Happy Fourth from the southern Appalachians.  The parade, fun run, and vendor fair in Bryson City were cancelled.  But the fireworks will go on.  The best seats in the house are on the hill in Ingles grocery parking.   Small town USA!  Kelly's putting up flags down on the gate.  Got my Navy hat to wear tomorrow to declare my pride as a vet.  I love the Fourth, my flag, and my country.

      "Hotter'n the Fourth of July" seems apt this year. Highs in the 90's and triple digits, for a large swath of the country, gives credence for that old saying.
 
      With hot weather, often comes some nasty thunderstorms. We missed a hum dinger night before last. 40 miles to the SE of us, they got a good 7 inches overnight. Kids will have great fun swimming and splashing in every low spot around the farm. Racing the 4 wheeler ATV's through the mud, or skijoring behind the ATV's in the ditches and flooded hay fields. I think it's going to be a great Fourth for some of the more adventurous.

For those that haven't tried skijoring, it's similar to the waterports without the lake and without the boat.  You only need a couple inches of water, 30 feet or so of rope and just about anything flat to tow, will work. Skis, wakeboards, toboggans,  2' by 6' plywood sheet with a rope handle, car hoods work great, just watch for sharp edges. Just give yourself plenty of rope so you don't lose teeth on the back of the 4 wheeler when it stops. My apologies to those that don't live on the farm. They don't know what they're missing!

    Many years ago, the small town newspapers would have a gossip column. Written by someone within each township, it was a record of who did what, who visited who, or who had guests over for coffee or dinner. It was the 1950's, 60's version of todays facebook, snapchat gossip. A favorite line after each report was "And a good time was had by all!" It's a great saying and a bit of a neighborhood inside joke amongst the older generation. (Boomers)

    This year, with all the hot temperatures and excess water in some areas, I hope it will be a favorite saying once again, come Monday.

    Best Fourth of July to all of you.

Wood identification from photos is really difficult.  You might review this site and see what you can find.

https://www.wood-database.com/

Why is it that all of the pictures posted from Photo Bucket seem to have kicked the bucket? I have never had a photo from Imgur go away.

Happy 4th to all of you.  I hope you are all weathering the storm this country is going through and that we get to celebrate this day for a long time to come.