Guest guest Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Howdy y'all, Thanks much for all the kind welcome posts .. online and off .. its great to be back and I missed y'all. :-) Yesterday was totally tied up with sawing logs and hauling brush .. and opening more boxes, so I didn't spend any time on the net. We're getting there slowly and will likely be half finished by the weekend. Howdy Dede, > Hey, Butch! > > Glad you all are over here and are safe and sound. Enjoy putting down new roots! > > Dede Thankee ma'am .. appreciated it is. :-) Gotta new lifestyle now too .. used to pound away on the PC till 4, 5, 6 or so mornings cause most of y'all were 7, 8, 9 hours behind me and orders came in late .. but I'm now living like a real Tennessee Hillbilly. Hitting the sack between 10 and midnight and up at 6 or 7 in the morning .. and I like it. ;-) Hey Susan, > Butch, > > I'll add to the overwhelming welcome back messages too! It really was a > treat to read one of your long posts again, especially one dealing with so > much happy stuff! Alexander must be incredible, and yes, it does indeed > come through in your writing that he is your " sun " (what a good way to put > it). Sounds like you and your family have a lot to look forward to in your > little slice of paradise. > > Congrats, > Susan Farr (was Gerritsen) Thankee ma'am .. fer'shur my Litttle Man is a Blessing for this Old Soldier ... and he knows it. ;-) We are very pleased with the Paris/Kentucky Lake/LBL area. Its a great place to raise children. Most folks here are typical Suthrun traditionalists .. very conservative Democrats .. somewhat confusing this is to me .. and also to some of them. ;-) Crime rates are very low here ... no knives, guns or drugs in the schools .. no hooligans on the streets, etc. I was expecting to come back to the USA and be faced with social problems similar to those I read about and heard on the news .. but in discussions with local officials, police officers and some members of the community, I am continuously told that such problems are rare here. Most folks living here have roots going back many generations. The newcomers (Asian, Indian, Mexican mostly) have assimilated and consider themselves to be " Parisans " . Paris is a Sister City to Paris, France and we have our own mini Eiffel Tower here. ;-) It appears that we don't recognize the term " minorities " .. we just have folks of different races and nationalities who are a part of the community. The Paris Deputy-Mayor (an elected position) is not Caucasian but he was voted in by a population that is approximately 90% Caucasian .. the Henry County Grammar School principal is also not Caucasian. I've met and become friends with a number of Tennessee State Troopers, Paris City police officers and Henry County Sheriff's officers .. none that I have met have the " Storm Trooper " mentality found in some areas of the USA. They are trusted by the citizens and they return that trust. Paris is not a modern day " Mayberry RFD " but its definitely a place where folks live in harmony. Paris and Henry County (named after Patrick Henry) are well within the Suthrun Bible Belt but they're not narrow minded .. its not a Dry County but there is no tolerance for drinking and driving. We are in the midst of Lake Country .. fishing and water sports are the normal recreational activities .. if one doesn't like Catfeesh they will miss out on a lot in this area. ;-) Hard to find dust because its Green, Green, Green .. forests all around the town and the county. There are at least a half dozen Federal and State wildlife preservation areas within a 35 mile radius of Paris. This small Suthrun town could be a sterling example for many other American (and European) cities on how things oughta be .. and can be. The social and political environment .. as well as the closeness to nature is going to make it easy for my Little Man to develop into an honest, responsible, patriotic American citizen. Howdy Alison, > Well Land of Goshen..the MAN's back in town!! Looking forward to seeing you in Austin, Butch! Alison Yes ma'am .. I'll be there fer'shur. I'll be the dude what looks like he got hung up in a brier patch. Working outside a lot now (and loving it) .. but somehow I've been able to scratch and cut up my hands, arms and legs every time I go out the door. Tanya says I oughta wear gloves and long sleeves .. and britches with legs on'em .. but I prefer sleeveless T-shirts and sawed off jeans. Truth is, I sorta miss the lifestyle I grew up with and I reckon there's a bit of nostalgia in looking like one who came out on the losing end of a scrap with a Wampus Cat. ;-) Howdy Bobbi, > Hi Butch and family - welcome back to the US of A. Thank you ma'am .. good it is to be back. :-) > We had a great time in Turkey this past May. Glad to hear it .. Turkey is certainly a well-kept secret and a place where those who visit once always want to return to. > We'll be not far from your new place when we go to a fitness spa in Tennessee in August. David had > some knee surgery and is quite the frump 'cause he has not been able to run for a while. Sorry to hear of the injury and wishing David a quick recovery I am. As for running .. after 30 years of doing that almost daily and jumping outta perfectly good airplanes .. I've come to believe that the benefits of jogging daily are short term. I believe that for most folks .. they'll show up in a negative manner as we get older. Runner's High is a good thing for sure .. but pounding the pavement is (in my opinion) not a normal activity for our joints and muscles .. I believe walking at a rapid pace for at least a half hour a day is good for us. Few are the retired military friends I have that are not suffering some lower body ailment and there is no doubt that our " PT " programs and daily 5 mile runs did it to us. :-( > Once he gets the OK to get back into the swing