THOUGHTS ABOUT DOGS

PALS

How beautiful they are! Shade's glossy black coat contrasted against the fall leaves and blue water. The muscles ripple under her beautiful coat. Douglas appears elegant in his golden color; the breeze ruffles the long hair on the sides of his body. His stature is significantly bold; his presence dominent on the Fall landscape. Together they appear magnificent in the Autumn sun. Each is a symbol of natural strength and power. They are vitality and endurance. They are simply---------------------------GRAND

REUNION AND MORE

If you've been following along in this blog; you know that I adopted Shade, the Black Lab, to a family East of here. After she left I felt terrible. Read the articles a couple entries below. I got a call early this week from Shade's new home and they indicated to me that Shade wasn't working out due to reasons I won't go into here. They are fine folks and it had nothing to do with that at all. So Shade is back with Douglas, Happy, Sigh and me. The team is once again complete. I have been working for seven strait days and today, Saturday, I loaded up the guys and drove to the Ruins.'' I am really blessed to have these dog friends. They are beautiful to watch and amazing to observe how they play and "work" together. Douglas and Shade swim as one. They are happiest in the water. On land, Douglas is the dominant figure, but in the water they share freedom and are equals. I threw the heavy stick into the water over and over. Douglas and the Shady Lady would race for it. Then they would share the stick for the return swim to the shore. That's usually when Happy would appear to steal the stick from them. These two dogs are similar in the water but at the same time very different in their application of power and speed. "They both are extremely powerful!" Douglas is all grace. He bounds effortlessly through the shallows and seems to automatically float. His body appears to make no movement when swimming. His golden hair is gorgeous when wet. He glides about as if propelled by some silent engine beneath the water's surface. Shade, however, smashes through the shallow water, leaping as if jumping over log after log until she crashes into the deeper water. She does everything in some spectacular fashion. Once swimming, she assumes that gorgeous form that only Black Lab's can have. She is a black onyx of silent movement. Her head is held high above the water; her powerful legs and feet push her muscular, shiny black body through a liquid mirror. These two friends are pure pleasure to be with. They are so happy! It's plain to see it. Their faces show it. Their eyes come alive when the truck reaches the ruins. They are what they are, they are pure. They are innocent. They are joy. And they have asked that I care for them. I'm honored by that. Let me introduce or reintroduce you to the dog portion of my family. This is very old gentle Sigh. Everyone is a rescue dog. This is the main man! Douglas is my boy! Shade aka Shady Lady Happy Gorgeous! Elegance in motion Happy's on the scene The stick thief appeareth.... All they ask of me is to gently hold their muzzle 's in the palm of my hand and say a soft word or two and touch their heads with my finger tips. And they give me all this joy! Teem Work The Shady Lady Nothing gentle about entering the water

THE OCOEE BASIN (GORGE)

I parked the Bug high above the Ocoee River and climbed on down to the water. There is some water in the photo but only because a small dam has been created to hold just this much. The following picture is the rest of the river. Normally rough, white water pours through this canyon creating great challenges for Kayaking. If it doesn't rain soon, there won't be any water anywhere in Tennessee. There is definitely a drought. But at least one can see what the bottom of the Ocoee looks like. Bet you stayed up many nights wondering about it........

The photo's below show an amazing (what I thought was a railroad bridge) spanning a cut between two mountains withing the Ocoee Gorge. As I rode the Bug along the Ocoee River through the Ocoee Gorge, I noticed what looked like a railroad line high up on the side of the mountain. Very high up. When the track approached a cut, or valley, on the mountain side; a roof and wall were built around the track to protect it from land slides, boulders and falling trees. It reminded me of some ancient citadel high up on some mountain top in a mystical era. Actually the enclosures are not unlike the ones covering railroad tracks out in Colorado's Wolf Creek Pass. They are amazing structures! (However, I was wrong). It is an enormous flume that carries water from the Ocoee to TVA power generators. I was corrected by a reader who works in the area. Read on: Just wanted to clarify the story about the tracks and structure you saw. That is not a railroad track but a flume. When the water is not in the river bed it runs inside that structure which is also an amazing thought. The water and flume are at an almost level run through the dropping gorge to the end of the Ocoee River. There it is piped straight down into the powerhouse to generate electricity. It does have a track above the flume (look at your pictures closely). That is used by employees of TVA to monitor and repair the flume. Whitewater rafting began on the Ocoee back in the mid seventies when TVA had so many holes in the flume they were loosing too much water (and $$). As a matter of fact the "bridge" photo you took was one spot where a huge hole allowed a constant waterfall type spill to shoot out of the side. They closed the flume for several years for repairs and returned the water to the river during that period. Rafting became more and more popular and so (after much debate and arm twisting) TVA struck an agreement with rafting companies to sell the water to the rafting companies for release on certain days. A significant portion of the fees paid to outfitters helps pay for the water they release and can't use to generate power. The flume is one of the only such structures left in the country. Most now operate with underground pipes or tunnels. One of those tunels was recently in the news colapsing and killing several workers doing repairs.

