Meandering, ghosts and enjoying the view

- A meandering trip on a road I have never been on, Highway 83, from Madison, Georgia (where I had a client meeting) to Macon, Georgia, for a family event. The highway yielded miles of forest and farmland and the tiny village of Shady Dale, Georgia, population 242. This charming building was once the bank, but now houses city hall.

- This old well was also a stagecoach stop back in the day. I can just imagine ladies in long traveling dresses with their trunks and hat boxes getting on and off. On this day, a black cat peers around the well and runs for cover, then comes sneaking back for a look at the stranger.

- Pulling over a couple of times on my hour-long journey so the string of cars I have collected behind me can go around. They have more urgent business and I just want to drive the speed limit and enjoy the view...

I hope you find lovely scenery where ever you are this weekend. Have a great one!

Pit stop, on the map and on the road again

- Taking a vacation day so that I can go fetch my mom from her visit with my sister near Thomasville, Georgia. The journey includes, as always, a stop at the halfway mark to south Georgia at Stripling's Sausage and Meats. An old family business, it is in the middle of nowhere on the Georgia-Florida Parkway and hit the map when Paula Deen filmed a segment here. Love that slogan, "You Never Sausage a Place!" :)

- A sign invites you to have your photo made next to this pig and email it back to them. They even have a facebook page now.

- Two hours after this stop and I am in Thomasville, a town still small enough that I spot my sister's car at the Belk store and find she and mom inside looking at clothes. A lovely mother/daughters lunch, a family meeting and then on the road again.

Norman and Astro, fake meat and endearments

- It is almost time to turn the calendar to August and I will miss these two calendar dogs from July - Norman and Astro. Great names, I think. Their whimsical poses on my veterinarian's calendar make me chuckle every time I see them in my cubicle at work.

- Stopping at the vegetarian hot food bar at The Rainbow Grocery for dinner and finding they have fake meat meatloaf - a funny thought, but surprisingly it turns out like the real thing. And there was mushroom gravy to go over it. Yum.

- Unexpected family business coming up that allows me to speak with two sisters, two cousins and my mother in a span of an hour. Bonus - hearing so many "I love you's."

Family guard, the fun side and storms

- This dragon that looks after the family home, guarding it from evil-doers. It is right across the street from kind people fortunately - the Atlanta Union Mission's offices where I have printing clients.

- A client who usually designs commercial work is getting into invitation design on the side. I love it when she calls for eccentric paper. This time she wants to see a smooth black cover stock, which might have a fuchsia design, or shimmering silver that will have black print. What makes it extra fun: it's a Starbucks meeting.

- Getting close to home after work and finding the sky is getting darker and darker. I see a flash of light in the distance and hear a faint rumble. A storm's a brewin'. I decide that errands can wait until tomorrow and head for home.

Passing through, treasures and recycling

- The courthouse in Monticello, Georgia, taken on Saturday evening around 8:15pm. It is difficult to imagine it would be dark in about an hour. This was the courthouse in which scenes from the movie "My Cousin Vinny" were filmed. In the movie, the location was Alabama, but most of it was filmed in and around Monticello. Some farmers on the town square with their wares (mostly watermelons) watched with interest as I took my photo and passed on through.

- Clearing out the storage shed at our family home in nearby Milledgeville, we encountered trash and treasures. When my sister and I lifted an old trunk, all sorts of bug life scurried out. My sister is still laughing over my shrieking like a little girl and running out in the opposite direction.

- We discovered that an old kitchen worktable from my grandparents' house was all the way in the back of the shed - it must have been in there for 25 years. I open the drawer to the table and discover several old sheets of aluminum foil. They must have been conserving them to use again later.

Beer can girl, the long way and what looks good

- This mural I am calling "Beer can girl" painted on the back of Manuel's Tavern in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta. I found a blog from the artist, who says that Pabst Blue Ribbon beer seems to pop up everywhere in her life and she doesn't even drink it.

- Taking the long way home from work so I can stop by the DeKalb Farmers Market - an international "world" market. It is a festival of fresh produce, dairy products, and so much more. I love their manifesto, part of which reads: "No matter how technologically advanced we become, we cannot escape our fundamental relationships with food and each other."

- The cashiers there are always lovely and my cashier this day did not speak much English, but ran a smiling commentary on my purchases of fresh basil, brussel sprouts, salmon, fresh mozzarella, cage free eggs and hummus. I only stopped by for the basil, but this is the kind of place you walk around in, while dodging shopping carts, to see what looks good.

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Go Braves, hair for the spill and fancy headdress

- My hairdresser Tim (also an old friend, who works out of his home) indulges in a bit of whimsy by decorating his front yard lawn jockey according to occasion. This time it was in honor of Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox's birthday. I walked in asking why the lawn jockey was wearing a hard hat. "No!" he said, "it's an English Bobby's hat." Now I get it. He added, "And then they rose to first place!" So that's why...

- Someone put out a call for hairdressers to collect and send in hair clippings to make buoys in the gulf. Apparently mats made from human hair are good for soaking up oil.

- Tim is Native American and regularly participates in powwow dance competitions. This is a headdress he made from grouse feathers he has been collecting. I think he should win just for being the most stylin' dancer!