September ~ Fox and Cat Stand-off

At the state hospital where I work, the hospital sits on several acres of land. There is a pond so geese are very common, the occasional deer can be seen, and the property is home to many feral cats. Well, a couple of weeks ago I was leaving work for the day and came upon this scene in the patch of grass right in front of the hospital administration building---a stand-off between a fox and a white feral cat. The cat stayed in a small dip in the land, so it was harder to see. I took these pictures from my car as I drove around this strip of land watching these two creatures.

The fox watching the cat (no pic of cat)

As I drove around, he would get up and move...sorry, it's a bit blurry.
I did manage to get this picture. He was laying calmly in the grass watching the cat. There was an occasional grunt or growl.

Fox running away again...this time for good. I'm not sure where he went.

Below is a 3-second video on the fox and the cat. The cat is the white blob on the right and the fox is on the left. I'm still amazed to have seen this right in front of the main building--there are cars that go around this area!

The Holy Land ~ Orlando, Florida

The first weekend in August we headed down to Orlando to attend the temple with Matt Clanton and his parents. Matt will be serving a mission in Santiago, Chile for our church. The next day we thought we'd visit the theme park, "The Holy Land". It's a small park with no rides, just shows and exhibits. We actually found it quite nice. The day was extremely hot and muggy and while we waited to go through the museum of antique Bibles from all over the world (and dating back to the late 1700s) it thundered and poured! Thankfully, we were in the covered area because most of the park is uncovered and so many people got soaked in the pouring rain. Timing was everything!

We attended several shows. The shows are all live stories from the Bible. The actors and the costumes are fabulous, and there was lots of music and singing as well. It was great! The shows were wonderful and the stories were touching.

Here is the only picture I got of Dave, but he's got his eyes closed. The sun was shining far too brightly!

Looking across the lake
Outside one of the exhibit areas

The main show was the entire story of the crucifixion and ressurection of Christ. The presentation was phenomenal and the effects were amazing. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't real cooperative.

This was a humbling presentation

And, after the third day...the show was beautifully presented.

Inside one of the buildings was this beautiful relief exhibit of ancient Jerusalem.

We weren't sure what we were going to see when we got there, but we really enjoyed our day. I have been told that the presentations and shows change throughout the year. We'll have to go back sometime as it was a really nice experience!

Milledgeville, Georgia

The end of July brought me and a couple of my co-workers to Central State Hospital (CSH) in Milledgeville, Georgia. It's located about 30 minutes northeast of Macon. The 3-1/2 hour drive was beautiful. We spent 4 days in Safety-Care training, a behavioral training that teaches how to handle combative or assaultive patients in a humane way where physical contact is minimized. We all became trainers of this training.

One afternoon when we finished our training for the day, we were given a tour of the hospital and grounds. It is soooo beautiful there! CSH was once "the world's largest insane asylum" and held around 13,000 patients at one point. Currently only 600 patients consider CSH home. The hospital grounds are on several thousand acres and actually has its own zip code and police department. They used to raise their own livestock and grow their own food. It was completely self-contained.

Our first stop was to the oldest building on campus built in the 1860s. On this building is a cornerstone that identified it as the "Georgia Lunatic Asylum". It served persons who were considered "idiots, lunatics, insane, and epileptics".

The cornerstone

The oldest existing building. The cornerstone is located behind the plant on the left
Another view of the oldest building. Due to deterioration, the building is among many others that are boarded up and no longer used. These buildings are unbelievably beautiful, but the state has determined that their renovation would be too costly. So, here they sit, a history of a bleak past.

The building above is the building to the right. The cornerstone is the gray behind the plant to the far right, bottom.

This bronze angel stands in one of the six cemeteries used in the past. Over 30,000 patients are buried on the grounds of CSH making it one of the largest graveyards for people with mental disability in the world. The patients are only identified by numbered markers. The hospital is currently trying to locate the brass markers that have been lost, erroded or covered in the overgrowth due to the lack of care of the site. It's very sad. In the book, "But for the Grace of God", the author (a former physician during the 1940s & 1950s), Dr. Peter G. Cranford outlined the history of the hospital that opened with 35 patients in 1842. In the book he quotes: "These were the unwanted of society, the throwaways. Nobody cared if they had markers."
How sad. It was humbling to stand among the markers.

"Rows upon rows of numbered, small, rusted markers as far as you can see. No names just numbers. It must be the most gruesome sight in Georgia. Unknown humans, shunned when living, deprived of their very names in death--and literally known only to God". (quote by Joe Ingram, an employee of CSH for 50 years)

This is one marker that I unearthed while there. It was sad to think that the person buried with this marker has been lost for who knows how long.

This building is gloriously beautiful, but it is also deteriorating and so has been boarded-up and closed. According to our guide (an employee of the hospital for the past 27 years) this building has been identified as "the most haunted place in Georgia". It housed many patients and was the site of all kinds of therapy including shock therapy and lobotomy. There was a lot of suffering here. I'd love to spend a night in this building.

