It was that kind of week - the type that leaves me feeling jumpy and nervous; wondering what's going on in this crazy world. Every time I turned on the TV there was "Breaking News", which is never breaking "good news". That wording, highlighted in bold red print, grabs my attention and (whether intended or not) raises my anxiety level. On the radio, pundits were constantly arguing (as they usually are these days). Politicians are tweeting about each other, the "fake" news media and "Hollywood" types. It's a vicious circle that I wanted to escape, if only for a day.  ..

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Do I like eating by myself? No - but am I going to miss a great meal because I'm by myself? Definitely not (stop that snickering in the back row). This weekend Susan had to work and by Thursday was forced to cancel our weekend at the beach...well....HER weekend at the beach....but I wasn't going to miss mine.  ..

There was a turtle nest on the beach near our beach cottage and over the past 58 days we've watched it, kept curious grandkids from exploring it and distracted the grand-dogs so they wouldn't realize it was there. I hoped it would hatch while everyone was there but when they left on Sunday afternoon, nothing was happening. One last look at 8pm on Sunday night confirmed there was still no baby turtle activity and it was time to drive home to prepare for the week ahead. There's nothing like being anxious to witness a turtle hatch and then being an hour into a trip home to make the stars align. On the bridge over the Trent and Neuse Rivers in New Bern, almost halfway home, we received the call.  ..

Perhaps I'm not the best person to write about tobacco or farming since I have never owned a pick-up truck and haven't done a day's worth of back-breaking work to plant, maintain, or harvest crops. I don't recall going to a tobacco auction - although they were once so common here that I heard the auctioneer's chant and saw the frenzied activities inside many times when I passed a warehouse. The truth is I have no expertise in anything to do with tobacco - except - I grew up in Wilson, North Carolina when it was known as the "The World's Greatest Tobacco Market" and maybe that's all it takes.  ..

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The Hackney Family
Christmas 2016
Past, present and future roll makers  ..

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Sisters  ..

They seemed to be in a hurry to get life going because in 1955 my parents built their contemporary dream house on Watson Drive just three years after they married and two years after their first child was born. Mid-century modern was never a term they used when describing their home, it was always a contemporary home when they proudly described it to others. The term mid century modern, so prevalent today, was not used back then, at least in their world but they loved that house from the first day they moved in it until the day they sold it 53 years later.  ..