Georgia On My Mind

I visited friends in Georgia this past week and was blown away by how beautiful the Atlanta area is. Elaine and her husband live in an absolutely gorgeous Sun City active-adult community near Peachtree City (approximately 40 miles south of Atlanta). When I think of the South, I see images of flat terrain, Spanish Moss in the trees and Palmettos -- not rolling hills with beautiful tall pines, oaks, maples, and mimosas. What a treat!

After arriving, my friend Elaine and I rode over to her amenity center in "Junior", her cute little blue golf cart for a much-needed post-flight swim. Sun City Peachtree has a wonderful community center (or "amenity" center as they call it) where residents can play Pickleball, Tennis, Billiards, swim in one of the two pools (one indoor, one outdoor) or workout in the full gym. They even have an upstairs indoor track -- nice for those days when it's a bit too hot and humid to run outside.

World of Coca-Cola, Centennial Park, and CNN
The following day, we all took a trip to the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. I have to say it was really just a monstrous advertisement for something that isn't all that good for you, but having grown up with "Coke", it was really fun learning about the company's history and sampling 64 different varieties of soda. :)

 My fabulous hosts, Bruce and Elaine.

Looking down from the second floor.

Looking across to the top of the stairs leading to the second floor.

Some of the many beautiful decorated bottles, each of which is about six feet tall.

 The soda selections from Asia.

 

My two personal favorites: Fanta Magic (Blackberry soda) from Estonia, and Inca Kola from Peru, which tasted like a delicate creme soda. Yummmmm!

The star of the "Happyfication" movie. Just behind her is the entrance to the vault where the original Coca-Cola formula is stored.

 The controls to the vault.

 Another vintage Coke delivery vehicle in one of the exhibits.

 This is the machine I remember most from my childhood. :)

 A collection of vintage Coca-Cola vending machines.

Recycling was heavily promoted throughout the World of Coca-Cola. Nice! At the end of our visit, I purchased a really nice ladies t-shirt of which 40% was made from recycled plastic bottles.

 The exhibit included lots of wonderful Coke-related artwork.

This particular piece was about 5 feet by 8 feet in size and was absolutely mesmerizing.

 A view of the Coca-Cola headquarters building from inside the World of Coca-Cola.

Elaine (at center of photo), sampling a soda from one of Coke's newest "Freestyle" vending machines.

After touring the World of Coca-Cola, we headed to Centennial Park, on our way to the CNN headquarters, both of which are located just outside the WCC.

Elaine and Bruce at the entrance to the Centennial Olympic Park.

 Looking up from inside the CNN headquarters.

That evening, we had a great dinner at the Eagle & Lion Brew Pub in Griffin.

Heading to Athens

On Friday, Elaine and I drove to Athens to participate in the Classic City Georgia Masters LCM swim meet. We decided to arrive the evening before the meet so we would be able to be fully rested. While in Athens, we had a nice lunch at The Grill, which is a nostalgic 50's era diner, took a walking tour of the Memorial Garden at the University of Georgia, and a driving tour of the city. For dinner, we walked across the street to the Sweet Peppers Deli.

A historic marker on the fence of our hotel in Athens.

 Tranquil fountain within the memorial garden at the University of Georgia.

 Elaine in front of the first home of the Garden Club of Georgia.

Plaque on next to the front door of the building.

The garden located behind the Garden Club building.

Close-up of Foxglove blooms in the garden.

Flowering Dogwood trees.

 Another beautiful part of the garden.

Another fountain in the garden.

Day Three (Swimmers Up)

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, Elaine and I headed over to the Ramsey Student Center for the swim meet. Elaine and I had a great time and came back with several ribbons.

Me, showing off my Arizona Masters cap.

I got to meet and chat with lots of nice folks who approached me due to the cap.

  USMS rules!! Woot!!

Happy to have another meet under our belts.

 The University of Georgia pool, our venue for the meet. 

Hands-down the best facility I have swum in to date.

"Queen" Anne Dunavin, a legendary Masters swimmer, who at the tender age of 96 swam in the meet, with Elaine just after arriving.

Elaine, waiting for her next event.

Day Four

Sunday was a bit more low-key. After breakfast, we headed over to Dundee Lake for a little kayaking.

 Perfect conditions for kayaking. :)

Bruce, preparing the "yaks".

A group of Canada Geese allowed me to get close for a picture.

Elaine and Bruce after their paddle around the lake.

For dinner that evening, we headed to the Southern Pit Barbeque for some authentic southern BBQ -- MMMM-MMMM, good!

Heading Home

On Monday, Elaine and Bruce dropped me off at the Atlanta airport for my trip back to Arizona. It had started raining just before we left and we saw a huge bolt of lightning just as we approached the turn-off to the airport. During the drive, we were talking about different airlines and how so many of them had disappeared over the years. I mentioned that some airlines kept the original paint jobs from some of the airlines they had acquired and Elaine asked me if I remembered the PSA planes from back in the day. A few of the PSA "Grinning Birds" as they were known are still around under the ownership of US Airways. To my delight, one such plane was at the gate next to mine in Atlanta. A fitting end to a wonderful trip.

