I have no idea why this photo makes me feel warm inside. Maybe, it is reflective of the way I feel right now—stepping away from a narrow place into a place that is broad and full of opportunity. There is another part of me that thinks about friendship and how God is constantly allowing us to be in the company of friends, especially when we open our hearts up to them. C.S. Lewis wrote: “Friendship is something that raised us almost above humanity. This love, free from instinct, free from all duties but those which love has freely assumed, almost wholly free from jealousy, and free without qualification from the need to be needed, is eminently spiritual. It is the sort of love one can imagine between angels.” (The Four Loves)

Decided to load up the dogs and drive to a nearby lake for sunset. Both of them almost flipped out when I stood up through the sunroof to take this photo! This part of Lake Hartwell covers the remains of a very large Cherokee Indian village. Most people who live around it have little trouble finding artifacts such as arrowheads and pottery shards. Enjoy!

When it comes to Chip, we have a saying and it goes something like this: “I’m not afraid!” That is what he says when he is going for a walk along our wooded road or when he is meeting students on the campus . . . or actually, while he is sitting in a car in front of Starbucks! Take a look in the backseat and then also notice who is the steady one out of the group.

Checking out movement in the distance.

See here goes that line: “I’m not afraid!” And usually he adds, “Are you afraid, Cocoa Joy?”

And the reply? “Not in the least.”

Here’s a photo for my “after lunch” crowd. Johanna arrived for a visit in Toccoa last Friday, and we decided that all of us were in need of a Southern adventure. So, we had dinner at The Shack—a BBQ joint that has 1 1/2 gallon pitchers of sweet tea waiting on the table for you when you arrive. The food is wonderful. However, people around here are telling me there is another place that is even better! (Hard to imagine.) Looks like we’ll have to head out again and try it. Still, in this photo I think everyone will agree that Miss J had no problem eating a plate full of food—homemade sweet pickles and all!!

The wind was blowing the light in open foyer of this old country church (Everything looks crooked, but it wasn’t.) located in the township of Nails. Wonder where in the world that name came from? Long ago, did a farmer or a blacksmith, or a carpenter drop a bucket of nails; and thus, the name was born? It may have become: the place were a bucket of nails were dropped. Or is this simply a little town where the Nails settled after traveling west from some eastern community. I’m sure the people who attend this church—The Nails Community Baptist Church—know the story. But last Sunday, no one was around for me to ask. Just the wind and the ever-changing sky, which is pictured below.