You wouldn’t know it from this picture I took today, but our little Trey is sick and has a fever. For the past 4 days each of us has been hit by flu-like symptoms – fevers, aching, sinus problems, and coughs. Trey has had it the worst and the fever continues to linger. We’ve spent many hours just laying on the couch watching Thomas the Train and listening to books-on-tape.
Today Trey felt a little better (though he still has a fever and is very tired) so I took him out in the woods out back. Unfortunately he’s so weak that we spent only about 10 minutes out there and he was beat. Nonetheless, we saw some cool fungi and I got him to smile & laugh a little. After we got back inside he fell asleep on the couch for another 30 minute nap.
One of our favorite places to go for walks is the Georgia Industrial Children’s Home just a few miles from us. We found out about its great hiking trails from a Georgia mountain biking website. They have a forest farm with hundreds of acres of pines in perfectly symmetrical rows. Trey and I even made our little short film “Saving Medici’s Giraffe” in those woods.
A few weeks ago we drove there and saw a sign that said “Closed for Logging.” This week we went back and found our favorite forest had been destroyed. They didn’t cut all the trees down but it still looks really bare.
As sad as we are to see the trees gone, this is a case of good tree cutting. These trees were planted for the express purpose of being logged once they were mature. By logging this tree farm, one of Georgia’s natural forests gets to stand. I believe video artist Jym Davis’ short film “Sarah in the Woods” best describes our feelings.
My camera club friend Weldon Marsh was videoing when we had our cookout at High Falls State Park to celebrate the end of our state parks tour. He recently edited the footage into a short, mini-documentary and put it online. Enjoy!
On Heidi’s last day in France, we all went to Uzès to the Haribo Museum. We thought about taking the interstate, but all interstates in France are toll roads. It would have been 12 Euro (for each of our 2 cars) each way. Instead, we took our time (2 hours) driving through the French countryside.
The museum is attached to the Haribo factory, but since we went on a Saturday, we were not able to tour the factory in motion. The museum was a great destination nonetheless. You can’t beat a museum that gives you samples of their goods as soon as you walk in the door. I know, I know, the entire museum is just one huge advertisement culminating with a giant candy store, so we bought into the corporate ploy for the day.
The founder of Haribo invented the gummy bear, the “golden bear.” Trey was fascinated by the giant statue of the “yellow bear” that stands outside the museum.
After we finished the museum and bought our fill of yummy (not available in the US) candy, we walked over to a small amusement area with trampolines, inflatable moon walks, and ropes courses. Admission to the museum gave us two free tickets. Nicholas chose the trampoline and Trey chose the moon walk. Thankfully the worker allowed Heidi to join him. He didn’t have much fun jumping by himself.
Day #5 in France was a nice, laid back day of sight-seeing for us. We took the bus and the tram from Pérols to Montpellier and walked through town to the central square downtown.
Our main purpose for going into town was so that I could exchange some money into Euros. After visiting the bank, we let Trey ride a carousel in the square. It was extremely over-priced, but he really wanted to ride so we gave in. The vendor gave him a little ticket with a picture of the carousel on it and he was THRILLED. We put him on the horse and as it started the vendor came by and collected the ticket. Trey’s face dropped and he was upset and on the verge of tears for the entire ride.
In the afternoon, we headed over Palavas-les-Flots a town on the ocean with some famous canals and a marina. We had some beach fun then ate at a great restaurant that specializes in mussels. For 9 Euros you get a big bowl of fresh mussels covered in buttery garlic sauce, bread, and a glass of wine. Delicious.
After Trey went to bed, Heidi and I went on a late night walk through Pérols with William Darriet and his girlfriend Sophy. I was trying to get some night shots of the village. Since it was festival week, there was a band playing “retro” music in the town square and all the old folks were out dancing. We couldn’t convince William & Sophy to dance.
You wouldn’t know it from this picture I took today, but our little Trey is sick and has a fever. For the past 4 days each of us has been hit by flu-like symptoms – fevers, aching, sinus problems, and coughs. Trey has had it the worst and the fever continues to linger. We’ve spent many hours just laying on the couch watching Thomas the Train and listening to books-on-tape.
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