Tag Archives: alabama

The Dog Days of Summer, Version 2010

17 Aug

The only thing that seems to like the fact that the heat index has been over 100* (much of the time over 110*) this summer is our dog, and the Lantana.  I couldn’t think of a better shot for “dog days of summer” than Ebby sitting on her heated bed.  The dog days of summer are certainly here in south Alabama, the grass is all brown from lack of rain, the pond is all dried up, and you can’t go outside without getting swarmed by deer flies.  Some people like this time of year (I am guessing those who live in Montana, or Wisconsin, or Colorado, where the temps are in the mid-60′s right now), but down here, all I can think about is being able to walk without feeling like I am going to die, and being able to sit outside with a fire going in my fire pit.

I know those days are coming, because football season is the only thing being talked about down here now.  Only about 2 1/2 more weeks before Auburn kicks off the 2010-2011 football season, but at the moment, I am just thrilled the first game is at night.  With the temps at night still in the 70′s and 80′s, they should kick off this game at midnigh, but at least Auburn now runs some of the games like Talladega (they use to run that late season race during the day, and it was miserable too).

Fall is coming, probably 2 days in mid January, but the sun and the calendar says cooler weather is coming, but I think Ebby likes it just the way it is right now.  I still feel like she looks, and I am ready for something more like –> Samford Hall and Auburn University in the Snow.

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Why is the Church Supporting Victoryland Casino in Shorter, AL?

1 Aug

This is not intended to be a another pious rail against gambling from one more judgmental Christian that seemingly has lost touch with the reality of the world, I just simply want to ask the question, “why is the church body sanctioning, supporting, and ultimately using (in some form or another) money given to God, by means of tithe or gifts, given through a servant of a willful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7), to further the cause(s) of Victoryland Casino in Shorter Alabama?  An even better question might be, why if your church does not support Victoryland, does it still continue to use Bingo (or other vainly disguised) “fund raising” techniques like yard sales and the such, but I will save that for another day.

Yesterday the Alabama Supreme Court overruled a Macon County circuit judge’s ruling that blocked Governor Riley’s attempt to raid Victoryland Casino in Shorter, AL (see the full court ruling Order of Protectiong Thrown Out July, 30 2010 and news articles here).  Alabama has traditionally fought gambling of all kinds, and is still one of the last hold out states in the lottery business, but when I read the al.com report’s comments, it just screamed out to me, why are churches supporting Victoryland?  It isn’t like Victoryland is reciprocating and supporting the local church (yes, they did give a whopping 1% to “charity” of some sort).  A quick read of the comments by believeinlord in al.com’s press release shows what is probably one church of many, that takes [chartered?] church bus trips to Victoryland Casino.

This of course brings an enormous host of questions to mind when this person makes the casual comment “I’ve def won my fair share. We go together twice a month with my church group.”  Of course “their fair share” we know statistically means they have spent a whole lot more money than they actually understand (or justify it by calling it the price of having a good time).  The conversation goes on in another article talking about how “bingo has provided money [albeit 1%, yes only ONE PERCENT] to my church when we desperately needed a new van to take our elderly parishioners to their dr visits?”

So, apparently, at least in one case, this church (in Birmingham, AL) is, at minimum, neglecting it’s members, and in “desperate need” of transportation for their elders.  Yet twice a month they trek down to Shorter with their church group? Huh? Seriously?  It is hard to write this post without sounding judgmental but if this group was a “small group” size of say, 20 people, taking 24 trips a year, spending (loosing) who knows how much, is this not enough to completely pay for such a van?

How much is this multiplied across the church body?  Hard to tell.  Most (out of embarrassment or in hopes of keeping their vice quiet), do not directly publicize their casino trips to the general public, but all you have to do is spend a little bit of time in today’s church to know that charter bus trips to Biloxi and Tunica are the norm with many churches.  Even if no church funds are used, is this the association you want people to make with your church?  Today, maybe so, but I don’t find anywhere in scripture where it is the church’s job to support the local community via established casinos.  I wonder if Jud Wilhite’sCentral Church in Henderson, NV sends their small groups to the Bellagio for game night on Tuesday’s?