Another view

And, here are some pictures of our class. Unfortunately, I didn't even think about my camera until the last day when we were repeating all the moves we had learned.

Another...the gentleman on the left is our instructor. We all had the priviledge of being "taken down"

Our class. After 4 days of learning "interventions" to keep staff and patients safe in our respective state hospitals, we all became friends.

It was a great week. We thoroughly enjoyed learning --both the training that we were there for and the history of the hospital.

June and July - oh how the months go by!

June found us out picking blueberries in Southern Georgia. The sun was bright and hot. Here are Dave and Stefanie picking.Here is Dave and my blueberry haul. We brought them home, saved some for eating and froze about 8 quarts to enjoy through out the year. Yum!Later that evening, we got together and had dinner. Emily was being cute!In July, our church celebrated Pioneer Days with a day of "Silly Olympics". Ethan won an event where he dropped clothes pins into a jar. He was also a big helper to Sister Mitchell who was passing out ribbons to all the winners. The games were for the young and old. :)

Danny, Stefanie, Ethan and Emily enjoying the festivities!Ethan helping Sister Mitchell. He had a pretty important job to help hand out ribbons to event winners.

Getting ready for an event! Even Stefanie participated!
Another event using rolled-up socks!

Video of the event Ethan won:

Stefanie tried at one event as well--she wasn't as successful! They are dropping beans into cups. Actually, Katie (on the far left) and her fiance Grant next to her are the real entertainment! I captured this event and didn't even notice them when I was videoing! I had a good laugh when I got home and saw it!

Memorial Day Weekend ~ Rocky Mountain High Colorado!

Back over the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May, Dave and I had the opportunity to make a 4-day trip out to Denver to visit Jill, Ryan, Caitlin, and Caleb. This time our trip was filled with lots of sunshine and beautiful weather. We actually had a day where it was in the 90s, but we didn't mind as there was absolutely no humidity! For us, the dry heat is far more tolerable.

This trip was relaxing. We had told Jill we did not want to plan anything~ we just wanted to enjoy THEM. We got our wish. It was a wonderful visit and we thoroughly enjoyed our cute grandkids!

The pictures I am posting are in no specific order.

Caleb and his turtle friend

Me standing in front of their house. They were going to be getting their new roof the day we left to return home. Jill has been working hard in their yard, both front and back, and has it looking wonderful. I loved all the pretty purple flowers. She and I both love purple. :)
More of the house

This was the little Kia Soul we rented for our visit. The current commercials have hamsters driving it, so it was lovingly referred to as the "Hamstermobile". The kids loved it. It wasn't too bad of a little car at all. Not sure I'd ever buy one, but it was fun for the few days we had it.

One day we headed up to the mountains to take a train ride. It was colder than we had thought it would be, but it was beautiful! I loved the new light green growth on the trees.

Notice the elevation - 9178 feet! We were very careful to drink lots of water to avoid altitude sickness. Unfortunately, Dave ended up sick from the altitude on the last day of our visit.

A view of our train as it departed after dropping us off at the mine area.

Here is the Lebanon tunnel to the silver mine. The tour was quite interesting and Caitlin was definitely listening as proven by her perfect answers to all the trivia questions regarding the mine that I could think of!

Inside the mine it was cold!Caitlin got to participate in the demonstration on how the silver was mined and the method in which those miners used to get to the silver.The outbuildings from the mine. It was so beautiful!

The steam train that crossed our paths

Enjoying our ride.

A cute picture of Jill and Caleb

A picture of the motley crew. We hauled a wonderful picnic lunch that we enjoyed on the train. Jill knows just what to bring!

We had the opportunity to visit the soul food BBQ restaurant that Ryan manages. Unfortunately, he had to work while we were out there, but we enjoyed one nice afternoon with him and a visit to his restaurant. He treated us to a variety of ribs--beef, pork (baby back and St. Louis style), bison, and the beef brisquet. It was all so delicious!

Sadly, the only picture I got of Ryan is in the center of this photo ~ pitiful, huh. The day we spent with Ryan we walked around the outdoor mall and I had forgotten my camera at the house.

A picture of the roses on Jill's porch--they were beautiful!

Grandpa and the kids

Playing nerf football - can you see the ball. We also played a lot of ping pong with the set on that coffee table.

We had fun watching the kids play on the water slide in the back yard.

On Saturday we all went to Lowe's so the kids could attend the builder's workshop. They each built a car. It was fun watching them (and mom and grandpa) work away at assembling, hammering, and decorating. They turned out cute!Caitlin showing off her car

Caleb showing off his work!

Oh, and just a word of advice, don't try to buy a snowblower at the end of May! :)

Thanks Jill, Ryan, Caitlin, and Caleb, we had a wonderful time! Next time we'll try not to visit when Ryan is busiest at work!

We love you guys!