Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. – Mohandes Ghandi

Every once in a while, when you are out taking photos with your camera, somebody invariably walks right in front of your lens.

You know the drill.  You have the family all lined up for that perfect shot right in front of Bigfoot, and some Joe-Schmoe steps right in the way.   Welllllll, as it turns out, this very thing happened to me this weekend while shooting at the Oktoberfest in West Alex.

I spotted, who I THOUGHT was Jimmy Hoffa.  Not kidding.  This guy looked just like Hoffa.  Older…….. but it was him.  He was sitting over curbside during the parade munching on Twinkies, and sipping a Chocolate Yahoo.  So I steadied my camera and started to shoot, and BLAM-O.  This joker walks RIGHT in front of my lens.  Well, by the time he cleared my view, I looked back to snap the evidence of Hoffa, and he was G-O-N-E.

I didn’t think much more about it until I looked at my images tonight.  As it turns out, the guy who stepped in front of my camera was WALDO. Can you believe it?  I FOUND WALDO!   Holy crap!  This is MUCH bigger than a Hoffa sighting.  All those people, all those years, asking, asking asking….”Where in the world is Waldo?” Writing books about it…. movies…….  and ….. HA!  I gotcha’ Waldo-Boy.

He’s in West Alexandria everyone.  From the looks of it though, he’s been eating Twinkies, and drinking Yahoos with Hoffa…….

Meet the Prince of Alexandria.  West Alexandria, to be specific.

The land of Panthers and such….  But yes.  Tis’ Prince Bungle we see before us.

He has pluck.  Spirited will and determination.  His immediate quest for Dots proves to be a challenge with a lame limb.  How did your misfortune happen, oh Little Prince?  Did thou’st fall from thy noble steed?  Or were you sleighing an untamed beast?  Oh, the quest for Licorice or Milk Duds would have been an easier task on this day, fair prince.  But alas.

So now we bid you good tidings Prince Bungle of  West Alexandria.  Fare thee well…… uh….ummmh…. dude… Hey!  Little dude…….you dropped your phone.

There are certain phrases in life that I don’t get….. just a few examples, here.

Don’t cry over spilled milk. Who would, really?  I guess maybe Farmer Joe if he’d been out milking all morning.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I, personally, think the two in the bush are probably much more valuable.  Clearly, they are smarter.

Four corners of the earth. C’mon.  Even George “W” knows there are seven corners of the earth.  (I think that’s what he said, didn’t he?)

Here’s one that really bugs me… and this one is R-Rated.

!%u@&c#!!  you and the horse you rode in on. Oh for crying out loud.  What the heck does the horse have to do with the price of tea in China? Dang it.  There’s another ONE………….

Well… now I’m just splitting feathers…..  DOH!  I did it again.  Okay.  Okay. I’m starting to scare the living daylights out of myself.   Arrggghhhhhhh…….

There is an old Irish saying that goes something like this:

“A cabin with plenty of food, is better than a hungry castle.”

Well, ain’t that the truth.  Unless of course, you are dieting, in which case the castle might be better for you.  OR if you are looking for a place to put your moat.  Because moats just look plain silly around cabins, whether they are filled with food or not.  Another possibility is that you are a Rapunzel-type person, and require some sort of tower for your long golden locks of hair.  Again, the cabin might not work out so well, unless you climbed up the chimney.  However, if the said cabin is filled with food, my guess is someone would be cooking, and the fireplace would then become another bad idea.  Clearly, we have much more to consider here.

There are an awful lot of “What If’s” in life….

I saw this hungry castle tonight while I was out shooting.  Wouldn’t you know… it was right near a big fatty cabin.

I live near train tracks.  I have a brother who comes to my house and hangs out sometimes.  He likes trains.  He always asks me, “Polly, do you ever go down to the tracks and watch the trains…. you know… up close.”  (Honestly, the prospect had never really occurred to me up until his inquiry.)

