The Year in review.

2008 is almost over. What a year! Every year seems to be unique and different. This year turned out to be not any different from the others, that is, unique and different!

Kelly started college this year. You almost feel old when your daughter is in college, driving her own car. No, no, I don't feel old at all, on the contrary. I lost 15lbs last year and never got them back, and I'm not even looking for them. Lost and gone for good, I hope.

Our multiple trips to the Dominican Republic were replaced by multiple camping trips and bird watching. Fun! Only Andre made one trip to the DR this year, for 1 day, for business! No snorkeling, no white water rafting, no waterfalls climbing, or any of those fun activities. I just went to sign papers, take care of utility bills and transfers and ... back home. I did spend one morning on the beach in one of those cute restaurants on the beach in Cabarette, having a loooong breakfast while waiting to head to the airport. It was cool to watch people parasailing and windsurfing, but I sure wished I was doing "it" instead of watching people in the water. Gosh, the Dominican Republic can be fun!!! Best kept secret in the Caribbean! Wanna go? I'll be your guide if you pay my airfare. Deal? (Hey! Don't forget Debbie!) You'll have a blast.

2008 was the year we discover what State Parks are for. Camping and enjoying nature. We did our share of camping, not so much because we are great campers, but more because that's all we could afford. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Right now, I wish I was camping somewhere! Oh..., not really, I wish I was in the Dominican Republic right now, or Togo for that matter! I'll go back camping next spring. We've learned a lot about birds, and watched a lot of birds. We did four State Parks in one year: F.D. Roosevelt, General Coffee, Santa Rosa (in Florida), Reed Bingham. We loved them all. Santa Rosa SP at Grayton Beach wasn't really camping because we rented a cabin instead of staying in tents. It's hard to say which one was the best because the State Parks with the lousy camp sites have the greatest trails.

This year is the year we ended up on a tight budget. Business is down with sales (no one is buying, I think, and I may be wrong; I just don't have deals good enough for these times) and we are so desperate in getting tenants that we are not getting the best ones because people are breaking in the vacant, ready to move in houses especially. So we want to rent those vacant homes instead of keeping fixing them up. You've got to see this to believe it; people stealing electrical wires, copper pipes, water heaters, forget about the AC units, you've got to take those quick or they're gone prompto! Remember, we're in real estate. The economic mess we're in started with real estate. So, it seems like we got hit first. Unfortunately, it seems like we keep getting hit because we haven't hit bottom yet. When Debbie is inspired, she said we can always go live in the woods in tents. We'll love it! Really? Oh yeah! We have two tents, sometimes I seem to forget. I guess that's what she was talking about.

At least we still have a loving and comfortable home in Macon! You feel love when you come to our house. People don't know what it is, and we don't tell them, but our house is filled with love. And peace. Anyway, we don't have to go live in tents. I always have a plan, and I'm always excited about my new plans. I'm excited about all the money we're going to make next year, and pay everything off, and go buy a country home in Georgia near the Alabama border, a home where people can come play "Rook" all they want. James, you hear that! We can also drink beer and wine, and eat good food. Everybody knows Debbie is a great cook and I'll help in the kitchen. We'll have chicken roaming around, vegetable gardens, (I'll like to have rabbits!, taste good!), plenty of solar panels and windmills, living off the grid...unless we don't make all that money we plan to have, like usual. Well, if all fails, my Dad left 200 acres of land in the middle of nowhere in Africa that none of my siblings really want. I know you are reading, brothers and sisters, and I know you don't care about Atsintsin, so I'm telling you now that I'm going to set up in Atsintsin if I have nowhere else to go. Debbie and I will hunt the gazelles and the wild hogs, and build a dam on the river. I saw huge flying squirrels last December when we went check it out. I'll hunt those too. They looked like game to me! (Anything that runs in the woods is good for you. These were flying!) I'll occupy 20+ acres by the time I get set up, by the river. I'll have to be by the river so I can fish! I'll need all the land I can get for all the people who will be working for us "for food" on our farm. I've got to give them something. You can come visit. What the heck! We'll cook you gazelle meat with "koliko", "fufu", and "galifoto". (For those who don't know what those are; they're good African dishes). We'll laugh all day, and run around like kids again.