If you think I am trying to say here that Victoryland, all casinos, and all gambling should end at once, you are missing the point.  My wife and I enjoyed living in Las Vegas for a while, so this doesn’t come from some country hick who never left the back woods of south Alabama. Still, it is one thing to take a private trip with friends or family to a place that has or allows gambling, it is totally different for the church body to sanction such an event.

Don’t scream hypocrite yet, after all, the disciples even casted lots to confirm Matthias as the eleventh disciples in Acts 1:26. Then again, that wasn’t actually gambling, the fate of that cast was already decided by God, it wasn’t an outcome decided by chance.  The point here isn’t whether individuals should or should not gamble.  The point I am attempting to make is that supporting Victoryland is NOT what the church body was called to do, is it?

Are we so bored with the business of being God’s church that this is the best thing we can find to do with our time and money, as a church?  In the world today, we the church have so much invested in our retirement packages, our homes, cars, electronics, can we now only give to God out of our leftovers? Are we once again living in paneled houses, while God’s house remains a ruin (Haggai 1:4)?

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Good Friday Tornadoes with Minor Tree Damage :: Friday Feet

11 Apr

Downed Tree

This Friday for Friday Feet the plan was to focus on the day at hand, Good Friday.  We had a nice relaxing day at home on Friday in preparation for the Good Friday service and it ended up being one of the more memorable services that either Deborah or I have been to in years.  Just about half way into the service the tornado sirens started sounded.  The service was interrupted for about 30 minutes while we all hunkered down to one side of the worship area.

What made the service so memorable was how unscripted the whole evening was.  As we came back together and stared to focus on what makes this day special, the hail, thunder, and lightning started to come down in full force.  This was not a “traditional” service but the way it came together was so special.  I am thrilled to be a part of a church that is willing to interpret worship in many different ways.

On the way home it became apparent that the storm system that went through the area had made its way out to our property.  Tree after tree had been uprooted, snapped in half, and literally thrown all over the place.  The photo below at night was what we found as we drove in from the service.  A cedar tree topped and covering the road.  Once morning arrived we found about a 75 foot pine tree that was just blown over, making my Friday Feet image.

After surveying the damage out this way we found out that there were one and possibly two tornadoes that came through the property.  They were small, but had two visual sightings and see to skip around the houses for the most part.

Happy Easter to everyone.

Downed Tree

Downed Tree

Downed Tree

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Photos From Gulf Shores State Park Beaches

7 Apr

Tent at Night in Gulf Shores

I finally got around to editing some of the photos from our camping trip last weekend.  We stayed at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores Alabama, just down the road from where we use to live in Orange Beach at Bearpoint Marina.  This state park is one of the larger ones, but a little less on the “camping” side and a little more on the RV side of camp grounds.

We have visited this park several times before and it is a very well developed area just on the other side of the main road from the beach.  It does border the lake that is in the area and there is a golf course in the park as well, but if you are looking for a camping spot on the actual beach this is not it (nor were we expecting it to be).  It does have great access to the Gulf State Park beaches which are starting to get a little crowded at this point.  If you want an empty beach in the same area, same beautiful white sand, just take a short drive down to the National Seashore in Florida called the Gulf Islands National Seashore (though they don’t allow pets on the beach).

One thing about this area is the hurricane damage that is still present in the tree line.  Several years ago a hurricane topped all the tress around here so if you look at what is normally a pretty full pine tree forest type area, you see sort of a tree trunk grave yard. Pretty weird looking but some of the photos below are a few trees that made it among all the ones that were topped, and the smaller ones that have emerged.

We have been to all these beaches and most of the restaurants in the area so many times that we will probably make our way east next time toward Panama City where we haven’t spent so much time.  All in all it was wonderful and relaxing as always, and I did get to take a few photos while we were there.  You can see the complete slideshow of photos here on flickr.

