Tipper, First let me say to Ken, AMEN! No holiday has the tenderness, love, and respect attached to it as does Mother's Day. I thoroughly enjoyed Paul's song! Good guitar playing Paul. You have a wonderful Mother's Day Tipper. Bradley

Tipper, What a photo!!! I once worked with a guy that was a doting grandparent and he said it all about his little grand daughters. He said, "If there had been anything sweeter on this earth than little girl toddlers, our Lord would have taken it with him when he left to be with his Father!" I had to agree completely. Notice the little wrinkle around that little wrist! Ain't she sweet! Thanks Tipper; I needed that this morning! Bradley

Tipper, I love poems, your pictures, Blackberry Winter, Indian Summer, and Summer and gentle people. Didn't mean to sound like Tom T. Hall but your blog brings gentle thoughts to me now as well as of days and people that are in my memories. Oh yes, I forgot "Little fuzzy pups!!" Bradley

Tipper, Don't know anything about this subject but, just had to make a comment. A few years ago I noticed some of the young girls where I worked had these intricate designs painted on their nails. These designs were so creative and they actually looked like minature paintings! I accused the girls of having a stencil but,they said no that they did it freehand. Some of the detail amazed me. When I asked one of the girls how in the world they did that, she just gave me this astonished look and said, "I would explain it to you but, you wouldn't understand it." One girl (I swear) had what looked to be Van Gogh minature paintings on her nails. Bradley

Tipper, I have always liked asparagus. I would probably like it anyway one could cook it. Steamed with Hollandaise sauce is best to me. Actually I enjoy just about any vegetable. Bradley

Tipper, I have used excuses and tall tales in the past like that but, right now I can't think of them. Your post reminds me of an excuse that I once heard. There's many car dealerships that are reputable and honest but, there's those that aren't. Once there was an older gentlemen in our area that bought a new car. After he had the car for a while he noticed that it would pull to the right while going down the road; He decided to take it back to the dealer. The highly skilled and intelligent shop manager gave this excuse. He told the old man that the population was getting older and heart attacks and strokes were on the increase. To counteract this the car manufacturers had designed a fail safe trait into the allignment of all the new cars. The cars were now designed to veer to the right and away from on coming traffic in the event that someone blacked out. This would save many lives. So the old gentleman went back home. When he returned home his son asked what happened. When the old man told him what that clod at the dealer said he became rather angry. I was there at the time and I remember what the son said. He said, "Give me those ##@@xx!!&* keys!" He went back to the dealership and guess what? They made an exception and fixed the car. Bradley

Something happened to this computer, and I forgot to tell everyone

Tipper, Your collage and collection of memories are great (as usual). When a person has heart it always comes through! That photo on the last post showing Chatter (I think) and Aunt Hazel is a winner! Did you take that one? I bet you did; I just know it! Someone once told me that no matter how talented a person might be, unless that person had a style of their own, it would be to no avail from an artistic stand point. Well, guess what, that picture had you all over it. Your own style is very recognizable. Remember Rex Harrison from the movie "My Fair Lady" when he told everyone about Audrey Hepborn, "By George, I think she's got it!" Yes, I think you also have the knack.

Tipper, I loved the song! I guess Pap was right; You all did get it right! Bradley

Tipper, I loved all these dog stories but the two that really played havoc with my emotions were the two by CHERYL and KEN. My Momma used to say "You need to be aware of a person that doesn't love dogs!" Bradley

Tipper, My Momma used to tell this story about a dog they had when she was a little girl. Actually this dog belonged to my favorite uncle; His name was Sonny Boy. This may sound like the story of "Old Yeller" but, one day when my uncle was a little boy he had walked down to the old country store to get a piece of candy with Sonny Boy close behind suddenly a dog that was mad with rabies came out of nowhere. The lady that ran the old store began screaming for them to get inside. It was too late; the mad dog was between them and the door. Sonny Boy fought that mad dog until my uncle could get inside. I'm sure you know the rest of the story. Momma, my uncle, and Granny and Papa, and all the old timers talked of Sonny Boy the rest of their lives. How that dog was loved! Bradley

Tipper, The hands of a baby are one of the most wonderous things in nature. They are so small it would seem at times they could not be functional. You know the deep wrinkle that encompasses the wrist of a babys' hands, that is something that has always fascinated me. Miss Cindy, if they gave out grades for having children, you would have gotten an A+ for the Deer Hunter. Bet I know someone else that would agree! Bradley

Tipper, This is a good story. That part about Pap attempting to go and bring the swing set home but, each time the little girl was playing on it and he just didn't have the heart to take it from her speaks volumes about his character. HE IS MY KIND OF FOLKS. Bradley

I don't remember ever hearing about ramps. After reading the post Don wrote, I also didn't know about the problem that could come from eating them. I am assuming it has to do with methane. That could be a problem. I recall when I was in School we had guy that enjoyed pinto beans but, they really gave him a problem ( and everyone else close by). If you were unfortunate enought to get behind him at class break it was just awful. He sounded like one of those big ten wheel dump trucks with a Jake-Brake slowing down for a stop light. Bradley

Tipper, I know these words; I use them all the time (except name it). There's times I say "Name It" but only when I'm trying to cloud the mind of some person that I know that's trying to psycho-analyze me. Night crawlers are great fish catchers! I really enjoyed those photos; they have so many artistic elements in them (especially the first one). You captured so much depth and number of planes in such a simple photo. In fact, that photo would make a good painting. Bradley

