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Home in Douglasville, GA (click to enlarge) Welcome to the new www.kenstallings.com website. This website is a personal blog with items of interest to my family and myself. Included are also some downloads of aircraft and missions for Microsoft Flight Simulator products. To access them click the Flight Sim downloads link appearing on the left column of this home page. This website focuses on interests and hobbies such as general aviation and the many flights I've taken over scenic areas of the United States. That link gives you access to several slideshows of photos taken of these special places. Then, there are some columns written on my personal philosophies of life. These are a bit political, but never of a nasty or angry tone. In fact, it is hoped these columns point consistently to the need for a return to civility. Then, there are the delightful antics of our pet ferret, Paco! If you want good ole family video fun, that link is for you! So, kick back and sit a spell. You are most welcome to see what's here. Cheers, Ken Stallings We have come full circle in our lives. After serving the nation in the US Air Force for 29 years (24 active service and another five as a contractor), the family has returned to the home we purchased back in 1993, in Douglasville, GA. This was meant to be our retirement home and we plan to settle down here for the duration. The bonus is that we have paid off the mortgage, and it is nice indeed to truly own your own home!
Aerial photo of home in Douglasville, GA (click to enlarge) After completing a few improvement projects, I decided to get out the camera and take some photos aver the course of the first spring back home, showing the many flowers and trees that make this place so special for us, and more recently additional photos of further refinements made. As a bonus, I managed to get some shots of the azalea and roses in bloom. Here is a link to see those photos: After a few more years, in 2023, which is also the year I retired for the second, and likely final time, I decided to take a few photos showing the slow improvement in the quality of the grass. Here's a look at the situation.House in 2023
Shortly
after we moved back into the house, a mating pair of what we believe are Eastern Phoebes built a nest
underneath the roof of one of the entryway porticos. The neat
thing is that since then, these love birds have continued to lay their
clutch of eggs about three times every spring. This latest time,
they laid four eggs, and all hatched. Got lucky as I went outside
to take some photos of the fledglings as they were getting bigger.
The timing could not have been better, as shortly after I took
the first few photos, they suddenly all went airborne for their solo
flights! In addition to the thrill of seeing them all
successfully take to the skies their very first times, I was able to snap a
few more photos for this slideshow.
Another milestone has been reached! Our youngest son, Michael, has graduated from Alexander High School! Michael earned board scholar honors with a 3.75 GPA, ranking 54th out of a class of over 400 students! In addition, he will be attending Kennesaw State University and majoring in civil engineering. Finally, he is planning to be a distance runner for the Kennesaw State track team, a division one program. We are very proud of him! Update: Michael graduated from Kennesaw State with his degree in civil engineering and went to work for a noteable engineering firm even before he graduated! He is now working his dream, building various projects all over the nation. Here is a set of photos from the high school graduation: 2016 Alexander High School Graduation I've been wanting one of these historic rifles for a long time and thanks to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), I now have one. This is an M1 Garand -- the rifle the truly won World War II. Have a look at the photos! After driving the same vehicle for 13 years, it was time for a few changes. So, I essentially gave my oldest son my previous vehicle and purchased a new one for myself -- a 2013 Ford Escape SEL. Of course, it had to be red in color -- NC State Wolfpack red! Ford has done a lot of innovation, and they are putting winning products on the road. Their 2.0L "EcoBoost" engine is amazingly powerful. In fact, this so-called SUV is more like a sports car with its acceleration and handling. In late 2011, the family decided it was time to sit down for some formal portraits. Our youngest Michael made a valid comment in that our previous family portrait hanging on the wall was taken before he was born! And that's not cool for him! So, we decided to rectify that oversight. Here are some of the final portraits we took. The photographer did a nice job I think! Since I have retired several years ago from military service, I decided it was OK now to post a link to these photos taken from a deployment I did years ago. I have also created a slideshow showing a family of rabbits who set up home a few years ago in my front yard at our former home in New Mexico. They have certainly seemed to enjoy themselves!
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