Here are some snap shots from Saturday’s venture down the Tugaloo River. Last year was a lot of fun but this year was even better. Several people from the college joined the group and a good many from the community. In this photo, Jim and Sharon Morden enjoy a fun moment before we put the boats into the river at Walker Creek.

Dale Garside (rear of this canoe) told me that he was glad I had brought my camera. I always have to take the risk because you can’t see this view from the side of a road. You have to be in the river to catch the reflections of the clouds and awesome blue sky on the water.

Donna Good is a proud owner of one slick kayak. I can’t decide: new camera or new kayak? It’s a hard decision now that all of us are enjoying being outside.

Kelly gives facts about the area and the Cherokee Indian towns that once dotted the edge of the river.

We even pull up together at a couple of points so he can give greater details. This is where his stories come to life.

In the background, Kelly is talking about the Jarrett Plantation and the old covered bridge (Prather Bridge) that was at this location. All that remains of this structure is three support columns. One is in the background of this photo. In the foreground, Sharon is having lots of fun taking photos of church members.

Our view for most of the day. Just beautiful again this year. Guess you can understand how my neck got sunburned.

Finally, we entered a really quiet stream that led to Longnose Falls where we stopped for lunch.

After resting, talking, and having lunch, we head back out on the water. In all, we spend about five hours paddling and listening to Indian stories.

Here is this year’s group shot via Kelly’s camera. It just keeps growing!

We got our boats into the water about 9:15 a.m. and were paddling down the Tugaloo River toward Estatoe  by 9:30. “The Cherokee Indians inhabited this and other village sites along the Tugaloo River. They were a great agricutural society with the Estatoe Indian Village being  an important trading village on the corridor. The Tugaloo Corridor, also known as the Unicoi Turnpike, crossed North Georgia and  traversed on into Tennessee. Another major trading village was Tugaloo Town, which is now submerged under Lake Hartwell. It was the Eastern most end of the Unicoi Turnpike  and is located near the railroad bridge on the lake. Estatoe is currently one of the last remaining sites available for preservation.”

Kelly Vickers, our guide for the journey, challenged us to step back in time mentally and imagine what it was like to travel down the river 300 years ago.

We picked up canoes and kayaks today. Tomorrow a group of us (50 people) will head off down the river and out across Lake Hartwell. Kelly will make sure we have all the Indian information that we can handle. Cherokee Indians once had a very large village in this area. It is rich with history and views. But today, we met and tried to figure out how we would get everything to the place where we will put in.

Kelly was on the phone ready to give instructions concerning how to tie knots correctly but Sharon had everything under control.

She is the music director at my church, and it sort of looks like she’s directing the choir. The only problem is that Gary is not buying into her instruction. And her husband Jim is thinking through what he has just heard. I’m content to take photos and watch the guys rope it all down.

Hold that note! And hold that canoe. I’ll post more photos after tomorrow’s activities

I studied psychology in college and came away with a degree in counseling. So, this is your Rorschach Ink Blot test question for the day: What do you see in this photo? I thought it looked like a large animal—maybe an elephant. Actually, it is of a large piece of driftwood on a Jekyll Island beach.

I remember the first time I received a letter from Eugenia Price. I could not believe that I was holding her personal written words in my hand. I have the few letters she wrote to me and even the one that she wrote to a friend concerning a project that I was doing. She was always so positive and encouraging. “You have the ability,” she would say. “Just do it.”

I think she coined that phase before Nike made it cool. Her writing schedule was always packed, but she personally took time to answer her mail. I don’t know how many authors think about doing that today. It wasn’t until later in life that she began to dictate notes of personal correspondence to her assistant. A small historical collection from her house is on display in the lighthouse on St. Simons Island. This is her desk—the one she sat at and wrote all of her novels.

This photo was taken in the front yard of her home—the Dodge, which is appropriately named after the lead character (Anson Dodge) in her Lighthouse trilogy. He was the “Beloved Invader.” I doubt seriously that I will ever return. It is on the market to be sold. And it no longer fits who she was because it is vacant and empty and void of laughter.

And this is her old manual typewriter that she used up until her death on May 28, 1996. She wrote, “I long to depart this earth banging away on my old manual typewriter.” I think she pretty much did just that.