Summer in pictures

We did so much during our ten days in Georgia that it defies easy description.  So I thought I'd just post some pictures with a little commentary.  This is a little hard to do while respecting the privacy of all of our various family members, friends, and one daughter who got a haircut. But I hope this will do the trip justice...

9 p.m.*, June 27th.  Bob's parents' house north of Atlanta. We played game upon game of spoons, which eventually evolved into a new game called "Extreme Spoons," in which the number of spoons gradually diminished until blood was drawn.  We also played "No Way!," a bluffing game which really has another name, but we don't call it that.  And "Outdoor Clue," a kind of tag in which no one knows who's "it." And badminton. A certain family member became extremely punchy during "No Way!" and laughed a lot at his own antics.  "Challenge me!"

We ate breakfast every morning on the screened porch, and made mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert one night.  And C.Z. got in a little target practice.  Her grandfather think it complements her violin skills nicely to be a good shot with a revolver.

Taking the fishing boat out onto the pond on Bob's parents' property.  The area has been built up a lot over the past twenty-five years, but it's still pretty private where they live.  Does this photo look as hot and humid as it feels to me, or am I just such a Georgian that I can sense it in all that green?  Don't forget to plug the boat!

We also went ice skating, indoors, which of course is the only way you can go ice skating in Georgia, even in winter.  I didn't take the camera.  As it was, I had some trouble with the popsicle-like surface of the indoor ice, which kept catching on my rental skates. I really hate it when I look up through a lot of white dots and see people staring at me and looking all concerned!  But at least I wasn't wearing flip-flops...

June 30th, noon. Seven of us went trail riding (on horses) near Dahlonega and then hiked up Amicalola Falls.  The orange object in the foreground is a flip-flop, which can only mean one thing, Susan.

And what trip down South would be complete without catching a few crayfish in a stream?

Or spotting a newly molted cicada?  

Other sounds, and some bird highlights:  A Chuck-will's-widow at night, a Belted Kingfisher over the Apalachee River, and a Pileated Woodpecker knocking on an old pine. 

Next up, Athens, Georgia, where we ate potato salad and cantaloupe, drank sweetened iced tea, and then did a lot of swimming, at my parents'.  Just before we left for Athens, C.Z. got ten inches cut off her hair for Locks of Love.  It looks great, but she won't let me post a picture!  

July 2, 6:45 p.m., outside Athens in an 1870s farmhouse.  Some good friends invited us over for dinner and kayaking.

Just what every child needs: a fishing hat with a bit of rope stuffed inside, and a good stick.  But a tin-roofed hunting shack with taxidermic animals is also nice to have nearby.

Apalachee River, 8:45 p.m., from a kayak.  We're learning to pole around fallen trees.

A neighbor's woodshop, 9:15 p.m.  A radio was blasting slightly dissonant orchestral music as we entered through the open barn doors and saw the shapes of ancient power tools, with their old oil smell, looming in the dark.  I felt for a moment as though I was in a slightly eerie movie as my friend went to switch on the lights.  I later found out that her neighbor kept NPR turned on all night to keep the deer out.  The owner of the shop, like me, is reading Shop Class as Soulcraft.  And he built his house after A Pattern Language, too!  I love it when I meet people who like the same things I like.  

July 4, 7p.m. Athens, Georgia.  My sister's veggie burger and my niece's dinner invitation.  My nine-year-old niece also made an American flag cake, and my six-year-old nephew made lemonade. I also really liked my brother-in-law's grilled andouille sausages!  I won't say how old he is.

7:45 p.m.  Roger is caught red-pawed, licking off the plates in the dishwasher.  

10:00 p.m., a strip mall parking lot in Athens. Two six-year-old boys examine a really cool first-aid kit after watching fireworks (below) from a local park.  Also included in the evening's entertainment:  Hoola-hoops.

Happy 4th of July!  And then we went home. 

One more mental picture:  On the way home, on the train in the Atlanta airport, a tall, thin, tanned and pretty (but not model-gaunt) young woman with dark hair and eyes, in 4-inch heels and a black mini dress. In one hand she carried a clear, unscratched plexiglass box with a tiara inside. Underneath the tiara was a green and white silk sash, folded carefully so that the word "Georgia" was clearly visible. She was with her mother, I think.  

Next to Miss Georgia on the train was a seven-year-old girl with a pink suitcase and similar complexion, gaping open-mouthed in admiration.  What a perfectly Southern way to end a trip to Georgia!  

*All times are "ish" times, to quote a certain six-year-old.