 If you look closely, you can see the "grin" on the bottom of the plane under the windows of the cockpit. You can click the picture to see it larger.

We flew through lots of white puffy clouds during most of the flight.

Almost home!! Looking down on the Royal Palms Golf Course in Mesa, AZ.

In memory of the men who died serving on the USS Newberry APA-158

My father, Allen Louis Ball, served on the USS Newberry APA-158 as a Class 3 Fire Control Officer from  date of commission, October 6, 1944 until the end of the war in 1945. His ship was involved in transporting troops and supplies to various locations, one of which was Iwo Jima during "Operation Detachment". One of the most famous images in history is the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima taken by Joe Rosenthal.

The US sent more Marines to Iwo Jima than to any other battle, 110,000 Marines in 880 ships. The convoy of 880 US ships sailed from Hawaii to Iwo in 40 days. During this invasion effort, several of my dad's shipmates lost their lives while landing marines on the island.
Today, I would like to remember them and the service they provided in the effort to preserve freedom in the world.
My dad never spoke to me about his service while in the Navy, and I had no idea that he participated in such an important battle. The entire time he was in Iwo Jima, he and his crew were in danger of being attacked by Japanese forces. One of his shipmates, Jack Runninger, kept a diary. I found excerpts that were published on the Internet, which portray what he and my dad experienced during their time on the USS Newberry (click a page to view it larger).

 

Mother's Day Bloom

I've wanted to take a photo of a Saquaro blossom since I moved to AZ in 2000, but they are always up on the tippy-top of the cactus, that is until I visited Williams-Gateway yesterday to check out the military aircraft. This particular Saquaro had blooms poking out all over, with several at or slightly above eye-level. Of course, all I had with me was my cell phone, but I am amazed at the quality of this photo. Lucky shot for sure.

In Loving Memory of Carol Lynn Ball

My beloved sister, this is how I will always remember you. 

Young and vibrant and so full of life. I'll miss you.

Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose (a.k.a. Funky Peruvian Cactus)

Well, just in time for Mother's Day, my three-year old Peruvian Cactus has decided to present me with the perfect gift -- flowers! They are absolutely huge -- about the size of a salad plate in diameter, with the most delicate pinkish-white color. The cactus plant is about 7 feet tall, so I had to perch up on top of my ladder to get pictures, so I wasn't able to use my tripod, but I'm happy with them. There are four to five more buds that should flower within a day or two, so I'm hoping to get more shots, but here are a few I took of the initial bloom. As always, you can click any of the pictures to see the full-size image. Enjoy!

There's a baby in my daughter's hat

Yesterday evening at little before 9:30, I took my dog, Chiquita, out for her last chance to void her bladder. We walked out to the street and I waited in my usual spot. I noticed she was straying a bit from where I was standing, so I hollered at her. I don't know if I startled her, but a large dove came flapping out of the tree I was standing under, and about a second later, this fuzzy little shape bounced off of a car and ended up in the gutter. It was her baby!
I managed to pick up the fledgling and tried to put her back up in the tree. I couldn't reach the nest, so I placed her in a spot where I thought she (I don't know why I think it was a she, but it works) would be safe, but no sooner had I released my hold on her, she promptly fell to the ground with a thud. I thought for sure she was injured, but after picking her up again, she seemed to be okay.
Now my brain was turning, what are you supposed to do when you find a fledgling bird? Immediately I recalled that if you can't put the bird back into its nest, you are to place it in a safe place on the ground where the parent birds can tend to it. So, I tucked her under a nearby bush and went home.
About 10 minutes later, my daughter Cheryl came home and said "Mom! Guess what?" To which I replied "A baby dove." Sure enough, when she got out of her car and started up the walk, the baby dove came running out from under the bush straight at my daughter, flapping its little wings (wingers, as she called them).
So, to make a long story short, we kept the baby bird indoors overnight for safekeeping and in the morning, we got a ladder and I was able to put her back into the nest.
I only hope she was reunited with her mama.

UPDATE: The baby bird was indeed reunited with her mama. About a week after we returned her to the nest, we saw her with her mama. She had fully fledged and was perched on the roof of our neighbors house, begging for food. Mama obliged, but soon flew off with her baby following a few seconds later.

Let There Be Light

Since I moved into my house three years ago, I've wanted to replace the dining room chandelier with some track lighting. The light from the chandelier was simply overwhelming. I purchased a nice flexible track unit from Home Depot a couple of months ago, and finally got around to installing it Sunday morning. It was quite the challenge doing it by myself, but I managed to "git 'er done". I think it turned out rather nice.