Category Archives: Photo Stories

This is the back deck of our neighbor’s house, home to a person I’ll call “George of the Green Thumb.” His deck is a bit cluttered especially at this time of year when he devotes all of his energies to “making things grow.” He is an all organic gardener, and uses seeds gathered from last year’s crops of various vegetables and wild flowers. One might call him a “hoarder” (he calls himself that all the time) and he makes maximum long term use of whatever natural and well-used man-made materials that come his way. I believe my photo proves this point. No matter, George is perhaps the most deliberate and successful gardener I know…even if his ways are a bit cluttered. So, while George was away somewhere I wandered over to his back porch and made this image. I thought it describes George very well. He is a retired lawyer by the way and a very nice person. “George of the Green Thumb” he most definitely is as well.

Sometimes we see something that makes us chuckle a bit. This is one such scene that made me laugh, but I understood fully why the road sign had been placed where it was. This hydrant is located next to a wooded area in our neighborhood and up until this year the hydrant had been partially covered with yard clippings and debris placed there by those living nearby. County officials apparently decided that by marking the hydrant as they did with this street sign, that people would stop placing their yard debris in the area. It worked. An interesting photo if for no other reason being its uniqueness.

This is Louie. He’s a two-foot tall Vermont Teddy Bear and is about the most friendly huggy bear ever. As you can see, he likes to wear one of my hats from time to time, just to show off his good looks. This one is his favorite and I have to admit it gives him an adventurous look; and as you will now learn, Louie does have his wandering ways. He normally sits on “his” chair, keeping the cats from sleeping on the nearby bed during the day getting loose hair all over, and then faithfully watching over me at night while I sleep. I tried for awhile letting Louie sleep in bed with me at but he snores loudly and steals the sheets. While our two cats like Louie, he’s not so fond of them and they know it.

As I mentioned above, Louie has a wanderlust about him and this morning when I woke up I noticed he was missing off his chair. I first rounded up the cats and had a talk with them seeking to find out if they knew what had happened to Louie or perhaps as a prank had kidnapped him during the night and carried him off somewhere so they could climb into bed with me and cozy up, loose hair and all. They denied any involvement, gave me a “how dare you accuse us of such a terrible thing” look, hissed at me and with tails pointed high pranced away to sulk. (I knew they’d be back soon because it was getting close to the time for them to be fed). Anyway, I determined Louie was in fact just plain missing.

After looking around the house some more and not finding Louie anywhere, I glanced out the kitchen window and there he was sitting on a limb in one of our dogwood trees out back looking at me with a gleam in his eyes and I am sure joy in his little Vermont Teddy Bear heart, because he had finally found a way to escape the boring confines of the bedroom.

I noticed he had removed the leather medallion he normally wears around his neck (see first photo), probably so it did not get tangled up while he was climbing the tree. I went out to get him, laughing all the way, and he was so happy to see me he leaped off the limb into my arms as I neared the tree. Walking back together with him hugging me tightly, I asked him where he might go on his next walk-about as he had done earlier today, as the sun was rising but before his “people” were awake. He just stared at me with his glassy eyes most likely thinking that was his business and not mine.

I trust my brief tale of Louie will warm your heart, just as telling it has done to mine today. Louie is special to me and never ever refuses being hugged…when I need a good one. Louie has relatives at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company…lots of them, big and small, each loved and cherished by people of all ages. I highly recommend looking onto adopting one as I did. You will not regret it…except if you get one that learns how to drive your car!

Here’s a couple of images of a portion of the “arts” district in downtown Winston-Salem. A VERY eclectic area and fun to visit…and photograph. I liked the two musicians who were playing just for fun…they were very good too.