**The Blissful Adventurer is running about Italy at the moment so in his stead we happily endorse and support the work of the following blogger, Charles Mashburn of Marbles In My Pocket. Please check out this post, leave comments for exchange with the author, and give their blog a read.**

Charles (Charlie) Mashburn is just an ordinary guy, with some "ordinary" tales to tell, many of which deal with childhood escapades most of us experienced. He always wanted to write, but never thought he was good enough, or smart enough, to pull it off. But when he met his wife, Sherry, 17 years ago, all that changed; she encouraged him to go for it, and, by golly, he did. Recently retired from the commercial construction field, he now devotes most of his time to writing, and is loving it! He thinks you will love the tales he has to tell!

Sherry and I recently spent a relaxing weekend at nearby Fayette Lake, and it was simply wonderful. I wrote the following poem on Saturday morning, and took the pictures throughout the weekend. The shot of Maisy blurred a bit, and I wish I’d gotten a better one. Enjoy!

Lakeside in the Morning

Sitting here lakeside
A cool breeze this morning
The waves of wind and boat

Lapping softly at the shore
Birds chirruping happily
A crow crying noisily
Dragonflies flitting about

Seemingly curious about me
The dog at the neighboring cabin
Wags its tail when I look her way
Probably wondering why
I don’t walk over and say hello

A big thank you to the Blissful Adventurer for a chance to guest host his awesome blog while he's flitting about the world. I hope my down-home Texas travel entertained you today. Michael's bringing the good stuff home real soon!