Gospel Train Small 2

http://durhambullpen.blogspot.com/2008/10/collard-green-sandwich.html

And I thought Turkey Legs were a Cultural Phenom...!!!!

My Great Uncle Lonnie was such a card. He was born and raised growin tobacco, corn, cotton, and collards. He must have really loved collards cause I heard that he used to say to his wife, "Ruby, go to the kitchen and fix me a collard sammich"
Well, recently my Mama (his niece) went to a farmers fair in SC and told me they were sellin collard sandwhiches....wow...I havent heard of that in a coon's age....
She said it is two pieces of cornbread, collards, and piece of fatback....man it sounds so good. I can see why Uncle Lonnie sat in front of the bull dozer when it threatened his beloved collard patch to make the 2 lane a 4 lane.....Love you Uncle Lonnie, Mama, and thank you Lord for Collard Sammiches.....
To Find out More go to the Link......

Driver hits bank with 5th wheel, collapses onto truck!

Feel Better Soon Kurt!!

Love Connie & Melissa

The Sport of Kings(of Beer)

Forget Nascar! Forget Indy! Cooler Racing is the new thing.

That Does It... I'm Trading In The Durango!!!

Man driving motorized cooler faces DWI, other charges
By Don Lehmandlehman@poststar.comTuesday, June 3, 2008 2:36 AM EDT

To order copies of staff-produced photos from The Post-Star, please visit http://reprints.poststar.com/.
WHITEHALL - In case you were wondering, a motorized cooler on wheels is a motor vehicle under state law.A Whitehall man learned that on Memorial Day, when he was charged with driving while intoxicated after police pulled him over for swerving and driving on the sidewalk on a four-wheeled, motorized cooler known as a "Cruzin Cooler."Leslie J. "Bomber" Marr, 57, could face felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges because of prior arrests and convictions in drinking-and-driving cases, said Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle.The electricity-powered Cruzin Cooler that Marr was riding contained 14 beers, the chief said.LaChapelle said Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija stopped Marr at about 7:45 p.m. after the officer saw Marr swerving and preparing to cross William Street on the motorized cooler.The machine has handlebars, and its operator sits on a seat atop the cooler, LaChapelle said."We were told it can do up to 12 mph," the chief said.Marr had apparently just left the nearby American Legion Post 83, but it was unclear where he was going, LaChapelle said. He was not headed toward his Lafayette Street home, and he refused to take a breath test, the chief said.Marr had apparently been working at the American Legion post earlier in the day, according to police.Marr was charged with misdemeanor counts of DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and also was cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle.He was released pending prosecution in Whitehall Village Court.The Cruzin Cooler was seized by police, the chief said.No listed phone number for Marr could be found Monday.Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright said the scooter is considered a motor vehicle under state law."They tell us he's been riding around town on that cooler for years," Kortright said. "You can't cruise around on your cooler if you're intoxicated."Cruzin Coolers generally run on 300-watt to 500-watt motors similar to those used on other motorized scooters, but there are some models that run on gasoline.The company's Web site boasts the vehicles can travel up to 13 mph and pull up to 400 pounds. Price-wise, they begin at about $300.They are legal in New York, according to the company's Web site.

Farewell To A Friend

Sweet musk of decaying foliage,
Frigid air's sobering sting,
Sun, bears down... devoid of comfort.

Wisps, envelope the huddled few,
Soon, swept away
By Winter's gentlest Breath.

Hickory from a distant hearth,
Warms, with pangs of memories...
Preempting ceremony.....

We stand alone....


I and a few more,
Determined sentinals,
Cojoined in our stead...

To watch you laid securely
By a man, in blue denim and flannel,
Who knew you not,
Yet, gently tucks you in...


Farewell, my friend.

