Another day in the mountains...

The weekend before I visited the Hamilton Rhododendron Gardens in Hiawassee, GA. (see my previous post here ) was the beginning of their weekend festivals. There were some vendors' tents but they were closed, apart from one that was partly opened. You could see the rustic wood pieces for sale. Before I left the gardens I checked to see if someone was in this tent, but there was no one, although I was able to get a business card of the wood craftsman. In 2019 a large hackberry tree in front of my house in Nashville was struck by lightning and had to be cut down. A piece of the tree was given to me and it fit on top of a plant stand I had. So I was interested in a little table I had seen under the tent in the garden as a match for my plant stand.

Upon return to the lodge I called the wood artisan and left a message. He called me back and told me he had some pieces for sale in his house and only lived about 6 miles away in Young Harris, GA. We agreed that I would go there the next morning early, before 9 am as I had to meet a friend in Hiawassee at 10:30 am. He gave me his address and said I could find it easily with my GPS. I got up at 6 am the next morning to pack and have a quick breakfast. I was able to take a photo of the sunrise over the lake as pictured in my header photo. I checked Google Maps and saw his house in the middle of woods on a hill. Below is a map of the aread where I was. It is located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains on the border of Georgia and North Carolina. (Click on collage to enlarge.)

I placed the address in my car GPS and drove away. Upon reaching Young Harris my GPS told me to turn right on GA State Route 66, then left, then a bit later right, then further on left, then right again, then left and then it said "You have reached your destination." I was on a hill with no houses anywhere near. I called him and he told me two roads had the same name and I was on the wrong one. My GPS was useless then and I could not remember all the turns. After a while I tried to call him again but I was on a tiny road on a hill and there was no cellular signal. I kept driving but the road was twisting up the mountain. I was totally lost.

I had seen a house on the side, among the trees, and started going back toward their driveway to ask for directions. Then I remembered that I was in the US, and asking directions can be dangerous. The red marker on the map below shows where his house was and the black cross near the North Carolina border, in the mountains, was where I went.

I gingerly turned around (as by then the road was one lane) and after twists and turns somehow got back on the main road where my cell phone worked again and he came and met me. I did find a small table at his house and bought it. Then I had to find my way back to the main road again... not easy. This little trip should have taken me 45 minutes but ended taking almost 2 hours (I was lost for a long time...) Luckily I made it back to Hiawassee by 10:30 am to meet my Swiss friend. Then after a nice visit with a strong cup of coffee and a tasty piece of almond cake I drove down the road again toward Bavarian-style Helen, Georgia. It was a lovely morning and the route around the mountains is scenic but I had forgotten that it is steep hill mountain driving on a winding road with blind curves. Although I am used to these mountain roads if I don't use the interstate highways between Tennessee and Georgia, but I had to keep my eyes on the road and not the blubbling stream along the highway.

Arriving in Helen, I stopped at the Betty's Country Store. The first time my husband and I drove to Hiawassee we stopped at Betty's Country Store to buy a snack for our baby daughters. That was back in 1975. The store had opened in 1973 and was quite small, selling mostly fruits, vegetables and snacks. Now it had expanded quite a lot, like a large supermarket, with meat, beer and wines, etc., and eating areas outdoors.

I drove about 1.5 miles down to the village of Sautee-Nacoochee and stopped at the Nora Mill Granary Grist Mill and Country Store (one of the southeast's last working grist mill.) A small dam on the Chattahoochee River was built there in 1824, and later, in 1876, a grist mill was established selling grits, flours and cornmeal. The mill is four stories tall and has 1,500 pound French Burr Mill stones, a 100-foot wooden raceway and a water turbine. A gold prospector, John Martin, built the mill in 1876. In 1901 it was purchased by Dr. Lamartine G. Hardman who named the mill after his sister Nora.

Now the mill has been run by four generation of the Fain family. They still use the original stones to make flours, grits, cornmeal, etc. They sell other products like jams, salsa, hot sauces, syrups, local honeys and pre-packaged products such as pioneer's porridge, pancake and waffle mixes, biscuit and bread mixes amd more. The old-fashioned country store attached to the mill is quaint and it is fun to walk around and look at everything for sale, which I did and took numerous photos.

