Yesterday I had a fun thing happen. I had the opportunity to meet Harold Freeman, who is Noah Garland’s great, great grandson. Who is Noah Garland, you ask? Noah was an early resident of Toccoa, the owner of one of the city’s two livery stables, and someone I wish I could have met. For years, I have read about him, and tried to imagine where his stable and home were located. Yesterday I found out the answer to both of these questions and much more.

After talking to Mr. Freeman for a few minutes, he smiled at me and said, “I have something to show you.” Then he took me outside where he proudly produced an old buggy seat from one of Noah’s wagons. We were at his daughter’s house and almost immediately, he began to explain that he did not have the springs that go with the seat with him or some edging. I barely heard any of what he had said because my eyes were fixated on the wording that was in front of me. “N. L. Garland Toccoa GA.” I knew I was looking at a rare piece of Toccoa history. This old buggy seat or hack seat, as they were often called, was all that remained of the old livery that was once located on the corner of Tugalo and Pond streets.

In this picture, Noah is second from the left with his hands of the reigns of a horse. This is his first livery stable. It also was  the one that burned to the ground in the late 1800′s. I have just finished writing a history book on the city of Toccoa with another author—Kelly Vickers. It will be out this summer, and you had better believe Noah Garland will be in it. However, the photo below won’t be.

I just saw this one for the first time yesterday. It is of Noah Garland holding a small child, and family members. Mr. Freeman told me that Noah was an extremely kind man, a devout Christian, and someone who would do almost anything for others. The family lived in a huge house behind the livery stable. At one time, it had been a school and may have been the first school in Toccoa!

“Noah loved that house,” said Mr. Freeman, “He would invite anyone home with him to eat lunch or dinner. His wife always cooked very large meals because she never knew who Noah would bring through the door.” Doesn’t that sound like a family you would like to know?

People like the Garlands and the Freemans are just one of the reasons I love living in this area. You make friends for life here, and Noah Garland is a testimony to this.

Late yesterday, Taylor (from Whiteboard) shot video of the stream that feeds Toccoa Falls. We rarely go to this part of the falls because it is dangerous but sometimes it is fun to market the view. This is what we are getting ready to do. So I had Taylor on one side of me and . . .

this view on the other side. It is the gorge below. As Chipley would say, “That is Sccaarr-wee!”

The dark color at the top of the screen is purely “dead air.” Taylor’s friends were behind him shouting, “Dude, be careful.”

I’ve written a couple of times about the Mark of the Potter located on GA Hwy 197 between Clarkesville and Helen. It is just a fun place to visit. The drive to get there is beautiful winding through rolling mountains and paralleling pristine trout streams. The shop opened in 1969 in an old mill on the banks of the Soque River. It is the oldest craft shop in the same location in the state of Georgia. They have four potters who work at their wheels and chances are if you are there, especially on a Saturday, you will have an opportunity to see them at work.

Fact is: watching a potter work at his or her wheel on weekends remains a part of the Mark of the Potter experience. You can also shop for unique crafts, explore Grandpa Watts’ Mill, enjoy picturesque scenery and sit on their back porch and feed their pet trout in their natural habitat.

The trout hate being “rocked.” My guess is that children (big and small) without thinking have picked up pieces of loose gravel in the parking area and thrown them into the stream.

The trout are so accustomed to being tossed handfuls of food from the sheltered balcony at the back of the shop that a handful of gravel could be deadly! So if you visit the Mark of the Potter, enjoy the drive there, relax with the view, talk with the absolutely welcoming people who run the place, and feed the hundreds of rainbow trout that hang out in a pool at the bottom of a small waterfall only fish food.

I promise that if you visit the Mark of the Potter, you will come away saying it is one of your favorite stops in northeast Georgia.

Then my mind drifted to Cocoa Joy and I wondered, “If Cocoa could give me something for Mother’s Day, what it would be? Would she give me a well-chewed sock (a friend gave her several pairs of socks for Christmas a few years ago, a half destroyed ball that no longer squeaks (we have a dozen of these), one of her prized leopard-spotted EEs (these remain her favorite toy because when she squeaks one, it goes EE, EE, EE!), some rouge pull toy that has seen better days or her latest favorite Hurl A Squirrel (We got it when we moved to the mountains)?”

My house is usually awash in dog toys. Fact is, I’ve given up trying to keep the dog toys in the toy bin because they are pulled out, played with for a few minutes, and then left in all kinds of strange places. The other night I got up to get a glass of water and halfway down the hallway, I stepped on a stuffed cow that began mooing at me.

