home improvement

dexter was a big help in getting the bath room painted this afternoon --- especially when he was napping, which was most of the time

and five hours later it was all freshly white --- the painting schedule is down to my bedroom, which will be easy, and my office, which will be a bitch, what with the books and all

a mess of a weekend

estimates of visitors to the city this weekend range from 800,000 to a million and i saw a good many of them as i walked to and from downtown this afternoon --- dragon'con may be the biggest part of it and has weirdness strewn all over downtown and up and down peachtree --- but there is also the giant decatur book festival, black gay pride, ga tech's first home game, three home games for the braves, and some football game at the dome --- it's a good thing that everybody that actually lives here has gone to the beach or somewheres

 

the focus is dead; long live the fiat ---

they totaled the focus --- 2000 was the first model year in this country after debuting in europe a few years before to great reviews --- there was nothing else quite like it at the time and i was over driving a pickup truck all the time --- no major problems over 76,000 miles

the fiat has a top that opens like a sardine can, which is kinda cool

i hope dog likes it

starting to wind down summer

insurance claims, vaccinations for cuba, and general running around left their mark --- only partially obliterated by fireworks and what not after dark

and continuing the theme of crepuscular sunsets . . .

ups and downs

drove over to robert's to let the guys in to fix his sliding doors --- i don't usually get to see that fine morning view of the skyline

i also don't usually rear-end somebody who stops suddenly as i am tooling home along n. decatur road, admiring the architecture (which between lullwater and n. highland is purty excellent) --- nobody hurt and his car hardly at all --- my airbags did not deploy, since it was a slow-motion crash, but in addition to the body damage, my radiator was punctured so i had to have it towed --- with the car 14 years old (but only 75,000 miles), i am afraid the insurance company will total it --- i might have to rethink the no-new-car thing, or else decide i can live with martha, zip cars, and avis

south fork redux

emory university's lullwater preserve includes a long stretch of the south fork of peachtree creek --- parts of it are very natural; parts are manicured viewsheds ---

 my favorite: city champion loblolly pine, nearly 11' in circumference and 117' tall

snake! get the hoe!

mid-80s, lower humidity, an excellent afternoon to walk the northern, upland part of the vickery creek trail at chattahoochee --

and we saw the first snake we've seen all year --- a black racer, long enough to give me a start when we came around that tree --- the snake froze, so guinness never noticed it

another crepuscular sunset ---

out for a change

great crab cakes and scenery at henrys for a saturday evening

local produce, c. 1937

i got the moonshine, but my cousin got the real treasure left over from treatment of grandma's "nervous" condition which, given the date, was probably menopause

"made exclusively from Georgia berries"

"urbane and energizing"

after almost exactly a year: the new signage is installed

novare has really quit trying with the design of their new towers, and a lot of people have noticed:

Novare has done excellent projects in the past, including the restoration and repurposing of the landmark Biltmore Hotel on West Peachtree Street, and the urbane and energizing Metropolis condominiums on Peachtree at 8th.

more of the palisades

since fallen trees blocked me yesterday, i went back today via indian trail --- probably the most scenic of the national recreation area's units

trails were a mess --- this is what declining national park service budgets look like --- boo, republicans

the palisades, especially on the east side of the river, and the shoals in the river, are the result of the river breaking through the brevard fault zone millions of years ago ---

yes, i know bamboo is an invasive, but the grove along the river at devils race course shoals is impressive

the clematis virginiana or woodbine, was in full and fragrant flower

the river was running high after a routine release from buford dam --- and with all that cold water from the bottom of the lake, it was 15 degrees cooler walking the riverside trail