An assortment of kitchen items were also for sale such as cast iron cookware, cookbooks, wooden mixing bowls and trays, old-fashioned candles and other attractive kitchen gifts.

I walked out to the breezeway and porch that overlooks the Chattahoochee River. Large trout could be seen gathering at the foot of the dam.

It was a warm and sunny day. Watching the trout from the deck and listening to the bubbling river below was vey relaxing after all the mountain driving.

Back inside I took more photos of interesting old items on the walls.

There was also information on how the mill operates. It uses turbines rather than the water wheels used by most mills of that time. It gives an idea on how flour was produced in the past, and how this mill has kept producing stone-ground grains for almost 150 years. The mill is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Before I left I purchased a few items, some requested by my daughters, and a few for me, as shown below. I make my own jams but I bought a couple that were a mixture, to taste and see if I'd like to try making them - T.O.E jam (tangering, orange, elderberry) and Five Pepper Strawberry jelly (strawberry, green bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, Thai pepper, cayenne pepper, habanero pepper.) For the people who cannot drive to the North Georgia Mountains to buy their products Nora Mill has an online store, click here for it. Once you click on the online store link you will see all the different items for sale, and they ship.

Then it was time to hit the road again. I could have driven down the highway to Atlanta but that would have meant crossing the city during rush hour... Instead I cut across the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Talking Rock, GA. to join highway I-575 down to my area, close to Kennesaw Mountain. It was a small two lane road from Nacoochee to Talking Rock with many curves, but there was hardly any traffic, and it was scenic.

I arrived home at 5:30 pm, quite tired and hungry as I had had no lunch. I unloaded the car and noticed that my newly purchased table (made of maple) was a lot smoother and shinier than the piece of hackberry wood I had placed on top of my plant stand. Later, I called the wood artisan to ask him what I should do. He suggested that I bring my piece of wood back to him and he would work on it. Well, now, will I dare go back and get lost in the mountains once more? I told him I may come back in a couple of months...

There was no fresh food in the house and I did not feel like eating a frozen dinner, so I drove to the local diner. They serve fresh meals with large portions. I usually can bring food home for a couple more meals. I had a meat, two vegetables and a side of coleslaw salad. Then the server came and asked what dessert I had selected. I told him I was full and ate only a third of my meal. He said he would bring me a take-out box and asked again what dessert I wanted. I repeated I desired no dessert to which he replied "you have to select a dessert." I asked him why? He said "because someone has paid for your meal and dessert is included." I asked him who had paid and he said he was not at liberty to tell me. So I selected a piece of strawberry cake to take home. When he brought it to me he said "a funny thing happened - someone else wanted to pay for your meal and I said 'too late, her meal is already paid for'. I was astounded and asked him if this occurred often in his restaurant. He told me he had been working there for a long while and he could think of no other time this took place for one of his customers. I was speechless.

What a day it had been - getting lost on primitive roads in the North Georgia Mountains after sunrise, and being afraid to ask for directions, then having two different patrons wishing to buy my dinner at sunset. How about that! Certainly a day to remember.

Christmas in Atlanta ... and Japan

A tall decorated pine tree atop a department store has been a holiday tradition in Atlanta.  It started in 1948 on the downtown Atlanta store of Rich's Department Store.  It was a large 70 to 90 feet tall (21-27 m) decorated white pine that was named Rich's Great Tree.  Rich's was sold to Macy's and now a Great Tree sits on their store at the Lenox Mall off Peachtree Road in Atlanta.

The lightning of the Great Tree starts the Christmas and Holidays celebrations in Atlanta.  This year the 72nd annual Great Tree Lighting event was on 24 November, 2019, and featured live musical performances with a fireworks finale set to favorite music.  There were more than 45,000 multi-colored lights on 490 branches of the tree, with a big red LED lighted star on top.  There are many holiday light displays in and around Atlanta: Atlantic Station, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Christmas Lights at Callanwolde (former home of one of the original founders of the Coca-Cola Company,) Light Festival at Centennial Olympic Park, Mountain Country Christmas Lights at the Stone Mountain Park, Lights of Life at the Life Chiropractic College in Marietta.  There are more places and neighborhoods with twinkling lights.  Below are some (courtesy the AJC.)  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

