December 11; My Birthday!

Hello Daylily Friends,

Today is my 65th birthday! In my humble opinion, it has been the best birthday that I have ever had. I got up this morning and drove several hours to meet my friend Larry Grace near Columbus, Georgia. I needed to return some plants to Larry, and we mixed in a great breakfast as an added plus! What a wonderful breakfast it was. We met at at the 431 Restaurant, on Highway 431, just inside the Alabama state border. We talked about daylilies, then talked some more about daylilies, then we both had to get back to our plans for the remainder of the day. When I returned home I worked in the Greenhouse all afternoon just preparing "hanging baskets" for this coming spring. They are going to look wonderful in February and March, 2011.

As I worked during the afternoon around the Greenhouse, my friend Ed was sitting up in the "deer stand." I didn't know that Ed was there. Then, around 6:00 p.m., there was a knock at the back door. It was Ed, and he needed help moving the deer he had been able to terminate using his bow and an arrow. It was a beautiful, beautiful deer, and it was "fat" from having eaten too many of my daylilies. I was so glad to help Ed move the deer to his truck for transportation to the "meat cutter." Thanks Ed for slaying that Deer!

Then, my beautiful wife Diana Rae had my favorite supper ready. We had meat loaf, and then later we had Angel Food cake with chocolate frosting. Kelley and her friend Jeff came over, and had supper with us; just another added treat to a wonderful day. Kelley gave me a "John Deere" quilt to use during the winter when I'm watching TV. Thanks Kelley! Another gift, from my beautiful wife Diana Rae, was a book that has the names of the soldiers who were serving with General Robert E. Lee when he surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. I knew that I had relatives serving with General Lee, and from the book that Diana gave me I could see the names of my three relatives who served with the Georgia regiment. There were four other Waldrops serving from the States of Virginia and Mississippi. These other four Waldrops are probably also relatives, but it would probably be a little more difficult to establish the relationship.

Actually, the book that Diana gave me is entitled "The Appomattox Paroles April 9-15, 1865." When we visited Appomattox Court House, to see where the surrender happened, I saw the book and wanted to buy it. Although, as I say, I knew I had relatives serving with General Lee, I had not seen the actual documentation until I saw the book. Diana, however, said that I could not buy the book because she surmised that it would be left abandoned on her coffee table. I mentioned the book several times, and so she ultimately decided to order the book for me as my birthday gift. I might add that when the surrender took place General Lee had about 23,000 troops, whereas the Union army had about 125,000 troops. Also, the Union army had been able to incorporate "repeating rifles" into their standard gear, whereas the General Lee's men still had only the single shot rifles. Perhaps an unfortunate situation. In any event, the surrender basically ended the Civil War.

So, on my 65th birthday I had breakfast with Larry, then I worked in my Greenhouse, had a wonderful meat loaf supper, Ed killed a deer in my back yard, I received wonderful gifts from Diana and Kelley, and had a look backward in time to Appomattox on April 9, 1865. A great day!

Thanks Diana and Kelley.

Dad