Yesterday when I was driving to Carolina (I’m going to a wedding today), I came around a bend in the road and encountered this cloud centered over my route. I thought it looked a lot like the space crafts that settled over the cities in the movie Independence Day, right before the alien race started trying to destroy the planet.
DD and I spent the day today driving around North Alabama, which is always fun. It was a fairly colorless day and quite foggy before noon, so it wasn’t a great outing in terms of picture-taking, but it was nice and warm out and the company was good. We’ve both been busy lately, so it was good to spend the time in the car, getting caught up. Plus, I really enjoyed getting out the house for a while — I’ve been pretty cooped up since the dog’s been sick.
The main purpose of our trip was to pick up a kegerator I bought on eBay this week (an upgrade for us). That took us to the upper edge of Huntsville, which looked beautiful this morning as the fog settled into the valleys, below the tops of the area’s hills where the sun was breaking through. While we were in the neighborhood, we also hit Unclaimed Baggage and the Lodge Outlet Store, and we rounded out the day with a really great lunch at a Mexican restaurant (Buena Vista) in Scottsboro, AL.
It was pretty cool for a spontaneous outing.
It’s been a hot, dry, busy weekend here in Chattanooga. I was up early on Saturday morning for the reorganization of the local Democratic Party. And then after lunch, DH (dear husband) and I drove down to Scottsboro, AL to visit Unclaimed Baggage.
It was a beautiful day for driving around in the rural south. The dogwoods, forsythia and numerous spring flowers are in bloom, so the roadsides were filled with color. The drive took us beside and across Nickajack Lake and then all along one of the tendrils of Lake Guntersville.
There is one very incongruous feature of the landscape along the trip that I always find jarring in the midst of the bucolic countryside. Along the right side of Hwy 72 North near Hollywood, FL, the twin towers of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant rise up out of the hillside looking as though they’d been dropped from a spaceship into what otherwise appears to be old country farmlands and forests. I wonder what will become of the towers — after an investment of $6 billion, they were abandoned without ever generating a single watt, though they may now be on track to become water reactors.
Today has been more mellow, but stuff is getting done. I shaved the dog (finally! this was her first haircut since before Thanksgiving and she needed it!) and then she and I went for a walk (it’s hot out!). I’ve done some laundry and we’re still working on the bookshelf project that started last weekend. It’s been nice to hang around the house today.
I’m back, but I have no idea what time it really is.
It’s been a very confusing weekend. I spent the weekend at Fall Creek Falls State Park, which is in central time, so we gained an hour on Friday when we drove up (here in Chattanooga, we’re right on the edge of eastern time). Then as we slept Saturday night, we lost an hour along with most of the rest of you, when Daylight Savings Time kicked in. And then we lost another hour when we drove back home today. Sheesh. (For the record, I’m in favor of just picking one time and sticking with it. These time changes seem pretty pointless.)
It was a great weekend otherwise. It was warm and mostly sunny and I got to spend a lot of time wandering around in the woods.
It’s spring break around here this week, so the confusion over time will probably continue — the alarm won’t be buzzing in the mornings and, jeeze! it’s 8pm already and it’s only just getting dark out! I’m off to fix some dinner…
As I indicated in my teaser yesterday, I went on a roadtrip/pilgrimage over the weekend, to Plains, GA, home of former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter. I went with a couple of friends, one of whom hatched up the idea for the trip while she watched the coverage of Gerald Ford’s funeral(s). Carter teaches a Sunday School class whenever he’s in town, and the Maranatha Baptist Church publishes the schedule on their web site. It was an opportunity to meet a former president and great activist, in his element.
We drove down (it’s a four and half hour drive from Chattanooga to Plains) on Saturday afternoon and spent the night in Americus, GA.
We got up at 6:30 Sunday morning and drove over to Plains after grabbing a quick breakfast. We knew that the church wouldn’t open until 8:30, and that we’d face the tight security that is typical of the Secret Service once we got there. When we first arrived, we were alarmed to see that a long line had already formed at the door of the church. It’s a very small church, so were were afraid we might not make it in before they had to start turning people away. Fortunately, the line moved through security pretty quickly once the doors opened. It was very cold (which is very unusual in South Georgia!), so we were doubly grateful to make into the church.