I Guess I'm One Of The 20%

I'll preface this, by admitting I'm not the conventional male...
I will stop to ask directions... Suzanne and I love to travel, but have a hard time with North, South, East, and West. We've learned our limitations.
I do place the seat down on the commode.... But I also place the lid down... I figure, if I have to extend the courtesy, then, she should make the effort to raise the lid. (Is that passive-aggressive behavior?)
And I do not complain of frequent restroom stops, when we're travelling.
There is always chocolate in the house.... period.
All that being said, I guess I'll be one of the 20% of males to see "Sex In The City" this weekend...
According to the "experts," only 20% of the movie goers to see this flick will be male...
Most of them will be males who care about fashion.... you've seen me, I don't...
The rest are looking for hot girls... (I'm trying to "wrap my mind around guys who would 'cruise' a dark movie theatre for women.")
The rest have been categorized as non-categorized....
Once again, I've been outcast as a non-descript...
But that's okay.... I'm happy to be undefinable....
Needless to say, I'll go, and I'll have a good time at it...
Because my baby wants to go...
I guess its a date.....
I only hope there's some gratuitous nudity involved...
K

Ooopps... Forgot #11....

And this is Truth... not how it is, but how I want it....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kTrkpPXYsM

Truth As I Define It

Recently I placed a post which referenced a quote by Sir Winston Churchill, that Truth was, in fact incontrovertable.
I am delighted that a good friend of mine, challenged that perspective. I can always count on her to challenge my beliefs, and delve into the grey areas of our existance, and our humanity.
To define incontrovertable is to say that the premis is not deniable or in despute....
Truth # 1... We are each, a product of our experiences/environment.
Truth#2... We each hold the capacity to Love...
Truth#3... We each hold the capacity to Hate....
Truth#4... We celebrate Life
Truth#5... We mourn Death
Truth#6... We make a joyful noise, each in our own way...
Truth#7... We beleive we are significant
Truth#8... We know that we're not
Truth #9... We will protect our young...
Truth #10... We will all die.
I don't pretend to know anything. I hold a romantic notion of this world, which will probably be the death of me. I just want to be an old fart, looking toward, and looking back on a more loving time...
Imagine...
K

Further Proof That God Loves Us....

I have the privilage of being a friend of this very talented woman...
Why? Only God knows....
But I think He loves me....
K
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG4L08tbO3Q

And Then There Were Three...

Earlier this week, I was overjoyed to interrupt my workday, by having coffee with a dear friend of mine, from Morganton. We met at a coffee shop in Biltmore, at the entrance to the world famous Biltmore House. We sat and exchanged pleasantries, and the latest "goings on" of family and friends, and mutual acquaintances.


As I looked over the unfamiliar landscape, that used to be Biltmore. My friend told me how much her Dad hated what had happened to Biltmore. You see, she had taken her Dad through Biltmore recently for Doctor's care....perhaps the first time he'd seen Biltmore in ages. I'm sure he was shocked and dismayed.... But Paula didn't understand. Her reaction was, "Why didn't you do something about it?"


Now I'm a huge fan of the annalogy of the frog being comfortable in water that is gradually elevated to boing point, and surviving, verses the frog that is thrown into a pot of boilig water, and instantly meeting his demise. So I can fully understand Paula's dad's reaction. He was thrown into the pot of boiling water, while I languished in the luke warm pool of oblivion.

Biltmore had "grown up." And I hadn't been there.....




You'd have to have lived here, "Back in the day," to understand.


There was a time when Biltmore was a community... not a side show to the Biltmore House, but an intregal part of its being. Anything you could imagine in Norman Rockwell's romanticized version of America, actually exisited in the little underclassed village of Biltmore, NC.


Within walking distance, you could satisfy every basic human need, and then again, a few pleasures, if you could afford them.


I'll go into the details of life in Biltmore at a later date...It may take a few writings.


But tonight, I understand Paula's Dad's disdain for the erruption of development, and commercialism in the dismal wonderland in which I grew up.


This year, the Hot Shot closed its doors... forever. Damn....


Next door, the shoe repair shop, was resurrected, and turned into a trendy gift shop.


