Fred Altons Page: October 2011

Plans? What are plans for?

From the front porch in Vinemont, AL

So that one knows ahead of time what he/she is going to do. Right? "Plan ahead", we are told. Another said, "Plan ahead - or Plan to Fail". "Plan your work - Work your Plan!" So we made plans for weeks ahead for our month-long trip to Florida. I had an appointment with the eye doctor on the 3rd - and we were going to leave the next day! However, as has often happened - for reasons too lengthy to explain - plans were changed at the last minute and we decided to take our vacation planned for the whole month of October and just relax here at home while taking some short trips to visit friends and family. The word that has been a life-saver for me in ministry and in personal life is "flexibility". So here we are at home again after spending last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights at my first cousin's home in Vinemont, Alabama - and an added change to that schedule of Saturday night at our friends' (Rob and Kathy D's) home near Athens, Alabama. That was another impulsive change of plans, made two days before we traveled to Vinemont. All-in-all we had a wonderful trip.

Costumed Dancing

My Beautiful Frances at the Ocktober-Fest

Terry and Trish welcomed us to their home on Lake George. Next day we visited the Ocktober-Fest in Cullman where the city was having many activities show-casing their German ancestry. Singing, playing music and dancing in the streets were all part of the activities.

Terry and Trish's Home On Beautiful Lake George

Fred Alton and Terry Junius. Can you guess which one is the old man?

For lunch, they took us to the top of the bank building to a special restaurant where we had an open view of the city and it's surroundings. Sights of re-building from a deadly tornado that had ripped through the middle of town were easily identified. After a great meal we returned to their front porch over-looking the peaceful lake. Geese honked, flapped their wings, skidded across the water. Little circles of waves made by bream and bass catching bugs and grasshoppers played along the shoreline in the cove. Temperatures were ideal (in the high 60s to mid 70s) so Terry and I tried fishing a little. He actually caught two bream right at the edge of his private, floating boat dock. What fun we had.

From the top of the Bank

Trish, Terry, Frances in front of the Museum

Terry and Trish both have a huge organ with many bells and whistles! They can make music too. The night before we were to leave the next morning, Trish brought out a five-string banjo and gave it to me. One stipulation for receiving this gift: I must learn to play it! I have never owned a banjo but have always admired the sounds that come from them by listening to blue-grass gospel singing. Well - actually I enjoy any kind of country music which has a banjo and a fiddle in the band. All-ri-iiii-ight then! Yee-Hawwwww!

On Saturday Terry and Trish drove the thirty minutes to Athens, AL with us to meet Rob and Kathy and see their new business known as Bradley and Davis CPAs. Our Friends have bought into this business and will be doing CPA stuff, like taxes. I would urge any reader who lives near them and needs any assistance with book-keeping for business or for getting your income taxes completed by caring and honest people to check them out.

That night we had dinner with our friends at their home on 23 acres out in the country. Saturday afternoon we went down to check out their small pond. I could see several bass and several bream clearly swimming in the shallows. No fish had been caught from this pond since they moved in about two or three years ago. "Let's try!" So - here were the results of the first five minutes of casting a dry black-fly into the water.