12/07/2005

Ruth and I had a new visitor at our backyard this week. This is a turkey vulture that has been circling around recently. I wonder who is getting old and needs to be kept an eye on?

11/11/2005

On the 11 of November, Ruth and I took a trip to the North Georgia Mountains to check out the fall colors. While this was supposed to be the peak viewing weekend, the trees had different ideas. Most of the leaves had already fallen and we spent most of the day looking at empty sticks! Oh well, it was still better than sitting around the house. We took a trip up to Anna Ruby falls and then headed over to Brasstown Bald (the highest point in Georgia). The weather was perfect and being a bank holiday the sites were fairly devoid of people. This lead to a good opportunity to take a couple of interesting photographs. If your interested, here is the link

10/15/2005

From 14 to 16 October 2005, there was a Scottish Highland Games held at Stone Mountain, Georgia. This was the first time that Ruth and I had attended. We were blessed to have Ruth's Mom, Dad and Brother visiting with us at the time. The skill and strength of the athletes was astounding! Each of them had to compete in seven different events. Unfortunately, I only got to see the stone of strength, the lightweight throw (2 stone, 28 lbs), the heavy-weight throw (4 stone, 56 lbs), the 2 stone hammer throw and the Caber toss (20 foot high and 140 pounds!) I missed the sheaf toss (not sheep!) and the weight over bar toss. Lastly, this years games featured a mass pipe and drum band over 700 strong. Watching them enter the field in waves and then play a combined march was a stunning sight. The colors, the sights, and the sounds can not be described! Of course, it does lead to the old Scottish joke....

Why do the pipers walk when they play?..... To get away from the sound!

And

Movies and Photo's from the Highland Games

The pictures, in order from the top left, the light weight throw, the heavy weight throw, the hammer throw, and a closeup of the hammer throw

From our latest trip!

Greg and Diane, a nice couple we travelled with	Mike and Ruth enjoy the houses of parliament

During September 2005, Ruth and I took our first vacation since our honeymoon! This was a special trip that took us to England and Scotland. Of course, Mike took lots of photos (1200) and Ruth did a bit of shopping. Follow the links on this page if your interested.