So tonight, I was thinking about all my brothers and sisters, actually.   I headed down to the tracks to watch some trains… because that is what I visualized doing when my thoughts came to sibling #4.  (That’s his nickname, #4.)   So, trains it is tonight.  From #7 to #4.   I don’t live in Chatanooga…. so, PARDON ME boy!  But if we all decided to go visit Chris, we could get that midnight train to Georgia.

AND NOW:  Final thought for the night:  “Malkueok  nvanda wer jsjkjj s adljsj fir  akjfsscpqw.  Drja boodldk  akd s qkeq  ljkckc!!!”  Hey #3… get out your decoder ring.

“Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it’s going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I’ve been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun”

– C. Stevens

This is Harvey the Dog.  This is Harvey the Dog’s Truck.

Harvey finds great pleasure in barking at anyone that comes near his truck.  He does it well.

I like Harvey the Dog.  He took me for a little spin in that there truck.  We had fun, both of us hanging our heads out the windows, and barking at the passers-by.  He ran over two trash cans and a mailbox.  I told him to keep his head in the car if he couldn’t steer and bark.  He said, “Oh, you think you could do better.”  He had a point.   Stupid is, as stupid does.  But boy oh boy, did we have fun!

How’s this for an amazing coincidence?

Believe it or not, today is Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, birthday.  He was born in Delaware, Ohio, in 1822.

Pictured below is not his barn.  In fact, I don’t know where his barn is, or even if he had one.  Never been to Delaware.  The town in Ohio, or the state.  BUT, this IS the barn of  Alfred Clampett.  He is one of the distant relatives of Bob Clampett, who created Porky Pig in 1935, which is exactly 113 years after Hayes was born.  NOW, stay with me here. You can sort of see an imprint of Porky on one of the panels of the barn.  Porky’s first film, entitled “I Haven’t Got A Hat” was set in scenic Delaware.  See how this is coming around??? And to top it all off, one of Rutherford B. Hayes’ favorite meals was cured ham (with cooked potatoes and corn).   Now, here’s where it gets totally creepy.  There is a corn field rigth behind this barn.  There are 113 rows.  Talk about serendipity.

A little known sport in most of the U.S….. but here in these parts, it is huge.  Bigger than NASCAR.  Yep.  Corn Racing.

It is just a bit slower than NASCAR… rarely any wrecks or injuries…. but a MAJOR betting sport.  Yep. Corn Racing.  Watching it grow.  Seeing who gets biggest, fastest.  Place your bets and watch it go.  The races basically last all summer long.  And the fans take frequent breaks…. but when it gets down to the wire…… woooooooooo whhhheeeeeeeeeeee.  I’ll tell you….

Just when you think you’ve had a rough day…  imagine being a sheep with absolutely no fashion sense.

I met Gertie three days ago.  She’s got this thing.  Some big Farm Gala Ballroom Dance that’s coming up tomorrow night.  It’s a formal, wouldn’t ya’ know.  So ol’ Gert has been fretting about what to wear.  I said, “Gertie.  For crying out loud.  You are a sheep.  Surely you have a nice sweater laying around somewhere….”  We talked some more.   She continued to fret.  I told her something would pop up for her.  Not to worry.

I swung by Gertie’s place this evening to see what she’d decided on.  Oh my gosh.  She picked out some hoodie thing.  She looked like one of the dang race horses right before post time at the Kentucky Derby.  “Gertie!  Where in the world did you EVER find your outfit?”  (Sure enough, one of the old mares had given it to her.  I’ll tell you, it was the old grayish colored mare.  She just ain’t what she used to be.)  Gert asked me what I thought… and I couldn’t tell her.  I just said I had to be going…. had to get home before dark….. and started to hustle out of there.  She called out after me (Oh boy.  I’m in trouble… she’s going to ask me what I think AGAIN!)

All she hollered was, “Hey.  Close that door behind you.   You live in a barn or something?”

(She’s looking to meet a nice ram.  I really hope she finds a different outfit.  Don’t ewe?)