Pig Pile!

"Win, lose or draw you're all my cousins and I love you." - Chill Wills (voice of Francis the talking Mule)

Ashley & Tammy went to Baton Rouge this past weekend to visit family and see the latest addition Maggie Paige. Ashley was able to get in quite a bit of WWF (wrestling with family) action.

On a totally seperate note, I have been reaquianting myself with C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters. It is such a powerful work and speaks very clearly to me.

Progress - A matter of perspective!

"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery." - St. Augustine

Lake Martin Dam from top to bottom.

Getting back to our recent vacation... the reason that Lake Martin even exists is because the Alabama Power Company decided to build a dam after the turn of the century. If you take a moment to read the history you can get a sense for the lives that were completly disrupted by the dams construction. It would be pretty interesting to interview anyone in the area that was evicted from their homes back in the 1920s and hear their opinions of "progress".

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

"Flying has always been to me this wonderful metaphor. In order to fly you have to trust that which you can't see." -Richard Bach

"Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away, and be at rest." - Psalms 55:6

F-35 Lightening II

Well the Department of Defense unveiled the F-35 Lightening II last week. I find myself reading about it with rather mixed emotions. I have always loved military aircraft and have always enjoyed touring aviation related museums and reading aviation related books. While the F-35 appears to be an extension of United States dominance in the fighter aircraft world it also seems to spells the end for fighter aircraft diversity. One common fighter for the Air Force (1763), Navy (480) & Marines (480) as well as our allies who wish to purchase them. The United States fighter inventory will eventually be composed of 2700+ F-35s. Air Museums will not need to plan on adding much floor space for future fighter aircraft.

Back in the saddle again.

"War is nothing but a continuance of politics by other means"

- Karl Von Clausewitz

Above are the remanants of an old stone bridge that crossed the Tallapoosa river near the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. The park is located just to the East of Alexander City, Al. This park is dedicated to the battle that took place in 1814 between the Creek Indians and US soldiers under the command of General Andrew Jackson. This was the final battle of the "Creek War" and helped launch General Andrew Jacksons national prominence. After reading a bit about the battle the Creek Indians under the command of Chief Menawa it is seems to me that the Chief made a serious tactical error allowing his forces to be trapped in the "horshoe bend" of the Tallapoosa river.

Summer Vacation 2006

"Action without name, a who attched to it is meaningless." - St. Jerome

Lake Martin, Al

For the past week this was the view I enjoyed every morning. It was pretty relaxing to sit with a cup of coffee and stare out over the cove. Our family went with two other families from First City Church to Lake Martin and rented a home on the North end close to Alexander City, Al. Our days were spent floating around the cove, boating around the lake on a small fishing boat or crusing on a pontoon boat that had been rented for several days. All in all a very relaxing and enjoyable week.


Also, Fred posted quite a few pictures from the 2006 Ecuador Mission trip that Amanda & Ashley went on this summer.