Perspective

Spring is definitely coming to GA. Daffodils are hyacinths are blooming, and trees are beginning to bud. Japanese Cherry and Dogwood are in bloom. It's definitely a time of renewal.

Japanese Cherry in full bloom

The recent tornadoes (there were actually 5 separate ones that touched down from the same storm system) are still a frequent topic of discussion. Although everyone seems to have power restored, it will still be months before everyone gets their homes repaired. There are still clusters of homes with a sea of blue roofs (covered with blue tarps), and many homes with fallen trees that still need to be cleared away. I spoke today with a lady whose home was badly damaged when a tree fell so hard it even damaged the foundation. Miracle that she and her husband escaped without even a scratch. She said they're scheduled to begin work on repairs this week but it won't be finished and ready to move into for 3 months. The Hobby Lobby that was damaged is scheduled to be closed for a year.

The root ball of this gigantic oak tree is 25' high

All this damage and the most we complained about was that our internet was knocked out for a little over a week, or that I have to travel 45 min to a different Hobby Lobby instead of 10 min. Kind of puts things in perspective. I need to be more grateful for things we have, rather than complain about things we don't have or things that, in the grand scheme of things, are only a minor inconvenience.

We were sheltered from the worst of the wind by the huge pines we're nestled under

Valentine's Day was this past week and Jim treated me to a pedicure. What else can you get for a woman that has just about everything. That man understands how to make me happy!

What do you get a woman who has just about everything? A pedicure, of course!

Clean Up Continues

In the aftermath of the Jan. 12th tornado, clean up continues throughout the region. One video narrator stated he'd never seen this much destruction, even after hurricanes in FL. Some homes got power back only a few days ago, a few are still without power, and trees and brush still fill residential yards and line the sides of roads after having been cleared from the middle of the road.

Griffin, and Spalding County, is one of seven counties that have been declared Federal Disaster areas. Locally there is estimated to be in excess of 17 million dollars in damage across the city and county. That number may grow.

Between the city of Griffin and Spalding County, roughly 2100 homes are damaged with an additional 100 or more completely destroyed. Those numbers may also grow. And that's not counting the damage to businesses and loss of revenue while they were closed due to damage or power outages.

Crews work to remove debris from roadsides

More than 150 line crew members are still out working on restoring power to areas still affected. This is a pole to pole response in some areas before power can be fully restored to homes, depending on what grid they're on. One house may have power and the one next to it may not. Because of the way power grids are laid out, that isn't unusual.

For those who know me, they know that I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Mormon. (Someday I may explain why the term Mormon is incorrect, but that's a discussion for another day.) Anyway, members of my church organized volunteer relief efforts and we had over 300 members show up on 2 different Saturdays. There's another volunteer effort scheduled for this coming Saturday and an even larger number is expected to turn out. It's wonderful to be part of a religion that donates so much of their time to help not only members, but the community at large. As an interesting side note, no churches of any denomination received any significant damage. Feel free to read anything into that you wish, I just thought it was interesting.

Yard cleanup before and after

Here's a funny story - after a previous disaster (not sure what it was) in Chattanooga, TN, a member of the church stepped up to organize local relief efforts which had volunteers from all over the area, including members and non-member community volunteers. He was splitting the workers into smaller groups and making sure each group had people with chain saws, trucks, relief supplies, making sure each group had people who knew the area, etc. A few days later someone from FEMA showed up to take over the organization of the volunteers. Everyone said "We don't need FEMA, we've got a Mormon!"

On the brighter side, Spring is just beginning to show her colors here. Grass is greening up and spring bulbs are just starting to bloom. Spring is definitely in the air!

Tornado!!!

An F3 or 4 (depending on which weather station you listen to) tornado plowed a wide path of destruction through our area Thursday afternoon. We were protected from the brunt of the wind by the tall pines around us. I was watching them bend in the wind, however, and praying they didn't topple over on us. It was an intense storm with the more central part of Griffin taking the most damage. Some of the thunder claps were pretty close, others further away, but they blended together in a constant rumble. Clean up will most likely take weeks with lines down, huge trees uprooted, homes and businesses damaged or completely destroyed. Power is still out in much of Griffin..