What's next?


As I take inventory over the village I used to be embarrassed by, but now embrace as my own, who is left???


Its the bastions of Biltmore, the Discount Tire Barn, Biltmore Wheel and Alignment... where Roy Cole still remembers to ask, "How's Yvonne (my Mom,) and the Biltmore Barber Shop... where my Dad took me and my brothers for our first "flat top," complete with Butch Paste in our back pockets... (I can still hear my Mom screaming at Dad about cutting off her little boys' locks.)


I do still frequent two out of the three of these places...Just to see all the familiar faces.


Obviously, I don't frequent the barber shop...


But maybe Monday... a professional shave might be in order....


And so, there stands three survivors...


But its just a matter of time until they're swallowed up by bleached blonde leopard skinned shoppers in five inche stilettoes... shopping the quaint shops of Biltmore....

Chicos?????????

Give me a Break!!!!

And as always... QRML.............. K

Happy Birthday... To A Good Man

Happy Birthday to my brother, Keith... I Love you, Kurt
(And that's about all I have to say about that!)

Girls Gone Wild....

In three days, my "little girl" turns twenty-one. Ain't it funny, how time slips away?
Now, my first reaction to this turn of events, is to look back fondly on the sweet moments we shared as "Daddy" and "Little Girl." The stories of the "Princess..." the loving look in her eyes, as she gazed up completely trusting in her "Knight in Shining Armor..." I never underestimated my role in her formative years. I wanted to be her Knight. And still do, though, weary with time.
But I can't look back upon our memories, without taking into account, a certain event on her fifteenth birthday... an event that "Rocked my world...."
Suzanne, my "ever-lovin'," on her fifteenth birthday, had arranged a road party and weekend at the Lake for Jaqui, and a few of her girlfriends. All I had to do was drive them down in the RV, and tolerate the enthusiasm of the the weekend, at the lake house.
Now for all of you parents... you know that there is never a simple trip, when you are carrying precious cargo.... And I was carrying a "boat load."
I immediately took the RV down to my local service center to make sure that the "chariot" was fit for the "Princesses." Three tires, two fire extinguishers, an NC inspection, and $1400.00 later, we were good to go.....
On the morning of our departure, I can recall the girls being dropped off at our house, one by one... and the mothers' questioning look, as they assessed their child's safety, for a weekend out. Let's face it, they were at a tender, and volatile age... and this was, perhaps their first time out. But, Suzanne is the consummate Mother. So, everything was good...
Eventually, we loaded up all the girls and cruised down the highway, toward our destination.
We were probably 45 minute into our trip, when the flashing lights of a NC State Trooper came up behind me... blue lights blaring.
Immediately, I went through an inventory in my mind...
I wasn't speeding...
My license was current....
I'd just paid for my inspection...
My tires were new....
I hadn't been drinking...
And I even had two new fire extinguishers!!!
I asked Suzanne, "What in the Hell is this?"
Now when Suzanne, being my moral compass, said "I have no idea..." I was totally at a loss.
So, when the Trooper came to my window, I genuinely asked, "What's wrong officer?"
After the legal formalities of "license and registration," the trooper cracked a smile.
"Mr. Prinz, would you care to step outside of the vehicle, and address a situation that has come to my attention?"
Being the law abiding citizen that I am, I complied.
Outside of the vehicle I saw a certain "knowing" look in the officer's eyes that said. "Mr. Prinz, I'm just doing my job."
"Mr Prinz, I've received numerous complaints that a vehicle, of your description, has caused quite a "stir." "It seems as if young girls are flashing their breasts at upcoming traffic." (!!!!!!)
Oh My God... I just had to laugh!!!
I had to acknowledge that I'd heared giggles coming from the bathroom area, but that I'd thought that maybe they were trying out make-up and such, or talking about boys... Not exposing themselves in such a "devilish" manner. The shame of it all....
What did I know?
After a few anecdotes, and a chuckle or two, I asked the officer, "Would you like to have a little fun?" Knowingly, he agreed.
We lined the girls up, outside of the vehichle, and he explained the values of the cell phone on the road, and that any actions, of any travellor could be reported to the nearest local authority, and intecepted.... and punishable, by law.
The girl were certainly humbled... and a lesson learned...
Once the girls were loaded back into the RV the Trooper and I exchanged "High Fives," and went about our different ways.
The weekend at the Lake was great... the girls were on their best behavior, and the only giggles in the night belonged to Suzanne and me, recounting the experience on the Highway.
My "Little Girl" will alway be just that...
My little girl... adventurous, naive, beyond me, and a flood of emotion...
At her worst, she and her brother are the best things I've ever known,
Besides the woman who bore them.
And, by the way, as far as I know, none of the mothers know of the misadventures of their daughters... to this day.
Such is the pity.

