Mint Juleps on the Porch

Spent a nice couple hours sitting on the porch of my cousin, Lou Ann, and her husband, in a great house up the hill from my parents. They are a really neat couple -- she is the head of the Avery Arts Council and he is a professor at ASU.

Lou Ann's father, Henry, is my dad's oldest brother, but he left Banner Elk about the time Daddy was born. Henry, and his wife, Jodi/Marilyn, lived in FL for a long time, as he worked as a civilian employee of the US Air Force at Eglin Air Force Base. They now live in Mobile.

I would say that my uncle Henry was always a mystery to me -- didn't see him anywhere nearly as much as I did my other uncles and aunts. His wife is an artist, and the one time we visited Fort Walton Beach, I remember being struck by how cool their house was. It was also at their table that I last remember drinking coffee -- at seven years old.

So this afternoon, after a great nap, I drove up to Lou Ann and Robin's house, and sat on the porch. This scene, sitting on the porch, reflects the sky, but the background is a twisted vine surround on their porch. Pretty remarkable scene for the afternoon... Robin made us fabulous mint juleps from their fresh mint, in metal cups, and just chatted. It was the right way to spend a Sunday afternoon... There's lots of exploring to do, and I look forward to more talks, to understand their travels, and the draw to return to the mountains from which her dad left nearly 70 years ago.

D300 110mm f/5.6 1/400 ISO 400