Birds on the Beach

Sand on the Beach

Shells on the Beach

Water and Shells

Shell on the Beach

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Photography of Wisteria Flowers in Bloom

24 Mar

Wisteria in Bloom

The backyard is a great place to take some photos of Spring in action.  I took these photos last night after I got home from work and it shows the color of Spring can be found just about everywhere right now.  The fist shot is the bud stem of the Wisteria plant which is almost as prevalent around here as Kudzu.  You can click on the larger size of the Wisteria and see it is covered in yellow pollen from the pine trees which is covering just about everything right now.

The next is a bloom from a Magnolia tree (a southern Magnolia I believe, not the traditional large thick green leaved trees), and the last is a violet (weed).  The violets are everywhere this year but they are so small if you don’t look closely you might miss them altogether.  They are about the size of a pencil eraser at most, and are usually considered to be weeds.

The Magnolia tree is interesting… one of the early bloomers of Spring, it produces these large white flowers before it grows any leaves at all and doesn’t bloom again until next February.  Right now it has exploded in bloom and the very center of the flower has a beautiful yellow and red center (shown below) which is also smaller than the size of a pencil eraser (very small).

Magnolia in Bloom

Violet in Bloom

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Closeup Photos of Dogwood Blooms in Spring

19 Mar

dogwood buds

I didn’t really think about it like that until this year, but life seems so fragile sometimes, even if we live out the average life span for this country, we will only see, or recognize, this time comes around 50-80 times on average, if we are lucky.  I think the first 5-10 Spring season changes don’t really count since we can’t comprehend what we are looking at, but I have already experienced 37 Spring’s in my life, so as the flowers bloom and leaves start to fill the trees again, I am keenly aware I have about 35 down and 35 to go, so to speak.

I am amazed at God’s symphony that we call Spring.  Almost so slowly we don’t notice, the buds on the trees come out and things go from brown to green in a blink of an eye.  Last week in what I hope is winter’s last hurrah, I shot some photos of the Dogwood blooms on a tree in front of our house.  It survived the snow, the ice, the cold, to bring us the images below.  Of course down here in the south, no Spring is complete without the bloom of the yellow pollen from the pines.  I took the other shot a few days ago just before all the pods started to release gallons of yellow pollen that now covers every square inch of everything.

These photos are of the Dogwood in bloom just outside out living room window.  Just the smallest blooms, waiting for a warmer day to arrive.  The closeup of the pine tree below covers us in a bath of yellow pollen for several weeks, but it is still a beautiful sight when you know warmer weather is on its way.

dogwood buds

dogwood buds

Pine Cone Buds

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Bike Ride Through Chewacla State Park :: Friday Feet

23 Jan

Scott on the swing

This was an extremely busy week again but today is finally Friday and time for Friday Feet.  Today we drove out to Chewacla State Park to ride our bikes on the trails (paved that is).  Is you live near Auburn this is a great gem right out of town, has a nice river, waterfall, and fishing lake.  Along with a very nice route around the river, there is a bike trail just at the entrance of the park which is a popular running and biking spot.  It was nice to get some exercise outside now that we are deep into winter, but it ended up being about 70* today and made for a nice bike ride.

We stopped at the lake to sit on the swing, which made for my Friday feet post today.  I was able to work a little panning technique into the shoot today with Deb on the swing.  I love the effect of motion but it isn’t all that easy to pull off and make it look half way decent.  You can do this in a number of different situations, I just forget to give it a try sometimes.

No body else has jumped on the Friday Feet bandwagon yet, but I have found that it has forced me to look at different ways to do this weekly (short) shoot.  It isn’t that each Friday has to be something spectacular, it just keeps me thinking about how to keep creating original ideas.  It helps to have a nice mild day in winter.

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

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Alabama vs Utah Football on Tap Today :: Friday Feet

2 Jan

Bike Ride

This has been a busy week and a busy Friday.  We started off the day with some tree trimming work on the farm.  Always good exercise and never a lack of work to be done.  The temperature has been going crazy lately.  Yesterday it was freezing and today it was about 60* so I managed to get in about a 10 mile bike ride before the bowl games started.

