Random Collection of Pictures August 2026

August is always busy for me. The academic year starts back up. This August was a bit more trying with intense physical therapy. I did not include any pictures from the end of August because that will be part of the blog post for the Kansas trip.

Interesting map of more than half of adults age 25 and older with bachelor degrees by county. The green spot in Tennessee is Nashville - Davidson County. Not surprised about Madison County - Huntsville in Alabama -- literal rocket scientists and space experts dominate. Colorado surprised me. California is not a surprise with their excellent high school to college pipeline.

A very interesting read in the Tennessee Bar Association magazine about a father-son tandem duo who hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT). I was not aware that the northeastern end of the trail is nothing but boulders and rocks and a portion that has the longest section without any service point.

One of my favorite restaurants is Bea's. They asked how customers smash up their food and responded with my concoction. 

Someone had a birthday in August. And celebrated it in Minneapolis with other family members! Attended some concerts, did some sightseeing, ate some good food. They captured this picture of a Bob Dylan mural.

I finally put the corgi wind chimes up we purchased a long time ago. Just happened to have a bungee cord hanging in the right place. 

We missed out on the Red Clay Cherokee Cultural Weekend. We were driving around and we decided to go to Red Clay. They still had the shirts for sale from the weekend - so I bought one plus some other stuff. The shirt was designed by one of the park rangers at Red Clay State Historic Park.

Some memories popped up for us this month. G's high school picture popped up on her Facebook page. The building was tore down over 35 years ago to make way for the Children's Museum, IMAX theater, a hotel, and few restaurants and parking garage, plus the football field was converted to a minor league baseball team field.

 A Hamilton County Commission plaque FB post of mine where all of the commissioners signed the plaque in my honor.

A picture of the DBZ house in Cookeville.

My moment of glory saving the dorm from the room on fire - no one believed me at first. I was very lucky to have stumbled out of the smoke. Front page hero news in the local daily paper.

Something I have missed out on since really our move away from the farm -- Rooks County Free Fair. I'm glad to see it is still going on -- aptly described as where Stockton meets Stockton.

Random Collection of Pictures July 2026

Only six pictures of random collections! After the Chicago trip, not much happened, except physical therapy, lol.

My annual display for July - Parks and Recreation Month. Blown away each year by the pictures submitted by faculty and staff. 

Here was my picture that I took on the college campus.

My father-in-law in his younger days as a community baseball coach.

Someone caught a downpour of rain from Point Park on Lookout Mountain.

Wished we had a restaurant called I Don't Care in Chattanooga. Probably be the most popular spot in the city lol.

My first driving trip to Chicago in 2017.

Random Collection of Pictures June 2026

June was all about surgery and recovery, so not too many original pictures here.

Pixel celebrated her 6th rodeo!

Celebrated Dad on Father's Day with this picture posted on Facebook.

We had a colorful June display at the library with some rather cool buttons to wear.

The following states have sales tax on groceries - one of which is Tennessee.

Willa Cather described the Solomon River in Kansas very accurately.

Four Facebook pop up memories. The first one is me at the old Tennessee PTA office and the Tree of  Honor display.

The second one was from National PTA convention in 2022 and me walking across the stage as I was recognized as a state president. Just a few days from that picture I became very sick with Covid.

The band, Set It Off, actually came to my father in law's house to perform in the living room. Last I heard they are still an active band with national tours.

My bittersweet goodbye to the Vice President of Advocacy position in 2019. Wow - Cheryl and I and the board did some great work. I used that picture for my presidential portrait at the state office.

A big supporter of Rail to Trails and even Rails With Trails. I think letting old railbeds fall into disuse is not serving the community trust and deprives the use of them by communities. Here is a beautiful rail to trail in nearby Athens, TN.

Pictures I collected. First, someone caught this brewing storm at the Walnut Street bridge in Chattanooga. 

A beautiful capture of a train crossing the bridge near the Chattanooga State campus.

The gypsum red hills found in Kansas. Nothing flat about that region of Kansas. I still remember my first time discovering this area - beautiful and the ancestral home to many Native American tribes.

G took this picture of me the day before surgery. Probably not discernible from a picture but I was in quite a bit of pain.