May 23 – Walk Through Gibbs Gardens and Ball Ground, Georgia With Me!

Sunday was nothing short of fabulous! I’d visited Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia with my sister-in-law in April 2022 on our way to Asheville, North Carolina for a girls’ trip over Spring Break. The daffodil hills and the flowering cherry trees, at that time, were in full bloom. The thing about Gibbs Gardens is that no matter when you go, there’s something different on the blooming menu. Even their website tells you what is currently in bloom and lets you scroll pictures taken the previous week or so.

So I texted my driver early Sunday morning from my side of the bed: Want to go to Gibbs Gardens and stroll through the wildflowers and poppies?

Sure, he texted back across the dogs snoozing between us.

I can be ready in 15 minutes, I replied, prompting a mad dash race to be the first one dressed.

We tied for the win. Jeans, shoes to climb the hills, sunglasses. We set out on the one hour and 45 minute drive north as I bought tickets en route online just in case they were nearing garden capacity. During peak season, I didn’t want to take any chances.

We took in the sights – the Manor House, the Japanese Gardens, the poppies and wildflowers, and the rose garden. The highlight of the day was a hummingbird’s appearance in the wildflower garden, where I was able to capture a few seconds of video before it flew off to another section. The butterflies were flitting about in rich abundance as we strolled the gardens, and the dragonflies darted around shimmering their wings faster than twinkle fairies.

After our visit to the gardens, we drove into Historic Ball Ground for a visit to Feather’s Edge Vineyard where they were having live music as we rested and cooled off with fresh mint mojito wine slushies, and then on to The Ball Ground Burger Bus, a hamburger joint made from an actual bus that ran its last route in Atlanta, Georgia in 1965. We saved room for ice cream after dinner, since our indulgences had already left no room for any more guilt.

Come stroll along with us as we show you the sights on a photo tour.

I’ll be re-living these moments jam-packed with memories for a long, long time! We’ll return in the fall when the bloom list offers a whole new lineup of sights to enjoy.

May 15 – Global Big Day – Part 1 of 2

It’s 9:00 Saturday morning (May 13), and my husband and I are seated in the Country Kitchen near Pine Mountain, Georgia having breakfast.  Many camping folks get up and start a fire, “brew” pour-over coffee, and sizzle bacon and eggs over a campfire or outdoor camper kitchen, awakening all the tent campers and anyone sleeping with open windows to a mouth-watering stirring of a new day.  

Not us.

Fueling up for a day of birding at the Callaway Gardens Country Store

We’re heading out birding for Global Big Day, so we came to the Country Store for their famous Callaway Gardens signature grits, scrambled eggs, sausage with sage, buttermilk biscuits with muscadine jam, muscadine muffins, percolated coffee, and iced water in lidless mason jars.  We finally got a window seat on the top of this mountain after all the times we’ve wanted one, and as luck would have it, it’s foggy outside and we can’t see fifty feet out. But it’s okay – we’re busy filling up on food for when the fog lifts.  It’s going to be a big day full of feathered species as we work together with Merlin Bird ID and the eBird app to create checklists of bird identifications at birding hotspots nearby to help researchers track bird migration patterns and species population densities.

Praying for the fog to lift while we eat – it’s hard to go birding in foggy conditions.

I completed the free eBird Essentials course on the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology eBird website Friday night – something I’ve been meaning to do since I opened my account and created a profile – and then texted Fran Haley to see if she was planning to participate today, too.  She is.  It’s her birdday birthday May 13, and she and her husband are journeying to a dam to see if they can spot any eagles.  

Complete eBird Essentials Course: Check

I submitted 3 checklists (one for each morning Schnoodle walk on the back loop of F. D. Roosevelt State Park Campground), with 15 species combined, before breakfast.  When she texted at 6:48 (we’re both early birds), shortly after I had returned from walking the dogs on their morning outing along the back loop of the camp, Fran had already  recorded 23 species. I’d prayed she would see some rare sightings on her adventures – the best birthday blessings for an avid birdwatcher!