My Dad passed away last year, and Levin passed away this year. Both passed away at about the same time of the year. Both "crossing overs" were very unexpected. Guys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, if you are planning to pass away next year, listen up! Put it off till the following year, like 2010. I don't think I like these good people dying on you all of the sudden like that. If you're thinking about it, just put it off. Deal? There is really no hurry going to the other side. People like to think the grass is greener on the other side, but it's really not! Just hang around a little longer, then you can go do whatever you want. This only applies to those who are planning to pass away on me in 2009. I love you all, stick around.

Obama got elected president this year. It felt weird to me. He is going to be the first black American President!?!? I feel he is so much like me. We're born within a week from each other, same year and month. Half black, half white, from African and Caucasian decent, like me, but considered black in America. How did the black blood become dominant in determining race? I never figured that out. He is smart, dumb, and naive, like me. How can a person want to be president of the United States of America unless you're smart, dumb, and naive? Just to start off, you get old in 4 years for carrying the burden of the world problems on your shoulders for 4 years! Why would you want to do that if you're not also dumb beside being smart? Can't you figured out anything else to do if you're just smart and not naive also? Then you get into politics??? You've got to be smart and dumb. But I voted for the guy. Someone, smart enough, has to do the job of cleaning up house and getting things back in order. Heck, I like McCain until he deeply disappointed me by changing so much to please the "conservative coalition" base. So I looked back at Obama that I didn't like at first. No experience, you know. But then, I was impressed by his judgment and the people he surrounded himself with. Just to confess, and don't get mad folks, Hillary was actually my first pick. The lady impressed me right off the bat! It felt like she could get things done, then came Obama. So was 2008. Very unpredictable. That was my year, unpredictable.

This post should provoke some comments! Post some. And remember, the most interesting posts are the "old posts".

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Levin, we miss you, we love you.

We remember Levin as she passed away this past November.
We all gathered at James and Melba's house for a memorial for our sister and sister-in-law.

Everyone showed up, which was beautiful.

Levin's passing caught everyone by surprise because we were just not expecting it.

Levin is a beautiful soul. She did not care what anyone thought about what she said. She just spoke her mind. She loved nature. She grew her own garden of vegetables, a corn field, and a blueberry's patch (with Don).

Debbie and I were at Don and Levin's not long ago before she passed. We enjoyed ourselves. We were happy to see them both. Then, just like that, she was gone, a candle snuffled out in the wind. How more precarious can life be!
Elvin and Linda just got in, hugging Mama and Debbie. It's just nice that the people you don't get to see often were there for their sister, like Louis and Elvin. Can we see you more often? I enjoyed a very good conversation with Elvin. Can you come visit us sometimes? If a person scrambles Levin and Elvin's names, you'll get the same letters; and both love nature!

Martha brought some good pulled pork for the occasion which everyone enjoyed. Carey brought his "new" motorcycle "which everyone enjoyed". I rode it too. Fun! Then we rode James "new" ATV. Fun! Then Don wanted to play a Rook game. Great! I played too. Isn't he the widower? Actually, that's what Levin would have liked. "Don't be too somber about me, have some fun too". Well, we were there to honor her. Some people even watched the football game!!! Some memorial!

Levin, trust us, we love you and miss you. We had a sad memorial and a fun one too. Because you always laughed.

