Maybe I am crazy, but I 99% sure our Luna Moth is laying eggs on our screen door. She has a little pod of 5 of them (photo above) and has now moved beside them and is no longer on top of the eggs (below photo.) Does anyone know what will happen next? Do these eggs just stay in my screen door or is some big boy Luna Moth going to show up next?? Ah! Nature freaks me out and amazes me!
I’m really behind here on writing and I apologize. I know you all wait anxiously for our next posts – you know, all you fans out there. Lately, I have been obsessing about the trash across this city, and will probably bitch about that in another post. But, I thought I would write now about [tag]PEDS[/tag] – the movement to make Atlanta and its sidewalks safer for all pedestrians. As Michael Orta, the Director of Community Education, said to me: “Broken sidewalks are a real problem in Atlanta, and especially irksome for homeowners and people who like to walk in their neighborhoods. Peds is inviting City of Atlanta residents to use our survey form, take a walk, and determine if sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced.”
The survey is pretty easy and you should get off your lazy butt and help out here. Anything to make this city more attractive is well worth it – and there are prizes of course! Of course, the catch is that is is over at the end of April – so if you can get out there this week or weekend, go for it and let PEDS know!
Thanks!
I should have posted this last week, but alas, I was drinking wine in California. Don’t forget about [tag]Jazzoo Atlanta[/tag] tomorrow night! This fabulous new event for Atlanta benefits [tag]Zoo Atlanta[/tag] and it looks fun as heck. Not only are there 4 live music stages, there are 30 great restaurants cooking for you, and 20 bars making your favorite drinks. All the proceeds go to the zoo’s amphibian conservation program. (yes, it is the Year of the Frog)
The cost is 100$ per ticket and the dress code is “creative black tie.” Ah, how fun is that. So, dress up in anything that you want to wear and go enjoy some free music, food, and booze all while helping the frogs of Zoo Atlanta. Oh, and last thing – Jazzoo is pretty green. Solar powered stage, biodegradable cups, and loads of recycling bins.
Enjoy! Rib-bit. Rib-bit.
Alison and I just got back from a fabulous vacation in California. A few days were spent sipping wine in the [tag]Russian River Valley[/tag] where we enjoyed meeting people while “tasting wines.” Our favorite winery, Lambert Bridge, has a connection to Atlanta. Not only does Andy, the proprietor (true title: National Sales Manager) of Lambert Bridge, have a girlfriend who lives in Hotlanta (although of course she wants to move to the wine country,) but he also knows a number of folks here – including members of the [tag]Concentrics Group[/tag]. So, at some point in the near future, I am hopeful that I can get a bottle of Lambert Bridge wine from One Midtown Kitchen (since it is doubtful we will ever go back to Trois.)
Lambert Bridge is a gorgeous spot and the winemakers, Jill and Mitch, create fantastic wines in small quantities keeping this winery nice and personable. We loved hanging out with Gus the dog, Andy and his dad and even got a personal tour of the grapes. Of course we became members of their wine club so we can get bottles delivered to us. Thank God Georgia passed that law!
Anyway, that’s it. Great vacation and great wine!
Alison and Andy with the grapes!
My dad was in town from the City of Brotherly Love for a couple of days, and I took him to the [tag]Atlanta Botanical Gardens[/tag]. Ah, how I do love this place. You know, I am completely fine with them building a big fat garage so that people from all over the world can come see the amazing species of flora and fauna it has to offer.
Alison and I are members and the other day, my dad and I walked around looking at all the gorgeous plants and flowers. Our favorite part was being given an impromptu tour from a volunteer whose name escapes me right now (sorry!) in the orchid area. Did you know that the [tag]Atlanta Botanical Gardens has the largest collection of orchids in the WORLD[/tag]? That may not sound very exciting to some, but I think it is pretty amazing.
This is the place to spend a morning or afternoon and they have educational classes if you are interested and fun things for kids. We love to go during the different seasons so we can see what is blooming. So, go! It is behind Piedmont Park and easy to get to.
for the losers of this election, you still have work to do. PICK UP YOUR DARN YARD SIGNS that are bam-blasted (is that a word?) everywhere in the City of Atlanta and beyond. I doubt the losers will pick any up and it will be up to the citizens to go around trashing these things. But, in case you politicians want to know, they are an eye sore and make [tag]Atlanta look even trashier[/tag] than it already is. The yard signs aren’t just in yards, they are at 4-way stops, on vacant lots, in buildings that are vacant…they are everywhere. Maybe I will start taking pictures next week of all the signs that are out there and sending the pictures to the campaigns.
So my point is, even though you may have lost the election, please get out there and pick up your signs. I know it is hard to do something when you don’t get anything for it, but for lawd’s sake, pick em up.
(stock photo obviously)
My friend, Arty Schronce, is a plant enthusiast and one I admire greatly because he knows so darn much about native plants and flowers. He works for the [tag]Georgia Department of Agriculture[/tag] and is a great guy. He and a group of other plant folks rescued a [tag]bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla)[/tag] from a site in Gwinnett County that is now a shopping mall. This magnolia is a rare species found only in a few states in the Southeast and it was getting ready to be bulldozed for a mall. The plant has the largest unsegmented leaves of any tree in temperate North America!
Arty’s bigleaf magnolia finally bloomed this year and the picture is below. It is gorgeous! Arty’s neighbor, Mr. Clack, is holding the ruler for us to see how big this thing really is! Congrats Arty for saving such a great plant!
So, the [tag]lack of water situation[/tag] has already crippled the town of Orme, Tennessee. These 145 residents only get 3 HOURS of water a day! We are only a 150 miles to the southeast…Can you imagine the millions of city dwellers here putting up with that? What would we all do besides storm the The State Capitol and City Hall? I really don’t think many of us are ready to become a 3rd world city. We have to wash our Hummers once a week, we must take at least 2 showers a day, and we have to keep the water running while we do all the dishes. Oh, don’t balk - you know who you are!
Come on, try to conserve for the sake of Lake Lanier and all of us. I am serious when I say I am not ready to only have water turned on for 3 hours a day by Shirley.
If you think I am kidding about this drought we are all facing, just look at the picture below…
Sometimes Atlanta gets a bad rap for not being a “real” city. Compared to Gonzales, Louisiana, the ATL seems like a real city to me, but I feel further validation in that view now that we have [tag]Flexcar[/tag]. Flexcar is a private form of “public” transportation that allows members to rent cars on an hourly basis. Flexcar members can take MARTA into work and then rent a car for lunch or business meeting – gas, insurance, maintenance and a great parking spot are included!
The idea is [tag]environmentally friendly[/tag] and the cars keep popping up all over the city – they are sitting in prime spots at Emory, GA Tech, some of midtown’s finest condos, Decatur, and Atlantic Station, among others. According to Flexcar’s website, it looks like they have over 80 cars in metro Atlanta including mini cooper convertibles, minivans, hybrids and a Honda Element or two – just to name a few. I would love to hear from folks who are actually using this program instead of just writing about it. So, send over some comments if you have used it. I imagine once you get over that whole germs on the sterling wheel thing, this is pretty cool.
beep-beep!