Dylan and Family

It's not often that you can get four generations together.  Baby Dylan was a lucky girl this morning; her mama, grandmother, and great-grandmother were all in attendance.There's something special about four generations of hands in one photograph.

Great-grandma loves Dylan!

 And it looks like grandpa is pretty smitten, too.

 Nana looks very proud, don't you think?

Dylan, as you can see, continued to snooze through the entire session, dreaming about many things other than being photographed!

Bama Beauty

I shouldn't be surprised at how much simple beauty I see every time I visit Alabama.  It's everywhere, from someone's sweating jar of water, forgotten and left outside...

to the keys of the piano in my grandmother's house.  Long out of tune, they still look elegant.

Gardenias perfume the air around a front porch

 ...which, in turn, has a good place or two to sit a spell.

There is ever so much beauty in old houses. They were once homes, and I long to hear their stories of summers past, Christmas Eves celebrated, and weddings in their back yards.

Although I find the symmetry of cotton fields beautiful, my mama would beg to differ, as she picked cotton as a child, and found it to be backbreaking work.

 Sometimes you'll come upon a couple of chairs placed randomly in a field

 ...or an old chair repurposed to hold flowers.

"It's comin' up a cloud," the old folks used to say, and we'd all stay close to home.  There's nothing like an Alabama thunderstorm to bring on the thunder and lightning.

Although most people would probably not put a cemetery on their list of beautiful things, little Musgrove Chapel's graveyard is striking in its simplicity.

 A bit of handwork, such as this banner on an antique washstand, is gorgeous.

 In fact, there's just something about a Southern home...welcoming, comfortable, and inviting.

Of course there is beauty in raising your own food, cooking it up, and presenting it to a grateful guest.

I was told that the corn in this field will be ready in a couple of weeks.

Sometimes I think everyone stays so busy that they take beauty for granted, but it's here in an ordinary July day in northwestern Alabama. Thanks for coming along.

Golden Days

Reba, Bob and Missy have had golden retrievers for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, the last of the sweet peas passed away, leaving them golden-less.  Charlie, Luke and Baxter were well-loved dogs.

They were so amazing that it was impossible to imagine life without a golden (or two) in it. I happened to be visiting my family in Alabama last week, just in time to meet the teenagers! Bob and Reba are now the proud parents of a little golden girl, Hannah. And Missy's little blonde boy, Riley, is beyond precious.With needle teeth, sharp claws, and puppy breath, they chased each other all over the back yard, went "swimming" in their little wading pool, and only submitted to formal portraits right before falling asleep.

I can't wait to see these two grow up!  There'll be no shortage of photos, that's for sure!