Last week, I decided to stop and photograph an old abandoned mill that has attracted my attention for a long time. The late afternoon sun was perfect so I took these two photos. I would love to see what the walls and floors look like inside this building.

Every morning I notice these little chairs just hanging out in front of a very unassuming store. They always seem to be calling out to me to stop and take a few minutes to “sit awhile.” But it is far too cold right now for outside conversation and fellowship. Still, it won’t be long—just a matter of a couple of months—before we turn our thoughts to warmer days and the opportunity to be outside with neighbors and friends.

Last summer, I walked out on the rocks at Bull Sluice but not this past Sunday. The force of the water on the Chattooga River was fast, furious, and just plain dangerous. We did not even climb down the rocks at the higher level. The dogs were with us, and I didn’t want the take a chance that they might slip into the water. To see what this area looked like last summer, click here.

Chipley has this thing about cows: he loathes them!

And I’m not sure where this feeling came from. But if I had not stopped him, he would have gone through the window and told these poor cows exactly what he thought of them.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” — C.S. Lewis