Dahlonega, GA

Perfect day trip in the Atlanta area, about 2 hours north  of the city and in the mountains.  This adorable little town has a beautiful square in the center of town with lots to entertain all year long.  Gold was discovered here in 1828 but the gold strikes on the west coast were much larger and more publicized.  Gold mining still happens here though at various points along the river.

While the square is a big attraction, the tubing on the river is lots of fun in the summer along with camping.  I have visited a number of times over the years and part of the joy for me is the winding drive through the mountains and all the other small towns as well that are nearby.

On the day we just went to visit there were  lots of tourists and several classes of school children in town.  The people on motorcycles love the drive with the winding roads to get here as well.  On an average Tuesday in October, there were a lot of people around.   The city hall in the center of the square has a commanding presence  as well as a museum in it.  Surrounding  on the square are lots of small shops , the required fudge shop and a nice variety of places to eat and drink.

Definitely consider this a destination if you are spending a couple of days in Atlanta.  This is a nice visit any time of the year.

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Challenge #3

The current challenge is to list the most creative costume I have ever seen or worn.

My dad was the most amazing at doing specialty make-up.  One year we decided on my being a hobo for Halloween and he gave me, at age 8 or 9, the best looking 5 o’clock shadow ever.

In my late teens, my mom came up with my costume of being a Playtex commercial. Now you youngsters won’t get the old ad, sorry.  So I wore a black turtleneck and tights with a bra and girdle over them.  Good thing I was young and skinny and very foolish then. It did make a statement walking into the room. 🙂

When my children were young one had a costume party at the roller rink.  One of the 10 year old boys came dressed as an old woman.  Good attitude made it one of the best costumes and most creative.

At one point I foolishly thought the entire family should wear coordinated costumes. (What was I thinking, I would be the one to make them all.) I decided that Pierrot and Pierrette costumes would be easiest.  This way we did not have to wear any masks, just white make-up on our faces.  Luckily they were finished and then became hand-me-downs for the next few years.

A family member made that same call for coordinated costumes and they showed up years later with purchased costumes for their family.  All condiments, ketchup, mustard, relish and pickles and the family pet was dressed as a hot dog.  Very cute.

At a costume party a gentleman I know came as Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias.  Half his costume was Willie and the other was Julio.  Shirt and pants cut apart and sewn together.  Each foot wore a different shoe.  Half the hair was long and the other was short.  Well thought out and very cool costume.

Challenge #2

This sounded like a quick challenge.  Take the saying “Mirror, mirror on the…”.  Now we need to create new endings for this phrase.

Mirror, mirror on the door sees each person as a dinosaur.   I have this image in my mind of a person standing before a mirror and they see  a little plastic green dinosaur.  Giggles.

Mirror, mirror on the desk makes us all look statuesque. This comes from my being a short. I am buying that mirror from the side show that will make me look tall.

Mirror, mirror on the shelf shows us how we look to ourselves. This is that mirror that will shine that light back onto you.  It shows us all good and bad what is under the mask or the makeup or the wig or the clothes.  Not always easy to look at, but necessary.

Mirror, mirror on the automobile lets us look into what is real. Kind of the same as the previous mirror but with subtitles to include truth in what we say.

Mirror, mirror on the driveway becomes an interplanetary  passageway.  Just like out of a Harry Potter book, this mirror lets us walk through to Venus or whatever planet we invent.

Mirror, mirror on the refrigerator makes me look like an alligator. Pretty much like the first one except here it’s a cute little green alligator looking back.

Mirror, mirror on the wall takes me back to Montreal.  Not a mirror as a passageway but shows my last fun trip to that city.  I like this, now I don’t need to take photos wherever I go, just call it up on the mirror.

Mirror, mirror on the lawn is a beautiful reflection of the dawn.  My favorite part of the day, I love to see the sun come up.  Now I just lay down on the lawn and I can see this mornings sunrise and still sleep in.  Bonus.

 

New Challenge

This is in response to a small writing group that I have joined.  The challenge is to write a short story based on an assigned plot.  One per week is the requirement, and the hope is we will do more than one each week.  Right now I am so busy that I am having a hard time finding time to do anything, but I will try. This is meant to improve our skills in all aspects of writing so even a little bit will be an improvement.

The subjects are all over the place as are the styles, some are mystery while some are fantasy. Today’s is a poem about the woods with a specific word requirement.  If any of this makes sense to you, feel free to comment or correct any things you read that need help.  Thanks for your patience with me during this trial writing.

It’s springtime.

A warm sunny day in May.

Karen came with me today for an early morning walk in the woods.

We are following a nice gentle shady path.

Even with all the trees not filled with leaves the shade is everywhere because there are so many trees here.

Suddenly our chatter scared a deer.

She jumped out of the brush and took off through the trees.

We caught our breath and then we continued on the path.

I then noticed something along the path to my right.

It was a morel.

One of the top ten best types of mushrooms in the universe!

I did a happy dance in the middle of the path in the woods.

I came back the next morning by myself with my little mushroom bag to see what tender morsels I could find.

I was rewarded by a dozen great morels to show for my attempt at a healthy lifestyle.

Occasionally good deeds are rewarded.