Shady Del Knight
Administrator
Recently I was awarded The Versatile Blogger Award from fellow blogger and friend, Shady Del Knight. Shady is the administrator of Shady Dell Music and Memories. This fantastic blog is dedicated to keeping alive the glory days of The Shady Dell, the historic haven for teenagers (knows as Dell Rats) in York, Pennsylvania. This blog is also a loving memorial for the late John and Helen Ettline, the creators of the Dell.
Not only highlighting 1960s music on the blog, being the versatile blogger that he is, other types of music are sometimes shared from Shady's guest bloggers. Relentless in his research and extremely knowledgeable about the music industry, Shady's blog, Shady Dell Music and Memories, is very entertaining and informative. I have discovered "new" artists and songs that I never knew existed from the 1960s until I experienced them on this blog.
Shady Del, thank you very much for awarding me The Versatile Blogger Award. As part of accepting the award, I am to list seven things about myself. In recent months I have listed quite a few facts about myself so the seven things I am going to list today I will call 'reflections'. Recent reflections about some random subjects:
1) To Thine Own Self Be True
 |
| Go to Clint and Cindy's house to See Rock City! |
Most residents in this region are very familiar with the old (and new) signs that read See Rock City. One does not have to travel to Chattanooga to See Rock City. It can be seen by pulling up in front of our house.
When we were house hunting, the first thing that grabbed my attention when we pulled up in front of our 'new' house was rocks out front. White rocks. Large rocks. Small rocks. All the rocks lined around mulched areas, around the mail box area, hedges, flowers and a tree in the middle of the front yard. The back yard also has these rocks around a small tree. My first thought: These rocks have to go.
In the middle of the front yard is a weeping cherry tree. Clint read they can grow to a height of 40 feet. We have had bad tree experiences, damage and expense. The tree is already taking over the small front yard and it is going to be expen$ive to have it cut and the $tump ground. We love trees but it's sad this one was not planted in a good location.
Also, there are some birch trees on one corner of the house that we were told were of the "dwarf" variety. These have become more of the "giant" variety, touching the house and gutter. These will probably have to go, too.
(We were told the maple tree between our house and the neighbor's was planted exactly on the property line, even the guy who mowed our yard mowed it exactly to one half of it. :-) It is evident that at some point this could be a problem for us. Love Thy Neighbor )
The former home owners shared with us on the closing day some of their favorite features of the house: The white rocks. The weeping cherry tree. The large birch trees planted within inches of the house.
 |
| Several hundred white rocks, free for the taking. PLEASE! |
2) How Do You Define a Friend?
Friends have been on my mind, recently. Do we really have many true friends in this life? Do we even go through life having only one true friend? Maybe not even one? I find there are "friends" that aren't too happy for you sometimes when something special happens to you. If this is true, they aren't friends anyway. When I say not happy for you, I mean not acknowledging something special in your life and sharing in your happiness. I think there is some truth in the saying "Expectations are resentments waiting to happen". I do have some new friends though and am looking forward to seeing an old friend soon. She has already made me laugh today when I read her email. Who knew the topic of Worcestershire sauce could become funny!
3) Library Blessing
A couple of days ago Clint and I visited the closest library to us and got new library cards. I was struck by the beautiful design of the library. A good library I consider a blessing, a blessing that we also had in Plano. I've already placed a hold on a book, it's supposed to be ready to pick up Tuesday.
 |
| Really liked the bear sculpture at the library! |
4) I Hear a Train a Comin'
This topic could be a little similar to Reflection # 1 above with a little twist, about 'beauty being in the ear of the beholder'. I grew up and lived near rail road tracks, on the right side of course. :-) I love the sound of distant trains, especially at night. We hear trains at our house here in Tennessee. It's good that Clint finds them quite charming, too. The sounds in this short Youtube sounds just like our nightly train.
