Peaceful journey

When you drive down Georgia 85 from Woodbury, south toward Manchester, the road runs straight south and up the side of Pine Mountain, where a farm sits atop the ridgetop. In the twilight of the early evening, the pink and orange of the afternoon sun glows through the trees and bushes off toward Columbus and Pine Mountain. The car eases across the ridge and heads downward toward the flickering lights of Manchester.

Afterward, I head back north across the same route and the road runs up to the ridgeline and the stars are thrown across the sky as the crisp November air is dry and clear. It is rare to see another car, or even lights across the fields. It is only after you clear the top of Pine Mountain that you can see the lights of Woodbury off in the distance, down below the heights of the mountain. By the time you get to Woodbury, the cars are parked haphazardly in the darkness around the old juke joint, the patrons standing, talking in the darkness.

It is a short drive from Woodbury to Manchester and back. But it provides a significant bit of peace as you drive down and back in the growing darkness.