of things (hopefully Aug 14) he wants to start his fitness regime off with a bang. Wishing him luck I am and hoping that he's one of the exceptions to the situation I touched on above. ;-) > While we had planned to meet in person with many of the list members at the AT Conf in > August we will be exercising our butts off somewhere off the beaten bath in Butch's new home state. Sorry that we'll not get to meet this year .. and wishing you lots of luck and fun in Tennessee this summer. Eat lots of Catfeesh, Hush Puppies, Collard Greens and such .. I reckon they are all great natural medicines .. and if'n I'm wrong .. at least they taste might gud. ;-) > Best, > > Bobbi Guerra > The Purple Sage ~ Bath & Body > http://www.thepurplesage.com Yes ma'am .. and to you and yours. :-) Hey Joanne, > Sounds like you found a bit of Paradise Butch! I think we did .. and I reckon it was about time. More than half my adult life was spent outside the USA and I truly missed being close to my roots. > I am very happy for you and your family, and thank you for sharing your " story " with us. Always an entertaining > and interesting read for sure. You brought a smile to my face this morning. Thank you ma'am and welcome you are. I'm happy that I was able to make you smile .. smiling is very good medicine .. proven fact that is. :-) > I often wondered how you were doing while you were absent, and I am relieved to hear you and your family > are safe and sound at your destination. Thank you ma'am .. I really needed to get out of what I was in for the sake of Tanya and Alexander. I thought that adjusting to the slower paced Kuntry Life would be tough but its not. ;-) > Alexander the great sounds like a bundle of joy. Enjoy your precious time together as they grow up so fast. That he is fer'shur and will do fer'shur. All my other younguns did well in life but I was not able to spend sufficient time with them because Uncle Sam had me on the road half the time. I don't want to be away from my family now .. and don't plan to be if I can help it. :-P > Welcome back... > Take care > Joanne Thank you ma'am .. appreciated are your well wishes. :-) Howdy Jo Ann .. and Dave, > Butch, > I always enjoy reading your messages as well. Welcome back to the USA. Thank you ma'am .. on both counts. :-) > I hope you and your family will be very happy in your new home. > Jo Ann Nourse Again thanks .. and I am sure we will be. New its not (16 years old) but new it is to us and we love the house and the land. Even though we're still sorta semi-camping out, we've accepted the house as being a home already. :-P Hey Dave, >> [Dave]: Huge dittoes, Òîâàðè÷! Welcome home. Thankee sir .. appreciated fer'shur. :-) Howdy Helen, > As always, it is great to hear from you, Butch!! A delightful read and I am so happy to read you and > your family have arrived in the US and are settled in . . . Thank you ma'am .. appreciated are your kind words and grinning we are to be here. :-) > Has Tanya been in the USA before? We visited the USA last summer for 2.5 months .. covered 18 states and stopped by to see a lotta old retired military buddies .. now they'll all be coming here to visit us. :-) We attended the AT Shindig in Albuquerque, NM too. While swinging back from out West heading to D.C., we stopped off in Paris, TN. I used to fish Kentucky Lake when I was a yonker .. we lived maybe 60 miles away .. but I had not returned to the area in 10 years or so. I showed Tanya the area and she liked it .. I already liked it so we sorta decided then that it was where we wanted to settle down. > I was wondering what her thoughts are as she traveled about. The fine roads we have and the large number of vehicles on those roads were new to her .. not a norm in Russia, though they see lots of American films and such .. leastways those that the Kremlin allows to be shown on TV and in theaters. ;-) I think she was happy to confirm her suspicions that Americans were not like those shown on Dallas, Sex in the City and the other films/shows that make American life appear to be weird to folks in other countries. ;-) Our entertainment industry provides a lotta good propaganda tools to those who want to use them against us .. sex, violence, murder, mayhem and such can appear to be the norm if one watches American TV often. > I have a business meeting in Nashville, TN in Oct and have visited various parts there . . . I good place to settle. I was born in Nashville .. Vanderbilt University Hospital. Had relatives teaching there and at Peabody College .. and my great uncle was director of the County Park System so Centennial Park was sorta my playground back then .. ;-) Tennessee is a nice state .. no income tax .. very low property taxes .. and a very high sales tax. Looking at the history of the USA one can see why its called the Volunteer State. Whole counties used to turn out to fight for whatever just cause came up .. from the Revolution through Texas Independence and the Spanish-American War. All the wars following that time had plenty of Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee is clean and green and not crowded .. plenty of wild life and great management of that resource. > I think they " make " kids different these days . . . we have twin great grandsons that are well beyond their > years and never cease to amaze us with there ability to think things through and express themselves. You might be right .. and maybe also parents are smarter and a bit more attentive today. ;-) > Or perhaps it is the stock from which they come??!! ;-) That's a great thought .. I reckon I'll settle on that one as an explanation. ;-) > Looking forward to hearing more as the days go on . . . stay healthy!! -Helen Thank you ma'am .. and wishing the same for you and yours. Y'all have a gud'un .. and keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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