Strolling St. Simon's

St. Simon's Island, along the southern coastline of Georgia, is a beautiful place to spend some time wandering. Linda and I started out near the handsome lighthouse and ended up having a bite to eat at one of the neat little eateries near the shore. My fried green tomato sandwich and sweet potato fries hit the spot. It was a nice place to pause and soak up a little coastal flavor.

Pausing at St. Mary's

St. Mary's, Georgia, sits about as far south along the Atlantic coastline of Georgia as you can get. As such, it's has wonderful docks filled with boats and seabirds. St. Mary's is also the gateway to the Cumberland Island National Seashore, a popular National Park Service destination that time didn't allow us to visit. Just getting to visit St. Mary's was a real treat and certainly a different place from home.

Admiring the Okefenokie

More then one person questioned why we were going to make it a point to stop at the Okefenokie Swamp on our trip to the southeast. After having spent a couple of hours roaming the grounds at the entrance and taking a little boat tour, Linda and I both felt that it had been time well spent. It wasn't in it's full summer glory and signs of last years fire were still evident but it was still a place with distinctive beauty... and a little hint of danger. The black bears were in an enclosure and more entertaining than threatening but the gators come in from the swamp and have complete access to the walkways and parking areas. I don't believe I've ever been aware that I was so close to major predators with no barrier between them and me; if we'd been careless or foolish around the gators, there could have been serious consequences. All in all, it was a very pretty and interesting, different place to be for a while.

Remembering Smokey

Seventeen years ago, my kids and I brought home a pair of kittens. One was a grey on grey tiger pattern with peachy undertones; we named her Smokey. She spent virtually her whole life in that same home; she did strike out on her own in the urban jungle for a full week once but never showed an interest in going back.

Several years ago, she was diagnosed as diabetic so we started a twice daily pill regimen; that established a new daily rhythm for the house. Every morning and every evening, at about 7:30, I'd snap my fingers to signal it was time for her pills. More often than not, she'd hop up onto "her" chair and wait for her pills. Then she'd wait for me to snap my fingers again to signal it was time to go downstairs for food. It was our way of dealing with her condition and it appears to have extended her active life a great deal.

She kept her inner kitten well into her later years. One of our morning games was to play chase with an old tie. As I would be getting dressed for work, she'd hop up on the bed and wait for me to flip this old tie out on the bed. She'd pounce on the tip and then let it go for me to do it again; we'd often play for a few minutes. Maybe she had trained me.

She always like to be around me. As a young cat, she liked to be able to lay on me or have a paw on me. Later, she'd lie down facing the same direction I and feel around for me with the tip of her tail. When I'd work at the computer, she'd sit on the back of a chair a few feet behind me or sit on the floor in my peripheral vision. Often, I'd hear a faint rumbling purr and know she was nearby, apparently happy.

The last week or so were a pretty steady decline. She may have had a stroke as her left legs didn't seem to respond as well as usual when she walked. That made hopping up on the couch or her chair more challenging; going up and down the stairs to food and litter became a major effort. I helped her into her chair and down the stairs; she'd have to make the climb back up... and she did a few days. When she wouldn't make the climb, I set up a little bed in the basement using one of her favorite blankets.

On her last day, I noticed it was a little cool in the basement. The sun was shining so I took her out to the back yard to get some sun; I wasn't worried about her dashing around. The birds in the neighborhood sure made a racket about this poor old cat coming out to get a little sun. She laid on her blanket in the sun as I worked on some weeds in a flowerbed; she appeared to like the feeling on her old, worn coat. When we came in, I took her back downstairs to be near food and water though I doubted she'd be interested.

Later that evening, I went down to see how she was doing. She was lying on her side, breathing about three shallow breaths and then one deeper gulp. I petted her and called Linda to let her know how Smokey was doing. As we talked, I continued to stroke Smokey's fur. Her legs looked uncomfortable so I tried to move them up closer to her body; there was resistance so I stopped. Slowly, her head started to arch back and her front legs stretched even further; then the front legs relaxed and the back legs stretched, then relaxed. After that, there was nothing more. No more breathing, no more resistance in her legs. She was gone. I was glad to have known her and to have been there, petting her, at the end. She was a sweet spirit.

Spending a day at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Linda and I went to Atlanta with only one real committed activity: attending the Kobalt 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Yes, we had other things in mind.) When I go to a race, it's pretty much an all day event. One of the activities that I enjoy is roaming around the various activities outside the tracks. Generally, I see at least some of the RaceDay television show live. I also wander the merchendise haulers to see what and who's available. Linda has developed a real knack for finding the haulers where drivers can be seen. Here are the drivers from Atlanta, the most I've ever seen at one race.

Of course, the main event is the race. These shots capture some of the images from the race. I don't know the guy in the lower left corner but he's clearly a character; not the norm for the crowd but certainly a fan. Bottom center is Greg Biffle's car going the wrong way up pit road after a pretty significant accident. In the lower right, a fan celebrates his souvenir: the rear panel from Greg Biffles wrecked car.

The blue car with the 2 on the side in the right center image was the winner and kept my streak alive: I've not yet seen any driver win twice. This time, Kurt Busch was at the wheel.

Answering "What'll ya have?"

"The World's Largest Drive-in Restaurant," The Varsity, has been asking that question for over eighty years and people have been stepping up to tell them. Linda and I stopped in to experience this Atlanta landmark. As you can see, we were not alone. As we drove in, all of the drive up slots were taken so we headed to the upper deck of their two story parking ramp. Inside, the counter is wide and the many lines move smoothly. Soon, we were enjoying our orders, happy to have stopped experienced another taste of Atlanta.