Pine Lake from the Air, 1930s

Above is an aerial photo of Pine Lake, taken sometime before 1936. The year and photographer are unknown, but I imagine developer Carl Shaub hired an aeronaut. Imagine a Stearman biplane or a WWI-surplus Curtss Jenny making a pass over what would one day be our fair city.

The view looks northward at a newly-laid-out grid of mostly empty roads. That's Rockbridge Road running horizontally in the foreground.

Click on the photo to blow it up or download it to your desktop and magnify it with your file viewer.

Are There Fish in That Lake?

The Pine Lake Fire Truck

Back in the day, Pine Lake had its own volunteer fire department, let by Ernest Harrelson. This is the venerable fire truck. It was stations in front of the clubhouse.

Standardization

When I say the United States is a country without values, I mean it in a nice way.

I'm not referring to morals, at least in a biblical sense, but to a certain business ethic-- that of standardization.

Our business community is severely lacking in any sense of providing a stable, unchanging product to consumers.

We're a country with a proud history of breaking boundaries, but must that mean the things I buy must constantly be changing? Is that really helping?

Dentists

When I moved to Atlanta in 1989 my co-workers sent me to Thomas Price on Lawrenceville Highway, near North Dekalb Mall. He's been my dentist for more than twenty years, and I've been more than happy with him.

This year, after more than twenty years with the same provider, my dental insurance has switched to a new company-- and Dr. Price isn't on the network. That means I'm shopping for a new dentist.

On the Pine Lake Announcement list I asked for recommendations for another dentist, and I got a wealth of names. I'm listing them all below and will add a Dentistry section to the Services page of this blog (Just click Services on the top tab).


Elise Ashpole, D.D.S.
1275 McConnell. Dr.
Decatur
(Just off Clairmont near N. Druid Hills Road)
404-325-5440

B. Thomas Bender, D.D.S.
45 Lenox Pointe
Atlanta
404-846-0422

Max J. Cohen, D.D.S
4700 Chamblee Dunwood Road, Suite #100
Dunwoody, Georgia 30338.
770-457-1351

Dental One
2882 N Druid Hills Road NE Suite A
Atlanta, GA 30329
(Across from Toco Hills Shopping Center)

404-410-7841

Marc Etienne, D.D.S.

Great Expressions

4800 Briarcliff NE Rd., Suite 2037

(Briarcliff Village)

Atlanta, GA 30345

Mark Gobbel, D.D.S.
2530 Lawrenceville Hwy.
770-939-9779

James Kim, D.D.S.
3754 Lavista, Ste. 300
Tucker
404-728-VIEW

Andrew B. Levin, D.D.S.
Henderson Mill Dental Care
2847 Henderson Mill Road
Atlanta

770-496-0496

Catherine Moody, D.D.S.
1000 N. Main St., Suite F

Stone Mountain Village

770-469-1331
770-469-9592

Simmons Family Dentistry
2883 N. Decatur Road, Ste. F.
(In the Kroger Plaza)
404-299-7411

Marvin R. Winter, D.D.S.
Fidelity Bank Building ( it has the circular front and the logo of the lion)
160 Clairemont Avenue
Corner of Clairemont and Commerce
Decatur

One of Those Days

Did you ever have one of those days?

I'm having one today.

It started out innocently enough. I woke, fixed lunch and breakfast for my sweetie so she could go to work, then fixed breakfast for my future in-laws, who were leaving to drive back to Michigan.

Then I took a nap.

It was when I woke, rested, that things began to go subtly, horribly wrong.

It all began with a trash bag. I ripped the bag from the roll and began unfolding it. Then I opened it.

Or, rather, I didn't open it.

Forty-five minutes later I was cursing and the bag still wasn't open. I had rolled it between my thumbs and between my palms, stretched it over the edge of a table, and even used my teeth, but I just couldn't get it started. It was only after I ripped the bag in frustration that it obligingly opened. The rip meant I had to deal with a second bag. It wasn't much easier.

Somewhere during the bag-opening routine, I decided it would be more pleasant if I had some entertainment while I wore my thumbs to nubs. That was when I realized I couldn't find my iTouch.

I looked everywhere-- on the bedside table, under the blankets, under the pillow, on the floor beside the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the computers, in my coat pockets, inside my shoes, in the refrigerator, in my pants pockets!

My pants pocket! Let's see, keys, cell phone, that five dollar bill I thought I lost, six bits and two pennies, a mini flashlight, iTouch... Damn! There it is! I swear I looked in my pockets twice already!

Okay, so maybe my streak of bad luck is over. In fact, it certainly is. The new underwear that was too tight suddenly isn't and Bad Kitty has sat on the keyboard of my laptop three times now without terminating the file transfer that has been running for more than three hours now. My sweetie will soon be home from work, onions are simmering in butter and will shortly  be an essential component of cream of broccoli soup, and the internet connection on my honey's new desktop, which has been giving me conniptions all day, has suddenly decided to oblige me long enough to write this post.

I guess it's a pretty good day after all.

Almost December Flowers

Mountain Park: Impressions

A Visit to Mountain Park, GA

Ever since I learned Pine Lake had a more-or-less sister city in North Fulton County, I've been wanting to visit Mountain Park.

A month or so ago I sent out a query on the Pine Lake announcement mail list and got a reply from Elisabeth Shields; she was curious too and wanted to go.

Since Elisabeth's husband George punked out at the last minute, and since Janet Hill decided shopping at Macy's was the higher imperative (You Go, Girl!) and there would be just the two of us, I picked Elisabeth up in my Miata with the top down. Although it was chilly, she was kind enough not to allow me to leave it down. We roared away to begin our adventure.

Bird on Wire

American Museum of Natural History: II: More Photos

A Visit to the American Museum of Natural History: Diomaras

On Monday Heather and I caught the bus into New York City to visit the American Museum of Natural History.

I've been telling her the bus is more convenient than the train (the train requires a transfer), so don't you know it, we had an hour delay because of a wreck on the way in, and heavy traffic on the way back.

From the Port Authority Bus Terminal we caught the C subway four stops and didn't even have to go to the street to enter the museum.

One of my favorite museums is the natural history museum at the Smithsonian, so I had high hopes. I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I found the AMNH poorly lit and the displays poorly designed. In general, there was too much stuff and not enough explanation. Still, I had a good time-- until it was time to eat.

Both the salad and hot bars were priced by the quarter pound-- $2.99 for four ounces! I knew prices would be high, but that was just out of line. The man in front of us paid $68 for a light lunch for himself and his son.

So anyway, even though it was dark and I wasn't allowed to use flash, I got pictures.

My favorite is the photo of the elephants, above. The African Mammals diorama room was dark, but by bracing my camera on the railing on the balcony I was able to get an in-focus shot.

Here are some shots I got of the various dioramas.