Reflections

I  Travel is my favorite past time. And when I travel, I like to get off the beaten path.   I remember flying into the capital city of Paraguay, Asuncion, and enjoying the Latin metropolitan scene but hiring a taxi driver to take Elizabeth and I across the tropical rain forest   through Caguazu over the border to Brazil in Cuidad de Este to the world’s largest water fall system, Iguazu falls. Adventure! That particular 12 hour day trip is worth a story in and of itself. Finding places that are not overrun with people & billboards is where I believe you really find the beauty of this world. Concrete, asphalt and towers are necessary, but finding peace, tranquility and nature usually is far from these man made objects. Soon, we will be traveling to a similar adventure; this time Americana style. My home away from home for sometime has been Montana. My close friends, Dan Pate & Leah Welsh have welcomed us into their world; Big Sky world. ...

Sometime life paints beautiful pictures and you were there to watch.  In fact you're on the canvas That was the thought I had today watching my wife, Elizabeth and son, Lewis interacting on the beach. Throwing the football, swimming in the water and strolling on the slanted sandy beaches. Now 23 years old, I have been a witness to the great passions of my child; he was train crazy for a time, then dinosaur crazy. He was so amazed at military history, we spent a heated July at Gettysburg, paid tribute to General Lee's grave and his trusted grey American Saddlebred , Traveler in Lexington Virginia, then over to the tall granite monument honoring the General's right hand, Stonewall Jackson. Probably the most memorable was honoring the fallen on the French beaches of Normandy. I could tell you about the duck hunting obsession or the trout frenzy, but I think you get the point. He is serious about his passions. Lewis always understood the important things in history and li...

People in the ancient world always said that "all roads lead to Rome." Now, as I left Oak Meadow Lane in Mocksville, NC  yesterday morning, I can say that even my rural farm road leads me to Rome. Rome, or Roma as the Italians call it is the capital of Italy and is located in the Lazio region of the uniquely designed boot shaped country. The city of Rome has a population of approximately 4.3 million residents. Vatican City, an independent country is located within the borders of the city. It has two capitals within the city.  It is referred to as "Roma Aeterna"  or the Eternal City ] and " Caput Mundi "  or Capital of the World). Although we had a red eye, a nine hour flight from Charlotte to Rome, as soon as we got off the plane we were taken directly to our tour bus.  We traveled just a few miles to a very "Italian" eatery. We had bread,   Salami, Soppresata, Prosciutto, Pepperoni and that was just the appetizer. We had a course of ...