The Ocoee River empties into Ocoee Lake; a primarily pristine lake with little development on its banks.

This is Copper Country. Mule teams pulled wagon's full of copper ore from the surrounding towns of Duck Town, Reliance and Copperhill to smelting operations in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was a booming industry until Japan appeared with cheap steel. By the end of the 1950's it was all history. Japan had an enormous impact on local industry here in Tennessee as well as huge industrial cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Bug is a devilish, demonic looking little mosquito. But it is proving to be a magic carpet ride to places a larger motorcycle can not go.

I always had an affinity for old buildings. I love the character they exhibit. This building is very old. Its old, old. Well, it is extremely old. But look at it closely. Click on it and enlarge it. No master craftsman concocted it. No architect designed it. No one went to college to learn how to make it. Tennessee know how made it. Oh, its a little rough. But it stands as a monument to diversity and do it yourselfism. Love it!

Live can be tuff in these mountains. But people cling onto what they struggled for with tenacity.

TOOLING AROUND TENNESSEE

LOST SOUL

He stands waiting. His owners and friends have left him out up here on the Cherohala Skyway. They simply pulled over , removed his collar, opened the car door and left him out. Then they pulled away and left him. He patiently waits for his humans to return. But they won't. He will stay at this roadside pull off until hunger drives him to a different area to find food. But there won't be any. He will either starve of be hit by a passing vehicle. Aren't people great! I attempted to gain his trust for an hour. He would not come to me. I was on the motorcycle but all the time I was trying to get close to him, I was devising a way to hold him and drive the bike. I had it all figured out too. My riding pants and my belt and jacket combination and we would be off to my place and safety. But he would not have any of it. His best chance is that a loving soul will stop and pick him up and care for him. But his prognosis is dim. Dear friends; if you are considering taking a dog into your home and life; please know that it is a life long endeavor. Dogs are loving and precious. They are devoted to that special human. It's great to make that little boy or girl happy with a puppy. But that little puppy will grow up. Please be sure he will remain a welcome addition to your life and home. This little dog followed my bike down the road. I turned around and he ran. I stopped for one more picture of him sitting and watching me. He did not trust me. I watched him in my rear view mirror to see if he would follow again. He didn't. I rounded a corner and he was gone. He will wait for the human to return that he trusts. A dog's love and trust for his special human is all encompassing and can not be broken---------------no matter how misplaced it is.

PASSING TIME

Tracks in the sand. Temporary indication that a Noble dog has passed, leaving only an imprint. The lake delivers proof onto the sandy beach that another season has past. The track will wash away as will the leaves upon the sandy shore line. In time, the maker's of both will pass into oblivion; as we all shall.

THOUGHTS ON THE CHEROHALA SKYWAY

I thought I'd take the Bug and cruise over the Cherohala Skyway today to clear my thoughts and make room for more stuff in the already over crowded chamber that resides within the confines of my skull. I pulled off the skyway onto a remote parking area that sits down over a hill. I can hear Harley Davidson chrome barges trundling past on the road above me. Occasionally a motorcycle with a radio blaring lumbers by; totally out of place on this road that meanders through Tennessee's finest and most beautiful mountains. Behind me is the Citico Creek Wilderness Trail. It appears little used as native grasses are abundant on the trail. Tourists blast right on by showing no regard for this wilderness walkway. OK by me. A one hundred yard walk down the trail will place one out of ear shot of the road and the present time and date. Yester-year can be revisited, if only in one's mind. And I have just the imagination to do it. Today, on this ride, I have thought about a lot of things. Shade comes to mind. She is such a dear dog. Finally, she can adjust to a forever home and be safe and loved. I can let go now. I can not imagine what I'll go through when my sweet companion Douglas reaches the end of his time in the sun. He and I are inseparable. I just don't know how I'll deal with it. Hopefully that day is many, many years away. At times I still think about why I am still here. I'm really not sure of that. Really!. I think climate has a lot to do with it but its more than that. I like Tennessee because its still pristine and clean. Native people are unhurried. They aren't pushy or in a rush. Sometimes in certain situations those are not good attributes. But they have gotten along down here all this time being that way; so what the heck. I am appalled, however, at the incredible amount of wild habitat that is being ruined on a monumental level. East Tennessee is fast becoming a dream world for construction companies. Hoards of people are migrating here from Florida, Louisiana and Georgia. The state of Texas doesn't weigh as much this year as it did four years ago due to its loss of residents to East Tennessee. Do I care? Yes, I absolutely do. When the views off the Cherahala Skyway show nothing but white houses and brown pre-fab log cabins dotting the mountain tops, and when traffic lights start to appear on roads in the Cherokee forest; I will move to the center of Okefenokee Swamp in South Georgia. You laugh?! I'm just the guy who would do it and not think twice about it.