Respond To The Call

“You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away.”
― C. JoyBell C.

I don't actually think people see light and rainbows when they look at me, but what I want to convey tonight is that so often, we spend too much time worrying, planning, second guessing, and not enough time just living and trying our best to be happy.

Today.. I decided to live. 

I got up fairly early, and man oh man it was cold down here. (Yes, 39 degrees is cold to us.) I cooked a wonderful breakfast for Big Guy and Lynn, we had nitrate-free organic bacon and reduced fat butter milk biscuits with country gravy. A few cups of coffee and a few mewing kitties later, and everyone is content. After B.G. went home, I relaxed and finally finished Mockingjay (which.. btw.. if you have not read the Hunger Games trilogy, I would actually recommend it!)

 Finally, I met B.G. at his apartment and we went across town to one of our favorite terrible places to eat- A Chinese Buffet. (They are just terrible, aren't they?) But regardless, we love this place. I actually tried a frog leg. Sure... probably not the best place to try one, but hey, a frog is a frog.. and well.. it does taste like chicken, but.. there was something strange about it. I'm not sure if it was psychological or what. But I tried it. Let me say that again... make sure you understand something.. I'm not big on trying a whole lot of new foods. But I did.. and well.. though I may have spit it out after chewing for a few minutes, the point is, I did try it.

Then we had to make a decision - go bowling. (Which could have been fun. He was ranked sixth in the state of Florida for his youth bowling league.. who knew? ;-) ) or go hiking. Luckily, the weather was a nice 52 degrees and cloudy, so we opted for hiking and exploring. We drove 30 miles north and started out in Butts County (what terrible name for a county,) and hit Dauset Trails in Jackson, Georgia. 

Dauset Trails is primarily an outdoor center devoted to rehabilitating wildlife. There are miles of trails and so much to see! Luckily, I had been there numerous times throughout the years, so I acted as our little tour guide. This was B.G.'s first trip, so I tried to make it as fun as possible. We started out with the Wonder Room. This room has alligators, turtles, snakes, and all sorts of creepy crawly things native to Georgia. Apparently Big Guy is a little unnerved by snakes. I got a good kick out of that one. 

Next we walked through the animal trail. This trail winds about 1/2 a mile through the woods around a small lake. We saw everything from Coyote, otters, beaver, owls, hawks, a Bald Eagle, deer, bison, turkeys, black bears, bob cat, and a cougar. All native to Georgia. My favorite was watching the deer so close up and hanging out with the cougar. He paced back and forth, and finally decided to stop right in front of me. When Big Guy walked off, he decided to start purring. It was pure magic, I tell you! 

Next we took off to the farm. It is a a 19th century style working farm where you can see goats, pigs, cows, a mule, donkey and lots of chickens. Also featured at the farm is a blacksmith shop, cane syrup mill and cooking areas, country store, chicken coop, tenant house, and a smoke house.

We had an absolute blast. (Did I mention... it's free?)

After our 1 1/2 at Dauset Trails, we drove about 6 more miles up to High Falls State Park.  After putting $5 into the honorary system "pay and park" at the site, we took off to enjoy the park. High Falls State Park is named for the tumbling cascades on the Towaliga River. Basically we got to hike along the river’s edge and through the hilly forest to the remains of a hydroelectric power plant foundation.  In the early 1800s, this area was a prosperous industrial town with several stores, a grist mill, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, shoe factory and hotel. High Falls fell from prosperity in the 1880s when a major railroad bypassed it.

After enjoying the swooshing water falls, we climbed back into the car and headed straight to Starbucks. We both needed a little "warm up," since 50 degrees for a few hours was a little cold for us. ;-)

I laugh about the cold, but the truth is, it is supposed to drop signifigantly tonight. Even for us! While the rest of America is bunkering down during a blizzard, we will have freezing rain.. something we are certain not used to.

Tonight there is supposed to be a low of 32, and only warming up to 35 tomorrow. Then tomorrow night, we are actually expecting 15 degrees. That's crazy cold for this part of the states.

Don't laugh at us.. it's cold for us! Our homes aren't exactly winterized, you know?

I'll leave you now with just a few shots from my mini adventure today! I have a super busy work week, and a fun filled weekend planned for next week. Stay warm my northern friends, and I hope to share more adventures with you soon!

If you would like to learn more about fun and inexpensive ways to travel and explore Georgia visit Explore Georgia.