Remembering Papa

This 17th of November marks the first anniversary of Papa leaving us. Everyone remembers him fondly. You have to be a really, really good person for EVERYONE who knew you to only say good things about you. Papa was such a person. A loving father to his children who made each one feel special, a father to the orphans he met, an angel of God in time of need for those you needed help, a messenger of God spreading Good News to people and a mentor to many, the list can go and on.
I remember how people would always be nicer to me whenever they find out I'm his son!
I remember when I was in Lome after his passing, a man flagged our car to stop. He said he heard that Papa passed. He continued and said that Papa set up a hospital in his village (it must be a dispensary) and his family and anyone else could go there and get free medical care. He deeply regretted that he passed away. How did he know me? I was with Debbie and the driver. He knew the driver and when he saw me, he thought I must be one of his children. What a privilege to be the son of the unselfish man who spent his life building schools for free education and "hospitals" for free medical care.
I remember that as a child my Dad never had any extra money (because he always gave any extra away to someone in need) but he always had enough to make us happy. God provided for us because He knew my Dad. They were friends. They communed regularly. That check will come from Switzerland or Germany or France just on time to pay the electrical bill.
I remember Papa taking us to the beach to play soccer. Boy, we had fun! He can shoot that soccer ball.
I remember the trips to the mountains of Palime, at Missahoe. Cool, quiet (he loved the quiet), pleasant, and just him and his kids. Our special moments. Usually, there were no other guests at the motel we regularly stay in.
I remember when I was in the Dominican Republic, always thinking that I need to bring my Dad here, he would like these pretty beaches, these cool mountains, I need to get him a place here, he would love it. Little did I know, he appeared here among us to do a special labor of love, he was done, and he had no time to enjoy life a whole lot. He went back home where he came from.
Well, Dad I'm coming to see you (after I turn 100! earth years). We'll have fun when I get there. Get the ludo game and the soccer balls ready! You made me a better person by just being you.
I love you, Dad.

Bond Swamp

Debbie and I took a couple of hours at the Bond Swamp this Saturday morning. We even had breakfast at the water's edge. We saw a Pileated Woodpecker again! We now know their call and where to look.

This turned out to be a pretty nice walk for a couple of hours. No one else was on the trails. We went to the Long Leaf Trail the next day (Sunday) and again, no one. It feels like we have all these nice trails around Macon to ourselves without having to pay for them!
This is where we had breakfast.
Some parts of the trails are just beautiful like this tree covered alley.
We took a drive around the area and saw a wild pig on this road. A first for us. It seems that the more you go out, the more unusual things you see. You just never know what you'll run into on the next walk on the woods or the next camping trip. May be that's what keeps us going, the surprise around the bend.

Another camping trip.

Reed Bingham State Park is a beautiful park I've never heard of before. Have you? Now, I'd like to go back after camping there one week end.

At first, the camping sites did not seem as nice as Debbie and I were expecting simply because they didn't seem wooded enough. It's fine once you get set up. No problemo. But, the trails, my oh my! beautiful. You almost feel like you're somewhere in Costa Rica. (No, I've never been in Costa Rica. I just know it's a bird watchers paradise; like when bird watchers die, they go to Costa Rica).

These pictures will give you just a glimpse of what's there to enjoy. You can't hear the birds' calls, or the whisper of the winds, or the sounds of the woods from these pictures. Can you? Have you ever heard the unique call of a Pileated Woodpecker? These woodpeckers are the biggest you'll see around, with big bright red crest, huge wingspan, and a graceful fly. Birds, birds, birds, showing off. Just nice to enjoy the show.

Cost of the site for 3 days, 2 nights:$40.00. Cost of gas: $35.00. Food: we brought our own. View and nature to enjoy: PRICELESS!

Camping at General Coffee State Park

Setting up camp!
We're getting faster and faster.

This State Park has a very Southern Georgia Coastal vegetation and feel. Including the mosquitoes! Except that we were prepared for the mosquitoes and, this time, we won that battle. The enemies had no match for the "Repel 40% Deet Sportsman Max Formula weaponry!" I could even go shirtless and these mosquitoes stood at bay. Just one little drawback; I may have reduced my lifespan by 30 minutes or so with all that chemical on my body. I guess we'll walk the trails and eat good food to reverse the negative effect of the mosquito repellent. I'll find out when I die: 30 minutes earlier or later, I guess it doesn't really matter.

Did we enjoy ourselves or what?!
As always, Debbie brought good food, and we grilled a lot.

We did bird watching and found some new birds we've never seen before.
Debbie even saw a big owl while we went in a canoe on the lake. I only saw it when it took off, and yes, it was a big owl. Nature is beautiful, and FREE!

I have to confess, we are still newbies at camping, but we quickly became pros at enjoying ourselves.

It was a full campground on this Labor Day week-end and the trails were full of spider webs. Why? Hardly anyone else was using the trails! Can you believe that? All these folks showing up with their RVs and staying in them watching television. I call that "pretend camping". Well, let Debbie and I have the trails, the lake, the animals, all to ourselves. We won't complain.

