I know friends (Reba) love seeing the dogs in places like this, and I hope that will happen by later tonight. Cocoa is going with me to a couple of events today. But for now, I thought I would post a few photos I took the past week at a small photo shoot of TFC students on top of Currahee Mountain.

I admit from this angle it looks like we were in a dangerous position, but I promise there were ledges beneath us. If we had fallen, we probably would not have died, but it certainly would have hurt. Willis (in this photo) did jumped down to a ledge.

Here’s the view our students love the most—the one in front of them. They are not allowed to go to the top of Toccoa Falls so I believe they have found this place as a second choice for adventure. It is also a place they can go and be college students. I understand that totally.

They even allowed me to join them, which was pretty cool.

You never know what you will find when you are near the National Forest! On this trip, we were able to enjoy this small but really great set of rapids. The dogs were with me and Cocoa for a change was ready to swim. But I refused to let her get in the water. It may be in the 80s, but the spring fed streams in north Georgia are still very cool.

Well, you know that with the beautiful weather I had to do it . . .  take  Chipley for a “cowdog” drive in the mountains. We ended up in the Wolffork Valley where we saw the guy in the picture above. I got out of the car and walked up to the fence and started taking his photo. Chipley was near me going nuts. The cow never moved a muscle . . . . He moved an ear, but basically, he just stood perfect still and let me take his photo.

And Chip was so excited about being this close to a cow and seeing it hold perfectly still that he talked about it all the way home. (You know I’m kidding, right?) I came away from the valley thinking about how beautiful these animals can be. They also are vulnerable in a sense because they are out in the open fields where anyone can stop, and like me, take their photos. Isn’t he beautiful? You could ask Chip but I can tell you that he thinks they are terrific!

The sign says, “Hike your own hike.” I hope this is what I will be able to do at some point this weekend even with a little rain in the picture.

“A friend loves at all times.” Don’t know why that verse came to mind when I began to post this photo . . . . It just did.

Woke up yesterday morning and found out that rain was moving into the area. For 10 minutes the sky was absolutely wonderful!

This past weekend I was at Vogel State Park with the dogs and while it was as beautiful as always, there was something missing. I think it was the people, those who camp and swim and relax in the little boats while floating lazily out across the water.

Wow! Here’s another lakeside view.

My kind of happy!

A New Year’s Kiss from Cocoa.