Morning Thoughts

I was on my way to work the other morning, jamming to a CD ( as always ) and I begin to zone out a little... I started thinking about all the situations we have to go through in this journey we call life. In this life we have to face adversity as well as rejoicing over our best accomplishments or achievements that you are so proud of. What I mean is you could be having the best of times - life couldn't be any better, but at the same time there is someone who is going through the most tragic stage in their life. You could be happy.. but there is someone who is sad and depressed. In this life there is good and evil, pros and cons, happiness and sorrow and so on... you get my point. I really don't know how to explain it, but it just blows my mind when I think about it. We think we go through hard times but what we really experienced was more than likely, just an inconvenience. When things do get a little tough and we struggle to make ends meet, there is always someone whose situation is much worse. Listen up now, I'm not saying we don't go through really hard times, cause we do - I'm simply saying there is always someone going through something worse. For example- Shelly has been on vacation for about a week and I was really starting to miss her and was longing for her to come back home... but at the same time, I thought about my cousin who is serving his duty in Iraq which is around a year, while his wife and three kids are at home waiting for his return. See what I mean now. Memorial Day weekend I witnessed my niece getting married- where nothing but good times were flowing that day, only to learn a few days later my sister was taken to the hospital for breathing complications. It is easy to feel like life is unfair but what can we do. I wish so bad I had the powers to make everything better but I don't. Christ is the only answer I have to that. The only other thing we can do is simply endure. Before I go... ever seen the movie- The pursuit of happyness. If you haven't seen it then I highly recommend it. Hard to imagine but even though his situation was pretty bad, it could have been much worse.

T.W. Bennett

Believe it or not this where I attended elementary school. It's a shame this place is in the shape it's in... leave it to the thugs to destroy something that had potential to become something nice. This school has been through the torture test for sure. Lots of memories here. This is where I met my so called sweetie that shot me in the rear with my BB gun. I can almost remember all the teachers that taught each room.

I can remember walking single file line behind the teacher into the cafeteria. I went to this school from kindergarten to 6Th grade. Please excuse the bad language if you see any-there was profanity sprayed on the walls everywhere. I can almost see the tables with all the kids eating.

This is the room my Mom taught in and also the room of the BB gun shooter...

Memorial Day Weekend

With only a few more hours left in this day we call Memorial day.... it will be gone but not forgotten in 2007. While my sugar-pie-love-muffin-wife-of -mine is chillin out at the beach soaking up the sun, I stayed home to be a part of something very special.

A few months ago , my sister emailed me, asking if I would like to be a photographer in my niece's wedding. Needless to say I was delighted, but at the same time I was a little iffy about being held accountable for their wedding photos. You see a wedding photographer has only one chance to get it right- there is no room for screw ups. It has to be done right the first time because there will not be an opportunity later on to get the shot you missed or blurred. That means you need to know your equipment and know when and where to shoot who. You know what though.... I think I did OK if I say so myself. I mean this wasn't a big blowout wedding with bridesmaids , groomsmen and enough candles to wax an 18 wheeler, this was a simple get there-get-er-done type wedding. I have to say... I really had a a blast taking photos at this wedding- I would even say this was the most fun I've ever had at a wedding. There were so many things that happened that made this wedding comical... check this out; It was about 10 after 1 and the wedding was suppose to be at 1:30. Well, for some reason I thought they were going through a practice and so I decided hey if they can practice then so can I. So I did my thing and then after taking a hump-teen million other pictures... I started to wonder if they were going to get married sometime that day. Yep... you guessed it, the practice run was the real deal. I guess you just had to be there to get the real effect of that but hey- good thing I made a practice run or else I would have missed the whole dadgum purpose of me being there. Oh well- just another topic we Bunns can all talk about when we get old and frail..weak in the tail. Congratulations to John and Landy Kogas.

The Huntleys old farm house

I did a little research on this house and come to find out, I know a little something about this place than who ever wrote the article about this house. The website is www.fast-rewind.com . This is a site all about the 80s movies and so on. If you go there scroll down to the color purple under movies smartmenu. Enjoy!

