Georgia on my mind

I had heard so much about Dave's "funny, american" aunt in Griffin, Georgia that it was impossible not to take the opportunity to go see her while in the States. Bridget, or Bridie (or even Auntie B) lives with husband Lee in a small "hole" called Griffin, situated about an hour south of Atlanta.

You know it's an Irish home when you see one of these.

The Ruane coat of arms (one of them).

For a state known to be extremely hot, Georgia didn't seem all that hot when we landed. It was very humid though and it actually lashed down the night we arrived. The landscape needed the rain though, so it was received with gratitude. In the morning we understood why. It is very dry and very, very hot in the Atlanta area (one day the thermometer said 99 degrees = 37,2 C)). Not even Lee, who is a plant specialist and has worked with plants all his life, could keep the lawn green or keep healthy flowerbeds. The sun had actually burnt some of the plants' leaves to black ashes...

Squirrel doing gymnastics.

The wildlife didn't seem to mind the heat though. During breakfast, Dave and I usually watched the squirrels try to steal food from the birdfeeder with great enthousiasm. I was also very impressed by the red cardinal bird, where the fire red male feeds his woman from the beek. Very enchanting.

We stayed with Auntie B and Lee (which rhimes) for a week and then we moved into Dave's cousin Ailis' new house in Atlanta, and wow, what a cool city that turned out to be..!

Bridie taking out cash from the drive-in ATM (!)

Cash that was later spent on good food at the local diner :-)

More from Atlanta soon!
/Alex