After seeing so much bird activities, we've decided just to bring our chairs, sit out at various spots, and just watch. And we were rewarded. Of course, we saw more than birds. Want to know what else? Go camping, you'll love it.

Kelly is in College!

Kelly is in Weleyan College. The best college in Macon.
She is excited and happy, and we are just so proud of her.

Kelly got all these scholarships for doing so good in high school and that saved us a lot of money. We still had to come up with some real money though. Real American Dollars! After all, Wesleyan is a private college.

This school has its own horse stables, nature trails, a pond with ducks, gyms, and all the other things that you find in other colleges like places where the kids go party. Oh, they have libraries and those sorts of things too (dorms, cafeterias, ...). I forget to check if they had classrooms.
I guess after these "students" go to the gym, walk around the pond, go horseback riding, check the nature trails, I guess they will have a little bit of time left to learn something in class.
Hopefully, no one will tell them "kids, this is the best time of your life! You don't live with your parents anymore and you have no kids to worry about. Enjoy it now, because when get out you'll be working your butt off to pay bills!"

Gosh, I wish I could just go back to college.

Mushrooms in 24 hours!

I noticed these mushrooms in the flower pot yesterday morning. August 2nd.

They grew this big by early afternoon,

and this big by the end of the evening.

There they are, full blown mushrooms early morning the next day, August 3rd. They'll be dead in a day or two, may be three. They come fast, and they're gone fast.
What do you think of these pics? Interesting, silly, clever, cute or just a waste of time? Post your one word (or more) comment. Thanks!

Our quiet backyard.

Here is Deeeeebbie!
Big flowery lantennas!
A lizard showing off.
Guess what? We now have blue jays coming for visits.

Birds at the feeder, birds at the birdbath

A hummingbird!
A morning dove at the birdbath!
A thrasher!
More doves!

4th of July at Georgia's

Another Price Family get-together. This time, at Georgia's. As always, it's beautiful and pleasant at her Lake house .

Angela and Matt were there. Cary and Martha, Don and Levin, Ricky and Tiger, James, Melba, Joey and Jordan, Debbie and her family, Mama, George and Georgia (the hosts) were there too.

We played croquet, swam in the lake, a lot, and did other fun things like going for a ride in the pontoon boat (nice boat!), played some card games, ate and more fun things.

People were in their good behavior, almost, if you take out some of the cheating at the croquet game, and the pushing of people in the lake! It was all fun.

The food was good! The ride in the pontoon boat was excellent.

Georgia and George put a lot of time in planning everything including "rules and regulations" for an orderly conduct, and assignments. What an organization! Wow! Everybody got to do something and behave.

The water was ideal at the lake and George had good music going on at the lake.


The neighbors gave us a nice fireworks show. The people inside the house playing rock and roll game on the XBOX missed it all. Well, I guess they had fun too.

If you were there, and just read this, PLEASE, pretty please, post a comment and tell us all the other fun things and "not so fun things" that happened over the week end. Debbie and I (with Kelly and Leah) were there for only one day. Share stories! Post a comment. Oh, one more thing. If you have some pictures you want to share, or better yet, you want to post on this blog, just let me know. I'll send you a special invitation to post on my blog. That will just be soooo cool!

It's always nice to get together as a family.
See you at the next party!

Camping Trip

Our first camping trip was a blast. I didn't expect Leah to like it as much. Kelly has been camping already with her youth group. But, it was actually Leah who took walks with me at the park! and she got butterflies to land on her fingers. Of course, Kelly enjoyed it thoroughly as well.

Kelly and Leah at "The little White House" in Palm Springs.

We have been exploring the area that day, but then it started raining. Oh, no, everything is outside at the camp site. We rushed back to "base camp" and actually beat the rain! The rain was moving at 10 mph, and we moved at 70 mph. That made a difference! Trust me.



No one believed it, but we literally "pulled" this tarp from under a tent, slid another tarp underneath that tent, and set up the first bigger tarp as a cover before the rain made it to our side.


This is the day we were leaving and I realized that I have not taken any pictures of that trap cover we've set up. Our very elaborate camp has already been packed and stowed in the vehicle but you can still see the site. Debbie did a great job making a home out of a nothing camp site. We hated to pack up and go home. We wanted to stay for two more days. Next time. What a week end!