Day Lilies No More

One day we had gorgeous day lilies. The next morning not a one - each one clipped off efficiently. That evening around dusk here came the deer again looking for any last morsels to chew on. Guess they found that the blooms were a delicacy. So, now all we have is the memory and the pictures and the patience to wait until next year for another crop. Hope to find a deer deterrent before then.

Day Lilies

This is the first year in many that we've been home during the month of June. It's really been a treat to watch the day lilies blossom out. Every day brings on a different array.

What a Week!

Wow! Has this past week flown by! That happens when you’re busy and having fun. We had the honor of our granddaughter Jordan’s being with us for the week - ending when she went home with her Daddy on Father’s Day. I can’t think of a better, more fitting, way to celebrate Father’s Day than to have had that week with Jordan.

We went bowling one day. We went down to Atlanta one day - taking in the new Aquarium, the zoo, and the Cyclorama. We visited what I consider the prettiest waterfall in Georgia and picnicked at the park on another day. And, we went fishing one day. I hope that Jordan enjoyed the week as much as Ann and I did, and I think she did.

I never had the chance to spend a week with either set of my grandparents. My maternal grandfather died before I was born, and my paternal grandparents both died before I got to know them well. When I was about 13 years old, I did spend a week with my grandmother Croft. It wasn’t anything like the week we just had with Jordan though. I guess the only similarity in the weeks was that "Nanny" took me fishing - probably every day I was there. She lived in a little house on the edge of a lake in Florida. What I remember most was that she had no indoor plumbing, and no electricity. I took a bath in a washtub on the back porch, and the outhouse was probably fifty yards away. We fished off a little rickety dock that went out into the lake. We’d catch "silvers" on bread dough, then with a long cane pole and a "silver" on a large hook, we’d throw the line out to fish for bass that Nanny called "trout." We caught a few "trout" every morning, and Nanny would fry them up for lunch.

Jordan likes to play games - Joker, especially - and we played almost every evening. Jordan also renewed her friendship with our neighborhood dogs. She and Jack are something special together. Jordan likes all kinds of animals though, and I’m sure she missed all her goats, and cows, and dogs, and alpacas back on their Virginia farm. Our son, John, drove down to take her home on the weekend, and they are probably nearing home as I write this.

Jordan, we miss you already ....

Helton Creek Falls & Vogel State Park

Wow! This week with Jordan is flying by. Today we paid a visit to Helton Creek Falls and Vogel State Park. In my opinion, Helton Creek Falls is the prettiest waterfalls in north Georgia. We enjoyed hopping the rocks, and Jordan waded into the creek near the falls.
These falls are a little hard to get to - 3 miles into the forest on a narrow, dusty road, but they are well worth the effort. The cooling effect of the water, and the shade made it nice and cool.

On the way back we stopped at Vogel for a picnic lunch and a walk around the lake. There were a good many people there fishing, swimming, on paddle boats, or just enjoying the view.

Back home the day lilies were really coming out.

What A Day!

The Georgia Aquarium, the Atlanta Zoo, and the Cyclorama - all in the same day. We left home - Ann, Jordan, and me - about 6:15am, fighting the early morning traffic to Atlanta, to just make our 9:00am reservations at the Aquarium. People were already streaming in, but the crowds inside were not yet too large to enjoy things.

We started at the big fish tank - the 6 million gallon tank, which contains some 100,000 fish, including now four whale sharks. Ralph and Norton, the original two males, are now joined by two females, Alice and Trixie, and they plan on getting two more. These are all juveniles now - just 20 feet in length or a bit smaller - but they will grow to between 30 and 40 feet in a couple of years. The tank also contains huge grouper, hammerhead sharks, swordfish, stingrays, and a host of other fish. This is the largest single fish tank in the world, and the viewing window too is the largest in the world - about 30' x 40' and 2' thick.

There are five galleries, or exhibits, in the huge building - the Georgia Explorer, the River Scout, the Cold Water Quest, the Tropical Diver, and the Ocean Explorer. The latter is the big one described above.

At the left as we entered the aquarium is the Georgia Explorer exhibit, geared especially towards children. It features a number of touch tanks with rays and sharks as well as exhibits featuring sea turtles and othe sea creatures found arouond the Georgia Coast. The River Scout features a virtual fish city with colorful fish of varied species. One tank contained nothing but the flesh eating Piranha from the Amazon. The Cold Water Quest included an exhibit of penguins with a tunnel and turret that allowed us to crawl into the area and be right there among the penguins. Another exhibit was a large tank of beluga whales, the white, smiley faced whales from the northern waters of Alaska. The Tropical Diver exhibit contained weird species of creatures that resembled many-colored parachutists, jellyfish, octupi, etc.

Then, after a trip through the gift shop and lunch in the Aqua Cafeteria, we drove across town to the Atlanta Zoo. Before starting the trip we had read about the "A to Z" Marta bus - "Aquarium to Zoo" - that was supposed to make it easy to visit both places the same day. Just park in the all-day Aquarium parking garage, see both attractions, and then return to the parking garage. That proved to be a bust though. We waited at the Marta stop for a half hour, and no bus showed up. So, we drove. There was no reason not to have planned to do that from the start. It was easy, and there was plenty of parking at the zoo.

The middle of the day is not the time to visit the zoo. Most of the animals were taking mid-day naps, and most were doing so far back from the viewing areas. We did get to see the twin baby gorillas, though from a distance. We saw, elephants, and zebras, a lion, two giant pandas, some monkeys, a couple of Urangatangs, a reptile exhibit, some otters, and a dumb bird show. By the time we had walked the pathways of the zoo, we were tired, and our feet were sore. The next stop at the Cyclorama was a welcome place in the air-conditioning to sit down.

The Cyclorama is right next to the zoo in Grant Park. The show started with a movie depicting the battles that culminated in the capture of Atlanta during the Civil War. We then moved to the huge circular painting that is the attraction. The mural is four stories high and over 300 feet in diameter. Solid figures in the foreground blend with the painting in such a way that it is impossible to tell where one stops and the other starts. The seats rotate as lights highlight the scene along with a narration telling the story of the Atlanta siege.

Needless to say, it was a full day, but a good one that was both educational and enjoyable. We arrived back home about 5:00pm.

Day Lily Time

It's day lily time in the mountains - a beautiful time of the year. Last year we were traveling during the day lily season and missed the display. This year we will get to see them. The wild lilies are in full bloom now, and the hybrids are just beginning.