Fortunately, the storm hit in the late afternoon. Emergency alterts blared on everyone's cell phone, advising to seek shelter immediately. With the warning, people were able to take cover and find safe places to wait it out. If it had hit in the middle of the night when people were sleeping it might have been a lot worse. Only 1 death was reported in the Griffin area, but 7 were killed to the north in Atlanta. 

Just north of us a train was blown off its tracks. Students at a local high school had to spend the night there as roads were blocked with trees and power lines and travel was unsafe. Customers shopping at a Hobby Lobby were told over the store intercom to go to the center of the store immediately. The store front was destroyed.

When the storm was over, pleas were posted on the local FB page asking for anyone with a chainsaw to assist in certain areas. Residents of an apartment complex posted they were trapped inside their building because of trees that had fallen on the roof. Others asked for help as they needed. It was amazing to see the community come together to help one another, and to help clear the roads so people could get home.

Here are some photos of the storm, and the damage in the area. Even then, pictures can't begin to show the scope of the damage.

A beautiful sunset after the storm.

Merry Christmas - Finally

 I know, I know, it's almost 3 weeks past Christmas. 

We were able to travel about 4 hours away to visit Jim's youngest daughter on Christmas Sunday and spend several days there. Unfortunately, I came down with some kind of virus Christmas night. Woke up the next morning with a massive headache, nausea, stuffy head, sore throat, fever. We left for our return trip to GA Tuesday afternoon. Suffice it to say that virus had it's way with me over the next few weeks. I'm just now starting to feel normal. Hence the delay in updating this blog.

Just before Christmas we toured around the Griffin, GA area viewing the many Christmas light displays. Living in a small 26' travel trailer doesn't afford much room for holiday decorations so it was nice to see the public and private displays of lights and decorations.  One thing I notice about the South, they're not afraid to display symbols of their religion in public spaces. In other areas of the country religious displays are disappearing from public parks and spaces. These people still have manger scenes in their parks and municipal places. 

Had to take a video of this house. I wonder how long it took to set all this up - and break it down to store away!

Wintering In Georgia

A few days before Thanksgiving we arrived at our winter workamping position in GA. For those who may not know, workamping involves working part-time for a place in exchange for a full hook up for an RV - water, elec and sewer. We are on a small homestead farm owned by the "C" family. They have 3 1/2 horses (the 1/2 is a pony named Kasper), about 35 egg layer chickens and a very friendly pot bellied pig named Buddy. These are all pets. However, they do raise meat chickens occasionally and would like to add a cow and several pigs to the farm for meat and milk.

Buddy

Our duties include installing and repairing fence, grounds keeping, building and/or repairing farm structures and occasional farm sitting. Also, one of the reasons they chose us out of their many applicants for the position, is because we have a good amount of farm/animal experience. They many times ask advice based on our experiences of raising different types of farm animals and what would be best for their situation. One of the decisions they're making is whether a cow or goat would be best for milk. As much as I love goats, and as much as it hurt me to say, I recommended a cow for their particular situation. After giving them the pros and cons for each animal, in my opinion anyway, they decided a cow would be better for them.

We arrived here just before Thanksgiving and were planning to visit Jim's daughter in SC, about a 4 hour trip from here, but her oldest son was just recovering from being sick so we decided not to go. The C's invited us to Thanksgiving dinner with them. It was the usual fare which was all very good, but the best was Mrs. C's homemade cheesecake! The best I've ever tasted! Apparently it was an old family recipe and it was outstanding!

Right now, I'm involved with rebuilding their existing chicken coup which they had built when they had just a few chickens. It's not adequate for the 35 they now have. It was just a fenced in shed with a small enclosure inside. They all crammed in there at night and most had to sleep on the floor of that because there weren't enough roosts. Given the fact that the whole thing seemed like it would blow over in a stiff wind, it certainly needed a major overhaul. I'll post before and after pics when I'm done.

