Taylor Story

A guy I work with named Taylor told me this story today:
"It seems that a man was arrested for killing a bald eagle. In the courtroom the judge said that the bald eagle was an endangered species and that it was illegal to kill them and he asked the man to explain why he did such a thing. The man told the judge that he and his family were hungry and that he killed the eagle for food. The judge took pity on the man and dismissed the case. As the man was leaving the courtroom the judge called out and said he was curious and wanted to know what bald eagle tasted like. The man replied that bald eagle tasted like a cross between california condor and spotted owl."

Marathon Bro'

My brother Greg Piller today ran in and successfully completed the Marine Corps Marathon race! Totally awesome! This was his first marathon (full marathon, 26.2 miles), and he already has plans to compete as part of a team in a 200 mile race next year. Way to go bro'!

Dropping gas prices

I filled up the car today and regular unleaded was $2.53 per gallon in Kingston, TN, definitely the lowest price I've seen in a while.

Mamaw's 75th Birthday Hike

The family gathered last weekend to celebrate Mamaw's 75th birthday. On Friday evening there was a fondue in Vienna (the TN Pillers were en route and did not arrive in time). On Saturday morning we met at the McDonalds in Warrenton. Aunt Doris, Uncle Johnny, Aunt Doris Anne, and Uncle Lloyd had breakfast with us and we had a very nice visit.

We then proceeded to the Shenandoah National Park and set off to climb Old Rag Mountain. We hiked the saddle trail and on the way up we encountered members of a wedding party on their way to the top. A young couple had climbed Old Rag when they first began dating and decided that they wanted to get married on the summit of Old Rag. There were about a hundred friends and family members that made the climb and we also witnessed the wedding ceremony.

While on the mountain we encountered another small group, a young man in the group had a guitar. We asked if he could play Happy Birthday and he said yes, so we all sang Happy Birthday to Mamaw.

We saw a warning sign about aggressive bears in the area, and the children were terrified (not really, they were just acting)!

The weather was just about perfect for the hike; no rain, not too windy, not too hot or cold.

After the hike we went to the Outback restaurant in Warrenton and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Debby, John, and Mary met us at Outback.

Nanny's Flowers

We were up in Virginia for a family visit last weekend and I snapped a picture of some pretty flowers at Nanny's house.

There is a nice park just down the street from Nanny's house, the kids enjoyed the swingset and we met several nice dogs that were taking their owners for a walk.

Training for Old Rag, Fall Foliage

Next Saturday we plan to hike Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to celebrate Mamaw's 75th birthday. Today I successfully hiked from the house down to the mailbox and back as a training exercise. The fall foliage is beautiful right now.

Horse Update

Yesterday we took Peanut back to his former owner, Lexi, in Bulls Gap, TN. A while ago we realized that Peanut was not the right horse for us, or conversely we were not the right owners for him at this time. I had a nice visit with Lexi, today she called Debby and said that Peanut was doing very well. I dropped off a dozen bales of hay yesterday with Peanut, Lexi wants to buy one or two hundred more bales from us. We really did enjoy Peanut and learned a lot and are glad that things have worked out the way that they did.

Yesterday Rene visited with her family to check on Spirit and I snapped a photo of Rene with Spirit, compare it to the picture I took of them at the end of August. Spirit is really growing fast!

Rain!

It's raining. Yay! Finally. It has been extremely dry here since the early summer. Our county was declared an emergency area for farmers. The ground here has been hard, dry, and dusty. It looks like we will get a good soaking rain.

Last month Mamaw and Papa and uncle Mark visited and one of their outings was a trip to the Lost Sea, a local cave with a large underground lake. The level of the lake had dropped 20+ feet due to the drought.

Our three pigeon lofts are well protected and are nice and dry. Debby and I put a new roof on the barn a few months ago so our hay will stay nice and dry too.

Catholic Church Tour

Last week at Blessed Sacrament church Father Sweeney invited interested members of the congregation to come to the church on Wednesday evening for a tour and explanation of a Catholic church.

Last night we went to the church for the tour and met some friends. Father Sweeney gives the tour each year as part of the RCIA program. Father did a wonderful job explaining the Catholic church and answering questions. We learned several interesting things about the church and it's appointments as well as some additional history about the church and how it relates to incarnation and the corporeal world (holy water, what's a narthex, a nave, a sanctuary, choir loft, stations of the cross, sacramentals, what's a cathedra, why use candles, history of the altar, stained glass windows, why priests wear black, lectionary, book of gospels, etc). The tour was followed by refreshments and socializing.

Frosty Morning

Turned on the heat this morning at home, it was 37 degrees outside. Light frost on the grass, I had to scrape the windshield of my car.