Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Hunter Won! Hunter Won!!!!



Hunter ~ We are so proud of you!!!!

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about - Hunter won his class recitation and now he will go against the other 4th graders in the county!!!!!! Yesterday it was down to the final 6 kids in the 4th grade. Hunter had some tough competition - but he did it!

Luckily I was able to go (thanks Renee for watching Alan) and I was so happy to be there. Hunter did an excellant job. It even brought a tear to my eye half-way through his poem. Hunter has come such a long way with his speech and for him to get up in front of all of his classmates and peers (not to mention the judges from the school board) and recite a poem that took over 3 minutes - WOW!!!!!! Here is a copy of the poem that Hunter recited!!!!!!!!!

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Casey at the Bat

By Ernest Lawrence Thayer

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, "If only Casey could but get a whack at that —
We'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat."

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat;
For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile lit Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt.
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped —
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore;
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted some one on the stand;
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the dun sphere flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said "Strike two!"

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered "Fraud!"
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer has fled from Casey's lip, the teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

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I'll keep everyone posted on the date for his county-wide competition!!!!!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!!!!!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

January 2006

WOW - 2006 hasn't started off very good for some of our neighbors. As most of you know - we had some pretty bad weather yesterday. We knew yesterday morning that there would be possible tornadoes due to the unseasonably warm temperatures but we had no idea that one would touch down only 6 houses away from ours.

We were in Fayetteville at Krogers when the store manger came over the loud speaker and said that we were under a Tornado Warning. A tornado had been sited in the county near 74 and Sandy Creek Road. Needless to say, we hurried and paid for our things and got in the car to come home. Before we left the county, Rusty parked the trailer at Sam's house and then he went to the Fire Station to grab his gear just in case he got called into work. While he was at the station he heard that the weather was getting bad in Pike County (that's where we live - we actually live in a town called Hollonville but we have a Concord address). The skies weren't looking so good. We headed home - slowly because Rusty was watching the skies. The clouds looked really weird - I can't really describe them. The closer we got to the house the worse the sky looked off to the east. The lightning was amazing. We got to the corner of Hollonville Road/Kings Bridge and HWY 362 and there was a suburban stuck in the mud. Rusty being the good guy that he is offered to help but she already had someone on the way. She said that when the storm came through, a car in front of her slammed on their brakes and she went off the road to keep from hitting it. The woman said that the weather got really bad.

When we turned into our subdivision we thought that it was really weird seeing a bunch of cars coming in and going out. For those of you that have been to our house - that just does not happen out here where we live. Rusty stopped at the beginning of the subdivision and watched the clouds. Luckily they were still moving east. We got up the hill and noticed that Big Jim's house looked like it had been struck by lightning at first glance. That's not what happened. The tornado went right across a portion of his house. Actually it started catty corner across the street from him. The tornado knocked down a portion of a fence, came across the house next door, went across the street to Jims and then behind his house to the home in the cul-de-sac. The tornado went in a straight line. Luckily nobody was hurt.

We were very lucky that nothing at our home was damaged and Dixie was just fine. Dixie is a smart dog - she probably got in her doghouse and didn't come out until we got home!
Rusty and some of the neighbors got together and helped tarp the damaged roof!!!
This is a picture of Big Jim's house. It's kinda hard to see but his garage doors are damaged - the one on the right side is twisted. The fence around the pool is gone and the roof over the garage is damaged. The other side of the house is also damaged.

This house is on our side of the street but on the corner when you turn at the stop sign. What you see in the front yard is the fireplace. The tornado touched down first (we think due to the fence next to this house being damaged) to the left of this house and then came across the backside and then kept going across the street. The garage side of this house was damaged also.
This is the backside of the house on the corner. There use to be a greenhouse beside the back patio.

Rusty said last night that everyone seemed to be doing okay considering what they went through. The neighbors really came together and helped everyone out.

Today Renee and I went driving around to see the damage in the surrounding area and it was unbelievable. The booth at Gregg's Peach Orchard is gone and debris is everywhere. Trees are snapped and twisted, installation is all in the trees and people are outside everywhere just looking around. There are tin roofs in the middle of fields. You name it - we probably saw it! One of the firemen that works with Rusty lives nearby towards where the worse part of the storm hit and he said that this morning they found a family portrait in their yard. He has no idea where it came from but he is hoping to find the owner soon.

I'm hoping that this is not the start of a bad weather year!!