Enjoying the journey

Travelling through central Georgia from Tifton to Columbus, I utilized Highway 82 to make a quick trip of it. Everything seemed very green from the recent rains. A multiplicity of greens rivaling Ireland in its lushness. There are a number of these four lanes across the agricultural center of our state, and signs for tomatoes and onions and peas and beans and every kind of locally grown vegetable and fruit. Then the promise of peaches and pecans in their season. Peanuts and melons. The fruits of the crimson Georgia clay. This is the sweet season in Georgia. Azaleas in bloom. Creamy dogwood blossoms. The lavender whisteria hanging from the trees in our backyard. The temperatures are moderate. Cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon. I blew down the highway and landed in Columbus about thirty minutes late. Not bad for a journey which was supposed to take me about fortyfive minutes longer. I was flying low below radar, apparently. I am glad I didn't see too many policecars along the way. That would have been an unpleasant interlude in an otherwise enjoyable afternoon. It ended with a tall amber beer and a chicken sandwich in front of two large screen televisions showing the Braves beating the Nationals in Atlanta and the Brooklyn Nets beating the Chicago Bulls in Brooklyn. Just another jaunt through the Springtime darkness between Columbus and Griffin, one and one half hours to home.

Watching crazy Americans running through the capital of Germany

Cindy and I had stopped watching The Amazing Race on Sunday nights. Listening to the contestants as they maneuvered the journeys around the world became boresome. I was tired of hearing their schemes and their problems and whining. But tonight was different. We went back to last week's episode, the one we missed on our journey from Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana across the coast of Mississippi to Mobile and up through the darkness of South Alabama to a motel room just east of Montgomery. What a long, unpleasant journey, losing an hour because of an accident on I-10 and an hour in Wentzell's Oyster House on the north side of Mobile for our last Gulf Coast seafood supper for awhile. Boy did I eat a lot of seafood in those four or five days. Anyway, it just so happened that last week's episode sent the contestants from Switzerland to Dresden, Germany and on to Berlin. I have always wanted to visit Berlin. Despite the negative connotations, I have always wanted to visit Berlin. So much history. So much meaning for my world. I am a child of the 50's. I was born before the creation of the Berlin Wall became a physical symbol of the chasm between the East and the West, Russia and the United States. I could sit in my room and dread the dropping of atomic bombs and the quick end of our world, but the concrete and barbed wire and machine guns and soldiers. The grey and brown and lack of color. But now it includes an end to that struggle and the joy of freedom that led the people to dance and sing and drink and chant and take sledge hammers to the wall and destroy that terrible symbol of an inability to communicate and get along. What joy. What a moment of release and fun and victory over the desire to control people through force. Anyway, we watched the episode and you could see a modern, vibrant city which seems to have overcome its black history. I want to go and see myself. I want to place a physical connection to the history of the twentieth century and the ultimate victory of peace and freedom and joy. I want to go. I can't wait. Tonight was just a taste.

Sunday afternoon rain and an impending trip to Apalachicola

It rained last night and the thunder and lightning woke the dog and sent him on an excursion upstairs and around the living room, barking. I am not quite sure what he was looking for, but he left a trail of doggy droppings through the living room. I found them when I stepped on one of them in the darkness trying to find the dog. Cindy put the dog in bed with us and I cleaned up the trail. One of those lovely perks of dog ownership. Or ownership by the dog. We woke up late this morning and I was only able to go to church. Cindy stayed home. She was at the table on the backporch, grading papers. The dog was on his bed in the kitchen staring out at Cindy on the backporch. It was beginning to rain again when I got home. It has been raining ever since. Almost eight o'clock pm and I finally found the way into my blog. I hope I will be able to continue. It is quite a comfort. Cindy and I are going to a closing I have in Camilla on Friday, to be followed by a weekend trip to Apalachicola. I am looking forward to more seafood and sunshine and maybe some time in the water at the beach on St. George. There is nothing better than crossing over the bridge from East Point to St. George, watching the oystermen plying their trade on the waters of Apalachicola Bay. The last natural oyster beds in North America. A great place.