2019 Shoals Front Porch Pop-up & Storytelling Festival

Shoals Front Porch Storytelling Festival 2019 

March 5, 2019, 11:30–1 P.M., 2019  Dolores Hydock Through the Back Door ~ The Music that Bridged the Bayou. Mardi Gras luncheon, Sheffield Public Library, Sheffield, AL

May 6, 2019, 2–3 P.M., 2019  Dolores Hydock Helen Keller Library 511 N Main St. Tuscumbia, AL 

Literary Treason: the Writings of Bess Streeter Aldrich 

This program looks at the life and work of Bess Streeter Aldridge, a Nebraska Writer of the 1930s who accomplished what a few others did:

While she raised her family as a single mother, she had a successful, self-supporting career as a female writer during the first half of the 20th century.

The program describes her early life and later career success, and includes a reading of "Jundo Swans," Aldrich's funny and touching short story, which serves as a reminder that there.

It's no disaster like an elementary school play, and no friend as crucial as your best friend when you're ten years old.

May 16, 2019, 10–11 A.M. Dishing the dirt Cypress Lake Golf & Tennis Club 1311 E Sixth St. Muscle Shoals, AL Sponsored by Muscle Shoals Public Library Tickets are $5, including a light brunch before the program call 256-386-9212 

Whether you've got the greenest thumb since Johnny Appleseed or you managed to kill a rock garden, you'll enjoy these stories about Mother Nature, Frederic the French Yard-Man, and people who grow philosophy as well as phlox on their little piece of earth. 

May 16, 2019, 4–5 P.M. Pop-UP Concert with Josh Goforth, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library

350 N Wood Ave, Florence, AL  

 Storyteller, ballad singer, and multi-instrumentalist Josh Goforth is a native of Madison County in western North Carolina. Situated deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this area is renowned for its preservation of unbroken ballad and storytelling traditions, which were brought by early Scots-Irish and English settlers in the mid-17th century. It was also fertile ground for the rise of American string band music played on fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Proud to share his Appalachian heritage with audiences near and far, Josh Goforth draws from each of these wellsprings. Join us for a FREE pop-up concert with Josh at 4 P.M. on Thursday, May 16, to kick off the Shoals Storytelling Festival!  

May 17, 8:45 A.M. – 5 P.M. (with lunch break): The Shoals Storytelling Festival featuring Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, and Josh Goforth

8:50-9:00 Welcome

9:00-9:30 Bil Lep

9:30-10:30 Josh Goforth

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:30 Dolores Hydock

11:30-12:00 Donald Davis 

12:00—2:00 Lunch

2:00-2:30 Josh Goforth

2:30-3:30 Bil Lep

3:30-3:50 Break

3:50-5:00 Donald Davis (Went home at 5 P.M.)

5:00-7:00 Dinner 

7–9 P.M.–Storyteller Showcase with Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, and Josh Goforth

May 18, 9 A.M. – 5:15 P.M. (with lunch break): The Shoals Storytelling Festival featuring Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, Eric Kirkman, and Josh Goforth

9:00-9:30 Donald Davis 

9:30-10:30 Eric Kirkman

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 Dolores Hydock

12:00—2:00 Lunch

2:00-2:30 Bil Lep

2:30-3:00 Josh Goforth

3:00-3:50 Eric Kirkman 

3:50-4:15 Break

4:15-4:45 Dolores Hydock

4:45-5:15 5:00 Donald Davis (Went home at 5 P.M.)

5:15-7:00 Dinner

7–9 P.M. – Performance with Firekid, Dillon Hodges, and Heidi Feek

For the past two days, I have enjoyed spending time with my friends at the Shoals Theater Storytelling Festival.

On Friday, we ate lunch at Legends (I think everyone ate lunch there). I enjoyed a plate of fried okra, fried shrimp, and Jack Danial's apples. 

Saturday, my friend and I shared a bowl of white cheese dip, chicken, and feta for lunch. We topped it off with a cup of their complimentary ice cream.

