Where's my puss?

For all of you who know the punch line, here's to Opal Mae! For those of you in the dark, well you'll just have to force it out of me! I'm writing this quirky little post because I was trolling some of my favorite blogs which many times link me to other blogs that are soon to become my new favorite blogs (help me I'm stuck in an ADD time warp of blog!). Well, here I was hoping to find something I couldn't live without at Design Freebies (my new bff!) and came across the greatest thing for big girls and little girls alike...a Hermes paper purse you can down load, print, color, cut, tape and...voila, you've got yourself a designer purse! And plus, how could I resist it when it's called "The Kelly"? Hermes must have known how cheap I really am but still want to look good too; I'm so honored they named it after me. Honestly, I'm thinking about how can I laminate this bad boy to "make it work"! Also, I see the trappings of a fabulous little girl's birthday party! Woah, somebody stop me! Do you hear my little brain working right now when I really should be in bed sleeping getting ready for another day as Mama of the year? God, I hope this isn't the beginning of some crazed manic phase where I find out at 43 I've been bi-polar all this time. Oh, well, I'll enjoy the ride. It entertains me. Thank God I'm a clinical social worker too, huh?

Then one day he was shootin' at some food...

Cute right? Downright adorable. He's minding his own squirrel business on Calvert Avenue when suddenly he's being shot at by a man, who by his own account, never misses.

Now, ladies and gentleman, lest I offend your sensibilities in this bizarre little post, the last picture is NOT the actual man who has been shooting squirrels on Calvert Avenue near our little house. Oh, no. That would require me to walk up to a man with a loaded 22 and ask him if I could take his picture. It might go something like this...."Uh, excuse me sir, I was wondering if I could take your picture because what you are doing is so foreign to me I have to document this insanity for my friends and family up North, who until now at this moment, lived in what I considered a backward redneck state but, you sir have given me hope for my home state as I have never lived anywhere as a Hoosier where my next door neighbor sits on his front steps and shoots squirrels out of his tree?...so a picture with you and a dead squirrel is out of the question?...and you'd like me to 'git offa yer property'....sure...have a good day sir."

Oh, my dear readers, the craziness doesn't end there. No, that little story would be just your average whack job shooting squirrels out of his tree. After hearing gunshots many times a day for several days in a row and witnessing the man and his rifle wave to me and Anna while we took a walk through the neighborhood, then quickly after that hearing another shot I decided I would call the local law enforcement the next shot I heard and put a stop to this insanity once and for all. Lucky me, we got home from our walk and heard another shot. So I got out my trusty Clinton phonebook (about the size of a People's magazine)and looked up the number for the City Police Department. Upon dialing the number, it rang and rang. Friends, I couldn't believe I got their voice mail. Undeterred I dialed again and this time got a real live person...well, at least I think it was. This time there was an actual conversation that ensued that went something like this: "Uh, hi, um, I'm curious...is there a city ordinance against firing weapons within the city limits?" CPD: "Yes, ma'am there is." Me: "Well, I live at 503 Calvert..." CPD(who cut me off): "He has a permit to shoot squirrels." Me: "In the city limits, in a neighborhood where there are children outside playing?" CPD: "Yes, ma'am." Me: "Well, that's just crazy." Click. That's the sound of me hanging up in disgust and disbelief. I called a new acquaintance who lives next door to this person and who happens to have a 6 year old son. He's been here a year and suggested that I do nothing more because "I'm not from around here". Ugh. The only good news I can bring you is that there have been no more shootings for a couple of weeks. For now our squirrel friends on Calvert Avenue are safe...or are they...? So many dead squirrel pics so little time...

Greenville Saturday Morning

Well, we decided to head to the big city of Greenville, South Carolina last weekend as both Patrick and I needed a healing dose of "city". Greenville surprised us. The first stop was Falls Park and it was a jaw-dropping experience. What pictures I have don't do it justice, thus the link to see the "real deal" pics. Gavin, our half mountain goat son, immediately started climbing the hills and rocks along the trails leading from the parking lot. So we finally convinced him to get on the trails with us. It's pretty woodsy (totally a Kelly word) and we're all very curious what we are going to see. I snapped this as we were going up a trail. For some reason, I love getting pics of the kids from behind. It's like I'm watching them walk into their future. Bittersweet, really.So we step out onto this grassy area of park after being in the woodland and I swear it's like we arrived in Fairyland or maybe what you'd imagine a park in Heaven to be. Picture perfect little pristine areas that almost didn't seem real. Reading this it seems as if I'm exaggerating but I'm speaking my truth here folks. I've never seen anything like it. Yet another reason to come visit us, a little preview of Heaven only 45 minutes from our little house.
And then there is this striking piece of architecture that links the city with the park. A modern curving suspension bridge hangs above the Reedy River and delivered us to Main Street.Once we found ourselves on Main Street we discovered that Greenville has a trolley system on Main that is free. And you know how we love free! So we hopped on the trolley, or train as Anna called it, and soon found ourselves at the Greenville Farmer's Market. Here's a little taste of that:

I tried to take several pictures of the market to capture its essence but realized what was missing was the music that was playing. Of course, the video capabilities of my digital camera are limited but it gives you an idea. It was booth after booth of great produce, most of it organic and locally grown. In addition, several artisans had booths selling their wares too. It was a great market with a fabulous atmosphere.
Finally, our last discovery in Greenville were mice. Not the kind that Kevin keeps slaying in his house but mini bronze statues of the mouse from the book, Goodnight Moon. They are scattered in various places on Main Street and it's designed to be a little scavenger hunt for children of any age really. We just happened upon one this Saturday and here is Anna Mae having a little chat with one of the mice:We look forward to going back and exploring what else the city has to offer. Who knows what we'll find next.