Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Last week here in Nashville we had one of the biggest snows in the past 10 years. I walked around to take some photos (because I sure as heck wasn’t going to drive around!). Below are a few pictures during the frigid weather, and then the same areas 8 days later. What a difference a week makes, right? Use the little slider to compare the side-by-side pics. I think we are still thawing out here, but I, for one, am grateful for warmer weather and spring on the way!
Last year at an estate sale I found the most coolest bicycle. I posted about it back then and now, February 2021, I have an update. She has new tubes and tires! Take a look at side by side pictures of the old tires (left) vs. the new tires (right).
left: original tires, right: new tires
I have ridden it twice with the new tires, on days Nashville is above 50˚ which lately has been… not many. But the two days I spun her wheels around the neighborhood were really great. More than once, I couldn’t help but smile. I have a bike again. Why is this so fun? I don’t know, but I look forward to more warm days when I can take it around Nashville to show it off. You might be surprised at the looks it gets, too. Probably because it looks like it was built in the 70s!
Replacements for the ancient tires were a little difficult to track down but I found the right size on Amazon here, rubber rim strips also on Amazon here, and randomly came across 26x 1-3/8 tubes at Walmart, of all places.
Here is a map of my most recent ride, just over 4 miles.
Dark red portions are speed going downhill
Do you have a bike? What kind? Where do you like to ride? Comment below!
This new Zac Brown Band video opens up with a relevant topic: Lockdowns due to COVID-19, setting up the rest of the video– a daughter watching old video clips of her and her father.
The daughter (as an adult) is played by actress Reilly Baker. The father (of grown daughter) is actor Corey Landis.
Reilly wears a thin necklace with a gold “R” around her neck as she watches the old videos.
She also attends SGU, a university that doesn’t seem to exist. Somewhere in Georgia, though.
The flashbacks featuring father and daughter are played by (unconfirmed so far) Eric Brunt and his daughter Reese Blunt.
The groom showing up later in the video is played by Will Houlihan, a writer/director (/actor?) based in California.
Zac Brown Band is signed on the BMG record label, which was at one point Sony/BMG, so that might be why Sony products can be seen throughout the video.
The video was produced by Black Coffee Productions, a company with a host of music video productions on their resumé. However, if you’re in the southeastern U.S. and need an amazing company to shoot your wedding, look no further than husband and wife duo Jordan and Beatrice of Foraged Films. PS. They use Sony cameras. 🙂
A pet peeve of mine happens at the end of this video. A crucial, CRUCIAL, part of the video is the text conversation between the daughter and her mother… and the conversation is covered by YouTube video recommendations! Come on, man!!! This simple thing almost completely ruins the power of the final shot… where we learn the father has passed away (or has he??), which is why the daughter is watching old VHS tapes.
For what it’s worth, here is the conversation between mother and daughter…
Mom: Hi sweetie, how are you doing?
Daughter: Hey Mom, I’m okay, just really missing dad right now.
Mom: I miss him too. Remember he’s always with you
*and yes, the mom did not end her final text with a . period 🙂
One may assume the father has passed away, but it also could be that he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and has been self-isolating for an undisclosed amount of time, therefore he isn’t able to see his daughter or wife.
I went over to Percy Priest Lake the other day around sunset for a couple of reasons.
It was a not-freezing-our-butts-off day so I had to get out and do SOMEthing. If you didn’t know, Nashville (and the south) had a crazy cold, snowy week that seemed to last a year. It was picturesque all around town (from what I gather on the news, since I didn’t leave the house for many days!) but I, for one, welcome the sun back to Tennessee.
I wanted to snap some photos at dusk, hoping to see birds and animals and nature things while I was out there.
Here are a few shots of the lake at sunset, I was amazing at the beauty of the sun reflecting off the lake, and even managed to capture some kind of bird swimming through the golden ripples of the lake. Hope you like these pictures!
I wonder if this bird ever thinks, “This kinda stinks, I can’t even walk.” Then from somewhere a voice says, “Bird, you weren’t made to walk.”
I really wanted to write about how I’ve had friends who only think of the disadvantages in their life but, just to be honest, most of my friends are the opposite. They are like this bird; not dwelling on what they can’t do, but thriving in their ability to fly.
I catch myself thinking things I don’t excel at: I’m not good speaking in front of crowds, I don’t like having to delegate, I can be air-headed, I’m not cool like Matthew McConaughey. These thoughts can be discouraging and I wish I could say that as soon as they enter my mind I kindly show them the door, but sometimes I dwell on them. Sometimes I like beating myself up over the things I can’t do, or the abilities I wasn’t born with.
Maybe this bird was born with two legs but something happened on the lake and now he just has the one. A glass half empty mindset says this bird would lose a race with a cheetah. A kangaroo can jump way higher. He can’t even walk, forced to hop on a single leg. But the beauty of this bird is that he wasn’t created to walk. He was made to fly.
Where in our lives do we excel? Those areas are probably the “wings” God gave you and me. Have you discovered what God has designed you to do yet? I’m not sure I have, but I hope one day for you and for me that we find our groove and we fly like this bird.
“I’m thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.”
Out of the Wilderness 