My Road in Cobb County, Ga. (Part 2 of 2)

This is a continuation of my post of October 9th where I explained that my road passes through the Kennesaw Civil War National Battlefield Park. Below is a postcard showing this park –


About 2 miles from the park, going toward our house, is an old farm which has been on this road since before the Civil War. In 1993 this farm, called Lake Laura Gardens, was awarded the Centennial Heritage Farm Award by the State of Georgia. The Centennial Heritage Farm Award honors farms owned by members of the same family for 100 years or more and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A “Georgia Centennial Farm” marker is on the grounds.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Troy, the owner, is 89 years old and still works in the field. He is tall with piercing blue eyes. He told us how the original farm was burned down in 1864 when General T. Sherman’s troops passed by. During the war Troy’s ancestor lived in a cabin in the back of the field, then as soon as the war was over he and his neighbors built a new house, in 1865. The hardest part was to obtain nails Troy told us. Troy was a pilot in World War II. He was stationed in England near the English Channel for 1 year 3 months. He flew to and over Normandy on D Day and told me that it was a very foggy day. It is chilling to hear him talk about his 359 combat hours during the war and it seems so far away from his peaceful gardens. Troy is a proud Democrat and if you have the time he will tell you why the Iraq war was started irresponsibly and under false pretenses (and illegally) by President Bush resulting in our economic problems today. He has a nice fig tree facing our road – they are of the Celeste figs variety - my figs are of the Brown Turkey variety. Below are pictures of Troy and his fields and my husband picking some figs.



When we moved to this road in Cobb County most of the houses were small and more of a “vintage” style. But as time went by the fields were sold and McMansions started to appear. For example looking to the right of our house, about 3 houses up is this house below which is quite old and basic.


If you look down to the left from our house, the site welcoming us is still a country type scene and there are cattle in some of the fields.


But on our side of the road, our next door neighbors, if you can call this house that, since it is about ¼ mile down the road is the house below with many extra buildings in the back. We do not know who has been living there for the last fifteen years (they have not come over yet.)


Continuing down our road, these are the next two houses that can be seen. The creek near these houses was flooded during the last bad Georgia flood and the road was closed starting from in front of our house. I enclose a picture of the flooded field below and the way it looks today, with the banks eroded – note the same red barn in the bottom two pictures.


Further down my road there are more houses, not very close together, but of different styles and ages. Here is an old one by the look of its trees –


And here is an assortment of other houses near my road. Obviously the Cobb County Planning Commission has let everyone built anything they wished - an estate next to an old country cabin with the ever present kudzu vine in between. What? A building code in Cobb County? When I think about my mother who had to wait one year to get the OK from her suburban town near Paris to build a small one room addition to the back of her house….but that was in France, where building codes are very strict.

Don't forget to click to on the photos to enlarge them

As we turn around and go back down the road toward my house I see all the houses that have become very familiar because I have driven by them for years. But I do not know the people who live in them. The neighbors we knew passed away or moved away. From our house we see no one but the trees and it is very private. This is good because during the rush hours the road now has vehicles bumper to bumper for miles. When we moved here there were not many houses and the battlefield park had been finished and inaugurated by the park service only six year before.

Since the advent of Newt Gingrich – Cobb County is his district – many rich super Conservative Christians have been moving in or building the mega houses. Another church has been built on my road a couple of years ago as well as an expensive and exclusive strict Christian private school. They purchased 40 acres to build their large dominion high school and advertize “The mission of our High School is to glorify God as we prepare students in mind, body, and spirit to meet life's challenges with a Christ-centered Biblical worldview and with Christ-centered academic, moral and spiritual instruction.” I wonder how an evangelical and selective “biblical worldview” without a broad and tolerant religious inclusion is going to prepare these students for the international challenges needed for tomorrow when 7 or more out of 10 people in the world are not Christians (although if you count the practicing Christians only the figure would be closer to 2 out of 10 – including all the various Christian denominations.) One report I read stated that 42% of evangelical Christian schools in the US failed to meet the standards in promoting tolerance and respect for other cultures and faiths. This school is less than a mile away and when I try to drive out of my driveway now I have to be very careful of all their huge SUV zipping by my home before I can access the road. Yes the community has changed and it has changed my road. It is not longer Rural Route No. 4.


In spite of all the building and “progress” just down my road a little family produce store, which was there when we arrived years ago, has survived. We can still walk to it to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Life goes on within and without you. -the Beatles.