jan 19, 2012

January 19, 2012

Is today Robert E. Lee’s birthday?  Lots of things happened in January!

The road was an avenue of pines as we left Montgomery on our way to Atlanta.  Hawks circled in the air and the cedar trees lining the road reminded me of lollipops, showing three feet of trunk before they began to branch, and then the bamboo.  It is everywhere.  Someone must have given somebody one of those cute little curly bamboo plants and they had the great idea to plant the gift outside…or…a little fellow had a fresh bamboo fishing pole and when he was tired of waiting for the fish to bite, he stuck it in the ground and went in search of rocks, forgetting where he stuck his bamboo.  From Montgomery to Atlanta, there are bamboo forests.  Pandas could live for years in this area!

As we passed Auburn, I yelled “Hey”, to Patty Springles’ relatives and friends.  Ten miles later at Opelika, I yelled greetings to Kay Allen’s relatives and friends.  If you see either one, please tell them I shouted at their loved ones.  I also yelled, “Hey” to Ty Pennington’s relatives and friends.  His mother is from Opelika, too!   None of the Pennington’s know me, nor do I know any of them, but it’s always good to be friendly.

Who is Robert Trent Jones?  We’ve passed three golf courses named for him since we entered Georgia.  He must be really famous in the golfing world.

At 11:53 AM we crossed into Georgia and it immediately became 12:53 PM.  No wonder we’re hungry.  As we were looking for a place to stop and fix lunch we passed a billboard for Frisky Whisky and I was reminded of the time Kathy and I passed an ABC store in Columbus, Ohio and she told me we’d passed the Frisky store!  Kids do say the darndest things.

In Alabama we passed a huge Hyundai manufacturing company.  They’re the ones who advertise they have a 100,000 mile warranty.  In Georgia we passed the Kia plant.  Dan…the proud owner of a Toyota truck…informed me there’s no way he’s buying a foreign car.   I slid my eyes in his direction!

Most of the day was spent on the road from Montgomery to outside Atlanta, Georgia at Stone Mountain state park.  It is a beautiful site on the lake that sits at the foot of Stone Mountain and January is a good time to camp here.  We arrived in time to visit the mountain, set up camp and enjoy a bonfire.  The smell of wood burning  is wonderful.  We have a good view of the lake and Stone Mountain, with stones of our own on our camp site.  We are the only campers on this leg of the campground.  “Peace and Quiet!” my father’s favorite request when asked what he would like.

Years ago, mother went to Georgia State Normal for Girls in Athens.  It just so happens to be the University of Georgia today.  She was living with a cousin and her family in Athens when the figures of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis were being carved on the face of the mountain.  Often several friends would drive out to see how things were progressing, and there are pictures of them sitting on rocks at Stone Mountain.  Evidently she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the social mores of the time.  At one time, she had accepted fraternity pins from three different male friends.  I gasped in horror when she told me this!  Joseph Jarrell and his wife used  to visit us when we lived in the house on Marsh St. and then on Front St.  He was one of the three who had given a pin to Mother.  I’m just glad to have been able to be so close to the mountain and to have stories to remember about her being here.

Blessings,

Thinking Thankful Thoughts