Hot Time, Summer in the City!

For those masochistic souls who insist on beating their brows over this belabored discourse, here is more drivel to ponder. Not very much! Just a little pondering....

Both Anne and I recently passed another milestone in our journey. She received a chair for hers and I, one of those new GPS devices. It works wonderfully well, a Garmin nuvi 250w.

Granddaughter Katy is now UP and ABOUT. She has mastered crawling to the point where she apparently reminds her mother of that cartoon figure, the Roadrunner! And she pulls herself up and will take several steps with a little help from Momma. Philadelphia is just too far away.

We continue to be enamored of Chattanooga. At my birthday dinner out, the waitress brought us an ice cream sundae with a little candle on it. I had made it clear -- none of that singing stuff! But when people nearby saw it the whole place began singing, several offering best wishes. Our grocery offers $25 gift cards for gasoline. When you collect seven coupons by spending a certain amount or buying certain things, they give you a prepaid debit card for gas. the coupon redemption date happened to be a few days after the day we did our grocerying. We were one coupon short. At the deli we wanted 1/2 pound of pastrami -- if we bought TWO pounds we could get that last coupon. But we had no need for two pounds of deli meat. We had mentioned to the clerk that we were trying to get that last coupon. Not a big deal so we forgot it. Twenty minutes later on the other side of the store, here comes that clerk to give us one of HER coupons! It seems people have, or take, the time to be warm and friendly. The folks at the marina are a close-knit family and keep an eye out for each other, even keeping us supplied in fresh frozen crappie, trout, and catfish.

Speaking of catfish, have you seen one of those TV shows about "noodling"? Whoa, not for me! You crawl along the muddy banks of a lake or river searching for big holes underneath the surface. When you find one, you go underwater and stick your hands back in the hole, hoping that a big catfish will chomp down on your hand so you can grab it by the mouth and drag it out! Once you get it out of the hole, you wrestle it to the surface, usually two people, and to the bank! Now don't that sound like fun? Often the catfish will weigh 30 to 60 pounds! Well just sign me right up!

And speaking of other "can't do without info", take a look at this. Anne and I are going to try this soon! Thanks Jimmy J for sharing.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/24/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-without-peeling.aspx?source=nl

Our recent outing to Dayton, TN, for the Scopes trial "reenactment" was quite a disappointment. It seems, after twenty years, that most of the local townfolk have tired of putting it on, so this year, it was just a 90-minute dissertation by a talented guy who goes around the country impersonating U.S. Grant, Napoleon, Churchill and, in this case, William Jennings Bryan. I'll bet his calendar is full, you think? He did do an admirable job, but it was not what we went for. One of those summer festivals that all towns feel obligated to have. But this one is slowly but surely coming to an end.

If you are reading this trivial bit of drivel, drop me a short note and let me know that someone out there gets an occasional chuckle from it. Otherwise, I am going to have to raise my rates for those who do visit often....

Hasta la vista and dos passos to all!

Chattanooga, The Crossroads of Dixie

Just in case anyone is contemplating a visit or vacation to The Scenic City, here is a list of websites of interesting things to see and do.

Battles for Chattanooga Electric Map & Museum

The Real Chattanooga Choo Choo

The Restored Tivoli Theatre

Chattanooga Tours

Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Military Park

Creative Discovery Museum

George Dickel Whiskey Distillery

Hunter Museum of American Art

Jack Daniels Whiskey Distillery

Point Park on Lookout Mountain

Ruby Falls

See Rock City

Southern Belle Dixieland Dinner Cruise

Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX theatre

Tennessee River Gorge Explorer

Tennessee Aquarium Visitor Info

Chattanooga WW II Ducks

Explore Chattanooga

The Chattanooga Farmers' Market

Chattanooga's Coolidge Park Carousel

Lookout Mountain

The Book Corner

For fans of The War Between The States, one of the best books I have read is Jay Winik's "April 1865". He makes a great case for that month being the most determining, decisive, and critical in our country's history. He does a wonderful job of bringing life, and passion, and personality to Lee, Grant, and Lincoln. It's a great book!

For something different, "Forever", by Pete Hamill, is the story of a young Irish boy growing up in the early 1700's, who fate leads to Manhattan. There, as a result of a good deed, he is given eternal life (?) by a shaman as long as he stays in Manhattan. He will die if he ever leaves. It gives us short vignettes of the history of Ireland, but especially Manhattan until 2001. One of those books you hate to see end.

And yet another catch-up

Now it's the middle of July and boy howdy is it hot here -- 90 to 95 every day. Not a complaint, just a remark.

I have to confess that my idea of maintaining a blog is running out of steam a little. I envisioned it as cutting edge repartee and lots of back and forth dialog with the editors of The New Yorker, TIme, GQ, and Vanity Fair. Well, that isn't exactly happening.... So, I am abandoning my original purpose and will simply update life in the Crossroads of Dixie! I have never been much of a fan of those Christmas letters -- one has to be very careful in how they are written. So if I descend into that sort of journalism, will someone please drop me a hint? And hopefully I can avoid this being a diary, but on the other hand, I suspect there aren't enough people reading this that it matters one way or the other!