On Friday and Saturday, we enjoyed listening to the following entertainers
Josh Goforth, Bill Lepp, Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, and Dr. Eric Kirkman.
Josh Goforth is a multi-talented storyteller who utilizes a variety of stringed instruments to accompany his ballads and stories.
His stories included friends and relatives, many about his tobacco chewing and his refusal to take the shortcut to hard work, particularly his grand-paw.
Bill Lepp's, believe it or not, Paul Bunyan tall tales!
Donald Davis's school days growing up and his jokester father.
Dolores's stories included a white cat (Huck), a black cat, a speckled cat, and a one-eyed cat, and the lessons she learned from them.
Audry Williams shares her side of the story of fame.
Dr. Eric Kirkman sings and uses musical instruments to tell the African American influence on American music.

Thursday Pop-up Shows 

Cypress Lake Golf & Tennis Club, Dolores Hydock shared stories about "Dishing the Dirt from the Garden," and we were served ham, sausage biscuits, fruit, pastries, muffins, orange juice, coffee, and water. There were door prizes.

Florence Library's Josh Goforth played the guitar, banjo, and fiddle, sang ballads, & told stories about life in Madison County, North Carolina.

The storytelling festival has come to a bittersweet close, and I look forward to it next year.

2019 Mar 2, Day Trip Wings to Soar Wheeler Wildlife Refuge & Senior Prom Pictures

I traveled across Wheeler Dam on Highway 101 heading toward Town Creek, but the road was out, so I turned around and traveled the road where the paper mill once stood. 

I arrived at Wheeler Wildlife Refuge a little after 10:00 A.M. I used the restroom and found a seat in the front row. 

I was there to see Wings to Soar rescue Birds of Prey.

I saw a couple of Owls, Gilbert the falcon, a couple of eagles (including Osceola, a 25-year-old eagle), and a pet turkey vulture named Cayce. 

Casey the Black Turkey Vulture, a human-imprinted, always steals the show. 

The birds of prey are sent flying out over the audience several times. If you are close enough, you can feel the wind from their wings as they fly over the audience.

The 11 A.M. show was a packed house, and after the show, you could get your picture taken with the blue Merlin and Buddy, a fully grown Screech Owl.

I stopped at Aldi's in Athens and bought a few groceries.

1–2 P.M. I stopped at the Library in Rogersville to listen to Mike Ezell talk about the many rivers and their tributary in Alabama. 

River basins of the Tennessee River, Coosa/Tallapoosa River, Sipsey/Warrior River, Tombigbee/Mobile River, Alabama/Cahaba River,  Chattahoochee River, Conecuh River, Chipola River, Yellow and Blackwater Rivers, Perdido River, and Escatawpa Rivers

He also discussed the Highland Rim (where we live), the Cumberland Plateau, the Piedmont Upland, and the East Gulf Coastal Plains (along the Fault line, which includes the old shorelines of Alabama). 

He discussed TVA, Rogersville, Dams, the weather, climate, fish, and the Alabama game. 

I got a call from my son asking if I would meet Charity and Nevada for prom pictures at Wilson Park at 3 P.M.

Traveled home, put away my groceries, and traveled to Florence, stopping at Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens to take pictures of the Pink Tulip Trees in full bloom. Our upcoming weather is predicted to be below freezing for the next week, and I knew the cold would kill all the blooms.

Made it to Wilson Park, and by this time, it was getting cold outside. 

I took several pictures, said goodbye, and traveled home. Hubby was bringing me a taco pizza from Taco Bell for supper.

By this time, I had a splitting sinus headache. 

Ate supper and went to bed. 

It had been a long day since I had traveled to Decatur, to Athens, back home to Florence, and back home. 

I left that morning before 9:00 A.M. and did not arrive home until after 5:00 P.M. 

2019 May 8, 💐 🌷Visiting the Memphis Botanical Gardens Memphis, Tennessee

Hubby and I had a great time at the Memphis Botanical Gardens.
We didn't see many blooming plants, but we did see a variety of interesting plants and animals.
In the Japanese Garden, we walked across the half-moon bridge, where we saw turtles and goldfish swimming in Lake Biwa and  Canadian Geese strolling along the banks.