Honestly, I don’t know what she would give me and I certainly don’t know what I would do without Cocoa. Maybe she would give me nothing more than what she gives me every day and that is unconditional love and acceptance. And for that very reason, she can have a house full of EEs, chew toys, deer antlers, and most anything else she wants. Nothing tops love and nothing means more than the joy she brings to my life.

And then there is Chipley. What would he give? I believe he would give kisses and lots of them forever and ever and ever! Kiss By A Dog!

C. S. Lewis wrote, “Do not let us mistake necessary evils for good.” I have always thought of thistles in this way. They are lovely and yet deceiving. They tempt us into thinking they are flowers or something of value to be used in a decoration. I guess people can be that way, too. They deceive and tempt us into believing things that just are not true. The pod or bloom is entrancing, but it contains sharp thorns and therein lies the danger.

“I want it said of me by those who knew me best,” said Abraham Lincoln, “that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”

Many of you remember my Smyrna neighbor Opal. She’s a legend, and she is the person who taught me how to keep my yard looking nice, along with planting maple trees and blowing leaves out of my gutters. Cocoa loved Opal from the first moment she saw her, and she still does.

Every Sunday evening Opal would drop by the house and watch television with us. Over the years, we have cried together,  laughed together, and battled ice storms together. We have eaten ice cream together, celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving together, and rounded up stray cats together. When I changed jobs and moved to northeast Georgia, Opal was one of the  reasons that I did not want to go. Where could we possibly find another Opal—someone who totally loved dogs, walked two miles a day, and baked awesome banana bread? Best friends can’t be replaced.

Sometimes on summer afternoons, Cocoa and I would walk down to see Opal and we would end up sitting on her carport and talking. It wouldn’t be long before other friends would drop by and join us.

Cocoa and Chip in Opal’s backyard waiting for me to return.

Here is Opal with Cocoa when she was just a couple of months old. I called her my “baby bean” as in a Cocoa bean. She was so chocolate.

When Cocoa was young, she loved to sit at the end of the driveway and watch for Opal. If you look closely you can see her and Betty at the left. They were getting ready to cut a dead limb out of a dogwood tree.

I went for a ride on Saturday afternoon and ended up in Homer, Georgia. I’ve never been there before, but the moment I saw this gas station, I knew I would have to get out of the car and take photos. Cocoa sniffed around the neatly trimmed park and both of us were amazed by what we saw, especially beneath the older wooden building in the photo above. I know . . . what was I doing looking under old buildings? We could see lots of antique “finds” at the edge of the building and had to investigate.

The is the old Banks County Court House. Just being in this setting made me feel like I had stepped back in time. I asked Cocoa if she wanted to climb the stairs to the balcony with me, and she hesitated. True confession: the steps were a little frighting—very narrow and steep. The courthouse is one of the oldest in Georgia. It was built in 1870 and restored in the 1980′s. Today, it houses the offices of the Banks County’s Chamber of Commerce.

Here is a photo of one of the building’s columns. The exposed the brick really shows the age of this courthouse. The outdoor pavilion in the background is where I imagine many town events have taken place.

Chip refused to climb the steps. Cocoa went unwillingly but trusted me in the venture. This is really an interesting town, and I plan to return soon. The main Web site also lists a covered bridge, which is a rarity in Georgia since Sherman burned most of them on his march to the sea. (Yikes!)

My best guess is that this house escaped the torch, too.

One of my favorite breakfast places is BJ’s located in the downtown area. Usually, I see people there I know—people who live and work in this community. Across the room in this photo is Dr. Bob and his wife Frances. We go to church together—what fun! The guy who is my dentist came in with his wife. As I was leaving, he said, “See you later.” Gulp.

I don’t eat like this way often. Even though I would love to have French toast and fresh sausage at BJ’s every Saturday morning, I refuse to do it. . . . just refuse it! (Be strong my waining heart!)

Breakfast and then it was time for a little county music on the city corner. Honestly, I want to do something fun and cool like this when I get to be this guy’s age.

Later, we all headed out to buy fresh strawberries. These are wonderful!

I noticed that fresh Vidalia onions are available. Here’s a secret. Don’t buy anything that does not have a label like this one. A few weeks ago, I bought an onion that said it was a Vidalia but it wasn’t. Morgan Farms is located in south Georgia—the real home of Vidalia onions! Don’t be fooled by big corporations that say theirs are Vidalias. Nope. Everyone in Georgia knows the difference is in the soil. And these onions are great when grilled outside on a grill with smoked apple wood.

And then there were peaches! These are from south Georgia, too, but the guy who owns Jaemor Farms made sure I knew theirs would be ready in two weeks! We’re having an early Summer!

Here’s my beautiful Cocoa Joy. She was with me every moment of the day. Well, not at BJ’s but she was with me the rest of the time. I can’t leave Cocoa behind.