A Mini-Celebration of Summer

And, a big welcome to summer!

This has been a hotter than usual month of June with highs in the 90's. It's most likely balancing the cool May we just had. Anyway, my favorite season of the year has arrived, and I'm happy!

So, in words and pictures, let's have a mini-celebration of summer!

"Then followed that beautiful season...Summer...
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light...."
-Henry W. Longfellow

"It was June, and the world smelled of roses."
-Maud Hart Lovelace

"Woods are filled with the music of birds, and all nature is laughing under the glorious influence of summer."
-Charles Lanman

Summer humor: "A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."-James Dent

Memories: My grandmother's (Mema's) birthday was in the summer. I always remember her fondly, especially around her birthday, June 23. She was a special person who always tried to make us grandchildren feel special.

In her home, when we were little, she'd have a drawer for each one of us with little gifts she'd put in there for our visit. Her cookie jar was always running over with delicious sugar cookies which she'd make without using any recipe.

Mema's cookie jar now has a special place in our home.

She took her time to help me with my art since she was a naturally talented artist. I still have a painting we did together. In fact, she got my parents and brother interested in art, as well.

One of Mema's Beautiful Paintings

Although she's been gone for many years, her kindness still lingers.

"A simple act of kindness can have a tremendous impact on a person's life."
-Anonymous

"Scatter kindness!"

Happy summer!

Positive thought: "There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."-Celia Thaxter
Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky

A Tennessee State Park, Plus a Side Excursion

Another month, another park! Several blog posts back, I mentioned that Greg and I intended to visit one park a month throughout the warmer months.

So, a few days ago, we went to Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. The 1,500 +-acre park is on the old estate of Henry Horton who was the 36th governor of Tennessee.

It has an inn, cabins, and a restaurant. It also has an 18-hole championship golf course, a skeet and trap range, a playground, and a swimming pool.

Since the park is located on the scenic Duck River, swimming and canoeing are also available.

When we first arrived at the park, it was lunchtime, so we headed over to The Governor's Table for their lunch buffet.

It looked really great as we were starved!

It was good. We ate almost every bite!

After our meal, we took off to explore the park...

One thing we noticed right away was the abundance of picnic tables. I've been to a couple of parks that had a shortage of tables during holidays like Memorial Day.

No shortage here! Many tables had a nice view of the Duck River.

And what a beautiful view it is!

F.Y.I.
www.tnstateparks.com

After thoroughly exploring the park, we decided to visit the nearby small town of Chapel Hill since I needed to mail an important letter. While there, Greg spotted a monument in honor of Civil War general, Nathan Forrest, who lived there as a boy.

We saw a sign about his boyhood home, so being the Civil War buff that Greg is, we decided to go check it out.

The house is rustic and attractive, outside...

and inside...

We took a tour which was only $5.00 each, and the money raised goes to the restoration and upkeep of the house. They also have periodic fundraisers. It was in bad need of repair when the Sons of the Confederate Veterans took over the house which is on the "National Register of Historic Places", and they have done a great job thus far, but there's more work to be done. Kudos to the dedicated men working on this project!

We had a wonderful afternoon at Henry Horton State Park, plus an unplanned side excursion to General Forrest's boyhood home.

We can hardly wait until our next trip! You just never know what adventure awaits!

Happy Father's Day to fathers everywhere, including my dear father who is in spirit.

Positive thought: "If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere."-Vincent Van Gogh
Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky

Support Your Local Artists!

Welcome!

On this blog post, I'd like to discuss a subject near and dear to my heart, the arts!

I dearly love art because I've been around it most of my life. My parents, brother, and two grandmothers all either did art professionally or as a hobby.

As a child, I enjoyed art as a hobby, and I also studied art in school. Later, I started doing art as a profession, as I still do to this day. In fact, I currently have my work for sale in a couple of shops. Also, you can see some of my work at:

www.beckyarnottartist.com

Art can refer not only to painting and drawing, but to sculpture, photography, writing, music, theater, dance, etc. Actually, anything can be thought of as an art, such as "The Art of Positive Living."

"Art is Man's nature. nature is God's art."-James Bailey

Which brings me to the main reason why I'm writing this blog post-

with a sign I hated to see on its door-

I've written about this wonderful shop twice before on this blog:

-The 2/9/13 post-"Wall Candy Has Art, Crafts, Framing"
-The 11/12/13 post-"Welcome to an Artisan's Party"

I'm leaving up the two posts I mentioned above to help the essence of this shop live on, to be an inspiration to others to again have something similar to this. We can only hope that even in a less than ideal economy that people will remember the arts, and to support our local artists, no matter what type they may be.

Even in schools, art seems to be the first to go.

"Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art as seriously as physics, chemistry, or money."-Ernest Levy

No matter what, the right brain will prevail, the arts will triumph!

Even if it's just on a street corner-

Let's let Wall Candy be a positive learning experience for us all. Please, support your local artists, before it's too late!

Positive thought: "As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life."-John Lubbock
Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky

A Fun Overnight Trip, Part 2

Last week, on 5/28/16, I wrote a blog post entitled, "A Fun Overnight Trip." This week, in Part 2, I'd like to tell you about the rest of the trip.

The next morning, after our delicious, filling breakfast, we ventured out to a place neither Greg nor I had ever visited-

Rock City is located in beautiful Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Folks driving the highways that lead to Chattanooga are already familiar with the many signs painted on barn roofs that advertise Rock City-

When you first arrive at Rock City, you see several gift shops, etc. to explore, like-

In one of the shops, I bought a Rock City magnet to help commemorate our visit.

Next, we entered "Rock City Gardens" which was first opened to the public in 1932.

It was all so breath-takingly beautiful!

Along the way, a nice couple took our picture-

Lover's Leap was a sight to behold!

From this vantage point, you can view seven states-

We decided we might as well have lunch at Cafe 7 while we were enjoying the view-

Greg cleaned his hands with lemon juice right before we had our tasty meal. Flags from all seven states that I mentioned above are flying behind Greg.

As we were leaving, we noticed this clever sign which is a variation of the sign you usually see along the highways in the area-

F.Y.I.

www.seerockcity.com

We decided that our Lookout Mountain/Rock City trip was one of the best that we'd ever had, and it wasn't even that far away. You really don't have to go that far to take advantage of the wonderful attractions right in your own back yard!

Positive thought: "We didn't realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun!"-Randy Pausch

Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky