Thursday, October 18, 2012

Georgia and Home Again....


The last week of September, I traveled to Douglasville, Georgia to visit family. It had been several years since I spent time with my oldest daughter, and five of my grandchildren. I had never met my 2 year old great grandson. It was a great week. My daughter and I managed to get in some quality father/daughter time, I met my great grandson - Sebastian, and got to know my oldest grandson's wife - Josh and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn was due to deliver a new great grandchild, but here it is 3 weeks later and still no show. I say it will be a girl, and will start life late, just like her grandmother. Lynda was never on time, but we loved her and just accepted that she would always dance to her own drummer. She has always been smart, and created some wonderful grandchildren. Lynda and I traveled a couple hours Northeast, to Helen, Georgia, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Chattahoochee River. It is a fascinating Alpine Village. We had a fabulous lunch at Muller's Famous Cafe, owned and operated by a couple from Czechoslovakia. This was some of the best Hungarian Goulash I have had since I lived in Germany, accompanied by Czech Bread Dough Dumplings, and Lynda tried the hand-breaded and grilled Pork Schnitzel. No trip to Helen is complete without stopping at Nora Mill Granary, which was built in 1876 on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. They still grind their own corn for the best grits I have ever eaten. We then drove to the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain, the highest point in that part of Georgia, and in the . On a clear day, you can see four states. Of course, that was not a clear day, and the haze was pronounced because of the humidity. But, as you can see from the photo above, the view is spectacular, with the Smoky Mountains in the background. 


All good things must come to an end, and it was time to return to Maine. Luckily, I was back in time for some peak foliage viewing, and shooting. The photo above was shot from the top of Ira Mountain in Carrabassett Valley. The morning had started off foggy and overcast. As I drove up the small mountain road, I had my doubts about anything worthy to shoot. When I reached the top of the mountain, I was above the clouds and the sun was shining bright. The clouds parted, and the beautiful foliage shown through. What a sight it was. For fifteen minutes the clouds moved in and out, offering different views by the minute. It was now about 8:00 am, and I took a 10 minute break in my car to enjoy a little breakfast. During that 10 minutes, the clouds completely closed in and the view was gone. As they say, timing is everything, and a successful photographer is prepared for whatever nature throws at them. It was a truly beautiful day.

   
The drive down the mountain was once again, in the clouds.


Stay tuned, the next installation will show some of my shots of the Capital Area Camera Club's photo shoot at the privately owned Ancient Oil and Past Gas County Store Museum in Sumner, Maine. Very interesting Americana collection.

Thank you for reading, and keep shooting.