Half Moon Bridge in Japanese Gardens 

One of my favorite places was the Prehistoric Plant trail, where we saw a couple of stone dinosaurs in a sandpit that children could climb atop.
Dotted along the path were signs about Primitive plants, Prehistoric Memphis, Stories in Stone, Flying giants, and the idea that some things change, and some things stay the same.

Dinosaur in Sandpit 

In the Urban Garden, we saw the chicken coop that housed the Blue Buff Columbian Brahmas hens and a rooster.
Also in the Urban Garden were vegetables, blackberries on a trellis, grapevines, and Espalier Fruit Trees (a technique that controls the growth of trees and shrubs).

Urban Garden

There were booths set up for school children to create items from the countries of India, China, and Africa.
We saw a mother bird feeding her babies.

Mother birds and babies 

There were many fragrant plants to attract butterflies in the Butterfly Garden, but there was not a butterfly in sight.

Butterfly Garden 

There were orange and red azaleas, blooming camellias, and purple hydrangeas.
The daffodils were sleeping, waiting for next spring.

Dogwood trees in full bloom, huge giant trees reaching for the sky, and small trees where birds could nest.

Bird hiding among leaves.

There were water fountains and air-conditioned restrooms throughout the Garden.
We stopped several times just to cool off, but Hubby was still dripping wet when we arrived at the car.

2019 Feb 8, Celebrating George Washington's Birthday and Picking Tulips in Montevallo, Alabama

I'm so glad Hubby and I did a little traveling today, because the next few days are calling for rain. 

It was cold when we left home this morning; however, the sun came out, and it reached the high 50s today.

But before we got home, it was back in the low 40s. 

We traveled to Montevallo to help celebrate George Washington's birthday, where we enjoyed one of the beautifully decorated cupcakes placed on a table before us. Before we left, we picked a basket of freshly grown tulips.

On our adventure, we stopped at Jack's in Athens for a drink and a cream cheese cherry pie.

We traveled on I-65 through Birmingham, taking exit 238 for US 31 toward Alabaster. We then turned left onto US 119 and County Hwy 11, reaching our destination at 3727 Hwy 119 in Montevallo.

Hubby parked the car, and we walked to the front entrance of the museum and paid the admission price. 

The cashier instructed us to head to the replica of Mount Vernon to celebrate George Washington's birthday, as the party was scheduled to begin at 11 A.M.

George Washington made his speech. 

George Washington stopped for a picture. 

Washington walked out onto the front porch and delivered a speech, and when he finished, the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to President Washington.

Washington walked out into the crowd, stopping for pictures and shaking hands with people in the crowd.

We walked into the president's Oval Office, where we saw pictures of several future presidents on display. 

We visited the Randall Museum, where we saw miniature dolls depicting many events that have occurred in the US over the last 200 years. 

The Randal Museum also displayed the Presidents and their wives in miniature.

We walked inside the National Chapel, which was just a few yards away from the Randal Museum. 

US Presidents and wives

The National Chapel 

The last building we toured was the Veterans Memorial building. 

Veterans Building

We took the trolley out to the Garden of Tulips, where we were greeted and given a basket to place our picked tulips. 

We were told the soil was soft, so we were to gently wiggle the tulip, and the bulb would release from the dirt. 

There were numerous types and colors to choose from. I picked several in full bloom and several just budding. 

We took the trolley back to the entrance, paid for our tulips, and began our travel home.  

Fields of Tulips

America Village Festival of the Tulips: You pick your own $1.50 each

Panda Express 

We stopped at Panda Express Decatur for dinner, where we ordered Honey Walnut shrimp, one egg roll, green beans, chicken, stir-fried wheat noodles with onions, celery, cabbage, and three cream cheese Rangoons 

2019 Feb 25-26, 🚌 Adventures at Reelfoot Lake, & Paris, Tennessee

After being cooped up indoors for weeks due to the rainy weather, Hubby and I decided to take a trip.
The Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers overflowed into nearby fields, roadways, and people's homes, forcing people and animals to seek higher ground.
You could see the flooding for miles in Alabama and Tennessee.