The bowl game of the day of course is Alabama vs Utah in the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  It has been a very long time since Auburn has not made it to a bowl game, so this year I am just going to have to go for Alabama.  Hopefully next year we will be back in a bowl game somewhere warm.

Friday Feet today was a triple shot of trees, bike, and football (although the football game was Kentucky vs Easy Carolina, which was also a very good game).  As I write this the Alabama game is now and Utah has taken a touchdown lead, it should be a great game.  This year it seems like it has been a very long holiday and I am looking forward to getting back to a normal work week and to next weekend when Deb and I will take a short break down in Orange Beach.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Tree Clearing

Kentucky vs East Caroline

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Gene Chizik of Auburn is Volcanic on Google Trends

14 Dec

So this is basically old news now, Gene Chizik is now the new Auburn Tigers head coach we have all been waiting on now for about 2 weeks.  I almost felt obligated to post something about the new head coach living here in Auburn, after all, how often do we welcome a new head coach for the football program (that was a rhetorical question only).  It didn’t even take a rumor from ESPN to start the endless grumblings and he even had people how up at the airport for his arrival, and not in the same way Nick Saban was greeted by Alabama fans (though he really does seem popular with the players and coaches).   I was totally willing to give the guy a chance and let him actually land in Auburn before nailing him to a cross.  He was the defensive coordinator for Auburn (and a popular one), was part of the undefeated team, won a national championship at Texas, then… Iowa.

How hot was and is this topic.  Well according to Google, “volcanic“, and this was on a night that was competing with the Heisman Trophy of all things.  Several times within the 12 hours before and after he hit the #1 search term on google (and I am not sure how much higher you can go on google as far as hot topics than volcano), and after a full 24 hours of the news he is still sitting at #7.  To bad google hot topic trends doesn’t count in the BCS rankings.  Of course, that really tells me that a whole bunch of people had never heard of Chizik and had no idea who Auburn had just named to be the next head coach.

Gene Chizik on Google Trends

I really hope he doesn’t read a lot of blogs and online media.  I started looking around at the usual suspects and the overall negative tone was deafening.  Really my only question is if Chizik is the person to lead Auburn football back to a National Championship (it has been over 50 years of course).  Auburn football should be up in the top tier of NCAA football teams right up there with Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Penn State, and of course Alabama.   So why did we not go get the biggest name that money could buy?

Maybe money really doesn’t buy happiness, or 12 wins and a National Championship (just ask Alabama, they came real close).  Auburn had to pay about $750,000 to buy Chizik out of Iowa State, and apparently Iowa State is basically thanking Auburn for taking him off their hands.  Now really, I know he didn’t win a game in the big 12 but what kind of recruits can you get in Iowa State when you have to compete with Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and the big Nebraska?  Still, he has landed in Auburn and he will be the next head coach.  If Auburn wins football games next year everyone will sing Jay Jacobs praises, but the Auburn fan base expects wins, and not just five.

I am willing to trust the higher ups at Auburn and give Chizik the chance Auburn is willing to take.  He appreantly visited our church when he was living here as the defensive coordinator, so maybe he will come join us for worship again.  I know he will be welcomed the same as anyone else on Sunday mornings.  We can all have an opinion but no one at Auburn wants to win football games more than the kids, the coaches, and the University itself.  I have to think that somehow, they think this will be the way to do it come the fall of 2009.  Hopefully he and his family can withstand the pressure until that first kickoff game in 2009, it is a long way off.

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Another Beautiful and Colorful Fall Day in Alabama

9 Nov

Another Beautiful and Colorful Fall Day in Alabama

Fall Tree Swing in Alabama

What a difference just a few days makes in the fall. This is what our tree (and swing) looked like this afternoon.  Compare that to this Fall Has Finally Arrived in Alabama, and My Swing Loves It, taken just a few days ago.

It was a totally different time of day of course, but the colors have changed dramatically, and many of the leaves have started to fall off the trees.  I don’t remember this tree turning colors like this last year but as the years click off each fall probably looks more colorful to me.  How were your fall colors this year?

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