The Boys

These "boys" have remained best friends since they pledged KA at the University of Georgia in 1961.

Kenny Youmans, John McNeil, Jimmy, and Easy Ed Jared at Helen and Comer Hobbs' last night

Down the hill to Franklin

Jimmy and I decided to take advantage of the perfect fall day and make the scenic 15 mile drive to Franklin this morning.   Franklin is the county seat for Macon county, where Highlands is also located, and I've been wanting to do a little title research in the courthouse there.  I'd always heard that my great-grandfather had a place in Highlands before he bought the house in Hendersonville, and I thought it would be interesting to find out where it was.

No luck.  There were not a lot of transactions in the time frame I was searching, and none for Bray.  He must have rented a place or stayed in a hotel like the Highlands Inn, which has been here for 125 years.  I guess he didn't like it here because he went a few miles east and bought the Buncombe Street house in Hendersonville that we all remember so fondly.

The Franklin courthouse is only a few blocks from a popular local restaurant, Cafe Rel, which serves excellent French cuisine, and is incongruously located in a large gas station. Jimmy got linguine with clam sauce (clams in the shells) and I had chicken livers and shallots braised in brandy.  The recipes all seem to be a la Julia Childs, in that they must use a stick of butter in every dish. Rich but Good.

FORE!!! Here comes the bride....!!!

Highlands has become a hot spot for destination weddings, largely at The Old Edwards Inn. (Incidentally, The Old Edwards Inn was voted #3 in the US by Conde Nast in the small hotels and Inns category, behind The Cloister and The Sea Island Lodge.)  We heard that they did over 150 weddings and receptions just this summer.

A couple of weekends ago, I was driving by the golf course, and there was a wedding couple being photographed on the cart path/bridge of the 18th hole, on a beautiful afternoon with golfers everywhere.  I hate to miss a photo op, so I parked my car and took a picture, too.

One of the best obits ever

I just read this on the 'net and thought it was worth sharing.  I hope you can pull it up, 'cause it's worth the effort.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/savannah/obituary.aspx?pid=166950349#fbLoggedOut

Jackie and Mary arrived safely in Philadelphia after a long, long drive, and they're moved in.  They're exhausted but sound happy and excited about their new home and like the neighborhood.

They gave both of their cats sedatives to make the trip easier for them, but it must have had the opposite effect on one of the kitties, because she yowled the whole way up. I don't think Jimmy and I could have stood it much past Cordele.

Jackie and Mary's Big Adventure

Jackie and Mary, with their two cats and their dog Charlie, left yesterday on their move back to Philadelphia.  We're sad that they'll be so far away, but are excited about their future.  And Phillie is a great place to visit.

 

R.I.P. Fred

Portrait of Fred by Hugh Harris West

I've never had to euthanize a pet until today, and it's hard.  We got back to Valdosta last night, and it was immediately obvious that Fred the Cat had deteriorated.  Shirley Crowder, who helps me, feeds her, and Mary, my daughter-in-law, comes by when Shirley can't, and they both have been concerned lately.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Fred was 20 years old.  She was a stray that took up at our house years ago, and when I finally decided we were stuck with her and took her in for shots in 2004, they said she was  an older cat, maybe 8 or 10.  I'd been calling her Fred for a year by then, thinking she was a tomcat, and when the vet told me he was a she, it was too late to start calling her something else.

Today she looked thin, bedraggled, was unable to control her bodily functions, and was barely able to eat or walk, and  appeared to be in pain.  When I called her, she hid under the sofa on the porch.  She must have sensed something was up. I lured her out with a piece of meat and drove her in her pet carrier to the vet, with her meowing and me crying all the way. When they brought her towel-wrapped body back to the car for me, they said she had been in bad shape, and that I had done the humane thing, but still...

I buried her in the backyard by Teddy the chihuahua, with Mama's statue of Francis of Assisi standing watch.