Things You See On The Cherokee Trail

Here are some photos from the Cherokee Trail. I've been hiking a lot with my friend Helen, and every once and a while we have to stop and check something out on the trail that is just too good to pass up.

A very cool mushroom and a pretty big one as well. It was right on the side of the trail and was gone a day later.

A panoramic sunrise on the south side of the mountain from the far side of Venable Lake. I always feel like this is a view of the mountain that no one else really gets to enjoy. It's the opposite side of the carving and you only get this view from a particular spot on the Cherokee Trail. I know we're not the only ones hiking the trail, but I often wonder how many of them actually stop for a moment to appreciate this view. It's a special spot and a magic moment when the sun tops the trees and the mountain turns a wonderful pink/orange.

This last weekend was the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park. It was lots of stuff to buy, lots of stuff to eat, and lots of stuff to...whatever. Well, I feel confident that the vast majority of folks attending the "Festival" haven't seen the reason why the festival is named the way it is. This is the back side of the mountain on the Cherokee Trail. Absolutely breathtaking. The flowers don't bloom down below; you have to get a little elevation to see these.

This was supposed to be a photo of the flowers, but turned out to be more about the sun and that pine tree. Anyway, flowers, flowers, flowers, and the Cherokee Trail. "And that's all I have to say about that."

Biggest...caterpillar...ever. Holy Crap!

Quite a formidable exterior with a soft nougat center. Very tasty. Seriously, though, Helen identified this bad boy as the larval stage of the Regal Moth. As a caterpillar he's known as the Hickory Horned Devil, but the internet is pretty sure he's harmless. I didn't know that at the time so we moved him with a stick to get him off the trail where he might have been squished.

Never Forget

On the eve of this year's September 11th anniversary, I find myself remembering that morning and things come back to me like it was yesterday. It's still really powerful. So I figured I would write something about how I felt.

I went online looking for a picture to accompany this post. To my shock, when I typed into the Google Images search window "World Trade Center Attack" the first suggestion I got was pictures of "People Jumping." I have to say, without the slightest bit of hyperbole, that makes my stomach sick. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the people trapped in those towers above the fire. For Google's search engine to produce a return like that, it means that "People Jumping" is the thing most Google users are searching for with regard to this subject. And that makes me sick.

Anyway, as I do every year I'll remind everyone that the History Channel is showing "102 Minutes That Changed America" tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EST. It's the story of that day told through the amateur video of people who witnessed the attack. Much of it is taken from a perspective that wasn't necessarily shown on television during the days after the attack. All of it is heartbreaking in its honesty and purity. It's very hard for me to watch every year, and even though I Tivo it each time in case something happens to prevent me from watching, I don't watch it more than once. It's too hard. Anyway, I think everyone should watch it so that we don't forget. We need to remember the heroes of that day, and the heroes of the days after as our country came together to face a "new" enemy.

And since Google kind of pissed me off with the image search results, I'll instead post this graphic that was produced by the folks at GoRuck.

Old

Assistant St. Pius Band Director Ian Lebrecht - "I hear you were in Redcoats [UGA Marching Band]"

Me - "I was."

Lebrecht - "I loved being in Redcoats. What years were you there?"

Me - [Reluctantly] "Before you were born."