When I was about eight years of age there was a little girl that lived in our neighborhood. Her mother had died a few years before and her dad married a very poor excuse for a woman. Sarah was the only step child because her dad and "personality plus" had two children of their own. Sarah was beaten very often for little or nothing. You could hear her scream. Way back then we didn't have the laws we have now so this was never corrected. Well, years passed, they moved away and I know both parents are passed on now. I have lost track of that little blonde headed blue eyed (blue eyed as a Siamese cat) girl. I don't know what happened to her or where she is at now. However, I still think about her a lot. By the way, my daughter profited from my memory of Sarah because everytime my daughter needed to be punished for what ever, I would think of Sarah and I never could spank my little girl and now she is too big. LOL....besides she was a blonde headed little girl with large blue eyes. I guess that is why I was never much of disciplanarian. Like I said, I don't know what happened to that little girl but, wherever she is I hope she is FILTHY RICH. I know she is probably beautiful. Bradley

Oh yeah, I forgot to say congratulations to Granny Sue for winning! Bradley

Tipper - This is slightly off the subject I guess but, seeing the post about the seeds, I wonder if you or any of your readers know or have heard about this. I once saw a guy come into the gas station with a bag of dark purple objects in a small brown bag. They looked like very large, dried, purple, strawberries (heart shaped). He said, "O.k. fellas, bet you can't guess what these are?" You would not believe the ideas everyone came up with for an answer. Finally, when no one could guess what they were, he said, "These are an old variety of pop corn that an "old timer" gave me today and I'm gonna plant them to see if they will grow." Wonder if any of your readers have seen this old variety of pop corn? I assume that popcorn was an old variety but, I really don't know but, It was definitely pop corn; He even let us shell one. Ever seen or heard of this type of pop corn? They were about the size of large plum ( approx. 2 3/4" diameter). Large strawberry or heart shaped. Bradley

You know......to me , few experiences can be as thought provoking and sobering as walking among the headstones of a cemetary. It causes a person to stop and think! Once read a poem by a person named Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). The poem came to mind when I saw the photograph of Tipper's. The poem's main idea was about how life is so short at best and how we need to make the best of our time and live our lives to the fullest while we may. The poem was kinda long but, there were two lines that I remembered. The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, there embrace. A picture IS worth a thousand words, isn't it? Bradley

The way we would eat soakey back in the day was to doctor the coffee with sugar, cream or honey if we could find it and ( here's what was the clincher )use a biscuit made by a MASTER Usually that would have been Granny, and dunk it like a doughnut. Guess the local dentist was glad we did. Cavities can be fun if you are a dentist! Bradley

Tipper - I have heard all those words used to describe things. One of my uncles was telling how things were when he was little and he said that they were bad to have a lot of mad-dogs running around back then. One that wasn't mentioned that used to knock me out was one this old lady in our neighborhood used to say. For instance, instead of saying that someone wouldn't reveal what had happened she would say....." I don't know what happened to them that made them mad, they never did name it." "The onlyiest thing I knowed was something made them fuzz up at each other." I love this vocabulary thing ! Bradley

My Momma's yongest sister is named Kathleen - everybody always called her Kat. She and I always loved each other so much. I would always slip off and cross the creek to see her whenever I got the chance. Momma always told me all the things you mentioned about not catching a cold. One day when I was a little boy I couldn't stand it no longer and I went running across the creek on the foot log to see her; this time I fell in and got wet - just like the old song. It was March and the water in the creek was as cold as a frog's leg. Momma must have been right about all those warnings. A few days later I came down with Pneumonia. Kat didn't know I was that wet and I was afraid if I told her she would tell Momma. Those things you mentioned are true - I believe. You better be CAREFUL about going bare footed, getting wet etc.. You might not get Pneumonia but you just might get a cold. Bradley

Tipper, your writings become better with each one you write. This is no accident; there is an explanation for this....TALENT! You hit one out of the park once again. Only a calloused person would not become nostalgic when their mind wandered back to the memories of an old home place, a dear face from days gone by, the sound of a loved one's voice or friend that is no longer with us. This article does this; it gives us something to think about. However, today there is so much to divert our thoughts. This is why a writer of your talent can be such a welcome release to make us think back to a more comforting time. I remember an old song from years ago. The singer's name was Joe South. The name of the song was called "Don't it make you want to go home?" Some of the lines I rember were: There's a drag strip down by the river side where my Grandma's cow used to graze. Now the grass don't grow and the river don't flow like it did in my childhood days. Don't it make you want to go home? God! don't it make you want to go home? Thanks Tipper, for all you do for us! You are just what we needed! Bradley

I have always said wasp. However, this reminds me of something that happened when my daughter was about five. Obviously she had never seen a lightning bug or firefly. It was twilight and I was in the yard while she was playing. Suddenly she came running and jumped on my lap. She was so excited and said, "Daddy, Daddy, guess what I just saw?" I said, "What did you see kitten?" "I just saw a wasp down in the garden and he had his lights on!" Bradley

There used to be ( and probably still is ) a brand of coffee called Luzianne. It had chickory in it. There was a white label and a red label. My great Grand Ma always drank that brand. I don't know maybe I was a sissy but, I thought it was so bitter when it was black that it would make a hog shake its foot if it got in their trough! We used to - when the grown-ups weren't around - would take a cup and fill it with sugar and cream and get a biscuit and make SOAKIE BREAD. Hey look, when you are a little poor boy ain't nothing wrong with that. We thought it was good ( after we had changed its original chemistry ). Bradley