White Deer... beautiful!

Ethan, click on this picture and watch the video about a herd of white deer in New York:I finally got my rainwater collection system hooked up today... you might want to take a look at what I've done to harvest rainwater off of the roof of my house... click on this picture: I love you, baby boy... have you received your sprouter yet?
Granddaddy
PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160.

Ethan, isn't this BEAUTIFUL!?

Ethan, isn't this beautiful!?... it's a carpet of flowers in Belgium... click on each picture so you can see it better and let your Mommy read you each caption:
Now, for some fun... I just had a kid's "sprouter kit" sent to you so you and your Mommy can start growing sprouts (alfalfa sprouts are my favorite). It's really fun because they grow so fast you can almost watch them grow... and they taste good and are good for you.
Here's a video that teaches you how to grow sprouts... your "kit" will have everything you need:

Speaking of hummingbirds...

My childhood friend, Louis Camerio, is a land developer near Atlanta and a part-time photographer. One of his photographer friends sent him this picture and I thought you'd enjoy it (click on the picture to enlarge it and see the hummingbird up close):Another friend's wife sent me these pictures of baby Panda bears. Click on any of these pictures to learn about Pandas.
Just a cute baby bear:
Simon says, "put your nose on the ground." Ethan, get your Mommy to tell you about the game "Simon Says."Ahhhhh! What a headache! Zzzzzzzzzz:"Got milk?""Please, sir, I want some more."Ooooooh!... I need to scratch!... bad!Okay, okay... that piece of bamboo is yours.Zzzzzzzzzzz... we do a lot of sleeping like all babies do!Peek-a-boo... I see you!Push harder... you've just got to lose some weight, Meling.The creature from the Chinese lagoon:Cute babies, huh!?
I love you, Ethan,
Granddaddy
PS. Call me sometime: 931-598-9160

I haven't posted a note for you in sometime, Ethan

I haven't posted a note for you in sometime, Ethan. I was SOOOO glad to hear that you liked the fire truck that I sent to you. Does it make a lot of noise? Thank your Mommy for the card on your behalf. I hope you have a TON of fun playing with it. You might even want to become a fireman when you grow up?
Did you ever get your hummingbird feeder up? I put up two yesterday right outside my office window. Two ruby-throated hummers fed (and fought) there all day long. This is a blurry shot of one of them... the screen in the window makes the picture kind of blurry. How can anyone consider a hummingbird and not believe there's a God?Here's a fun video of people snapping their fingers, slapping their legs and jumping up and down to sound like a rain storm. Close your eyes and see if it doesn't sound like rain on a roof to you?:

Let me hear from you little man.
I love you,
Granddaddy
PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160

What am I thankful for?

Ethan, here are some things that I am thankful for:

• My friend Jesus & His ultimate sacrifice for you and me
• My WONDERFUL, healthy, beautiful grandson, Ethan Dail
• My dear Southron Mama... for her life, her devotion and her love... my dear Mama was my #1 fan and friend
  
• Alexis
  
• I got to grow up in the South in the 1950s
• For my health and the health of those I love
• Tennessee and my Southron roots and heritage
  
• That your Mommy married a strong Christian man
• That your Aunt Kitty married a Christian man
  
• Dogs... especially my BIG buddy of 9 years, Baxter
• Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring... our four distinct seasons in Tennessee
• For Roger & Judi Gertz and our software business
• Wisdom I've acquired over 62 years
• I've had less than 20 sleepless nights all my life & virtually no heartburn
  
• The Internet and my NEW 24" iMac
• For Medal of Honor winners and for my tears when I read about what they did
• Judith Durham, Buddy Holly, Gerry & the Pacemakers and the Everly Brothers
  
• Friends from over the years... especially Eldon Belknap, Jack Jump, Roger Gertz, Jimmy Barker, Jean Westphal, Dan Searcy, Donald Bergeron, Louis Camerio, Ben Mayberry, Bob Minarik, Bill Pittman, Kitty Barker Romano & Dave Smith
• The Irish cottage that I built... "it's a very fine house"
• My eyes
• My sense of humor
  
• F-150 Ford pickup and my '93 beater Oldsmobile
  
• That the Lord has had his hand on me all my life & He ain't finished with me yet
• Starbucks Chipped Chocolate Coffee ice cream
  
• I have never had any serious back pain, surgery or illness
  
• The creativity with which God has blessed me... especially my communication skills
  
• Tempwood wood stove
• L-arginine
• Memory foam mattress
• Craigs List
• The Declaration of Independence & the U.S. Constitution
• Good old boy friends like Jerry "Tennessee"Hawkins, Howell King and John David Ladd
• Our Founding Fathers and the life examples of General Robert E. Lee, General Stonewall Jackson and President Jefferson Davis
• Our secluded 3 wooded acres in Sewanee, Tennessee
  
• Lazy Saturday mornings
• Living at such a time as this
  

Now just for fun, here's a short video about a really smart squirrel:
I hope you enjoyed watching this furry critter, Ethan!
I love you, beautiful baby boy!
Granddaddy
PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160. Did you like your fire truck?... did it make a lot of noise?

Here are a couple more pictures of my first ship

Ethan, this is a picture of my first destroyer, the U.S.S. Nicholas (DD-449), operating with the world's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise (CVN-65). The aircraft carrier is over 1,000' long and can go over 50 miles per hour at full speed... that's pretty fast when you have a flight deck that is over 4 acres big.

This is a picture of the "Nick" tied up outboard another ship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I was part of the crew that decommissioned her in January of 1970. From there I joined the U.S.S. Strong (DD-758) in the Mediterranean Sea. Before we went to Vietnam in June of 1969, we were in port when they filmed the movie about the bombing of Pearl Harbor (Tora, Tora, Tora)... the Nicholas is in several of the shots during the attack.

This is a scale model of the Nicholas that someone built:

I love you, Ethan,

Granddaddy

PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160.

Ethan, what states have you been in?

Ethan, these are the states your Granddaddy has been to... let your Mommy help you click on the states you've been to:

visited 42 states (84%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or vertaling nederlands duits?

Here's a map of the world that allows the same thing... let your Mommy show you all the countries she's been to on mission trips:

visited 0 states (0%)
Create your own visited map of The World or another interesting project

She's been a lot of places, hasn't she!?

I love you, little man!

Granddaddy

PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160