For some reason unknown to me, this photo reminds me of the song Summer Breeze sung (years ago) by Seals and Croft. Here are the opening lyrics just in case you remember it.

See the curtains hanging in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light a-shining through the window
Lets me know everything’s alright

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Issaqueena Falls located north of the city of Walhalla in Oconee County

I have been doing some light renovation work at the cottage and yesterday decided it was time to take a break. A contractor, who had been helping me, backed into my new mailbox and left it begging to be moved and relocated to some place not so vulnerable. Since moving in, I have seen it get hit three times. Yesterday was the fourth. So it was time to dig another hole and move it. The problem at that point was not where to put it but how to dig it up. We discovered that it had been “rebarred” into the ground.

As we surveyed the damage, the contractor drew a deep breath and said in his best southern drawl, “I’ll be back in a bit,” I thought, I’ll be back in a bit too. I grabbed my camera and headed to South Carolina. Ten miles into my trip I was met by a sky full of fierce-looking storm clouds, but I pressed on and traveled up Highway 107 to reach two beautiful waterfalls. The first one is called Issaqueena, which is located near the city of Walhalla in Oconee County’s Stumphouse Tunnel Park.

As with many of the falls in this area, there is a legend. The most popular story tells how as a girl Issaqueena was captured by the Cherokee and given the name Cateechee. “As a young woman she met and fell in love with a white trader named Allan Francis. One day she overheard a plan by the Cherokee to attack the settlements on the frontier. To warn Allan, she found a swift pony and rode 96 miles to his trading fort. While she traveled, Issaqueena named the landmarks she passed—Six Mile Mountain, Twelve Mile River, Eighteen Mile Creek, and others on her way to her final decision at Fort Ninety-Six.

“Fearing retribution from the Cherokees, Issaqueena remained with Allan, eventually marrying him. In time, she, Allan, and their newborn baby moved back to Stumphouse Mountain where they built there home. Then one day, the Cherokee Chief, angered with the white settlers, sent his warriors to capture Issaqueena. Issaqueena saw them coming and ran toward this waterfall to escape capture.

“Knowing that the Cherokee believed evil spirits lived in the waterfalls, she pretended to leap to her death. She hid on the ledge below the top of the waterfall where she remained until it was safe to rejoin her family. Her dramatic escape began the legend of Issaqueena Falls.” (see Southern Highroads Web site)

Whitewater Falls located off Highway 107 eleven miles south of Cashiers, NC

This set of falls is really nice. We had to hike down to observation decks, which usually means using a different group of muscles in your legs and being a little sore the next day.

I thought you would enjoy this scene taken at sunset yesterday. Even in rural northeast Georgia we like to show that we are proud to be Americans! I also was reminded of the extreme sacrifice made by our soldiers fighting on a foreign beach in France so that we can enjoy the freedom we  have today.

“On June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which ‘we will accept nothing less than full victory.’ More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded—but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.” (Taken from the D-Day Invasion Web site)

When I left Atlanta a year ago, I talked my Mom into giving me around 20 Daylilies from her garden. After I had begged and pleaded to get them, I didn’t plant them immediately. Crazy thing is that they almost didn’t get planted at all. In fact, I think it was the first of winter before I actually put them in the ground on a cold, rainy afternoon. And then I did it without a plan. They had been stored in plastic bags in the back of the house, and I was afraid I had waited too long. So you can imagine how surprised I was this last week when they began to bloom.

Mother was right, “You can hardly kill a daylily.” Each one survived and each one is thriving.

The browns of a forest floor, the brilliant greens of summer, and a dash of sunlight: perfect ingredients for a sweet photograph.