another walk down memory lane

Here is a picture from long ago, and far away. well for some it is far away. It is a picture of Clifford Hamrick on his horse, (I think the horse's name was Bill) at our place down on Hansford fork. I don't know the exact date but it was in the late 50's. maybe some time I will be able to find out exactly what year it was.

Also, at the topabove Clifford is a picture of Mary at the back door of our house. and then, there is a picture of Jimmy in his horse riding regalia sitting on a stump right up the hill from where Clifford and the horse were.

Just in case there are readers here who are not familiar with the family, Mary was my Dad's sister, and she was married to Clifford. Jimmy, as we always called him, is the youngest son, right near the age of my sister Nancy.

A couple of things we know--the future may be uncertain, but the past never changes.

jvm

More Christmas at Jerry's

One of these pictures shows the tree, and the other has both Isacc and Christopher.
kind of hard to pick out good pictures just by looking at thumbnails, but these kind of capture the essence of the day.
Merry Christmas 2008, and looking forward to a fine 09.

Chkristopher and Rachel

Christmas at Jerry's house--always a typical Christmas, with lots of kid activity with their new things.

these pictures show Christopher in one, and Rachel in the other.

This year as usual, they had a huge, high-ceiling scraping tree that emply filled up a corner of the room and provided a huge target for Santa.

christmas decorations, 2008

And all through the house, etc., ... the tree is ready, and old santa sits on the piano bench watching and waiting, with an empty saucer beside where he already ate the cookies.

But, remember that the message of Christmas tells us that from the darkest of times, the light of hope will always return.

We can expect better days and times ahead,but they will only be as good as we make them.

we all want to do well, but Christmas is a reminder to all of us, thatTHE BEST WAY TO DO WELL IS BY DOING GOOD.

So, end the year by doing good, but make every day an opportunity to do good for someone.

Merry Christmas

more 2008 Christmas Parade

more views of the parade line-up. one is of Rachel at the fin end of the Cadillac before we left the house--and being bothered by the sun squinting her eyes, , and the other is the front of the Cadillac in parade dress at the parade line-up.

Hard to believe that this car is 50 years old, and still going strong.

As everyone has heard me say, they haven't built any good cars or made any good music since the 50's. (Of course, there are a few exceptions, but none come to mind.)It is also hard to believe that with all that kind of heritage and history, our car industry may

be on its last legs. And, much of that is thanks to government intervention in the design and production of American cars--and who can seriously belleve that they can, or will, now solve the problems they have created?

Well, merry Christmas anyway, and we can only hope for the best in the coming year, although the government created problems will only get worse.

havahappy

christmas parade 2008

Well, it was another beautiful day for the Vienna Christmas Parade. as usual, Rachel and the Cadillac were both well decorated and looking Christmasy.

In the spirit of gift-giving, Rachel enjoyed herself by throwing candy out to children along the parade route. Also, as part of the Christmas giving spirit, entry into the parade was a case of food for the food pantry, so, like everyone else in the parade, we gave a generous donation of food.

sort of seems backwards, doesn't it. You buy and maintain an expensive car that folks enjoy looking at, and then, for them to have that opportunity, you pay for being in a parade.

sort of like a car show, where the participants pay to take part, and the spectators get in free. Oh! well, that is the nature of the hobby.

Since it was such a nice sunny day on Saturday, rachel was having trouble with the sun making her squint as she looked at the camera, so she had her hat kind of low.

Merry Christmas to all from the Murphys.

A WALK IN THE PARK

Fall is certainly beautiful in West Virginia, but sometimes some of the best scenes are right over our head.

I enjoy looking up at the tree tops against a bright blue sky, and September and October seem to have the bluest.

Here are some tree tops taken in Parkersburg City Park on an especially brilliant day. Some are pine, with big cones, and some have just begun to turn.

I was also lucky to get the flag fully extended by the wind.