This journal is about life in Blue Ridge, GA….specifically, the part of Fannin County known as the Aska Adventure area. Living in the north Georgia mountains requires a particular attitude ..an outlook on life that is and has to be truly laid-back..If you didn’t grow up here, it takes a long time to grow accustomed to living in a small town in the mountains…After all, there are no malls, no formal restaurants, no sidewalks, no skate parks, not even a Wal-Mart! (We did get a Home Depot last year though!) If you think you need something, it had better not be urgent..unless you can get it at the only chain drug store or one of only two chain grocery stores (or at Rose’s- a discount store reminiscent of Kresge’s)….or just do without.
Most of the houses built here in the last 10 years are cabins, log and log-sided (yes, there is a difference..we’ll do a post on that later). The residential roads are often gravel, which is a lot easier to drive on than concrete on a rainy day in the mountains. It really helps to have a 4-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicle.
You don’t need much of a suburban wardrobe either. Blue jeans or khakis. I’ve been to dinners in homes where being dressed in black slacks and a black sweater was overdressed. Besides no one is much impressed. If you’ve got it and you live here, you’re probably sick of living where they flaunt it.
But is the glass half empy? Not at all! We have National Forest land all over the place. There are probably more forest rangers in the county than sheriff’s deputies. There is Lake Blue Ridge and the Toccoa River which mean whitewater rafting, trout fishing, tubing and canoeing. Add to that horseback riding, hiking and camping right at your front door. Downtown BR, as such, has lots of intriguing shops. Antiques, fine crafts, pottery, etc.
It doesn’t snow much except just to get pretty in January. We aren’t known for tornadoes, hurricanes or wildfires. And, when its sweltering in the rest of the humid South in the summer, we are a good 6-10 degrees cooler.
Well, there are lots of cabins to rent for visitors but not a lot of hotel rooms. And there a lot of them for sale.So, if you are reading this from somewhere else, you’re welcome to come up and visit …..or stay….
About Us…Tim’s a native Fannin countian. Deb’s not. That should pretty well cover it, but not really. He was raised a Southern Baptist, she was raised in a Jewish home. She’s the oldest sibling, he’s the youngest. Let’s face it - it’s a mixed marriage, but it works!
Between us we have 6 children, 2 children-in-law and 1 grandbaby….What a tzimmes!
Starting with the oldest (and she is getting to the age where she may not appreciate it)
Tara is married to Jamie. She is Supervisor of the Fannin County DFACS office and is currently working on her Master’s degree. Jamie is a computer brilliant-o with ETC.
Brandon, 24, is married to Sandy. He is with the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s office getting ready to go to Mandate School. They are parents of Ava, born July 21, 2006. Sandy works in a doctor’s front office and is working on her Spanish to assist her in that capacity.
John, 24, is a Music graduate of UTenn. He is the lead singer/writer of “The Quiet Ones”. John and the other two boys live in Seattle, WA…known as the “Indie Capital of the Planet” and are currently making quite a bit of headway in the highly competitive music industry….Listen, one day you can say you heard about them here first!
Chris and David, 21, are twins..(As John and Brandon are not). They play keyboards and guitar in “The Quiet Ones”, respectively. Both highly vocally talented as well . They hope to earn enough from the music thing to pay for the rest of their college.
Tiffany, 17 is a senior at Fannin County High School. She has reached her earliest goal already and that is she has been Drum Major for the HS band this past year. If you read the local paper, you have seen her picture a number of times already. She hasn’t decided yet where she will attend college.
more later
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