I was in Georgia for about nine days, driving back to Nashville on December 21, 2019.  To get into the Atlanta holiday spirit I drove to Lenox Mall where I had not been in several years.  I used to work across this mall in the early 1980s and it would take me half hour from my home in Cobb County during morning and afternoon rush hours.  This time, mid morning, it took me 1 hour 10 minutes!  Still, as the sign said I was glad to be back in Georgia.  I enjoyed walking and watching the decorated shops, the shoppers and the benches to rest my feet ... I took several pictures of a grassy reindeer before sitting next to him ... but he never spoke to me -:)

Since I was close to the Neiman Marcus store I went into it to admire their Christmas decorations which are always beautiful.  First I stopped at the counter of Maison Francis Kurkdjian perfumes, mostly because of its Armenian name.  Two gentlemen there told me that Francis Kurkdjian was a French Armenian perfumer of repute who had created many famous perfumes.  They sprayed my wrist with a sample that did smell wonderful.  I forgot its name though when they told me that the 2 ounce bottle costs $345! I thought it was safer to admire Christmas decorations ...

There were several lovely ornaments with the Neiman Marcus name.  I was tempted to buy one but since they started at $50 each I passed as I don't have a tree this year anyway.

After walking all around and up and down Neiman Marcus I walked outside and sat on a leather bench facing the store where I talked to someone this time.

A couple was standing nearby.  The lady went inside the store and the man came and sat next to me.  We started talking.  He told me he was a Japanese business man visiting Atlanta and had brought his wife to do some Christmas shopping.  He added that Christmas was big in Japan.  I was surprised as I thought Japan was mostly Buddhist.  Yes he said, we are 99% Buddhist but we all celebrate Christmas.  He added we don't celebrate it for the birth of Jesus Christ or any other religious reasons; we celebrate the mythical Santa Claus that we call Santa-san ((サンタさん .)  He said they also have a Japanese equivalent of Santa Claus.  It is Hoteiosho, a Buddhist monk who gives presents to well behaved children on Christmas morning.  (Later I found pictures.)

He explained that the Japanese love public lights at Christmas time that they call "Illuminations."  Most major cities, hotels, shops, malls, etc., display these incredible lights.  Osaka he said has major light exhibits that people come from afar to enjoy.

Another thing, he added, that would surprise me is that the big Christmas dinner in Japan is traditionally a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) dinner!  Later, on a French site I found out that in the 1970s when western expats were trying to find chicken or turkey in Japan for the holidays they could only find chicken in the KFC fast food restaurants.  KFC jumped on that and had a huge and aggressive (and rewarding) marketing campaign.  In 2017 the KFC chains sold, between December 23 and 25, 6 billion of yens in chickens (49 million Euros or approx 55 million dollars.)  Close to 4 million Japanese families get their holiday meal from KFC and have to order it months in advance or have to stand in queues for hours, the rest do go to the KFC fast food restaurants to eat.  Some people even think that Colonel Sanders is Santa Claus (pronounced as Santa Kuroosu ((サンタクロース  ) in Japanese.)

The other cultural difference is that Christmas Eve is considered the most romantic night of the year - like St. Valentine Day in western countries.  Couples start making plans months in advance to throw a party or go out to fancy restaurants and nightclubs that are solidly booked.  Hotels are booked as well and stores sell lovers' Christmas gifts while shops have displays of romantic items.

Another interesting fact he added that his American friends find unusual is that for the Japanese traditional Christmas music is not listening to Christmas carols, no, it is to listen to the "daiku."  The daiku I asked?  Yes, it means number nine he replied, we love Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  But he could not explain anymore as his wife was exiting Neiman Marcus with a shopping bag.  I said good-bye to him and he replied "Merii Kurisumasu" (Merry Christmas in Japanese.)

It certainly had been a fascinating conversation.  But I still had some shopping to do.  I drove back to Nashville at the end of that week and spent Christmas at my youngest daughter's home.  There was a beautiful Christmas tree there with many ornaments and gifts.  The two au pairs, one Chinese the other French, enjoyed their new Nashville Predators' sweatshirts (the Predators are the professional ice hockey team based in Nashville.)

