CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER

On our way back from Pine Mountain, we stopped at the West Point Dam on the Chattahoochee River, which is generally the border between Alabama and Georgia. Yes, we sang that silly Alan Jackson song a few times ;)

You can tell by the water stains where the level of the river usually is when a drought isn't making life difficult for those in South. Only the far left gate is open to allow water to flow in the river. You can see a few wishful fisherman on the left casting their line into the river.

Jerry was astounded that the river was so low. He has never seen these rocks exposed before, but I'm sure the birds enjoyed a nice safe place to rest. Check out that red Alabama clay that Garth Brooks song so poetically sang about (though I think that is technically the Georgia side of the river).

Check us out having some fun. I actually think he was trying to stick his cold nose on me to show me how cold he was. I'm sure in retaliation for me sticking my cold hands on his face.

This is how happy we looked before we decided to hike up to the top of the dam to check out the lake. There is actually a road that you can drive on that goes right over the top of the dam.

More fun panoramas- including West Point Lake (above) and the Chattahoochee River (below)

Random fact- if you have heard of the brand West Point Stevens (they make towels and sheets and other cotton products), then West Point (Georgia) is the town where they started. They would use all the nearby cotton to make textiles & the rivers would provide energy for the cotton mills.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I made it running, to the gym & grocery store this morning before work!

THE Old Place, PART 2

I couldn't resist sharing a few more shots since I was so impressed and amazed by the Old Place. We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather last Friday as we took long walks about the tall trees, played around at the tenant house, checked out the cemetery and explored the Old Place.

I just loved the chimneys! They could have been just plain, tall, straight chimneys, but no! They had to be a little bit extra fancy with their pattern near the top. How fun are those little windows too! You must have them there so you can enjoy the beautiful trees changing color.

My dear husband was so patient and wonderful as he took in all this history. He happily listened to story upon story of the rich history of the plantation. I think all this time in the country, especially the deep South country, was a bit of a culture shock for my city-boy. He was awesome though, and that's why I love him!

Can you tell I'm a bit obsessed with the bricks on the chimney? Oh and the trees too! I loved the trees. They don't change color like that there in Houston. :(

This is actually the right side of the house, with the front porch on the left and the big back porch on the right. Although the exterior is in great shape after lots of hard work, the work on interior has just begun.

During our visit, a contractor came who was going to help them finish out the inside. Although they had done much of the plumbing and electrical work themselves, they were just getting to a point where some major re-modeling decisions had to be made before they could proceed any further with the work. Plus, since they are only in Alabama about half the time and the entire summer on the plantation is dedicated just to mowing the property and keeping it clear, they really needed some full-time help to get the project finished.

Hopefully, we will return in a few years to this front porch and spend nights rocking on it, watching the sunset.

I'm just totally blown away with all the work they have done. How much love somebody could have for a building and their own history is astounding to me. It's just an extraordinary quality that you don't often see in people anymore. I'm so excited we were able to share in such a piece of history & I can't wait to come back when they are done.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Because of all their hard work, their children and grandchildren will be able to know their history and enjoy the legacy left to them.

THE Old Place, PART 1

Welcome to The Old Place, as it is affectionately known. It's amazing for me to see because I have been to Alabama twice before- in April of 1999 with my family when I was in college and on a work trip in April of 2004. They have been pouring their blood, sweat and tears into rebuilding and restoring this old house for almost 10 years. It was a house very similar to the house that once stood here, but was torn down when the family needed wood & wanted to move their main house closer to the main road (sometime during the depression I think).

We visited the Old Place on Friday after Thanksgiving, and I was loving the brilliant blue skies for taking some fun photos. This particular house was located on some other family property a few dozen miles away. The house, made with wood pegs- not nails, was completely disassembled, piece by piece and transported to its current location.

Basically the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle to re-assemble the tens of thousands of pieces of lumber and to re-lay as many bricks as possible. Many things are new about the house, such as the windows and siding and columns, that couldn't be saved, but there interior skeletal frame of the house is almost 200 years old.

The house sits in a beautiful clearing, surrounded on all sides by the trees. Adelle could find the old worn down paths from the original location of the main house to the smoke house and all the other tiny supporting buildings that once stood in close proximity.

I loved the intricate patterns in this chimney- the perfect zig-zag against the blue sky and a mix of old and new mortar.

I can't even begin to fathom the thousands of backbreaking hours spent cutting, painting and hanging up all the hardi-plank on all sides of the house to ensure it is protected for decades to come.

Just walking around this place gives you such a sense of history. Who else walked on this boards and cooked meals in this fireplace? What did they talk about when the sat on the front porch or did they worry about the weather and droughts just as much as we still do?

The house itself is really quite beautiful- with wonderful dormers and symmetric fireplaces on each side of the house.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: There are still people who adopt our history, who will protect it and keep it up and pass it along to future generations.

