Straight Man...

Today was Pinewood Derby Day... kinda. First, Drew did his car a couple weeks ago, but hadn't painted it so last night we put the wheels on it and then Drew decided to paint it. For the record, that is the WRONG order -- paint then wheels... And when we got there for the race, found out that we were supposed to be there two hours earlier to register so he couldn't race. But was Drew upset or disappointed? Nope. Wasn't the way he really wanted to perform so he said: "Let's go walk around."

Before we did, Joe, one of Drew's best friends from church was there too, and his mom (Deanna Branscom) and I snapped a few pics. Joe as usual was playing the straight man. In eight pictures, neither of them changed their facial expressions at all, which was as funny as the face that Drew made to be funny.

Deanna and Mitch are a great couple and incredible people -- a better matched set of people I do not know. Two great kids, great families and genuine, sincere and wonderful adults who can laugh, have serious conversations, drink a beer and would open their house at any time to a friend. In 2007, I had Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with them, almost as the wayward loser brother. I just can't say enough about them (I guess I'm gushing, huh?) The only real problem is their association with the University of Virginia (where Thomas Jefferson worship is the official school religion.)

Slept a little late because the girls stayed up late (I think that 4:30 is late) talking, and I only made it until 3 am. So by the time we all were moving, it was lunch. Pretty sad, but true. After the debacle, came back (after dropping Carolina off at her mom's) and spent the afternoon just relaxing in our own ways...

Two great quotes today - one from me: Southern fiction is never truly fiction... it's someone else's story told with the names changed to protect the guilty, who also happen to be your relatives... I was discussing with a friend about my cousin and her daughter moving back to Banner Elk, after their father/grandfather had left at 18 and raised his daughters in Florida with his artist wife. Just seemed appropriate that the stories behind people's lives, particular in the South, are always so rich and misunderstood.

The second was a beauty from Mary Kathryn... We were discussing a movie and I was trying to tell them something that happened in the last third of the movie (as opposed to at the end of the movie), and Mary Kathryn popped out: "Oh, in the medium well part of the movie!" God, I love how her mind works.

D90 85mm f/5.4 1/320 ISO 400