I finally got around to redesigning my personal web-site. I'm now going to use it as a site for me and Sam.

We've got pictures of our new dog Maddy up so stop by and take a look!

Stop by often because I will be updating it frequently.

On the road again. Arrived late this afternoon. Swam in the spring pool before dinner. We left Sylva on Sunday and drove through a snow storm in northern Georgia. Altanta was quiet on Superbowl Sunday and we slept in back of a Cracker Barrel near Meridian, Mississippi. Dawn revealed a world of frost.

On Monday we chatted to Mom and Dad Woods while crossing the Mississippi River and saw a crop duster fly underneath powerlines while spraying a rice field in Lousiana. We paused at a rest stop and made and enjoyed dinner before passing Dallas/Ft. Worth during the early evening hours. Today, we watched oil pumps turning across the Permian Basin and warmed in the Texas sun.

Update (1/10): I have eliminated the most annoying problem and so will go back to the old them although there is still more work to be done. Let me know if you are encountering problems viewing anything because of the way it appears on IE7. I am aware of the problems with the right side of the page.

Because of the way that IE7 was affecting the appearance of the site, I have temporarily changed my theme to another theme that doesn't seem to have been affected as much. I am looking into this and will revert to the old theme as soon as I have a solution. Everything should work as before.

Christmas Morning in the Cove

We slept in late, till 7:30, and the sky was bright though rain announced its presence through percussion on the modern but traditional tin roof. The bedroom was cool because we chose not to light the wood stove last evening after our hike. Instead we watched a rented Under the Tuscan Sun in the basement.

This morning the fire was lit. The Cove was soggy. The dogs were anxious for their breakfast and then wanted a walk down to the stable. I thought about that, but looking at the pools in the pasture and hearing the sound of pouring rain elected instead to drive there.

I am pasting an article that I found fascinating about pythons in the Everglades.

Biologists Hunt Invasive Pythons in Fla.
Everglades biologists pursue a voracious foe: the Burmese python

By TODD LEWAN, The Associated Press
Dec 17, 2006 1:22 PM (19 hrs ago)

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. - "SNAKE!" Hearing this shout, Skip Snow slammed on the brakes. When the off-roader plowed to a halt, he and his partner, Lori Oberhofer, leaped out and took off running toward two snakes, actually - a pair of 10-foot Burmese pythons lying on a levee, sunning themselves.

After slipping, sliding and tumbling down a rocky embankment, Snow, a wildlife biologist, grabbed one of the creatures by the tail. The python, Oberhofer says, did not care much for that.

Sunday evening in Western Carolina. We relax at home and will probably check to see if Fox or NC Public TV (the only channels we get) have anything worth watching later. If not, we will read. Now, in the early evening, we digest our dinner engaged in light chores with some gracious bluegrass music on the radio.

The house is cool, the day was spring-like, and no fire was started. This afternoon Chuck emptied the stove of ash and built a fire of news print, seasoned oak twigs, split poplar and one or two pieces of oak. We’ll see how many days we can delay lighting this fire. This warmth in the East will be bad for oil futures. We’re glad we have been able to heat with home grown fuel this fall.

Always good to stop and take stock of the positive.

"things to be thankful for"

I haven't read this yet, but the title was too good to pass up.

"Behaving Badly At Family Gatherings"

We are running out of time. We all know of noteworthy local places that we have not visited. Tourists go there, but residents don’t. Being here for only six months, and here being a spectacular region, we are working hard to see all such places. We won’t quite succeed, but we are having fun trying.

This weekend we visited the arts district of Asheville, the Kituhwa mound of the Cherokee, and the “Road to Nowhere” out of Bryson City. The entrance to the road is adorned by a rusted sign that states “Road to Nowhere – Broken Promise - 1943 to ?” The road did go somewhere before the Fontana Dam was closed and made a lake that ended the road.

Here is an article appreciating the Marines. Read the paragraph about growing up in the '50's with a father who was a survivor of Guadalcanl, Tarawa and Iwo Jima.

"Marines"