...into the wilds of Georgia

JCK and crew have returned from the WILDS of GEORGIA. Perhaps most don't think of Georgia as the wild lands. JCK is here to tell you different.

The flight to Atlanta was uneventful. Yes, JCK just used those words...uneventful. In fact, mid-4 1/2 hour flight, JCK and E looked at each other in wonder. BOY & GIRL were sitting together. Alone. As in...all by themselves. Well... across the row from JCK & E.

FREEDOM!! FREEDOM!!! Belt it, honey! FREEDOM! Hallelujah! Amen. Absorbed in small TV screens in front of them, and with headphones on, they were.... fairly QUIET. In fact, JCK and E could have brought a book along to read. Yes, JCK did just say those very words...a book to read.

The car trip from the Atlanta airport to Lake Lanier, where E's parents live, was LOUD. But, come on people, JCK's children aren't perfect.

On the first day in the wilds of Georgia, BOY had his first "adventure." As the family took a walk around the lakefront, BOY noticed a pile of "mud" that looked intriguing. After all, Georgia mud is different from ...California dirt. He scooped a handful up and, without pause, started screaming. Indeed. He had lifted the roof off of a fire ant nest. Luck was with him, as he only received one fiery bite before JCK managed to knock the dirt and other ants off of his hand.

Oh, yes....while at the lake, GIRL & BOY experienced many new things. BOY, not to be subdued by mere fire ants decided to truly test the waters. On Thanksgiving, after spending the morning daring the fates....by balancing on the edge of the dock and "pretending" to fall off...really FELL OFF. In over his head.

BOY HOWDY was it COLD. If BOY was a cork, he could not have popped up quicker. As he surfaced, his mouth formed a perfect OOOOOOOOOO of distress, as he wailed..."I've ruined my BIRTHDAY clothes!!" (He had turned 6 a few days before, but the horror of falling in the cold lake was enough to scramble what words he could generate.) Operation Rescue, JCK and her brother-n-law were right there when it happened. Since BOY bobbed up right next to the dock, JCK managed to reach in and lift that little rascal out. JCK must note that she would have been royally PISSED if she had had to jump in. Her good suede pants and coat would not have survived the plunge.

Moments later, after getting dried off by a towel, he ran up to his 2 year old male cousin, and uttered: LITTLE BOY? THAT LAKE IS COLD!

GIRL had wonderful adventures that did not include pain. She learned how to make biscuits from scratch with her Granny- the two of them a great team, naming themselves...The Biscuit Buddies. And...she had a big time fishing with Daddy off the dock. She almost caught her first fish, but pulled the line in just before the fish was hooked. E caught 4 small Brim, and let them go. JCK is envisioning a future Father/Daughter fishing trip.

BOY fished for a whole 5 minutes before he created his own CRITTER RESCUE SERVICE. He started scooping out the minnows from the bait bucket, tossing them into the lake and watching them swim free. He only stopped when E promised that he could set them free at the end of the visit. On the last day, minnows and night crawlers were returned to nature, in spite of a different habitat from whence they came. And all was well with the world...

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