.)

While the grandkids napped, I worked at home. Carey took them back to Lindsey later, meeting Lindsey at K-Mart, then came home for supper.

After supper, we walked the dogs. Cricket’s leg was fine during the walk but he started limping again when we got home. He may have a little drama in him. After the walk, we took a Jeep ride to the rope swing at the River and saw the sun set.

It was a beautiful night after a beautiful day.

Darcy had a good day at school. Taylor had a good first day of work. They celebrated by cooking mac and cheese at Taylor’s, then swimming in Taylor’s neighborhood pool.

Matt went rock climbing yesterday, saw Micah, and hung out with friends.

John 13:2-5.
Washing feet is not doing everything the person wants you to do, out of their selfishness and self- centeredness, but doing what God says to do for them out of a humble and loving heart.  Judas wanted something much different than Jesus washing his feet. His treasure was in money and things – not a relationship. A humble and loving heart turned toward Jesus will always see ways to wash feet, rather than placate the enemy.

Carey fixed a big breakfast for us – sausage, biscuits, gravy, and eggs – before we took the rest of the tree to the dump yesterday. We took the dogs with us in the pickup truck and when we got home, Sunny pushed Cricket out of the truck and he fell on his front left foot. He limped the rest of the day, but seems a little better this morning.

Yesterday afternoon we did a few other things around the house then got ready for our date last night.

We enjoyed great weather, great food (a Publix picnic,) and each other at Crocket Park last night – watching the people and the sun set – and listening to the symphony.

Darcy and Taylor – and Lindsey and Nathan – turned their noses up at going to the symphony with us. I think they thought it was going to be too stuffy. But it was a fun date. Darcy is still getting calls on her car, but no buyer yet. When Taylor came over yesterday afternoon we got to listen to a little about his new job. They had Chinese and watched a DVD last night.

Matt worked yesterday.

We picked our friend Karen up from the airport yesterday morning after her two week mission trip to Malawi .

We got to hear stories from the trip. Also, Karen’s friend Charla and her 4 children were at the airport to greet Karen. They were so excited to see her they were swatting each other with the flower bouquets they brought for Karen, each fighting to be the first to hug her. From the airport, we took Karen to the breakfast place where you cook your own pancakes at your table, the Pfunky Griddle.

Friday night we visited Grandmommy and Granddaddy and picked up the pickup truck and chainsaw from Lindsey‘s so we could do yard work yesterday. After dropping Karen at her house, we bought a pickup load of mulch.

Carey put fresh mulch in the flower beds while I cut grass. My riding mower – that’s right, the same one that caught fire last July – started spewing smoke on my first row. I thought it best to use the push mower instead.

By the time I finished, Carey had spread the whole truckload of mulch – what a woman! So I started the chainsaw and cut down the Bradford Pear tree in our front yard that died inexplicably. I loaded the truck with one load of wood, but it was too late to go to the dump, so I have a good idea of what I’ll be doing today. After all that, Carey made homemade pizza last night. Did I say this already? What a woman!

We'll always have Casablanca.

Our friends from the Casablanca outing posted this picture on Facebook. (We are the first two on the left.)

Darcy hung out with Taylor all day yesterday.

Matt worked a double shift yesterday.

I had a meeting in Brentwood at 9a. While I was there, Lindsey brought the grandkids to our house, picked up Carey and they went to the Fieldstone Farms pool.

Casual Thursday?

I came home and worked as the kids came in and played here at the house yesterday afternoon. Carey took this picture of me working at home. The folks at Locomotion Creative are proud that they have been able to convince me to dress casually at work. They don’t know just how casual I am when I’m working from home!

I called my brother Ed yesterday to wish him a happy birthday and he told me about his best birthday present: His son Craig‘s leading his son Jackson to accept Jesus as his Savior.

This morning I posted my column for this week, Here’s Looking at You, published today.

Darcy had another good day at school yesterday. She went to lunch with some new friends from school. Last night she modeled again for Southgate Studio and Fine Art.

Matt worked yesterday from noon-nine then went out with friends.

It started off great – I got to walk with Carey through Cottonwood. Then I rode the motorcycle to a meeting at work during which folks told me I am doing a great job. I was grateful but uncomfortable with that, because I know it is God’s blessing – not my work – they are seeing. But He wouldn’t let me tell them – it’s not the right time. I was glad when I got to “clock out” and go home to spend time with Carey.

While I was at work Carey went to visit – and pray with – friends. Carey cooked cubed steak for supper. After supper we watched “An Affair to Remember” (from 1957.) We loved the first part but didn’t like when they stopped talking to each other.