The True Definition of "Thinking Outside the Box..."

“In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.”
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra quotes (Spanish writer, author of the masterwork 'El quijote', 1547-1616)

Just A Thought To Pass Along....

The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.
Sir Winston Churchill

All My Spiritual Moments Have Been On The Road...

As far back as I can remember, the sound of rubber meeting pavement, and music from the dashboard, has represented a journey of some sort. From the old AM stations, in my early years, I would hear (from the backseat,) Hank Snow, Nat "King" Cole, Patsy Cline, and the like, competing with the road noise, for my attention.
A road trip from our house in Biltmore, NC to Tuxedo, NC wasn't just a trip... it was a journey.
I really have no conception as to how long it took us to traverse the distance. I was young, with no sense of time... But to me, it was a magical oddessy to far away places, with mysterious voices coming over a stratchy speacker, to help my journey along. Voices coming to me from far away places was magic... I couldn't get enough.
To this day, I can still recall me lying across a mohair bench seat, hearing the whining noise of $5.00 recap tires in my left ear, while "Nat" sang "Ramblin' Rose..." in my right. I find comfort in the fact that this is a good memory.
To me, music and the road have always been sacred... I guess from these childhood memories....

The other day, I was driving north from Asheville, NC to Weaverville, NC, to Pat Dore's home, (one of my "favorite peeps.") It started out as a gloomy, overcast day. But as I drove closer to her home, the skies began to clear, and as I approached her development, the sun beared down as Jim Croce blared out over the speakers, "I Got a Name," perhaps the most meaningful songs of my life.
The shackles of Winter were immediately torn from me, as the heavens opened up. The bitter-sweet torment that I was about to help my friend move away from me forever, was overwhelmwd by the fact that she chose me to help her in her journey to happiness....
By the time I got to her house, my sadness, (that she was leaving,) was overpowered by the fact that I could help her "Go there free..."
"Moving ahead, so life don't pass me by..."
I returned to my office, and asked, " did you ever have a great day because the the heavens opened up, and the weight of the world was lifted off your shoulders?" And somehow, they understood... One, in particular, knew my spiritual uplifting.
It was that day, that I found my place in this world... with the people that know me the best, but love me anyway... and I love you back.
"If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud..."
My Spiritual moments have been on the road... but my sustanance has been from the ones I choose to be around....
And somehow, I've found myself at home, with poeple I trust, and people who trust me, despite my faults...
If you ever find yourself questioning yourself, I might suggest, get in the car, roll down the windows, and drive, with the radio blasting... you might not find your epiphany.... but then, again, you might.... K

Just A Thought...

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing."
George Bernard Shaw

Signs of Spring....

"Harry Homeowner" has felt the first pangs of Spring... With the first warm days, and clear blue skies of Spring, comes his irrepressible urge to add to his nest.

As I watched him load his truck... I felt the urge to explain the laws of physics, his load, and the center of gravity thing.

Instead, I took this picture, and fought the overwhelming compulsion to follow him home, and witness the ensuing disaster.

Besides, I had projects of my own to pursue...K