Chippy Dip

Posted by AR on September 14th, 2010 filed in Hiking Through Northeast Georgia, Paw Prints
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From Chip’s perspective: foot bridges are always pause for concern and any stream is a target. He loves to to jump in and take a dip!

In this photo, he’s smiling but he wasn’t the night before when our home was filled with guests and new friends. He’s still working on his “puppy manners,” and I’m afraid that I think his “antics” are too cute.

Black Mountain Visit

Posted by AR on September 12th, 2010 filed in Memories, Paw Prints
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Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! We drove up to Black Mountain State Park where the temperature was 68 degrees. That was hard to believe, but we were on top of the Eastern Continental Divide and over 3,600 feet high in some rolling northeast Georgia mountains. “High in the rugged eastern ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the area that comprises the park is some of the oldest land mass on earth. The roots of these mountains are probably over a billion years old, while the rocks and dirt nearer the surface were formed later. Typical of the southern Appalachian eastern ridge, the mountains are actually mostly rock, with a thin layer of soil to cover them. When these mountains were originally formed they rose five to ten miles above the earth’s surface, towering over the present day Rockies or Himalayans.”  (taken from the Georgia State Park brochure)

Cocoa posed for a photo but only after I told her that I had “treats.”

She is a gentle dog that only gets sweeter as she gets older. I think I will keep her forever!

The Place of Discovery

Posted by AR on September 8th, 2010 filed in Coastal Journal
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The last photo, I think, that I’ll post from Edison’s Winter home in Fort Myers, Florida. This is a photo of his lab where he developed many products and conducted one experiment after another. It seemed like a fun still life photo to post. And it was pretty incredible to be there—the place where this American inventor discovered so much that we take for granted today.

Edison’s Trees

Posted by AR on September 7th, 2010 filed in Coastal Journal
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I have chosen to post the photos of some of the trees on Thomas Edison’s estate in black and white. It seems like photographers do both when posting these types of photos. I guess it is a graphic, “arty” thing. The trees are very dynamic. They also have lines—lots of lines and usually that comes off well in the black and white format. The Banyan Tree in the above photo was a gift from tire industrialist Harvey Firestone in 1925. When the tree was planted, it was four feet high and two inches in diameter. Today the tree is an acre in diameter and has some 350 roots. After several years of studying natural materials that produced latex, Edison began to plant hundreds of varieties of plants on his Fort Myers property. The Banyan Tree was known for its latex—white milky sap.

This is a photo of the Mysore Fig tree also located on Edison’s property in Fort Myers, Florida. Edison studied it for its latex content. Ninety percent of its roots are external. The ones that are under ground are only 9″to 12″ deep!

The Coming of Hope?

Posted by AR on September 1st, 2010 filed in Living in Stephens County, Toccoa Falls
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Does anyone remember the scene (movie or book) in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe of Middle-earth (“The Lord of the Rings: The Coming of the King”), where the White Tree of Gondor begins to grow? It stood as a symbol of hope in the Court of the Fountain in Minas Trith. Yesterday as I walked out my back door, I noticed the little wisteria tree that I had planted years ago at the house in Atlanta and replanted last year here had changed.

I immediately thought of the scene in Tolkien’s novel where the fourth Tree of Gondor—a sapling—began to bear leaves and how this signified the coming of the true King. My wisteria had been separated years ago from the original vine Evelyn Forrest had planted at her cottage on the campus of Toccoa Falls College. I had taken it to Atlanta where I carefully planted it in a very large terracotta container, but it never grew. And it certainly never bloomed. Then I brought it back to this area and there it was: bearing new leaves along with being in full bloom!

“The coming of hope?” I asked. Maybe. The coming of the True King? That would be glorious!