DAY 17 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection and devotion. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

STANDING ON HIS WORD: "Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool ....Here a great number of disabled people used to live." John 5:2-3

Now you may wonder why we are reading about a Sheep Gate with a pool and why sometimes odd, detailed references to ancient places are included in Scripture. God giving us detailed descriptions of physical places and historical events is part of a plan that He has in place for us to verify the truth and accuracy of scripture. Reading about the Sheep Gate, which seems a bit random, I was reminded about Nehemiah's wall the he rebuilt in Jerusalem. Just this week, archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be the 2,500 year old wall in Jerusalem. Again- further physical & historical proof to Bible.

There are some great books out there that detail all the historical, physical, archaeological and corroborating evidence to support the historical accuracy of the Bible. One great book is Case for Christ, which I highly recommend.

Lastly, I stop and think about how knowing Jesus has changed so many people's lives on such a personal level, including mine. I consider myself disabled without Him, without the hope of Salvation, without the endless grace and eternal love. It's only when I stand in Him that I am fully alive.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: One of my favorite all time christian aritst, Rich Mullins sings If I Stand, with great words.

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

ABANDONED HOME

Don't miss the first installment of the Tenant House story here.

I was a bit fascinated by the Tenant house and wanted to take a closer look at this marvelous structure. The house was literally like a book- with each and every detail telling the story of the building's history.

I was especially enamored with the weathered, aging wood that was slowly losing the battle against the elements. The intricate patterns of the wood grain and the mesmerizing shades of browns, blacks and grays.

Inside the Tenant house, I felt like I was at once both stepping back a few decades and at the same time trespassing into the former occupant's life. The inside boards were in remarkably good condition (one reason they are trying to save the building) and the contents of the rooms tell a fascinating story.

Mixed with garbage and abandoned pieces of simple furniture, the rooms made me wonder who exactly lived here in this room and what was their life like. I tried to imagine them using this dresser or why those drawers were missing.

I was told that the last occupants had attempted to set off fireworks inside the chimney, and they had caused so much damage to the brickwork that it must be totally torn down and rebuilt.

The house was literally made out of solid wood, which was something that is quite a novelty to me. Most modern buildings I roam around are put on a concrete foundation, with cement walls or some sort of dry wall. The floor is made of wood in this house, and in all but a few places where the ground below can be seen, it is in excellent condition.

The house also holds more boards to be restored and put into the "Old Place".

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I really, really needed this day to relax, catch up and snuggle with my hubby.

TENANT HOUSE

I'm going to try to crunch out a few extra Alabama posts a day to get through them since I have quite a few more! Not that I'm doing anything interesting this weekend that I need to blog about next week, but something exciting might come along.

Not too far from the "main house" (not to be confused with the Old Place), is what is referred to as a tenant house. I'm sure Adelle told me all about, how it was built a really long time ago and how it had been expanded over the years and who has lived there. Too bad my memory sucks and I forgot most all of it.

Despite the appearance of the outside walls, aged and dilapidated, the building is actually doing relatively well. The contrast between the new, bright red roof, built to protect the inside of the house creates a unique contrast to the splintered boards below. Since the house is constructed of excellent "old" hardwoods, it will stand the test of time with minimal protection against the elements.

Something ominous about the tree adjacent to the tenant house- it looked so spooky and creepy. I was informed that it was some type of tree that the silk worms liked, so they could collect silk to make clothing from it.

I really got a bit carried away with my fascination with this house, but it was like a field day for me and my camera. It was fun exploring some body's abandoned world.

In case you didn't know why there would be two doors side-by-side, it was for leasing out a room of your house to other tenants. They would have their own door to access their room so as not to bother the original tenants.


Just one fabulous view of the mesmerizing trees with the freshly baled hay waiting to be collected. Back to the tenant house to look on the inside....

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Finished my 18 mile run this morning and felt pretty darn good!

FAMILY CEMETERY

I'm usually not one that's really big on thinking about dying or walking around cemeteries, but I've also never visited a family cemetery. In Alabama, the plantation itself was an amazing piece of land that is intricately connected to this family. It was originally purchased by a great great great (old) somebody in the 1830's (I think) from the Indians.

Several dozen family members are buried in the cemetery, and it gives one an incredible sense of history and belonging to look at all your (but not my) ancestors buried in one place. Adelle could tell us something about each person- who they were, what they did, how they died and what they contributed to the plantation during their life. She's spent countless hours restoring the headstones and keeping the land neat and tidy.

It's so sad and incredibly moving to see quite a few baby graves, and in fact, it was a tiny newborn baby that was the first person buried in this family cemetery. Many of the graves are so old, the engraving in barely visible or the grave is simply marked by a weather stone on the ground.

Another interesting fact was that just over the hill and in the woods was the slave cemetery, where all the slaves were buried. Apparently it is in a horrible state of disrepair because nobody has maintained it or kept it up. Adelle is hoping to be able to return that land to the family plantation one day so that she can care for that land too.

Given the 4 deaths in my life this year, I have been confronted more and more with the inevitability of one day dying or of my parents & grandparents dying. I'm still not sure if I want to be buried, but the whole process still doesn't bode well with me. It sounds so much more pleasant to say your family has a place where their physical bodies are all brought back together in hope that their spirits are all brought back together in heaven.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Doesn't really matter where I'm buried, I've got a one way ticket to heaven.