Between the Hedges

Here are some pictures from the Georgia-Tennessee game October 7. Jake flew in for the weekend in Georgia and we all drove to Athens on Saturday for the football game. Unfortunately, Georgia lost. I was briefly worried that Jake was bad luck and could never come back, but we lost again this week, so he's off the hook.

The guy in the red pants certainly is handsome. This picture was taken at Katie & Chad's tailgate spot. Their tailgate featured an omelette station, mimosas, and an intense game of bean bag toss.

Cousins. We're all smiles before the game.

Standing in front of Sanford Stadium. This picture was taken around 11AM, and the game started at 7:45.

After the picture was taken, Jake bought a red Dawg tshirt. However, dad could not be persuaded to join in the spirit of the day. We must ask: would it kill him to wear red?

Posing in front of the inflatable bulldog. This picture was at my tailgate spot. The red tent flaps keep the glare off the TV. We had bbq pork, chicken & ribs. When this photo was taken, Jake was probably inside the tent trying to watch the Detroit Tiger baseball game, but as you might expect, the Georgia fans were enjoying watching Auburn lose too much to seriously consider his request. Would it kill dad to wear red? Why risk it? Good thing he avoids such risky behavior.

Uncle Mike's True Diary of the last couple days in Asheville

August 3, Thursday
I finally found time to do a few more days. The only good thing about allowing so much time to elapse is that I get to make up more stuff. Thursday was our big interview day. We had Uncle Riv and Cathy, Aunt Melva, Aunt Patty and Uncle Ralph and Aunt Judy to talk about the old days. We are in the process of working on the videos from the interviews. We had a blast listening to them sing Mam’s old songs. Those songs covered a time and period almost long forgotten. Our “panelists” were great in that they talked about some of the old homes where they grew up and where they went to school and who was good (all of them) and who was bad (everyone but the person talking). This was a fun afternoon and hopefully we will be able to provide a family record of the events. I also can’t wait to get Uncle Mark’s video on all the proceedings.

All this was even more memorable because Katie had brought Aunt Melva’s new hearing aids. No one could talk about her any more.

I can’t say enough about the delicious dinner that night when we met at Bill’s. These were the best hot sausage sandwiches and pasta ever. I thought I had died and gone to Italy. Just the right ingredients…those delectable sausages, the hard Italian rolls, the perfect blend of spices. I could go on forever. Kudos to the cook! Oh yeah, it was me. I think Patti puttered around and got in the way a few times. Oh yeah, some folks helped with the pasta and salad.

After dinner we piled into vehicles and went to the Asheville tourists play against the Baltimore (I forgets). A good time was had be all. Our car had Josh driving, Jacob, Bob and maybe Bill? The Moore/Hargrove infallible sense of direction got us lost after the game for about half an hour. It was Josh’s fault mostly since he was driving. And his navigator, Jacob, didn’t help. We finally made it back and found that the women had one of their hot tub and wine adventures. I think this one was at Aunt Melva’s.

August 4, Friday
Friday was fun and we all relaxed. First, Bob cooked omelets and for all of you out there who said Bob was good for nothing…you’ll have to take that back. We found he was good for something. The omelets were great. Especially with the El Phoenix hot sauce.

We had a basketball game in the morning. The Bus driver drove the Hargrove’s to school. It was a good thing a nurse practitioner was present for Ryan. Bill too had to bow out. Uncle Mark had his major working and Mary and Lenora were a one-two Symczak punch. Jacob had some moves but mostly he’s unmovable. We had lunch at my place and then we held the big bocce tournament. This was a lot of fun. There was a lot of trash talking and that lucky stiff Wil shouldn’t be allowed to play. We had Katie and Chad out there and most of the clan. It was a good thing Aunt Melva wasn’t around to hear what some of my mean cousins were saying about me. I only wished Charlene had been there. I know she would have stuck up for me. But like a good trooper, I put up with it. The weather was nice and it was fun to be outside.

That night we ate leftovers that were just as good as they were the first time. Next time Tom and Linda have to bring more ribs and Bob should also bring along a few more pork chops…well add the lasagna too and fajitas as well. Some of our folks took off for home so we said good byes to Tim and family and to Uncle Rivets, aunt Cathy and Aunt Judy.

This was the night that Bill’s house started belching peaches…seriously…it really did right out of the roof and we had to call a plumber who checked it out and said he’d rather have a beer with us and check it out tomorrow. We chatted with the plumber and found out that we were all tired from a long week of having fun and we turned in early.

August 5, Saturday
We were up and at ‘em early. We had to get Bill packed and underway and we could have used an army for that. Then we all helped each other out and said good byes and hit the road. It turned out to be a fast week, but a really fun time.