21 Comments
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stirich's avatar

Well, Bill, it’s good to know that you’ve got some good stock in the gene pool! Those folks from Virginia really rock!

I think everybody would appreciate if you could post some pictures of the farm either with or without your big crowd. It sounds like a very interesting place.

Being your age, I’m putting forth a concerted effort to educate my grandchildren in the same way so that they will be the future Virginians 👍

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Rvxbhjn's avatar

Bill, u did good with this event. Got the community together and had a good time. Very important to give back.

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rKf's avatar

My inclination is that Mariah wishes she’d been en château rather than dealing with the aftermath of wind and negligence near Gualfín… Isn’t it bizarre that these monuments survive decades of war only to succumb to “modernity?”

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Lowell's avatar

I like Bill's comments about these chateaus, which appear to be falling apart before his eyes. From my time in Normandy years ago, I found myself being lodged in one overnight. It was a cool, drafty and had ancient smells. Not comfortable in any sense of the word, but an experience to behold considering the probable age of it. To bring any of these great, old buildings up to code, or just repair the necessary parts that are falling into disrepair, is most likely monumental in scope and expense. but it may be worth it by some standards.

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StarboardEdge's avatar

"𝙃𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙩."

One of the MANY reasons we stick with you, Mr. Bill. Thanks for a wonderful article to start off everyone's weekend!

PS - I do believe you have the Tootsie Pop Owl living above your front door...

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Brien's avatar

Good story!

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Leonard Hartman's avatar

We enjoy your review of the local activity. Thank you, from Kokomo, Indiana.

Leonard Harman

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Brian Clavin's avatar

Bill,

In the most endearing and awesomely respectful observation..this if was a key story to share at your funeral….you would be remembered as “ One of the Good Guys”. One who Gave much more than he took.

One who looked at the World and tried to make sense of it in the context of “The Now” and in the lens of the “Ancient Wisdom “ gleaned across the ages.

You, my friend, are one in a million/million.

Thank You.

Brian

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Mariah Bonner's avatar

Loved this letter, Dad. Sorry I missed the concert. Next year I’ll perform! ;)

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Glenn TJ's avatar

Not to belabor the point, but these are beautiful

stories. They are somehow parallel to those I hear from my French son-in-law, each summer when he returns from Dordogne. And having spent 17 years in France and other european countries, these stories make me very homesick indeed! Thanks for sharing, Bill!

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Gone Fishin’'s avatar

Color me a little green with envy about the Dordogne region and to lock in my vote for Dordogne as the best of France.

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Lucas Kandia's avatar

What a wonderful analogy - the man with the means, is like a buck with the biggest antlers in the forest. Just that once in a while, those antlers are what attract the biggest rifle in those same woods.

Our feeling towards ownership of property is much the same. We've been programmed to buy a big home, fill all the rooms with things we don't need, with money that could be put to better use. Elsewhere. And then maintain it for the rest of our lives. Not that its a bad thing. Just not for everyone.

Much like most governments are doing with their "earned" income. They build massive armies, build numerous bases, and then have to deal with maintaining those armies and bases. And of course, giving them something to do.

War.

And we all know how that ends.

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Hugh's avatar

Thanks Bill, took me back to my farmyard childhood in a most evocative way. The smell of diesel, the sawdust, the hens, and for me, the thwack of a tennis ball hitting the chalk drawn wickets on the barn door.

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Michael L. Martin's avatar

Bill, thank you for incorporating the phrase "fell into desuetude" into your missive. It reminded me of my dear mother who had an encyclopedic active vocabulary. She is the only other person I knew who ever used the word.

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Weston Parker's avatar

Wonderful, time to get Garth Brooks.

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Mackinac's avatar

People want healthy difficult long prepared music.

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James William BAYS's avatar

Great post Bill! I heartfully agree with Elisabeth. You should do more of these Concerts! Next time get the greatest young Cantata in Argentina to help put on the show. Here's a thought. You could enlist the people that enjoy the concerts to join in with you to build some great Parking lots so people would not have to park on the roadways. I think the roadways are much smaller than the roadways in the USA, except in the rural areas of the good old US of A. Just saying! Florida Jimmy.

PS: I think you should kind of "layoff" on the Political scene for a while. These Authors you read are from a different Era. Maybe they really don't apply that much to this Era. But maybe some of the historical facts apply. I think our Delegate system works. But, in the end the one with the most Graveyard Mail-in votes will be the winner.

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MURREYVONMISES's avatar

Graveyard Mail-in votes good one!

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