Weekend in the City

3.27.2010


V called and said i should come home; all the trees are blooming in the city. I packed up 5 hens and one giant puppy into a smallish car and headed out around 5 pm. The mountains were blue and shrouded in mist. I watched them fade in the rear view mirror. The weekend people are coming in; the traffic thickened northbound a little more every twenty miles i travelled south. Some of them were packed to the gills with bikes and jet skis and the dreaded forest destroying 4 wheelers. Im glad i live on the rural side of the county, not the tourist side where the lake and all the rental cabins are. Lots of boats are headed north too. Theres a big bass tournament this weekend just over the border in North Carolina. And then there is the big news:


The Georgia Legislature passed HR 1773 this week, naming Blue Ridge as the trout capital of jawja. why?

...."According to the resolution, Fannin County is home to 13 bodies of water that have been designated by the Georgia DNR as trout waters -- actually over 550 miles of pristine streams, including The Toccoa River's diverse tailwater, which can be fished all year. Fannin County is also home to the federal trout hatchery in the Chattahoochee National Forest....."


30 minutes away from Chickory my ears pop with altitude change and the landscape opens up to a sunnier sky. Somebody flashed their headlights and i slowed to 65 just in time to innocently glide by a county mounty. A wreck in the next half hour turns the northbound into a parking lot for miles backing all the way to the super slab I-75. I switch to an urban station for the big bass and prepare for a hell for leather street gauntlet. I like this. I enjoy traffic and frenzied lane changing and driving nuttiness now because i know it will only be for a few days and then i can return to the chill life for restoration.

Atlanta is in full spring flower and its beauty is the counterpoint to the country. The city is a beauty of manicured lawns, landscaping and hardscapes of brick and wrought iron and rock; spring bulbs and pretty people walking their pretty dogs through glittering canyons of high rise condos. The parking lot at Saks and Nordstrom are filled; and the Tavern at Phipps is overflowing with a see and be scene. When i reach my destination - home -i find the pear and cherry in full flower and the lilac and clematis ready to bud out. Eastern Redbuds and Tulip Poplars are vibrant in color too as are the camellias. The one in our front yard is heavy with flowers and looks like it might fall over from the weight of them.

Here i have a sample of flowering pear, quince and white cherry blossoms; violets ; and what everyone calls a tulip tree, but i don't know for sure.






Tonight V and I are going to a concert at the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see the "Jimi Hendrix Experience Tour: Celebrating the Music and Legacy of Jimi Hendrix". The venue is like an incredibly ornate Egyptian ballroom with a dash of moroccan architecture and the acoustics are pretty good as it isnt too large. I love going there and we can take the MARTA train with only a few blocks of walking from the station. I hate parking downtown. Ive had my car wrecked twice by valets.

It will be a fun people watching crowd there will be a lot of rock in rollers and their mols (like me and V) and the line up of players sounds promising too: Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Living Color, Johnny Lang, Joe Satriani, Robert Randolph, Los Lobos, Ernie Isley and Billy Cox who played woodstock with Jimi. Im pretty excited, not just about the show, but about having a date with V. Now that we spend so much time apart, our times together are more eventful and much more fun. I will try and get some photos of the "scene" for Moi's fashion blog. The theme? I dont know, maybe aging hippy chicks?

17 comments:

  1. Oooooh, fun on the concert - sounds like my kind of hot date. Let us know if you do post pics of the aging hippy chicks, would love to see what everyone in Hotlanta is wearing. We aren't blooming here yet, maybe just a few trees with sprigs of bulbs starting to sprout.

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  2. Date Night, whooohoooo. Sounds like big fun. Have a wonderful time.

    You need a mini-chicken van for all your hen hauling needs.

    Now the trout at the federal trout hatchery...are those the endangered red seckle trout?

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  3. Be sure to pay attention to the announcements at the concert, OK?


    PS: May I have a higher resolution image of Dovey?

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  4. the
    red, green, white
    pear, quince and white cherry blossoms
    image is gorgeous and as fine a composition as i've ever encountered -- beautiful

    this template is a whole lot faster than the last one

    have a great weekend

    × × ×

    /t.

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  5. Love the images. We've long been blooming here ... that last flower image between the violets and the theatre ... that's a magnolia ... lovely, anyway.

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  7. pam: apparently everyone was wearing their jeans tucked into boots with lots of straps and then there were the earth mom types too. occasionally, an old fart managed to score a younger girlfriend - they wore little dresses with the cage/bondage heels. i couldnt get any photos - too dark. sound mix was horrible. i am very disappointed - home early and having a beautiful reunion with the dogs.

    shamy: on no no no i dont do vans. no! i have to keep my flock at a minimum until i get a truck that can go 100 miles. the farm truck could, but shouldnt. i dont know about the trout. i will find out and report back. bought my peeps today!

    xl: dovey? okay. want me to post it for you or mail it? the announcements! ha! if i had been on acid i might not have minded the AWFUL SOUND MIX. like taking money and throwing it in a hole. shoulda been like a church service at the church of Jimi. instead, it was a miserable wall of sound. worst ever.

    /t: i love that scan too. spring is so bright. glad to hear about the page load...i still want to make my own background but i like this color.

    faery: magnolia!? i thought they were all evergreens. these were blooms on an otherwise bare tree. i have enjoyed your photographs lately.

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  8. Oh bummer about the concert.


    Thanks! Either post the Dovey pix or send to me via e-mail (address on my profile), at your convenience.

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  9. xl: heres a comment from a guy who attended the show in minneapolis:

    From our seats near front center of the balcony, the bass was so overpowering that you could barely make out the guitars and vocals (even the drums at times). It was the worst mix I have ever heard and my opinion was shared by everyone I talked to. I found the Orpheum's House Manager (Jerry) early in the show and he was responsive and tried his best to get the message to the production crew. It seemed to improve a little for a while, but by the last few songs of the concert, fans were pouring out the doors, literally holding their ears. With a stellar group of musicians like this and a decent venue like the Orpheum, there is just no excuse for such poor sound quality. The sound engineer would have only had to step upstairs to hear what was going on with the mix. That guy should be fired for the quality of his work. Very unprofessional. I can't believe that I had to walk out on Joe Satriani because I couldn't hear his guitar over the painful bass volume. What a disappointment. I feel cheated (and my ears are still ringing) - all due to a technician that didn't do his job.

    AMEN.

    will send ya dovey when i get to my studio tomorrow! happy weekend to you.

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  10. In the beginning of the post envy arose.
    Wow - traveling to a city.
    Interesting architecture, brilliant musicians, ageing hippies.
    Felt a little rural and isolated.

    Sorry it was a bummer.
    At least getting there and big was ringed with variety and a change of texture.

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  11. The garden concert wins!

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  12. Me again,
    I meant to mention I have observed couples who still date one another preserve what was good before you started doing his laundry!

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  13. as an aging hippie chick, i wonder: what looks good on us these days?
    alicia

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  14. Boooooooo! I wanted it to be fun for you both.

    Thank you for showing your Spring. Out here.... it will arrive in about a month. I'm wallowing Vitamin D as I type and wondering how many hippies you saw.

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  15. Glorious blossoms, I hope you and Val enjoyed the concert. xoxo ♥

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  16. Wow, this looks so cool! I love Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Can't wait for your report!

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  17. Beautiful, these your plants colors!

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