4th of july weekend

Like others, I've been convicted lately to write more, either publicly or privately. I kind of miss it, but so much creative energy goes into the weekly routine of church work that there's not much left over for blogging. Maybe it won't be a bad thing to just write a little here, a little there...

For starters, it's the holiday weekend. My family, some friends and I sat on our deck last night, overlooking the mountains all the way to downtown Asheville (about 10 miles south) and watched the fireworks displays. There weren't a lot, but enough to light up the sky sporadically and make the air smell smoky by 10 p.m. Downtown especially was a riot of colorful flashes around 9:30. Some of our more enterprising trailer park neighbors pool their money every 4th of July for pretty decent shows, and we get to watch them too. Add to that mix some cantaloupe gelato (my sister-in-law's recipe) and munchies, and it was a really nice evening.

In a few minutes, we're going down to the pond for a family picnic, with aunts, uncles and cousins. It'll be too hot to do much but eat and talk in the shade (because we're old), but I'm bringing my frisbee (because I am not resigned to being old). I'll try to take some pictures.

(Update: pictures!)


I'm fond of this still life.


Please note that my uncle had not, at this point, finished putting all the meat on the grill. There were 8 of us.


Red, black, and green might as well be the official colors of summer.