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 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.

I finally found the small falls at Black Mountain State Park. They are located near the entrance to the camping area and at the end of a short (.25) trail. But the pathway is very steep and involves some narrow steps. It was worth the walk but when the brochure and map say, “steep,” they means steep! The trail features lichen-covered rocks, ferns, wildflowers, rhododendron, and hardwoods. Cocoa give this hike three paws. Though it was beautiful, it was steep and short. She enjoys at least a mile walk so she can spend time sniffing and checking out areas where wild creatures live.

Here’s a photo of the large ferns found in the northeast Georgia mountains as they are just opening up.

I couldn’t resist posting a photo of Clarence as he takes photos on the top of Currahee Mountain on Thursday afternoon. There’s graffiti everywhere but I was able to take another photo without too much showing

I’ve been living in northeast Georgia for two years and have not driven up to the top of Currahee Mountain until this past Saturday. Once I was there, I could not believe the view and the sense of quiet and peace that surrounds this place. The only sound we could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. Most people recognize this mountain because of the movie series “Band of Brothers.” This is where Easy Company trained during World War II. Each morning they ran up Currahee Mountain as part of their training in preparation to go to Europe where they fought for our freedom.