Charlotte Square II

Check out some of those last names.....click the pic for a larger image.

Charlotte Square

After Sam and I getting caught in several scattered thundershowers while trying out a few changes to his DRZ400 this Memorial Day I opted out towards the house to find beautimus weather conditions. I fetched all my wet riding gear out of the cage and me and the scalpel went for a hundred mile fang.

Purely by accident I drifted through and around the sweet little square of our county seat in Charlotte. When I came around the back-side of the courthouse this was the view on the back lawn. I stopped and took off all my gear, and got out the camera. It was a bit surreal, strangely quiet and I was the only one around in the square for the twenty or so minutes that I was there.

Each flag had an aluminum tag hanging from it where it was attached to the pole. The tag was engraved stating who had donated the flag, and in the remembrance of whom, and what branch of the military and what conflict they had served our country during.

When the wind would blow the little tags would tinkle in the quiet like an ethereal wind chime of honor. It was hard to leave, I just kept reading names and wondering about those folks.....

dualie

The protagonists are, in no particular order, Nubbie, Little Pinto, Bonnie B., Sam and my-own-self. Most of the spots are in west-central Tennessee.

I sure hope Tom doesn't get the lawyers after me, but the tune just plain fits.

Have a safe Memorial Day, with respect to the reason.

Visitor

On a gray and rainy morning we had a bit of a visitor at the ranch a few Saturdays ago. I don't know if he was lost or just passing through, but it was an honor to see. I nearly peed my pants.....

(click on the pic for a larger image)

Aroma Therapy

I've heard the term, though I'm not really up on the process. I could Google it I guess, but I'd almost bet that the thinking is that certain smells must trigger certain chemicals in the brain, or maybe sensations, and that is somehow therapeutic. I hear that lavender is a big in the aroma therapy game.

I suppose I've been indulging in a sort of aroma therapy this spring-time. As I blatt about on my two-wheeler it's amazing how much more ethereal the
country-side is. My current favorite aroma is the blooming honey-suckle. Passing a long fence-row of it is akin to just jamming your face into the bushes!

Another strong aroma is wild onions from a freshly mown lawn. Sometimes in traffic you might get a blast from an open car window of a ladies perfume. Or perhaps the smell of cherry tobacco being puffed from the guy in that pick-up truck up front.

Of course with the good, there must come the bad. Any stinking diesel vehicle comes to mind. A hog farm. A "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road", that in a car is a fleeting one or two breath nuisance. But the same dead skunk on your motorbike can be downright asphyxiating.

But I digress.The positive aromas greatly outweigh the negatives. The smell of a rushing river, the dirt of a newly turned and plowed farm field. That scent of freshness just after you've been caught out by a quick spring shower.

Ahh. Two-wheeled spring-time aroma therapy. I just can't recommend it enough.

So, if you'll excuse me.....