July 4th Weekend

The long weekend started out kind of rough for Rebecca and I. She got a cold somewhere between here and Utah and in turn passed it on to me. The worst of my symptoms hit on Friday. Dad had planned a big work weekend at a Tornado house, owned by Cornelius. I attempted to go work, but had to tap out early. I came home, took a long nap, and felt much better. I returned to the house on Saturday and helped with repairs. A massive oak tree fell on the middle of his house so the goal for the weekend was to build a new roof.

Rebecca's parents came in town for the weekend. So after church on Sunday we all went to Cornelius' house. About mid afternoon Dad gets a call from Matt. He and Loren were on their way to Memphis on I-22 when his back left tire popped. The civic spun off the road and slid into an embankment. Fortunately they went off the road at the perfect spot and only received damage to one additional tire. Much like Rebecca and my wreck several years ago, they were very fortunate. Playing the "what-if" game can get quite scary. Mr. Chip and I went as the rescue team and pulled them out of the ditch. The donut tire got them to Wal-Mart as we caught the tire guys right before closing time.

On Monday we took Rebecca's parents on a drive around town showing them some of our different photo venues. About the time they headed out, the rain settled in and stayed through the evening. It stopped just in time for Thunder on the Mountain. The wet weather kept the early crowds away so we were able to get a fairly good spot without getting there real early. The rain cooled the air off just enough to make it quite pleasant outside.