Tag Archives: Atlanta

Freedom

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My husband and I are selling our house after 22 years. The house has been good to us, a tranquil space close to friends, surrounded by green forest, containing critters to keep us amused . . . and sometimes anxious. Think snakes in the crawlspace. We have been good to the house in return–fixing it up to bring out the beauty of the over-sized rooms, high ceilings, beams and lots of light.

We decided to have a moving sale to get rid of stuff that won’t fit into our smaller place. My husband has a birdcage. This cage has followed us from marriage through moves to Ohio and then to Georgia. The cage is over-sized and made of wood, the old-fashioned kind. It’s not in the best of shape–two of the small slats are broken, and the door is stuck open. During set up for the sale, he placed it on top of a shelving unit and put a sold sign on it.

birdcage

 

Now I’ve wondered about this cage and often thought, “There’s that birdcage. We haven’t gotten rid of it yet?”

During the sale, several people inquired about it.

He smiled and said, “It’s already sold.”

However, one of our friends persisted. “Are you sure it’s sold? Why didn’t the person take it? How much did they pay? I’ll pay more.”

Finally, my husband said, “I’ll never sell the cage because it represents freedom.”

“Freedom? How so?”

“You see the open door? Whenever I’ve felt trapped in a situation and unsure what to do, I look at the cage with it’s wide open door, and I realize I can leave. I change or move or do something different. I don’t have to stay where I am. I can be free.”

Our friends, neighbors and even service people say, “But we love your house. Won’t you miss it?”

We do love and will miss The Ranch as we call it, but it’s time for someone else to love on it so we can try something new.

Spring Is Here!

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Spring at last! Longer days. More sunshine.  Bluer skies. Flowers and flowering trees. March 20 is the first official day of spring and the vernal equinox. The Almanac provides interesting details about the vernal equinox.

Atlanta has true four seasons. In my first blog post, I vented about Atlanta’s handling of snow, but spring is the season Atlanta does well. There are innumerable flowering trees in the city and surrounding suburbs—cherry, crabapple, redbuds, Bradford pear, dogwood and others—each bearing beautiful blossoms.

The first flowering trees are cherry and crabapple. Small buds appear and gradually increase in size until blossoms pop out. Soon, forsythia’s bright yellow flowers appear then daffodils and Bradford pears. Mixed in are budding oak, cedar, and maple trees. The buds turn to small leaves quickly. By mid-March, the clocks have been turned forward, there are warmer, sunnier days and spring is well entrenched. The foliage softens the hard edges of the landscape, the coldness of the buildings and provides pops of color in unexpected places. We can look forward to the delicate beauty of Japanese cherry blossoms, rich pink magnolias, bright pink and white dogwoods and azaleas in many hues.

While the calendar designates March 20 as the first day of spring, Atlantans know our spring began toward the end of February. As an escapee from the north, I LOVE IT!

BRADFORD PEAR

BRADFORD PEAR

January 29, 2014

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2014-01-28 16.05.45

It snowed in Atlanta yesterday. Roughly two inches and the fall out (sorry!) continues. As a city, the governor, mayor and residents all pretend we know how to deal with snow. We don’t. We can’t. And we never will. It doesn’t snow enough year to year. The last big snow we had in 2011 turned from snow to ice, and we were iced in for a week.

This year when the snow began falling, schools and business remained open. The weather folks reinforced the fact it was snowing, and everyone looked outside.

“Oh, my gosh! It’s snowing and hard!”
“We need to close now! Parents come pick up your kids.”

What happens when metro Atlantans get on the road at the same time? A predictable jam on the expressways and major streets. Rush hour here is bad enough on a daily basis when we drivers stagger the times we head home from work and school. But all at the same time? Think Halloween trick or treating on a school night. As I write this, there are still unfortunate individuals stranded in vehicles, cars abandoned on the freeways, students in shelter at schools and a rolling gridlock, thanks to the iced over streets from yesterday’s snow.

One day our governor, mayor and we Atlantans will get it. We’ll embrace the fact we aren’t in Minneapolis, Chicago, or New York. We don’t have enough snow removal, salting or other snow equipment. And taxpayers won’t foot the bill for plows that aren’t used but every 3-4 years.

So, next time it’s going to snow, governor and mayor, declare a State of Emergency. Put the word out on the news and social media — stay home until further notice. Sleep late, make a big breakfast, play outside with your kids. Build snowmen. Sled. Anything! But PLEASE stay home and off the roads!