Darcy had a good day at school and brought home a progress report for me to sign – an “A.”

Matt made it home from Wakarusa late yesterday morning and went to work at 4p. He closed Staples last night then brought Micah back to our house where they cooked spaghetti together sometime after 10p.

I had a dentist appointment yesterday. But the best part of the dentist was that Carey came with me to Dental Bliss. I had just gotten seated in the hygienist’s chair when I saw – through the huge glass window – Carey walking on the dentist’s nature path. After the hygienist was finished (no cavities!) I caught up with Carey on a bench swing facing the creek. We sat and talked for a while there.

Afterwards we came home and I worked for a while longer. Carey and I had supper in the sunroom then – just before sunset – walked the dogs through Fieldstone Farms.

Darcy brought home a good progress report from summer school yesterday. And she had one test driver of her car yesterday – a Mom looking at cars for her 14-year-old daughter. She’s not ready to buy yet. Darcy cooked supper for Taylor last night at Taylor’s parents’ house.

No word from Matt at Wakarusa.

I worked at home for a while. Carey went to the store and bought a few groceries that she prepared for me to grill shish kabobs. I hadn’t done that in a long time – they were great. (Darcy went out to eat with Taylor.)

We went for a long walk around Fieldstone Farms last night and watched the sun set.

After enjoying Casablanca so much night before last, I’ve been wondering: What other, great old movies have I missed? What are your top 3 classic movies?

Darcy went to school yesterday and was happy she had the only “A” in the class on one of her tests. We talked about the best dates for her orientation at MTSU and she filled out the paperwork for that.

You don't want to buy a car, do you?

And I posted her car on Craigslist yesterday, using her description and the pictures she took. Taylor got a job for the Summer and won’t be driving her to school as much, so she plans to retrieve her car from Garland’s and drive it back and forth from school.

No word from Matt at Wakarusa.

Carey and I started off the day slowly, talking about the dreams we had had the night before. But we made it to New River Fellowship church on time and heard another great message from Steve Garret. He so knows the love of God.

We invited Darcy and Taylor to join us at lunch – and all our other activities – but they had other plans all day.

Saying a blessing for Sadie Rose.

We went from church to the hospital to see Meagan‘s new baby – Sadie Rose. She is very cute and, oddly enough, smells like a new baby.

We walked from the hospital to Sonic for a quick snack then drove to the Verizon store to have them look at my phone for a minute – they fixed an annoying little problem for me. From there we went to Wal-Mart for a few staples, to Staples for a few office supplies, and to Marshall’s to look at a couple of paintings Lindsey had picked out for us (we didn’t buy them.)

We had planned to go to the first night of the summer concert series at Crockett Park in Brentwood, but while at church, our friend Lanie invited us to join her and 17 others at the Bunganut Pig for supper, then to see the movie Casablanca at the newly revised Franklin Theater.

Conversation at supper was Spirited. Most of our group, including Carey and me, had not seen the movie all the way through. It is still a great movie – fast paced, exciting, and romantic. I knew many of the lines but there were many that are cliches today that I didn’t know came from the movie. We had a great time.

Carey and I capped the night off with a trip to Sweet CeCe’s – just a great day all the way through.

Darcy and Taylor watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” at home last night and Darcy said she liked it. She got a couple of calls on her car yesterday but no one has come to look at it.

No word from Matt at Wakarusa.

Mostly looking at each other. Sometimes looking at trees!

Carey and I drove the Jeep to Brentwood to see the Deerwood Arboretum & Nature Center. Carey already knew the names of most of the trees.

Then we took the Jeep to Leipers Fork and had a late lunch at Puckett’s at the same table where Carey fell in love with me. From there we came back to Franklin, stopped by the rope swing on the Harpeth, then jeeped up to the overlook where we like to go. The Jeep is still running great. The only problem we had was running out of gas at the exact same spot where the top broke a couple of months ago. But no worries – the Jeep doesn’t have a gas gauge that works, so I always keep a 2 gallon gas can in the back.

Last night we watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” I had forgotten how funny it is. Especially the part where the Aunt tells the fiance about her twin the doctor found in the lump on her neck.

Lindsey called this morning. Her best friend Meagan finally had her baby girl last night: Sadie Rose – 7 lbs, 19 3/4 in.

Darcy went swimming with Taylor at Garland’s house, then they called me to park Darcy’s car in Garland’s front yard to sell. She wants another VW Beetle.

No word from Matt at Wakarusa.