Saturday the city hosted their annual Christmas parade. The C's daughter, "L" spent days outfitting the pony cart with lights and decorations. The parade was the usual - the high school's marching band, floats, trucks and cars adorned with lights, Santa on a fire truck. But I think the pony cart was the biggest hit of all. Notice the chicken sitting in her lap. That's Vivian, who is a Cornish Cross meat bird that was somehow spared from her scheduled trip to freezer camp. She's about 3 years old and weighs almost 20 lbs! When I'm working on the new coop she's often right by my side giving suggestions and critiquing my work.

Kasper, all decked out for the parade.

Vivian

Here's a few random pictures from around the farm. Will post more later.

Full moon through the pines

Skunked!

As we continue preparations to leave the frozen tundra of northern NH in favor of a bit warmer winter, there are a myriad of tasks to accomplish. I have a to-do list that seems a mile long. Each time I mark something as completed I feel a sense of accomplishment. But when I can cross 2 things off the list at once, I'm very much inspired to double down on the rest of it.

Two things on the list were to give Dora a bath and to wash the blankets on the couches that protect the furniture. However, I never intended to do those at 6 in the morning. Last week Jim got up to let the dogs out for their morning "duties". A short while later he yelled that I was going to want to get up and come downstairs right away. I couldn't imagine what was so urgent. As I opened the bedroom door the answer was immediately apparent. Dora had been skunked!

I searched out the bottle of Nature's Miracle Skunk Deodorizer that I'd bought quite a few years ago when we had hunting dogs that we're always running through the woods. I never had occasion to use it but I knew right where it was, just in case. Jim placed Dora in the tub and I set to work. I'm here to tell you that stuff works! I used it according to directions on the bottle, then shampooed her with Mane & Tail Shampoo and Conditioner. She came out smelling sweet without a hint of skunk.

While she was drying off I grabbed the couch blankets and threw those in the washer. Hooray, 2 tasks crossed off the list, although I hadn't quite intended to do those at 6 a.m. Dora wasn't appreciative of a bath at that hour either, although I can't say she's ever appreciative of it no matter what time of day. I did distinctly hear her complaining that black and white "kitty" in the driveway wasn't very friendly.

Th-th-that's All Folks!

Three days on the road from KY to NH, I wasn't a happy camper. That broke my 4-3-2 rule - no more than 4 hours travel, arrive by 3 in the afternoon, and stay at least 2 days. Two of the places we stayed overnight only had the option for 1 night, and each of the 3 places were about 5 to 5:30 hours travel time. We did arrive by 3 though, so there's that. 

We arrived in southern NH at Jim's son's house on Thursday, the 7th. We visited family and friends while there, and arrived home in northern NH Monday the 11th. All in all it was a great winter. Now onward to enjoying the summer at home with lots of yard work and other projects planned. 

1) Started from Colebrook, NH; 2) son's house, Andover, NH; 3) E. Hampton, CT; 4) E. Stroudsburg, PA; 5) Charles Town, W VA; 6) Staunton, VA; 7) Advance, NC; 8) Fair Play, SC; 9) Carrolton, GA; 10) Ozark, AL; 11) Mobile, AL; 12) Breaux Bridge, LA; 13) Willis, TX; 14) Whitney, TX; 15) Point, TX; 16) Gordonville, TX; 17) Washington, AR; 18) Hohenwald, TN; 19) Park City, KY; 20) Westerville, OH; 21) Forestville, NY; 22) Schenectady, NY; then back to #2 at son's house in Andover, NH, and on home. Busy winter with lots of stops. It's good to be home.

See you all in the fall when we again begin our winter excursions somewhere. We may just stick to the Carolinas next year. It was consistently warmer than TX. And if they have a cold spell, well, we won't have to travel so far from home to experience it!

Mosaic wall in front of Creative Connections Clubhouse in Amsterdam, NY

Crocus in bloom, Forestville, NY