5) Dainty Dante
We stayed in a local Hampton Inn until we could move into our house. One day I was telling the young woman behind the Hampton Inn desk that we had found a house that was in the Dante area. (DAHN-tay) She said she lived in the Powell area but she had no idea where Dante was located. She said she had lived here for years and was not familiar with the Dante area.
The former house owner also told us on closing day when speaking with locals regarding the area in which we live, it should be referred to as "Dainty", not "Dante". I soon learned this lesson, when I called the plumber here to check out some things and was giving him directions, I forgot and reverted back to "Dante" , he "corrected" me and said, "Oh, you mean the Dainty area". I also realized later why the Hampton Inn employee did not recognize our area because I had not said "Dainty". I still say it's Dante's Inferno, not Dainty's but when in Rome ...
6) Music
Things are still in major disarray here from our move, we still have boxes to unpack and still don't know where many items are located. I have been music deprived and look forward to listening to some music again. I wonder if Knoxville has a smooth jazz station?
7) Zippity-Do-Da Day
Words can't describe how happy I am to be back home in The Volunteer State of Tennessee!
Thank you again, Shady Del Knight, for honoring me with The Versatile Blogger Award!
4 comments:
I dunno about friends, either. What IS a friend? And those rocks....egads. Love the distant moaning of a train at night....
Thank you very much, dear Cindy, for your kind words and for steering others in the direction of my blog. I deeply appreciate this gesture! I finally have my blog up and running after a considerable amount of down time caused by the Great Blogger Crash of 2011. Blogger removed my latest post and I went ahead and republished it this morning. In doing so I regret that I lost the comments that were embedded in the original including your lovely and thoughtful remarks. They and you mean a lot to me!
I have a brain buster for you. Can you tell me the significance of the following:
See Rock City
Aug TENNESSEE 92
T X F - 7 3 3
HAMILTON
Answer: It’s the license plate on Ruby Gissing’s car in my favorite movie Ruby in Paradise starring Ashley Judd. The plate is visible full frame for a couple of seconds at the start of the movie. The camera then zooms out to show Ruby behind the wheel making her getaway from an abusive man, traveling south to start over in Panama City, Florida.
Few things evoke memories and nostalgia as much as trains, train stations, train tracks and train sounds including the whistle. I’m glad to know that both you and Clint find comfort in that sound and that you can hear it from your new home. It always amazes me how one person’s list of amenities can be another person’s list of things that must go.
When in Rome, Cindy? Don't you mean Roma? (LOL) I used to live in Lancaster, PA and people there absolutely cringe when they hear outsiders pronounce it LAN-CAST-ur. The locals pronounce it LANG-cus-tur.
What is a friend? I can't really define it but as it is with many things I know one when I see one or in your case "feel" might be a better word. It didn't take me long at all to realize that I like you, that we are on the same wavelength, and that you feel very much like a friend.
Thank you again for your generous words about my blog, Cindy my dear friend, and have a happy and restful weekend!
Hi Cindy, I think of you as a friend, wish we could have spent more time together. We'll keep in touch & maybe one of these days we'll come see you & Clint.
Wish I could take those Rocks off your hands!! I love rocks & need more for our landscape.
love your blog, Ginny
Thank you, Shady for your time and thoughts on my blog. About Ruby's license plate, this is a license plate from Hamilton County, TN, and I am assuming the words "See Rock City" must have been embossed on each plate. It must have been a current plate when the movie was filmed since the date of Aug 92 was on it. "See Ruby Falls" is a popular tourist slogan and site along with Rock City (See Rock City) I am thinking maybe this plate was used to have the viewer think of "Ruby Falls" since the main movie character was named Ruby. A stretch, I know, since this would only be recognized by regional viewers. Maybe this license plate scene was true to the novel/screen play. Wikipedia has a good description of these sites. Using a play on the words Ruby Falls, Johnny Cash recorded a song called "See Ruby Fall". Very interesting, not long ago I had made a note to see this movie.
Thanks again, Shady!
Post a Comment