We finished our breakfast, and right there in the Country Kitchen I found a fully stocked table of 50+ UV Protection adventure hats – just the kind I have been hoping to find. I tried several on, but I couldn’t land on a decision. Both Maureen Ingram and Stacey Shubitz made some helpful suggestions last week about hat brands – Outdoor Research and UVSkinz, and I’d gotten both too busy and too tired over the week to give either more than a passing glance. I remained as lidless as my Mason Jar after trying on several kinds and not finding one that grabbed me.

But alas, there are still birds to count and trails to hike, so off we go!

Indecision is a decision of NO.

I’ll share Part 2 of the day’s adventure – and the species I found present on Global Big Day – tomorrow. For now, we are headed over to Dowdell’s Knob to begin hiking at the trail with the boys.

Ready,

set,

let’s count birds!

Boo Radley, Fitz, and Ollie – clearly looking to help spot birds!

#VerseLove April 5 – Poetic Drive-Bys with Bryan Ripley Crandall

Bryan Ripley Crandall is our host at http://www.ethicalela.com for #VerseLove. You can read his prompt and the poems he inspires here. Today, he challenges us to write Poetic Drive-Bys.

He explains: “Every April, during a six-week unit on poetry in Kentucky, I’d assign students to think of a person, place, or thing worthy of a poem, and write it  as if you are gifting  random thoughts/ideas/verse or  insight for another. We began calling these ‘poetic drive-bys’. Students loved this, often chalking poems on a neighbor’s  driveway or creating one to hand  to strangers at  the mall (a few even ‘tagged’ abandoned buildings with their writing and one young man drove around handing what  he wrote to  fast food employees working in drive-thru windows). Write a poem for the  boy who bags your groceries, or the sidewalk where you walk, or for the stranger you see in the park.. The goal is to craft  a poem that you can leave for another to find (maybe  a specific someone or maybe not  — make it a poem  to be discovered or gifted.”

In my county in middle Georgia. I’m leaving QR Codes with poetry videos throughout the square. Below is an example of one. I’m reading here with Ethan Jacobs, whose book Dust will be available on Amazon this spring. This is for YOU, dear reader:

Poetry for others to find in a framed QR Code

Slice of Life Challenge – March 7 – All the Magic of Leopold’s Ice Cream in Savannah, Georgia

There is always a (fast-moving) line at this iconic ice cream shop in Savannah, Georgia! It’s worth the wait!

If you’ve ever been to Savannah, Georgia and looked at a list of the top 10 things to do in the historic Georgia city with Spanish Moss draping the Live Oak trees and horse-carriage tours going on from morning until night, then you know that visiting Leopold’s Ice Cream is at the top of the list! Or perhaps you have walked past not already knowing its fame and magic and noticed the perpetual line stretching down East Broughton Street across from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Leopold’s has a unique history, dating back to 1919, when 3 brothers from Greece opened the shop. The place is still an iconic ice cream parlor today, the kind with the classic round tables that make you want to share a banana split or an ice cream float with your sweetheart. The kind of place that brings back memories to every generation alive today and promises continuing traditions for the youngest children.

Saylor holds onto her hat, thinking of what flavor she wants to try!

Every time we travel to Savannah, we make a visit to Leopold’s a priority. When I was recently in Savannah for a Literacy conference, I had the privilege of introducing four of my five grandchildren to all the delights of Leopold’s!

So many choices! Just ordering the ice cream is a unique experience!

When you first enter the shop, you see the servers in their white caps and burgundy aprons, ready to serve you what you probably already know you want – or, to give you a taste of what you think you might like to try before deciding for sure. When I saw the Rose Petal flavor, I decided to be adventurous and check its bloom factor. It tasted exactly like a rose smells, so I ordered a kids’ cup and savored the flavor of this refreshing treat made from actual edible roses.

River enjoys his honey and almond ice cream!

There’s a working old-time Jukebox over in the corner (see it behind River’s head in the picture?) that still plays songs for a mere quarter, and we listened to Chantilly Lace and The Bunny Hop as we ate our ice cream. The songs were made famous by locals or people who visited Georgia (the Johnny Mercer orchestra popularized The Bunny Hop, and the Johnny Mercer Theater is in downtown Savannah at the Civic Center).

