Good Friday morning to you!  What a glorious morning we have. The sun is shining brightly and is climbing making the shadows shorter. We've gotten up, showered and gone down for breakfast out on the patio. It would appear that the traffic is fairly heavy out there on the main drive. I would expect that, after all, this is a tourist town and the weekend has started. Tomorrow will be worse out there. But, Ms. Kate and I have absolutely nothing on our adgenda that we want to do other than just what we are doing, and that is to just sit and relax. She is, of course, sitting in there playing Klondike on the lap top. I'm out at a table in the pool area watching the stream roll by. I have my headset on and am listening the the Signature Sound quartet music.

There is a pleasant breeze blowing. The ducks are out in the stream and a couple of Blue herons are zooming up and down the stream. There is a Blue Jay flying around eating some berries off of a bush.
And --- course there are squirrels. I think they followed us down here. Well actually, they are way to small to be one of my squirrels. They must have to actually work for their food unlike my freeloaders at home.

We've picked out our place for lunch today. It is just across the street and is a brick-oven pizza place and is connected to a cold-slab ice cream place. How much better can you get than that? Right across the stream is a seafood place that looks pretty good too. I told Ms. Kate that we wouldn't even have to  drive over there; we could just wade across the stream. I mean, it is only a few inches deep, maybe twelve at the most. She just has no adventure in her soul because she just "gave me that look". You know the one I mean ---- the "wife look".

As I look around here one of my favorite views is of the giant American flag that is over by the seafood resturant. That must be a twenty by thirty foot flag on that pole. The breeze is us enough to move it some. But it stirs up my patriotic and spiritual soul and thoughts. How wonderful it is to be able to sit out here, surrounded by the beautiful Smokey Mountains, watching Gods beautiful creation, seeing people just going about their daily lives in a free nation. Children and adults are beside the pool behind me and the air is full of the happy laughter of children without a care in the world. There is a father and his two sons wading out in the stream and I can see that the water is only ankle deep on them so it is more shallow than I thought. These are all part of the blessings that God is showering on people this morning and I also know there are billions of scenes like this around this country. How wonderful it is to live in a free nation. I think people don't stop often enough to realize just what a privilege that is, and they take it for granted. So, I offer up prayers of thanksgiving this is morning to God for blessing and watching over this nation. I pray we, as a nation, will never forget the sacrifice many have paid to keep us free.

I hope you have a great weekend full of God's peace. I certainly plan to.