a walk to west end

poor dog --- he's starting to get tired of the miles-long walks, or maybe i'm just too impatient --- he can do three or four miles, but it'll be slow miles --- today i left him at home and walked to west end

peachtree to forsyth to whitehall --- falling backwards through time through the decay of south downtown ---- four miles and an hour and a half or two or so, what with dawdling to take pictures and what not --- caught the train back only because it was threatening rain ---

the stub of alexander street, one of the oldest streets in the city

blackberries blooming first week of march ain't right

i've passed through this intersection for as long as i can remember and i'm not sure i ever noticed these stairs --- a disparity of materials in what is the head of the peters street viaduct warrants continued interaction

the fetid side of whitehall

checking on the resources

guinness and i had an excellent morning walking and talking around hyde farm, along the river, and through the woods with a very dear friend --- 

first time to walk the river between morgan falls and mulberry creek --- and for the first time saw one of the several rock fish weirs in the river, some hundreds of years old (the whitewater near the far shore in this image is exiting the apex of the v-shaped structure)

to their credit, the county at least preserved the historic appearance of the farm as they heavily reconstructed the outbuildings and rehabilitated the house

biased much?

150-200 trumpsters show up at the capitol to show their support, and the AJC reports the event on the front page and in glowing terms and closely cropped images ---- thousands on the streets on saturday, and nary a word

the paper did not include this image of the entire gathering, although one of the local tv stations did

marching for social justice

i just realized that i never posted anything here on the huge march the day after the inauguration --- there were 63,000, give or take a few, here in atlanta, which was one of dozens all over the world, collectively the largest political demonstration in the nation's history --- it got very little local coverage at the time

this is what democracy looks like . . .

i went to the first, more or less spontaneous event of those freaked over the election --- turned out to be much larger and more vocal than i had expected --- so, too, what has followed the inauguration --- the world-wide marches the day after the inauguration were massive --- 63,000 on the streets of atlanta ---

there have been two or three other protest gatherings of one sort and another that i have missed, but friday noon at p'tree and ponce was an excellent demonstration in support of the EPA, the trashing of which is one of the stupidest of the many stupid things this administration has undertaken --- always see a couple of friends and more, including cousin jody here, unchanged since 1974

then yesterday there were several thousand of us on peachtree in support of the ACA, organized by georgia alliance for social justice, who organized the big march in january --- again, a little surprised at how many attended --- all of this public action is making a difference, too, besides making it clear there is no mandate for what the republicans are trying to do --- repeal of obamacare looks less and less likely

fun times

an excellent little event saturday night at a friend of patti's in candler park --- 65 xmas trees, burned one by one --- buncha drunken pyromaniacs

indian cave

i had heard about this cave, at east palisades unit of chattahoochee river nra; but today i saw it for the first time --- wonderful place that humans have been going in and out of for ten thousand years--- robert and guinness were also suitably impressed --- i need to see the archaeological report on this one

friday!

a productive morning at natl archives and afternoon typing --- then 106 club at georgia grill and one of the best chili rellenos i've ever had

with orchidaea in the background


today i realized i don't wake up every morning sick at the thought of trump --- it struck me today again how he is everything obama is not, right down to eating big macs off a silver tray ---

and this!

waiting on spring

too early for spring, but not for camellias and helleborus and apparently not for that artificially bred jonquil ---

the orchidian alliance

last week, i threw out all of the phalaenopsis and cattleya, since they were just not thriving under my care --- the oncidium, zygopetalum, and neostylis, on the other hand, are doing just fine ---

a lot more to open, including the one at left, which was given to me after it had stopped blooming, so i don't know what to expect --- the buds are purty impressive

escape

guinness and i checked out smithgall woods state park in white county yesterday -- 5+ mile, part of it through a weird landscape, the product of 19th-century gold mining --- wonderfully quiet and more or less to ourselves ---

i wish i could have been blogging what's happened just in the last two weeks, but it's just all too much --- trumpistan is all the horrible that i thought it would be, and then some --- the blatant corruption almost pales against the religious and racial antagonism that he is encouraging  and the overall ignorance, on so many levels, that he represents --- i hope we are not sliding into a dreadfully illiberal, if not outright fascist regime that will be the ruination of our republic ---- they say history repeats, or at least rhymes, and those of us who know a little bit of history are doomed to sit around and watch it happen --- i just wish i could really understand it --- observation is not understanding --- sometimes i think all i can do is take the dog for a long walk in the woods

a concrete ford on dukes creek

we're about the same in dog years --- but he can trudge along at a pace i can't keep sometimes

loudsville campground, not far from smithgall, is a purty great place, dating to the 1830s, although all of the buildings are  20th century i think