The Color Purple

When I was in the 3rd grade, I noticed a new girl that started coming to my school. I didn't pay that much attention to her cause...I was a 3rd grader... and had getting home so I could play outside was on my mind. Next thing you know I heard from the grapevine that she had a crush on me and wanted to be my sweetheart. Since I'm such the lover boy, I accepted her crush and we were officially sweethearts. As time went on I didn't think much about it.. we just passed love notes back and forth.. you know the ones where you say... I like you- do you like me- check yes or no. Then I found out the church I was attending- was gonna deliver some fire wood out to their house. Let me tell ya now... I was all over that. For real now think about this... I was in the 3rd grade... how else was I going to get to her house. When we arrived we pulled up to this huge house, but when they lived there, It was very junky, beat up and old looking. I didn't think much about that either until I walked into the living room. What I seen in there gave me the chills and to this day I can still remember how it freaked me out seeing this. There was a door leading into the basement and on the door was a sign that said- do not enter... under that that was a drawing of a ghost figure. These days that would be a bunch of hog wash but back then it frightened me a little. Shoot, most 3rd graders were probably still checking under their beds at night for monsters.... I never understood that and I don't remember asking her anything about it. After a few weeks of sweet hearting.. I learned that they were very poor- so being the tender hearted guy that I am, I started giving her my pennies that I saved .... ain't I a stinker.. Now It gets interesting. Somehow it got worked out that she could come over to my house for a few hours and since I was the man of the house I wanted to show her around. So we went walking through the woods... before I go any further with this, I want you to know there was no hanky panky... I'm serious.. maybe a little pop kiss but that was it so don't even go there.... So were trotting through the woods and I had decided to bring my BB gun with me in case we seen some wild animals or some crazy freaks hanging in the woods. Well on the way back home she wanted to hold my BB gun. I want you to know that dad gum girl went and shot me in the butt with that thing... whew... man you talk about something that stings... it felt like a bumble bee the size of a pinto had stung me. By the way the pinto I'm talking about is a car made by ford back in the late 70s... not the bean. I was so mad... actually I wanted to cry but I had to be strong or at least in front of her. What made it even worse was she thought it was funny. After that the sweet heart thing started going down hill.. What, you think I enjoyed getting shot in the butt with a BB gun. I had that thing pumped so that it had a lot of pressure.... you know for the wild animals. I guess I was the only thing wild that day.... Anyhoo they soon moved away to who knows where. A few years later Steven Spielberg filmed the movie- The Color Purple in this house. Now ain't that something- Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey were in Lilesville. How cool is that. Back then I was too little to comprehend all that but I have always wondered what made them choose this house- here in little old Lilesville and why. In fact a good part of the movie was shot in NC. You know, I often wonder about those folks that lived there. Sometimes I wish I could run into my old so called sweet heart so I can ask her about that ghost figure on the do not enter sign. I would not even recognize her if she walked in front of me but I know one thing for sure though... If I ever do happen to run into her again, I will make sure she doesn't have a BB gun. I don't know which one hurt the most, her shooting me in the butt, or her laughing at me.

A tribute to Mom

I've been waiting for a chance to share some things with you about my Mom and what a perfect opportunity for me to brag on her noble personality. So without further ado, lets get started...
Mom was more of a stay at home mom I guess you could say. She took care of the cooking, cleaning and all the other things mothers are so good at... but what sticks out the most to me is her never ending dedication to faithfulness. Mom and Dad were married in 1972 and she stayed faithfully committed to him through out all his life. I know times had to be hard cause dad would often spends days- even holidays in the hospital because of his heart. Mom always had a loving reputation but she was never afraid to lay down the laws either... Trust me- I know for sure about that ... They could be arguing one minute and the next minute they were fine, like nothing ever happened. What they had was very special. When summer rolled around we as a family would go camping at the river with two other families and I remember mom saying she really didn't get into it like the rest of us did but like I said earlier, she had a mothers mentality and made the best of it when we went. Moms are good with stuff like that. I can remember dad telling mom " I'm off to the hunting club, Ill be back after awhile". I never heard any negative remarks against him doing that or anything else he was up to. That was the way they did things. Mom just had a lot of trust with dad.

Mom was also a warrior and a survivor. In 1996 mom married one of dad's closest friends. After all, dad told him to look after mom when he was gone. A few years into their marriage she faced yet another challenge. A challenge she was not ready to go through again. Her new husband was diagnosed with cancer and only a hand full of months to live. As much as she dreaded to go through this horrible situation again she stood tall and showed the greatest example of love that I have ever seen. Instead of putting him in a nursing home she took care of him right by his side- sometimes going without food just to make sure she was there for him- even up to when he took his last breath. After she got through all of that she was bound and determined to stay to herself but little did she know there was another mountain to climb. Mom was told she had breast cancer and needed treatments. After knowing what she has been through and the sacrifices she had made for others I was hurting inside. Wondering why in the world things just couldn't be better. After going through everything I seen her go through mom still found the strength to trudge through this mountain she was facing. All though it was not easy she was simply surviving. To this day I am happy to say she has recovered well and enjoying her life at home with her dogs. In closing I would like to say thank you for everything you have done for me and everyone else that has felt your kindness. I am so proud of you and I love you more than words will ever say. You are truly a blessing to be around. One more thing mom... I know I wasn't exactly planned, but I want to thank you for letting nature take its course.....Hey- If you and dad wouldn't have been fooling around... then I might not have been here to tell you how much I love you. your son, Brian