It was the last week to take the bus tour to see Eagles nesting at the nearby Levee along the Mississippi River, so I booked two tickets for the trip.
It takes over three hours to drive to Tiptonville from our home, so I booked a cabin at Sportsman Resort, located along Reelfoot Lake, for one night.
The south area cabins of Reelfoot were flooded, so we stayed in the north area cabins.

We arrived in Paris around 11:30 A.M., stopped at Dinkins Mobile Homes, and walked through several homes.
One of the mobile homes was a woman busy cleaning, so we began talking. She was a widow with three grown sons and several grandchildren. She told us a story about taking three of her grandchildren on a trip to Fort Myers to visit family.
She said, 'The grandkids kept saying," Are we there yet? "'I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.'
She showed us where all the electrical lights were along the walkway.
We asked her about things to do in Paris, and she said Paris Landing, Tennessee Wildlife Refuge, and the Eiffel Tower.

First, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower Park to take a few pictures and use the restroom at about 12:45 P.M.
At 1:15 P.M., we ate lunch at a local restaurant, Southside Cafe, where Hubby and I both ordered a catfish plate, which consisted of a baked potato, white beans, fillet catfish, cornbread, and a salad.

Catfish plate 

We traveled along US Highway 79 to Paris Landing Park, where we saw the Big Sandy River, a man fishing, and flooded roads. 2:20 P.M.
We backtracked to Paris Landing Visitor Center, where we saw four barn owls and two bald eagles in cages outside.

While we were at Paris Landing Visitor Center, two park rangers from Reelfoot Lake put a recused Bald Eagle into one of the cages outside because the eagle's cage at Reelfoot Lake was flooded.

Bald Eagle at Paris Landing Visitor Center

Inside the Visitor Center, we saw exhibits featuring turtle shells, coyotes, big cats, raccoons, and informational pamphlets.
2:30PM-3:08 P.M.

We arrived at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at 3:35 P.M., and it closed at 4:00 P.M., so we didn't have much time to visit.
We walked through the museum and outside, but did not see any animals or birds.

The sunset we saw while traveling from Paris to Tiptonville

We arrived at Sportsman Lodge after 6 P.M.
We stayed in a one-room Fishman cabin that was just enough room for a small table, futon, countertop stove, microwave, bed(with bed springs), satellite TV, and bathroom. If you want to rough it, this is the way to go.

The neighborhood dog slept on the front porch in a chair. I'm not sure what kind of guard dog he was, for I never heard him bark. He sure was friendly.

We didn't get much sleep because we could feel every movement the other person made, and the bedsprings made a screeching sound.

You could walk outside our cabin just a few feet, and there was Reelfoot Lake.
The sunrise was beautiful, overlooking the lake.

Sunrise over Reelfoot Lake 

We ate breakfast at Sonic in Tiptonville. I ordered Texas toast with sausage and cheese, and Hubby ordered a hamburger and a corndog.

We rode to historic downtown Tiptonville, where we saw the schools, cemetery, churches, and several landmark markers,

Carl Perkins' boyhood cabin 

We stopped to take pictures of Carl Perkins's boyhood home.
We rode to Reelfoot Lake State Park Visitor Center, where we saw a live barn owl, rattlesnakes, copper head, and birds. There were several displays and activities for children, and outside was a flooded walkway and owl cages.

Cypress Boardwalk and Scenic Cruise are all flooded. 

Barn Owl at Reelfoot Lake State Park

At 10 A.M., about 20 people loaded onto a school bus.
Our guide was a Park Ranger named Jerry Lewis, but I am not sure of his last name.
He said we are traveling along the Mississippi River levee to see bald eagles.
The levee road was above the water, with floodwaters on both sides.

The bus stopped one time, and we saw a couple of bald eagles nesting.
Almost everyone got off the bus to stretch their legs and view the eagles.

