Ed Icionsub

One of the extras that we noticed when shopping for our new home was that this house had a basketball hoop installed in the backyard, at the bottom of the driveway. In the back of the house was a large rectangle of level surface, which made me think that we could actually have some quality guy time shooting hoops back there. It was one of those emotional things that sell the house – putting the idea in someone’s head that appeals to them emotionally.

Of course, after we bought it and moved in, we quickly realized that the aggregate surface made bouncing a basketball almost impossible. We would have to pay for Basketball Court Resurfacing if we were serious about shooting hoops at home.

Of course, the home in the nicer neighborhoods, like Brentwood and Bellevue, have swimming pools and tennis courts in their backyards. One of their routine maintenance problems is Tennis Court Resurfacing and pool cleaning.

It’s not just the McMansion owners who have to deal with Tennis Court Resurfacing, there are plenty of country clubs, schools and apartment complexes who offer tennis as a recreational activity. When your sport requires a smooth surface for bouncing a ball, you can’t afford to have pits and patches that misdirect the ball’s bounce.

For the first time ever, the Nashville Predators played in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This was a great year for my favorite professional hockey team. We continue to have players with great skills and a coach with sound game strategies. With that and a little more luck, we might make it to the finals next year, and bring the Stanley Cup to Nashville for the first time.

One of the stunts flown yesterday at the air show was two of the jets flying past the crowd with one of the jets precisely under the other, with the bottom jet flying upside down. They did this twice, from each direction, and the crowd roared in appreciation each time.

I can’t believe that they flew so low to the ground and so close to the crowd that we could see the pilots in the cockpits and I could get this shot from almost eye level.

The highlight of yesterday’s air show was the Thunderbirds. They didn’t get in the air until almost 3:30 but were worth the wait. These jets flew in all kinds of formations and absolutely stunned the crowd with all their maneuvers. It was totally awesome. The kids can’t stop talking about it.

Here are four of them as they flew past the crowd in tight formation.

Many years ago the little airport down in Smyrna would host an air how every couple of years. Then they just stopped and it’s been at least 6 years since they had one here. I missed it – the air shows are a guy thing, but great for the whole family.

So the kids and I were thrilled to see that the Great Tennessee Air Show was going to be back this year – and I bought tickets online for all of us as soon as I hear the news. We had a great time yesterday. Other than a little bit of rain – and no one melted from the rain, no big deal – it was the perfect day. There was just a little sun ad enough clouds that it didn’t get scorching hot. In fact, the clouds made a great backdrop for the jets for all of us camera geeks who were taking photos.