Moments In Our History

 

Blairsville, Georgia,  (high 83, low 62)

I am awake before daylight watching the radar on the Weatherbug app on my phone.  I hate when I see big red bands of rain on the radar.   I wish I could get over my fear of storms.   Weatherbug  sure is a great little free App.  It’s amazing that it knows exactly where you are.  When I zoom in on the radar on my location, it shows our location  right here on our own RV lot!  How amazing is that?

We were supposed to get heavy rain yesterday, but we didn’t get a drop.  We stayed home all day, with the exception of Al making a quick trip to Booger Holler (it’s a convenience store)  for a beer run.

It was cool and cloudy all day, with the temperature never getting above 76.  We were able to keep the A/C off all day!  It’s been months since we could say that.

Our day started with coffee and computer time outside on the deck.  After a while, I decided to make some SOS (vegan) over toast, with some mango and avocado on the side.  It was very good and we really enjoyed sitting outside during the coolest part of the day.

We puttered around the yard most of the day, planting flowers and painting the deck.   I can happily say it is mostly done.  We have a little more trim that needs a second coat, but for the most part it’s done.

Now….we can start on the cabin!   The joys of “home” ownership.    It’s funny, but painting the deck was actually kind of enjoyable.  Maybe because the weather was so nice, or maybe because we’re in such a beautiful setting.

Yesterday, I was sitting outside, Baxter was in his cage a few yards in front of me, enjoying the cool weather as much as I was.

We have some hummingbirds that are constantly fighting over the two feeders.  They chase each other most of the time and rarely ever stop to actually eat/drink.  They were flying right over Baxters cage, when one of them must have noticed Baxter, because he stopped in mid air, hovered for 15-20 seconds, and looked right down at Bax.  I don’t know if it was his red “dress” or what, but he definitely checked him out.  Wish I could have gotten a picture.

 

I’m sure we all have some special moments in our memories that go down in the “annals”.    For many of you, they might be the birth or a child or grand child. Since we never had any kids, our special moments mostly seem to be from our scuba diving, or other nature experiences.  When something special happens, we say “that’s one for the annals.”

One special memory for the annals, was when we were diving and got in the middle of a shark feeding frenzy.  Fortunately, they were feeding on a large school of fish, not us, and  we were heading up the anchor line when it started.  The site of all those sharks was mesmerizing and it was hard to quit watching and get back into the boat.

Another was when our friend Wally stuck his head under a ledge (while diving).  This was the same ledge that I had just pointed out to Al, a very large nurse shark that was backed up against the back of the ledge.  When I showed Wally what was lining the back of the ledge, the look on his face was priceless….and into the annals!

Another diving experience that went into the annals, was when we dropped down on a wreck and right next to a very large (800-1000 pound)  Jew Fish.  It was right after Al telling me, this was the time I was going to see my first Jew Fish.  I said “yeah right”, because he told me that every time we dove a wreck.  That time he was right, but unfortunately, I was out of film in my camera and didn’t get the picture on film.  It’s in my mind though, and into the annals.

One underwater episode I did catch on film (yeah, back in those days it was film) was a large turtle that may have thought I was a girl turtle.  He kept swimming towards me.  I was swimming on my back, camera in hand, trying to stay far enough away from him to get a decent picture.  I got an amazing picture.  I’ll have to find it and post it again.

 

A recent addition to the “annals” took place last night.  We were sitting on the patio.  It was late afternoon.  There was some blue sky above, dappled with grayish clouds.  All of a sudden two hummingbirds simultaneously  flew straight up in the air, in slow motion, facing each other about 2-3 inches apart.  They hovered in the air for several seconds, posing against the dappled sky. It was kind of like a dance, and we wondered if it was a mating ritual, although this sure doesn’t seem to be mating season.  Oh how I wish I would have had my camera!  They kept the behavior up for a few minutes. I got my camera, but they never posed like they did the first time.  The memory will have to go in the annals….and not a picture. 

Later on, I was able to get a hummer to land long enough to get a few pictures.  Not a great shot, but I’ll keep trying.

The following are a few photos we’ve taken from around the neighborhood.

This is a view of our campground from up the hill.

 

The rain has gone by, we got a little hard rain but nothing serious.  We’re still trying to get over to Helton Creek Falls. Maybe today will be the day.