We had our Haddix Family reunion here the weekend of June 28th. I think we all had a grand time. And I think we ate well. The weather was warm but pleasant. It was so very good to spend more than a couple of hours with family you grew up with. Uncle Joe, Tony, and Jack went to the Chickamauga Battlefield and Lookout Mountain. The next day, Tony and Phyllis, Uncle Bert and Helen and Anne and I went to Lookout Mtn and some rode the Incline Railway and we took a short tour of Rock City and some of the beautiful homes up there. Monday, Uncle Bert and Helen and Anne and I went to the aquarium -- whew, what a day! Then they drove back home that afternoon. Three days later, Erika and Prasanna and our friend and neighbor, Greg and his friend, Diane, came for the weekend. We saw more fireworks than I have ever seen in my entire life! Spent a lot of time on the boat -- even at night while watching fireworks. A great weekend also. As soon as they left Sunday morning, both of us raced back to bed for the afternoon!

The week before the Haddix Reunion Andria, Michael, and Katy were here! I know everyone says it, but what a precious little bundle -- see Andria's Picasa site link elsewhere in this blog and check regularly if you like. We toured Chattanooga. including the North Shore and Coolidge Park -- Katy even got to ride on the carousel there. We also trekked up Lookout Mountain. Katy did not like the boat ride so we cut that very short!

Tomorrow, 7/19, we are going to Dayton, TN, to see a reenactment of the Scopes Trial that occurred there in the summer of 1925. Every year, local law students and a couple of reenactors recreate a shortened version of the trial word-for-word in the courtroom of the original courthouse. William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow were the opposing attorneys. As part of the "festival" weekend, there are two musicians who were featured in the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" And hopefully lots of junk food! I'm due for an infusion of junk food!

Speaking of food, I think most of us grew up on white Silver Queen corn? And now I think the new Peaches and Cream, or bi-color, is better. BUT, a local produce guy swears by the newest Silver King! 'Says we will never eat anything else! It's due in about another week. We'll see,,,,

Just a reminder to everyone -- we are twenty minutes off I-75 at Exit 4, just north of the Chattanooga exit. If you are passing through, we would be thrilled if you spent some time with us or just call and we will meet you for lunch or dinner if you're in a hurry!

The Never-Ending Catch-up

This post was written obviously in May but never "posted' so it is a little outdated.

It's the first of May already. Since the last post, we have lost our dear cousin Dave Gross. He was the best. He showed courage beyond my comprehension and fought the good fight as well as anyone I have ever known.

Other than his loss, everything has been relatively calm. I had a cold for six weeks, the flu for a month, followed by a current bout of labrinthitis. It's bad stuff and can literally knock you down in a second. 'Not too much to be done except bear it for a few more weeks.

We are currently in the midst of planning a Haddix Reunion the last week of June here in Chattanooga and hope everyone can come.

Boy, the size of the mosquitos here! Two came on the porch the other night and before I knew it dragged me down the stairs into the backyard and stole my billfold! 'Fooled them though -- I only had seven dollars!

A rant on the loose!

OK, folks, this rant is probably VERY politically incorrect, but after reading about trash in Naples, my fuse was lit. Will someone explain to me the reason(s) for the following?

Why, after thousands of years of different civilizations, i.e., China, India, Mexico, all the Latin countries for that matter, all the African countries, all the Middle East countries, Russia, and on and on, is it that it SEEMS to me that only America, England, Australia, Canada, and POSSIBLY France, Germany, Switzerland, have what I consider to be a modern civilization? Naples, Italy, just ran out of a place to put their trash so they haven't picked up any since DECEMBER?? People literally wade through garbage on the sidewalks, water supply is probably contaminated.Can you imagine 5 months of garbage piled up in our city streets? I know an older couple who grew up in Naples during WWII, moved here shortly after, and go "back home" every year. But about fifteen years ago they had to quit their yearly trips because it was too unsafe to go too NAPLES ITALY! Now, their relatives come here for visits.

With the head start other countries had on America, why has America become the most modern, NOT without its serious problems, prosperous country on earth? You think its bad here? Move to any country in Africa, live in a bamboo/cardboard hut in China or Korea, become a member of the nomadic camel herders in Africa, or be a farmer in Russia and have your life depend upon those potatoes growing in the yard. Why have English-speaking countries been so comparatively successful? I truly don't understand it. Is it because we have so many natural resources? Is it because our particular civilization is so young and hasn't had the time to collapse inward? Now, before the apologists rant at me -- there are always exceptions. Not having been there, I suspect Buenos Aires, Madrid, Rome, and a handful of others that escape me right now, are great modern cities. But leave those cities and go to the country and you will find many people living as they did a hundred years ago. Is it because of some mysterious "work ethic" imbued in English-speaking peoples. I doubt it. Is it because we are somewhat "isolated" physically from other countries? Probably not. Is it because we are a paragon of democracy? Is it because we are a Christian nation, but keep government separate? Is it because we are such an innovative country and if so, why are we the most innovative?

Anyone who has traveled will tell of all the things they missed while touring other countries and what they just take for granted. I don't mean to sound provincial; I am honestly looking for rational reasons. So, if you have an opinion, please weigh in and share with everyone.