Beckham shares his ice cream with his dad
My daughter-in-law Selena chose Strawberry Sorbet
Saylor waits on her peppermint crunch ice cream at the counter
I chose Rose Petal, and it was a unique taste explosion – – made from the essence of rose, it tasted exactly like a rose smells but oddly did not smell like a rose.
Wearing our Leopold’s shirts

Since I always bring home a surprise for my husband when he isn’t able to travel with me, I brought home matching Leopold’s t-shirts to help us remember one of our favorite places to sit and share one creamy confection with two spoons!

And we couldn’t leave out our grandchild who wasn’t able to go to Savannah for ice cream. We celebrated Aidan’s 13th birthday (belated by a week), and he chose Dairy Queen – – another classic ice cream joint!

Cheers for living life to the fullest ~ my hope is that no matter where you eat ice cream or drink coffee or amble along the path, you experience the magic in the moments!

Aidan enjoys a Hot Fudge Blizzard as a birthday dessert! He’s a teenager now!
From Left: Selena, Sawyer, Saylor, River, me, Marshall, and Beckham by the Shrimp Factory on Savannah’s River Street, February 27, 2023

Slice of Life Challenge – March 2 – Pop-Up Fairy Gardens

I was listening to Jennifer Serravallo speak at a conference in Savannah, Georgia over the weekend when she asked us to turn and talk to our neighbor about something we’ve recently taken interest in or want to learn more about. My colleague didn’t have to think long.

“Building fairy gardens,” she said.

She and her five year old daughter recently started building one and are finding joy in spending time together designing and curating their garden while talking about fairies and other important matters of life.

“What a coincidence!” I shared. “My father was my guest blogger last month for a post on brownies. His writing inspired me to create pop-up fairy gardens in some areas of our county and invite people to add to the gardens. Do you think people would enjoy contributing to a fairy garden expansion, especially now that it’s practically spring?”

She did.

Jennifer Serravallo redirected us into the next segment of her presentation (which was ah-mayz-ing, by the way), but my colleague and I picked up our fairy garden conversation at the next break. Talking over the restroom stall doors, while washing our hands at the sink, and in the snack line to get one of those fudgy, nut-laced brownies and a cup of coffee, we chatted up the possibilities…..

I couldn’t stop imagining….what if we really did plant the seeds of fairy garden starter kits with a note inviting families to add to the fairy wonderland worlds?

On Wednesday morning, back home from our conference, I texted her: Want to go on a fairy garden dash at lunch?

Yes, she texted back.

We grabbed our protein bars and skipped the sandwiches, heading out instead to search for fairy houses, miniature chairs and benches, the tiniest wishing wells and birdbaths, and even itty-bitty garden paths leading to the fairy houses. We wrote invitations on laminated notecards and affixed them to metal proclamation frogs introducing the fairy gardens and welcoming the addition of more fairies and creative enchantments – and not missing the opportunity to suggest that families read more about fairies!

Fairy garden finds from our mad dash at lunchtime

And then……we waited for businesses to close and went on the fairy garden pop-up mission after obtaining permission from the managers of a few of our chosen establishments! We arranged the first three fairy gardens under the cover of semi-darkness outside two libraries and one local coffee shop.

Pop-up fairy garden outside the window of the children’s section of our county library

We can’t wait to see if the fairy gardens grow…..and if so, how they grow and change through the springtime. It is our hope that families wonder, create, admire, design, plan, talk, and spend time working together with others in our community having fun….that perhaps we, too, will bloom and grow.

Welcome, fairies!

Pop-up fairy garden in the outdoor seating area of our local coffee shop on the town square
Pop-up fairy garden outside the window of the children’s section of a library in one of our towns

A blog post by Leigh Ann Eck yesterday about looking for the unexpected inspired me to change the idea I had for today’s post – since the gardens are kind of….well, unexpected. Thanks, Leigh Ann!

Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for giving writers space and voice!