For this post I read more on the Japanese Christmas.  I found out that during World War I, the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth was played by Germans held as prisoners at the Bando POW camp in Tokushima.  The Japanese loved this piece of music and it has become a holiday hit.  Japan goes crazy for the final movement of the symphony "Ode to Joy."  In 2018 Beethoven's Ninth was performed more frequently in Japan than anywhere else in the world.  It received more than 170 performances in Tokyo alone.  The last two weeks of December, Suntory Hall presented 11 sold-out performances and Yomiuri Nippon Hall seven.  It is so beloved by the Japanese that they sing it in choirs (even in German) all around the country.  The Osaka choir called "The Number Nine Chorus" comprises close to 10,000 members who perform it every year.  I found one performance on YouTube.

Many people in the US might complain that is is not right for the Japanese to celebrate Christmas in a non-Christian way.  Well, millions of people in the West celebrate Christmas in a non-religious way as well; they see it as a more cultural event than a religious one.  It is really a winter festival that predates many faiths.  It is about family, friendship, charity, gift giving, kindness, happiness and joy.  Why can't it be shared?  We share the earth, the sea, the rivers and mountains, the trees and wild animals, the sky, sun and stars, even a sunset (such as the one below on Christmas Day from my daughter's window,) so why can't we share a holiday if it makes everyone happy?  It does not take away from those who celebrate it in a religious manner.  We should all be able to share the Yuletide for peace and goodwill to all.

And since we are just a few days to the end of the year, I wish each of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Stops along the way ...

A couple of days ago it was time again to drive to Georgia.  The only part of the trip I stress about is going through the mountains in Tennessee on U.S I-24; mostly the notorious portion that goes over Monteagle, TN.  It is considered to be one of the most dangerous sections of interstate highway in the US.  You have to climb up as your ears close from the height, and then the long dangerous downgrade begins with 18-wheeler trucks all around you - and your stomach is fluttering under the strain.  Damages on the median barrier show that many vehicles have experienced problems.  Tough truck drivers avoid the Monteagle mountain stretch and call it a "white-knuckle" highway.  Country singer Johnny Cash had a song about it "Your life is in your hands when you start down that long steep grade on Monteagle Mountain," and so forth.  The scenery is gorgeous is you are a passenger and able to look at the icy rocks, the lovely waterfalls and way down in the valley.  As a driver my eyes are glued on the highway, hoping for no brake failure happening on a large truck but knowing that it did happen by the marks left on the runaway truck ramps on the side of the road.

Usually I stop at the South Pittsburg rest station a few miles past Monteagle, as I have shown on my posts before, but this time I decided to stop first in rural Monteagle, where I had never been.  "Keeping by the main road is easy; but people love to be sidetracked."  Lao Tzu (570 BC-490 BC, Chinese philosopher.)  Because of the elevation it was cold and also quite foggy.  I stopped at a shop called "The Amish Hippie" on Monteagle Main Street.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

Inside it was a bit warmer, with a whiff of incense in the air.  A young woman, covered in several layers of sweaters, greeted me.  She invited me to look around and then asked me if I was German - wrong! (because of my accent.)  I walked slowly around the store, looking at the eclectic merchandise.  There were Amish jams, honey, jellies, creams, homemade toys and some vintage items scattered all around.  Rock music was playing.

The other two rooms had a mixture of tobacco paraphernalia, hookas, jewelry, souvenirs, dyed clothing, tee shirts, capes, sweaters and more.  The walls were covered with hippie photographs, rock stars of the 60s and 70s, and peace symbols.

Back outdoor, it was still cold.  I walked around taking pictures of old cars, yard ornaments, and assorted eccentric items.  The store offered coffee - there were some old tables and chairs outside but uncomfortable looking, even in summer.

As I drove away I remembered a poster I saw in the store, "The Wall" an album by the rock group Pink Floyd.  Pink Floyd was an English rock band of the 1960s with psychedelic music, sonic experimentation and philosophical lyrics.

The word wall in French is mur, le mur.  That word reminded me of something.  Yes, that's it; it was a book I studied in college Le Mur by Jean Paul Sartre.  J.P. Sartre (1905-1980) was a French philosopher, novelist, playwright, political activist and more.  He is one of the best known French 20th century philosophers, a leading figure of the existentialist movement.  He wrote this book of short stories in 1939.  It included the story Le Mur set during the Spanish Civil War.  It was about prisoners condemned to death, not a fun story.  It depicted a wall separating life from death, the living from the condemned and represented brute matter.  I have this paperback in French on one of my bookshelves still.