Mom # 2

I bet you didn't realize I had two Moms did you.... well I didn't either until I married Shelly. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is my mother in law. I'm always hearing people talk about how they dread going to see their mother in laws or should I say " the In laws". Well I don't know what in tar-nation they're talking about cause my mother in law is a blast to be around. Always cheerful and showing off her cute little smile. What makes it even better is they live within 10 minutes of the beach. Wait just a minute now... before you start thinking that's why I enjoy going to see my mother in law or ... the In laws.. let me clarify this for you. I would love my in laws if they lived in an old dilapidated trailer park. So what else can I say- I have the best Mother and the best mother in law someone could possible ever ask for.. period.

Mothers Day colors

Sunday,13th of May

Today was a very special day. Not only was it Mothers day but it was also Shelly's birthday. My sister Penny spent most of the weekend with us so we all had loads of fun. We went back to Lilesville to see mom and went out to take more photos so I can share more stories with you but I came up a little short for my love muffins birthday. I took her out to eat ( her choice) and I got her a few cards but no gift..... I know. I guess I'm just a bad husband. She even showed me something she liked for an idea... Well, this by no means is a cover up for my actions but I just wanted to get something for her she didn't know about. I hit bottom this time....hey gimme a break I'm only human. Shelly- being the best wife in the world was just a little sad but I apologized for my slack. I really love to do the just because gifts, but for some reason I go blank when I am supposed to get something by a certain date. Yes I know that's why she gave me an idea but what I really wanted to do I could not afford. I realize she is not looking for me to do something high and mighty but just the thought and effort to do some things is what goes a long way.

Lilesville pool

During the summers before I was old enough to work I spent a lot of time here at the pool. I always loved coming to the pool esp. when all my friends were here. We always had a blast whether we were swimming or sitting around. When 4Th of July rolled around they would have contest like who had the biggest splash, best dive and so on. All while the fireworks went off. My favorite was when we would rock the pool. That is what we called it when we had enough guys that knew how to do a can opener, cannon ball or anything that had a big splash that made big waves. What we did was we all lined up at the diving board and continuously jumped off until the whole pool was rocking with waves... get it now.. I had lots of good times here but when my parents bought me my first dirt bike, this place was least on my mind.

Chewnings convience store

This use to be a cool convenience store believe it or not. It sits just above the pool about 100ft or so. I still remember people walking up to the store to get a coke and some chips with their towels wrapped around them and their stringy wet hair. After the store went out someone tried to turn into an arcade but that didn't last too long either. Some things I wish never changed. I personally liked it better as a store than an arcade.

Blewett Falls

As you can tell, people from around here like to fish. On any given night, even in the wee hours of the morning, you will find people throwing nets while their poles are set in a holder.

Yes we are still in Lilesville..... I bet you didn't know we had tropical waters here in L.A huh... There is no telling how deep it is, it could be 10ft or it could be 40ft. There is water holes like this all over the place here in Lilesville .

More photos from Lilesville

Bucyrus Erie

This is what a drag line is suppose to look like.

Yea, yea, yea I know, another weird meaningless photo... Wrong again. I can however see why you are scratching your head wondering- what in the world does this picture mean.. well sit back and read on and I will tell you. These are the pit roads used by the mining company's around here and several of the roads had a few miles worth of travel to get to the plants. With that being said dad would often take me out to watch the drag lines and the haul trucks go by and would put me in his lap so I could drive. I was to small to reach the pedal at that time so he done the pedal pushing and I did the steering until I was tall enough to do both. So what I'm saying is these pit roads is where I learned how to drive. Dad was cool about it to. You would think we were going to a fire if you seen us flying down those pit roads. By the time I was old enough to take drivers ed, I had so much experience driving I was wanting to lay the seat back, crank the radio and hang my arm out the window to get my farmers tan started while the others were nervous and tense. Needless to say I passed with flying colors. I've said this before and I will say it again, that man was a genius. He knew how to blend everything together to make a perfect mix. Almost like he had planned all this stuff out one day before I was even born. I mean seriously, he was just taking me out to watch the drag lines work but what he was really doing- was teaching me how to drive.