Savoring Saturday – Coffee, Vacation Conversation, and Baby Goats

From Childcraft Volume 1: Poems and Rhymes, my beloved childhood classic that I still treasure today

Saturdays are for savoring – for making time for coffee, conversation, and time to enjoy life without all the demands of work and deadlines. So on Friday night when my sister-in-law called to see if I wanted to ride with her to pick up some farm fresh eggs, I asked if we could make it a post-coffee date. We’ve been chickenless on our farm for over a year now, and my husband and I have been missing the fresh eggs that we prefer when we have breakfast for supper a couple of times each week. My sister-in-law found a neighbor with plenty to spare.

1838 Coffee Company on the Zebulon Square is one of our local coffee hangouts.
My sister-in-law ordered a latte and a chocolate croissant.
My husband ordered his usual cinnamon roll
….and cheese grits, a Southern staple

After lingering over breakfast and coffee in 1828 Coffee Company for an hour, dreaming of planning a summer vacation to Glacier National Park, we made our way down the road to one of several dozen mini-farms in our rural Georgia county, where homesteaders live on self-sustaining tracts of land filled with fresh vegetable gardens, herbs, and livestock of all kinds. They make their own butters and jams, breads, dry herbs for year-round cooking, and aim to live more than 90% off their own land, right down to the soap they make themselves.

Many of the homesteaders here don’t believe in doctors, choosing instead the ways of functional medicine and homeopathic remedies, along with a diet without preservatives and chemical additives. The free-range eggs and chickens without hormone injections are part of a healthier diet. Their commitment to the land is second only to their commitment to God and church.

My basket of farm-fresh eggs that do not have to be refrigerated until washed

As we were picking up several dozen chicken and duck eggs, we also got to hold the new little kids that are 6 weeks old! Baby goats have a way of lifting your spirits instantly as you hold them or watch them scamper about, doing little spinning sidekicks as they jump off of stumps, filling your heart with joy. Their sheer energy and happiness to be alive is contagious!

My Sister-in-Law with a baby goat
Me with a baby goat
A smiling nanny goat

As we left the farm with eggs and hearts full of baby goat joy, I was uplifted with so many signs of spring – not only baby farm animals, but also daffodils in full bloom and the warmth of sunshine.

Welcome, early spring! I hope the southern groundhog was right.

January 21 Open Write with Barb Edler

Today is the first day of five days of January’s Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. Each month, this writing group gathers to write and give positive feedback to at least three other writers. Please join us! Here is the direct link, where you can read about today’s host, Barb Edler, and the inspiration she brings in her prompt: https://www.ethicalela.com/connecting-with-others-or-things-through-a-personal-letter-poem/

We’re invited today to write Personal Letter poems that capture intimate moments. I think often of our old farm dog Archie, who lived under the porch of the Presbyterian Church over on Pedenville Road in Concord, Georgia and must have always been chased off with a broom by the cleaning crew. He had a dreadful fear every time I swept. In a thunderstorm, he chased a colleague’s car all the way home, looking for shelter from the storm and something to eat. Her twin girls, both veterinarians, nursed him back to health as best they could before their mother called me. This is the perfect dog for you, she urged. We’ve named him R.K. for Roadkill, which is what he’s gonna be if someone doesn’t give him a good home.

And so we brought R.K. to the Johnson Funny Farm, my husband holding him down in the bed of a Ford Ranger pickup truck as I drove us home (in a stick shift for the first time in many years), hurky-jerky all the way here, where we softened R.K. to Archie and came to love a dog who was as close to human as they get.

Good Ol’ Archie

whenever I clean the empty 
hardwood floor space
under the antique oak buffet
~your thunderstorm safe zone~
my heart goes thud-thumpy

I exhale
my eyes close
I think of you,
your eyebrows
raising back and forth
left, right, left…..
looking me full
in the face
searching for love
wanting
needing
my embrace
waiting for my concrete to crumble

this was your favorite game

you wanted love 
more than food

when I let your human eyes
pierce the stoic face 
I’d held as long as I could
and my smile cracked, turned to laughter….


your full goofy body wag 
erupted with joy
slathered me with sugary sweet love kisses
paws on my shoulders

loving me as you did
rescuing me as you did

* * *

and then came that morning. 
you hadn’t moved
I knew before your 
three tail thud-thumps
became my heartbeat

I’ve…….loved…….you

It…….is……time

Help…..me…..cross

thump……thump…..thump

your empty space remains, Good Ol’ Archie