I stopped at the rest area for my small lunch and then back on the road for the almost 3 hours of driving left and much time to think.  My mind returned to the wall.  I walked on several old walls, ramparts actually, such as in Dubrovnik, Croatia, began in the 8th century and the ramparts in Lucca, Italy.  In France as well there are so many small villages to large fortified cities with heavy walls or ramparts.  I'll show several below.

These fortified walled cities were built centuries ago for protection, with watchtowers for observation against any attack.  During the day the gates were opened to welcome anyone looking for refuge.  Still these walls were breached numerous times such as during the Crusades (conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.)  For protection I guess I could have a wall built around my house in Georgia like in medieval times, but I prefer using an electrical security system with motion sensors and cameras, because this is available in the 21st century, you see.  This brings me to President Trump's wall on the southern border with Mexico.  Even a republican, Will Hurd of Texas, said that a border wall strategy is ancient and borders can better be protected with drones, satellites and aerial reconnaissance (his district includes 820 miles on this border.)  I also found out that even though D. Trump said 4000 known or suspected terrorists were stopped at the border, the number was only 6 people (4000 was the worldwide number) and 91 people were stopped at the US-Canada border.  So, the wall should be at the Canadian border?  The State Department said that there is "no credible evidence that terrorists enter through the southern border."  In fact they come through entry points airports.  I enjoyed the cartoon below from Marian Kamensky.

U.S Border Patrol reports "Apprehension of people trying to cross the southern border peaked most recently at 1.6 million in 2000 and have been in decline since, falling to just under 400,000 in fiscal 2018."  This is not an emergency.  Actually, Germany which is a tiny country compared to the US, gets about 722,000 asylum seekers.  But there is an emergency and that is to send all the government employees back to paid work.  My daughter was at La Guardia Airport in New York 3 days ago trying to fly back home to Pennsylvania.  After waiting several hours because of the weather the passengers were told to just board the plane with their hand luggage as there were no TSA employee available.  They went on without taking their shoes off, or anyone checking their luggage or themselves, just like we did in the 1990s.  Bewildering!  I need to stop thinking about walls.  Still I'd like to return to Carcassonne in France with my camera as I only spent 3 days there with my film camera.  It is the largest city in Europe with its walls still intact, built in the 12th century.  Below are an ancient engraving and a modern aerial view of the city.

I have been busy clearing out my youngest daughter's bedroom.  After she left for university years ago the room was mostly used as a closet and was packed full.  I am slowly tidying it but stop sometimes to look and take pictures of what I find.  For example the Raggedy Ann dolls, shown below.  She says she does not want them for the granddaughter.  What should I do?  Give them to the Goodwill I guess.

There were more packages of old photographs and vintage postcards.  I had found some earlier and just took them to Nashville without looking but this time I stopped to take a look at them, not all, just several.  Unfortunately the photos were not dated.  I know though that the pictures of New York were taken near Ground Zero about 4 weeks after 9/11/01 when I flew there to bring support.

I'm not sure of the date of the photos below.  On top left I was taking a group of aeronautic trainees,
Chinese and Saudis, on an excursion in Chicago, IL.  Next is my eldest daughter in Paris in winter.  Below is my daughter at my French cousin for lunch and her "plateau de fromages" (cheese tray) she had gathered for us.

I also took photos of several vintage postcards.  Below is an old (1903) postcard of Queen Victoria, who had died in 1901.  Next is the family of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia with St. Petersburg below.

Every month I used to go to the Scott Antique and Flea Market at the Atlanta Lakewood Fairgrounds with a friend.  There were several booths then of vendors of vintage postcards.  One of them used to offer old photographs, for 50 cents or so.  I did buy quite a few - loved the hats!

I have to stop all this and get back to work.  Although after a while it gets tiresome to constantly clear up, clean up and gather up to give away.  I went out to look at the wind in the trees.  You can't see from the pictures below, but the wind was moving the pine trees back and forth.

Today it was sunny but still cold - only in the low 40s F (4 C.)  Tomorrow it is supposed to get back into the 60s F (15.5 c) but even so, I'd rather be in the postcard below, building a wall in the sand with children in Ramsgate (UK.) ...