Retiring at Hanes Dye

I have always thought that the people who retire from Hanes Dye and Finishing are some of the finest people on earth, and yesterday proved to be no exception. Bill Shelton retired after 36 years with the company, and he will be missed greatly, although he plans to continue to work a couple days a week for the immediate future. We have had several to retire and continue to work on an as needed basis for an indefinite period of time. Bill is definitely the nicest, calm, cool and collected gentleman that you could ever meet. We wish Bill all the best, and hope that he will enjoy his "retirement" to the fullest extent.

George Mason Patriots

Well, I am a George Mason fan, at least for the weekend. Did anyone see the game against UConn? Did anyone see the footage of the coach talking to the team at the UNC game? He said, "Their fans think that they are Supermen. Our fans know that you are Kryptonite!!" We should see some good basketball no matter what happens. Go Patriots!!

NCAA Women

Well, we still have DUKE in the final four, of the women's competition, that is. We have three ACC teams there, and two from North Carolina! Congrats to Duke who won in OT against UConn. last night. Go Blue Devils!!

Louisiana

My niece, Georgia went to visit my brother, Tommy in Baton Rouge and it seems that they also made their way to New Orleans (pronounced N'awlins by the locals.) I saw some footage of the LSU team on TV last night. The team was sitting around a big mess of crawfish and enjoying the fellowship. Most of those guys grew up in that area and they have been friends since childhood. But I digress. It is good to be able to share these pics that I did not take, but were sent to me via Yahoo! Photo Album and email. It appears that the French Quarter has recovered from the storm Katrina, although much of the area is still in recovery. Tommy is thankful that his home in Baton Rouge was not damaged. Our church has sent a team to the gulf coast to help in the recovery effort and another team is going in April. Our prayers continue for all of the folks affected by the devastation.

Whole Foods Renovating!

Well here is a shot of the Winston-Salem Whole Foods store on Miller Street. I like to eat at their salad bar quite often. They have blocked the entrance on the left to prepare for renovations which will begin in the next two weeks. They will be adding a brick oven for pizza, enlarging the salad bar, enhancing the beverage and juice bar and many other things. Get ready Winston-Salem!!

This first shot is of Hominy Grill, were everyone stands in line around 9:00 AM which is the time they open for brunch on weekends. This is where we ate Saturday morning. After walking back to the house, which is just around the corner, we read and rested, and then took off for some touring and exploring. Our first stop was the Visitor Center, and it is in this area we saw some Spanish Moss on the trees. We made our way across the big bridge and to Patriots Point. We didn't do the tour this time because we had stayed on the Yorktown with our cub scout son, Ben just a few years ago. It is something to see, especially if you like WWII planes. I got to meet two WWII vets, and one was on a sub for 20 years. My thanks to them and all who served our country. We then made our way to Fort Moultrie and to Sullivan's Island. That is where we saw hundreds of jellies on the beach. I have captured two here for your viewing pleasure. The last shot is of a couple houses on Folly Beach (from the beach) with the FB water tower behind. It looks like a nice little beach. There were folks enjoying the life there in town although it is nowhere near the real summer season. Speaking of summer, I am about ready for it since we have had a little taste of it.

I have to share this shot of the MacLeans in the fountain. It was a warm St. Patrick's day and those who wet their toes got a refreshing break from the sun. I am sorry to say that this is the last pic for this day as my batteries died right after I took this shot. Yes, I am a novice at using these new cameras, but I am learning.

Here are a few pics of our St. Patty's day tour of Charleston. Brett and Sheri were kind enough to take us on a walking tour of the Battery and of some of downtown. And they did all this while taking care of their almost one-year old son, Dawson. So most of you know more history than I do about the Battery, so I won't bore you with more, but I have to mention that the sundial was close but a little slow. It was actually a few minutes past four, and as you can see here, the sundial's batteries must be a little weak. (No pun intended.) I can comment on the house with some square design and some round. The husband wanted the design based on a square, and the wife wanted it more well-rounded. So what we have here is somewhat of a compromise. (I understand this can be a real nightmare for an architect or builder.) As for the cobblestone street, we are told that these cobblestones came over by ship from the old country and were used for ballast.

DUKE WINS ACC TOURNEY!!

Well for those of you who watched that final game of the ACC Tournament, sure got your money's worth, even though it didn't go into OT. The tensions were high, and I understand that there were tickets available since the back-door rival Tar Heels didn't make it to the finals. This is a sentimental shot, don't you think? Anyone would if they have the least bit of affection for this team. But it does seem that if you don't truly love them, you must hate them. Why is Duke such a hated team? Maybe its because they are so good! We will all await the outcome of the NCAA tourney now, as expectations for this team are still very high!

Enceladus

Well aren't science and technology wonderful? Just look at that first image of Saturn's fourth-largest moon Enceladus. (These photos are courtesy of New York Times.) I think the detail is terrific. Just look at those faint blue lines, and those craters seem to be a lot like the craters of our moon. Now the scientists have evidence of liquid water, because they have seen "plumes of icy crystals shooting off the surface." So this makes this moon a candidate for study in the search for LIFE in our solar system. Now look at the thermal image. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured this shot which has been "enhanced." (By the way, I would like to be able to enhance some images on my computer like Gov't agencies do on TV with seemingly little effort.) But I digress. One can see something unusual around the moon's south pole. The scientists say this is indicating the icy plumes. Its all very interesting, but I am amused when I hear people say, "We may not be alone!" Well, we are not alone. God is with us. God sent His Son to this earth (not to some other body in our solar system) and has revealed Himself to us. Jesus lived among men and died on the cross for our sin, but didn't stay buried, but rose victorious and has ascended to the Father and sits on His right hand and He is praying for us. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence. After repentence we accept Christ's sacrificial and substitutional death for our sin, and He becomes our Saviour and Redeemer. No, we are not alone. It doesn't matter if there is life on Eceladus. God created the whole universe, and He is big enough to take care of all of His creation. It is also odd that there are some who have an intense desire to know if there is intelligent life somewhere out there, (and I know we humans are a curious type) but these same people don't even take the time to get to know there next-door neighbor. Things that make you go, HMmmmm...