Rainy Afternoon at Home

Posted by AR on August 21st, 2010 filed in Chip-ster the Cocker Spaniel, Paw Prints
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PJ loves for me to work at home and take breaks and come out on the sun porch with him.

He just settles in and naps and naps and naps. In fact, now that I think about it both dogs took a nap with him.

Until he discovered that Chip was napping on the sofa instead of on the floor with Cocoa Joy. That’s when he tapped Chip on the head and said, “Wake up sleepy baby!”

After a few minutes, I went back to my office and Chip, who was wide awake, stationed himself where he could watch the doves playing in the rain on the hill behind the house.

Morning at Toccoa Falls

Posted by AR on August 19th, 2010 filed in Toccoa Falls
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The other day I was walking back from “the falls” when a visitor ask me, “Is it still there?” I said, “Yep! Just like it has been for at least 200 years!”

Friends Welcomed!

Posted by AR on August 17th, 2010 filed in Coastal Journal, Islands and Beaches
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I loved the light on the top of these stairs in Henry Ford’s cottage (The Mangoes). And then below, most of you would know that I fell in love with the idea of Mina Edison writing long letters to friends and family at this desk in the sitting room of her Seminole Lodge. There were two homes included in Edison’s lodge. This is the house that many of their guests stayed in while visiting Ft. Myers. President Harding was often a visitor and stayed in this home.

Another thing that really struck me was how simply these people lived by today’s standards. Yes, all that they had was shipped to Ft. Myers from around the world but I can’t imagine any of America’s millionaires living this type of life style today. The pool was small and elevated. The tearoom floor below was tiny and very simple and the moonlight garden (in an earlier post) is the size of a postage stamp.

We really have so much more today, but it seems that we want even more! When we don’t get it, we end up feeling discontent and disadvantaged. Wonder what these men and their wives would do with all the advantages we have today? I’m not too sure that we are better off for all that we have gained. I do want to add a note here: these men were “self-made” men. They did not necessarily believe in God or that we have souls. At least that is what I have discovered about Edison. For him, when life ended, that was it, which is sad. One thing we can say, however, is that while he was alive he certainly knew how to enjoy the company of his friends.

Thomas Edison’s library and living area had some of the first electric lights. These are original to the house. I guess he just invented electricity and then had it installed in his home!

I have debated about including this story about Edison and Ford for a couple of weeks. It continues to make me laugh. So, I thought you would enjoy it. It’s from the archives of the Detroit News: “[Once while] en route to a new campsite on a rainy day, the Lincoln touring car carrying Harding, Ford, Edison, Firestone and naturalist Luther Burbank bogged down in deep mud on a back road in West Virginia. Ford’s chauffeur went for help and returned with a farmer driving an ancient Model T. After the Lincoln was yanked from the mire, Ford was the first to shake the farmer’s hand.

“I guess you don’t know me but I’m Henry Ford. I made the car you’re driving.”

A 1921 camping trip. From left, seated: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, President Warren G. Harding, Harvey S. Firestone and George Christian. The man standing is unidentified.

Firestone chimed in, “I’m the man who made those tires.” Then he introduced two of the campers: “Meet the man who invented the electric light — and the President of the United States.”

Luther Burbank was the last to shake hands. “I guess you don’t know me either?” he asked.

“No,” said the farmer, “but if you’re the same kind of liar as these other darn fools, I wouldn’t be surprised if you said you was Santa Claus!”

Cows and Bulls and Dogs

Posted by AR on August 15th, 2010 filed in Living in Stephens County, Paw Prints
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We were out for a drive to see “the cows,” and we also ran into a bull that did not appreciate Chipley and his insistent whining. He just came up to the fence and stared and then turned his head without dropping his gaze. After I took this photo, I decided it was best to drive on and not upset Mr. Bull.

Chipley has learned to love the cows, which is quite a relief since there are so many in this area.

Edison’s Little Office – Mina’s Moonlight Garden

Posted by AR on August 11th, 2010 filed in Coastal Journal, Islands and Beaches
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I was really drawn to Edison’s little office—probably because I love dark, wood spaces and places where you can sit and comfortably talk. The brochure I picked up at the Edison and Ford Estates said this cottage was built in 1929. Don’t you just love the phonograph in the back corner? Edison invented a tin-foil phonograph in 1877. The word phonograph was his trademark name. The sound quality, however, was pretty bad and a single recording lasted only for one play! Alexander Graham Bell later developed the graphophone, which used wax cylinders and could be played repeatedly.

The story of the “little office” (his term, not mine) is tangled. It was built to replace Edison’s original laboratory, which was dismantled and moved to Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan in 1928. After the lab was  removed, Ford funded the construction of this office building and also the garden in the back, which was know as the Moonlight Garden. It became a favorite place of the Edisons as they grew older.

Water lilies, papyrus, and iris were three of Mina’s favorite plants. Ellen Biddle Shipman, who was one of the first female landscape architects, designed the garden. She filled it with blue and white flowers and a a small pool to reflect the moonlight.