Once inside, we sat through an hour of indoctrination — what to expect, how to behave, what the rules are regarding cameras, photos with the Carters, and where and when to go to the bathroom. It was a bit over the top, but it also kept us entertained while we waited until Sunday School started at 10am. Carter and his wife arrived promptly at 10, and he opened with a question: “Do we have any visitors today?” That got a big laugh from the crowd. There were a lot more visitors there than there were church members. People reported they had come from Canada, Moscow, Korea, and from all over the United States.
Once he was past the smalltalk, Carter spent some time talking about his recent trip to Africa, during which he studied the diseases of the Third World. He described many people he encountered who suffered from guinea worm disease, which is a particularly horrifying infection that can cause a lot of suffering during its long recovery period. (Also, Carter shared a bit of trivia: the snake entwined around a stick in the familiar AMA logo is a actually a guinea worm.)
Then we got to the substance of Carter’s Sunday School lesson, which was dictated somewhat by the Uniform Series Study Guide that the church uses for Sunday School. Yesterday’s verse was John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Carter spoke some about Lazarus and about the aversion we people have to talking about death — we even go so far as to avoid using the word, preferring phrases like “passed on” to “died.” He shared with us a poem he wrote called “A Committee of Scholars Describe the Future Without Me,” which was inspired by his observations while members of the Carter Center board struggled to make plans to move forward after he is gone. He nearly brought the house down with the poem’s final line.*
Once Sunday School was over, church began. It runs from 11 to 12. We enjoyed the service and stuck around long enough afterwards for a picture with the Carters, which didn’t turn out all that well (oh, well). Then we took in a few of the historical sites and had some lunch at the Windsor Hotel in Americus before heading back to Chattanooga.
It was a whirlwind roadtrip, but it all went beautifully and I was thrilled to find both Carters looking very well. They move with ease and appear to be quite healthy and strong. Happily, they should be able to continue their work for quite some time to come.
*the full text of the poem follows after the jump:
I’ve been on the road since yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. I’m not up for typing out the entire adventure at the moment, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, but here’s a little teaser:
We drove behind this truck for a while over the weekend as we were headed to the mountains. There was nothing in the back of the truck that was recognizable as something — it was some kind of twisted metal tangle of snakes laying in a bed of rusty pillows. Who knows why this stuff needed to be moved…
We drove behind this truck for a while over the weekend as we were headed to the mountains. There was nothing in the back of the truck that was recognizable as something — it was some kind of twisted metal tangle of snakes laying in a bed of rusty pillows. Who knows why this stuff needed to be moved…
DH and I escaped this weekend for a few days in the mountains with some friends. On Saturday, we took a bunch of food and wine up to a mountain top cabin that had a nice kitchen, pool table, outdoor hot tub and (most importantly) no students or computers. The weather was unseasonably warm (unbelievably warm for a mountain top in January, even if it is in Georgia) and we got to do some hiking in the Fort Mountain State Park. On an overlook platform at the bottom of a long series of stairs (near the rock wall that is a feature of the park) we were treated to the panoramic view below (click on the image for a larger look). The day was a bit hazy, but the scene was still breathtaking.
On our way home, we stopped by the Vann House in Chatsworth. It was closed (on a Monday! Who’d a thunk it?!?), but we still got to walk around the grounds and peek in the windows. Shortly after we arrived home earlier today, the rain started — and I understand it’s supposed to get cold (or maybe just cool) and dreary for the rest of the week… so we were lucky to squeeze in some outdoor fun while the nice weather lasted.
It’s been another busy day, and I’ve still got some work to do. But, I hate to leave a blank day up here, so here’s another red leaf (sorry about the repetition). Also, check out Harold Ford, Jr. on the cover of Newsweek Magazine when you get a chance. We’re loving the national coverage!
