Author: boomingbanter

Day five we spent in Birmingham with a detour this time to Tuscaloosa.

Aaron wanted to see the Alabama football stadium!!!

The Alabama team is one of the greatest challenges that our own dear OSU faces each year so it is important to weigh them up!

Success on the field is in the hands of the team. No team can win unless each player works with the others.

Back to Birmingham and the impression it left was one of hope.

It reminded me very much of Belfast my own home town.

In spite of the tragedy of bullets and bombings that both places experienced they are marching on.

Many have played important roles in this journey as leaders and as inspiring role models.

Poverty is still out there to conquer but is it really more difficult than going into space?

Blessing # 40 – The progress that teamwork makes

Day four was hectic on our road trip but was absolutely wonderful.

We started with a visit to the river front at Montgomery where slaves arrived from Africa.

We ended by taking the road from Selma to Montgomery that resulted in the achievement of voting rights for all.

In between we had a planned detour to the very special place that is Monroeville.

Here two literary geniuses met as children, inspired each other and became best friends forever.

They were Nelle Harper Lee and Truman Capote.

Seeing where they grew up, how close they were and how deeply they cared for each was so very touching.

Visiting the site of the courthouse where Harper’s father worked and that played such a key part in To Kill a Mockingbird left me with a memory for a lifetime.

Just outside the court there was a little market where we stopped so Aaron could buy a gift for his Dad.

The farmer who sold us the gift knew Nelle (Harper) and he told us a story about her.

Seems she has a parrot that she had trained to become a great talker. When anyone knocked at the door the parrot would greet them and sounded just like her and she found this very amusing.

We asked him if we could take his photo and he happily agreed.

Finally to make the visit even more special you would not believe it but a Mockingbird came right up beside our car as we were leaving as if to say “Come Back Soon”

Blessing # 39 – When magical moments touch your life

 

 

Day three we had a very warm welcome at the visitors center as we entered Alabama.

We then went straight to downtown Montgomery. It is a beautiful capital city so clean and well cared for with so much to see.

Our first stop in the city was the Legacy Museum covering the history of black people from enslavement to the present day.

It was really eye opening and heart breaking.

There is still much to be done to secure equality.

Maya Angelou’s words capture so well the sentiments of the day.

Blessing # 38 – Each individual working for justice and equality

 

On the second day of our road trip Aaron and I visted the birth place of Martin Luther King Jr. and the area in Atlanta where he grew up.

His father was a Pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The community, though plagued by segregation, was vibrant.

Education was very much encouraged and the young Martin was an exceptional scholar gaining admission to Morehouse College at only 16.

We also visited the College and learned how so many of the young people who attended, including Martin himself, were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. His principles of non-violent protest became the foundation on which the civil rights movement was built.

 

Blessing #37 – Wisdom from Generation to Generation.

We sure covered a lot of ground on day one of our road trip and Aaron was a champion driving most of the way.

When he was resting I was able to tune in to country and it was so cool to be in the BLUEGRASS land where it all started too.

Whats your favorite country tune? Mine is Doug Stone’s Too Busy Being In Love.

As we visited the magical Look Out Mountain where the battle of Chattanooga was fought I thought of what must have gone through the minds of the men who climbed that mountain.

Surely they thought  of their loved ones and were distracted at least a little from their struggles by Being Too Busy Being in Love.

Blessing # 36 – Country in the Big Country

 

Aaron and I are off on a road trip leaving Dad and Dibs at home with the AC on full blast.

As it is fifty years since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated we are retracing his steps in honor and memory of his life and light.

We will cover Atlanta where he was born and grew up, Montgomery where he first became a full time pastor at the Dexter Baptist Church, Birmingham where the civil rights movement built momentum and finally Memphis where he was killed.

Blessing # 35– Sharing history with my son who loves it so much.

Just finished a book at the pool so had to dig into the depths of the pool bag for the trusty tome Laugh Out Loud that lives there permanently from one pool season to another.

As if by magic, or maybe because it is the most read page, the book falls open at the Bloopers from the Church Bulletin section.

True to the promise it causes an immediate Laugh Out Loud.

Hope you can read some of these. If not then enjoy my favorite :-

In the bulletin during the ministers illness

“GOD IS GOOD Dr. Hargreaves is better!”

Blessing #34 – Typing Errors & Other Little Blunders

Years ago in Northern Ireland and elsewhere also I’m sure, we women were fondly referred to as Birds.

I didn’t mind this at all. It was endearing and well meant.

When we had a party we would sometimes refer to this as a Bash!

Yesterday we had a great Bird Bash or if you prefer girls night out at the new Wine Cottage in our local town of Powell.

What a welcoming place, so lovely and such fun. We could bring our own dishes to share and the wines are great and so reasonably priced. No hesitation to buy the bottle!!!

If you live locally give this place a try it is awesome.

No matter where you live find your flock of fun loving pals and enjoy good times with each other.

Blessing # 33– Birds of a Feather Having Fun Together

On our patio there are two big brick planters that the former owners of the house left us and that sedum usually grew in.

But last year the sedum didn’t survive the very hard frost.

So this year in one planter I tried to grow tomatoes from seed and in the other peppers.

Well the tomatoes are doing great but the peppers have been overrun by some massive thing that either the birds or bees planted.

Anyone know what this is? It has a tiny purple flower.

There is also a little snap dragon growing in there that those busy birds or bees brought us too and some little peppers still surviving under the shade of the unknown giant.

Blessing # 32 – The surprises nature brings

 

Having some more time on my hands than usual I was hit by mania on Monday and started to clear the garage.

Well as is normal I suppose when you start to sort out your mess things get worse before they get better.

All the junk piled against the walls had to be move to the middle to put some sense and order in the place.

It is not better yet but we can now fit an extra car in which will come in handy one of these days.

During the rampage many treasures were uncovered and a few mishaps occurred.

The funniest was yesterday when a whole bucket load of Christmas baubles took off down the driveway. It was a treasure hunt to herd them all home.

Throughout the endeavor I was reminded a few times of something I heard some months ago that in Aramaic the language spoken by Jesus the word PEACE and ORDER are the same.

So when Jesus said Peace be with you he was also hoping you would find Order.

I don’t know if this is true, maybe one of you can comment, but it sure was reassuring in the 95+ heat

Blessing #31 –  Finding Order