When the tour ended, we started at home.
We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Dyersburg for lunch.
Hubby ordered a roast beef plate. I ordered a kid's pinto beans, carrots, cornbread, and an onion plate.
We split a bowl of hot peach cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Scarlet Macaw 

We stopped at the five-mile drive-thru Safari Park Zoo in Alamo. We bought a bucket of food to feed the animals. You have to be careful feeding the animals, so I only feed the small deer.

After finishing the drive-thru, we parked and walked through the petting zoo.
We stopped at McDonald's in Savannah, Tennessee. Hubby ordered a hamburger and fries. I ate peanut butter crackers and a banana.

Flooding on the Tennessee River at Savannah, TN 

We arrived home around 8 P.M., both worn out from all the traveling and the sleepless night before.

2019 Jan 7, Day Trip to Guntersville, Alabama State Park

Hubby and I rode to Guntersville, but before we started our trip, we stopped to purchase our lottery tickets for the week and to get our weekly B12 Shots. We stopped at Foodland and purchased two canned drinks, and again at McDonald's in Rogersville for two apple pies. 

What a way to start the day!

We traveled US 72 E to I-65 S, then to I-565 E, and finally to US 431 SE to Guntersville. 

We arrived in Guntersville around 11:30 A.M., stopping at Lake Guntersville to take pictures of 100s of Cormorants and seagulls that were perched on the piers. 

Gulls

Cormorants

At 12:40 P.M., we stopped at KFC and ate from the buffet. 

I chose a chicken leg and wing, fried okra, and collard greens

After a hearty lunch, we began our adventure to Guntersville State Park.

We stopped at Guntersville State Park Birding Site #34 to take a few pictures.

Signs indicated that we might see Signature Species, waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, and Birds of prey. Sadly, we did not see a single bird at site #34.

We rode up the hill past the State Park Cabins and Lodge and down the mountain to the Campgrounds, beach, and pavilion.

On our way down, we saw a doe hiding in the brush.

At the State Park Lagoon, we saw two goats and 3 Emus.

Five Donkeys 

The beach was desolate, but there were hundreds of American Coots and gulls. 

As we were leaving the beach, we saw these two do.
They came right up to the car and stopped for a picture
They were still there as we drove away.

We left Guntersville State Park around 2:30 P.M. and headed to Bucks Pocket.
We missed our turn and rode 8 miles too far. 
Turned on our GPS, and it took us down several winding roads.

Waterfall @ Bucks Pocket State Park

We walked down to the overlook at Bucks Pocket State Park, where we saw a waterfall in the distance. 
We walked back to the car, and Hubby plugged our home address into the GPS, which led us down this winding road that crossed the bridgeless South Sauty Creek. The creek water came from the waterfall we had seen earlier. Like so many backcountry roads in Tennessee, there was no bridge. There was only a poured concrete foundation where the creek flowed over the concrete. The road to the Ranger station was closed due to the heavy rain. Hubby said he saw tire tracks, so he felt the bridge was safe to cross. 

We stopped at Weathington Park Overlook Sections, Alabama
It overlooks the Tennessee River

The sun was setting as we entered Scottsboro, and a few clouds had drifted in, giving us a spot of rain.

It was getting dark when we stopped on the East side of Huntsville at McDonald's for dinner. 

We stopped at Dicks and Cabela's in Huntsville to look at Scopes.

We spoke with a couple of employees at Dick's about scopes and camera lenses.

We watched an employee feed the fish at Cabela's.

We arrived home around 8:30 P.M. 

I was exhausted from all the traveling, took a shower, put on my PJs, climbed into bed, and was asleep in no time. 

On Feb 22, three young people drove across this South Sauty Creek, and their jeep was swept into the floodwaters. Two of the young people were rescued, and as of March 1, the third, Koy Spears, has not been found. 

Tennessee and Alabama have been experiencing heavy rainfall. The ranger's station at this location was closed when we crossed South Sauty Creek. The creek should have been closed. Thankfully, the creek was not roaring that day, but it was up, and you couldn't see the concrete beneath it.