Cocoa Joy is thankful for her family, food, long walks in the woods, and her trainers at Dog School 101. (Actually, I’m the one who is grateful for Sandy and Xalina!)

PJ is thankful for sleep.

And Chipley is thankful for . . .

COWS!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

C. S. Lewis wrote, “What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth and they share it.” The members of my church have been such a blessing. Last night we gathered to decorate this year’s Christmon tree. Once it was lite, we sang Christmas Carols. It was a perfect way to begin the Christmas season.

The Stumphouse Mountain (South Carolina) railroad tunnel is just a short distance from Issaqueena Falls. I have been to the falls a couple of times but this is the first time I walked up to the tunnel and the very first time Cocoa has ever stepped inside something so dark and wet.

After a short distance inside she slowed down, and I could tell she was wondering, Where are we going and when will we turn around and get out of here. In the mid 1800′s, southern industrialists dreamed of a railroad connecting the American Midwest with the port of Charleston. They believed a tunnel through Stumphouse Mountain would be a vital link to that railroad.

The work began in 1852 and was scheduled to be completed by 1861, but the Civil War halted the effort. After the war ended, the tunnel was abandoned. The tunnel measures 17 feet wide and 25 feet tall, and at 5,863 feet, the tunnel would have been the world’s longest.

Issaqueena Falls, which is at the opposite end of the park, is a beautiful 200-ft. cascade.

The roads out by the lake are just beautiful. This past weekend was the Tour de Tugaloo where 330 cyclists gathered to ride through the Tugaloo Corridor and over into South Carolina. The fall weekends have been grand!

Isn’t this a beautiful view? Three cyclists are heading back to Prather Bridge Road and the Panther Creek Dam area.

One of the things I have noticed over the past year is that when people see me with a camera, they flash a “thumbs up” sign. It doesn’t matter if I know the person or not. He or she will go “thumbs up!” I really like it because it makes me smile and reminds me that life really is good.

Years ago, I would walk my dog Buffy here. I began to call this area, “Where the squirrels live.”

On the weekends when it was time to go for a walk, I would look at her and say, “Do you want to go for a walk where the squirrels live?” and she would go nuts. Over the years we walked at Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield many times and we saw lots of squirrels. It is a fantastic place, and Buffy always loved being there. On at least two occasions, she got away from me wildly chasing narrowly escaping squirrels down some hill while I followed at full tilt. We walked the pathway in the above photo many times. So the memories I have of this place run deep.

Even up until the last days of her earthly life, she was still going for walks here and the squirrels were always waiting for her. Cocoa loved Kennesaw, too. In fact, she learned how to go “off lead” in the open battlefields. What an experience that was! She ran on the same ground where hundreds of soldiers ran, walked, and died. If you are near the northwest Atlanta area, this is a great place to visit, hike, and photograph. Cocoa always gives it “five paws” and Buffy would have, too.