Pic(k) of the Week: Running the rapids

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Rafters run the 'Olympic' rapids on the upper Ocoee River.

Ocoee River State Park in Cherokee National Forest.
Ducktown, Tennessee, USA.
1 August 2026.

The Toccoa River and Ocoee River are the names in use for a single 93-mile-long (150 km) river that flows northwestward through the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. It is a tributary of the Hiwassee River, which it joins in Polk County, Tennessee, near the town of Benton.

The river is called the Toccoa for its 56 miles (90 km) through Georgia, until it reaches the twin cities of McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. The remainder is called the Ocoee through Tennessee. The name Ocoee originates from the Cherokee name for Passiflora incarnata, the passion flower. Toccoa comes from a Cherokee word meaning "beautiful."

The Ocoee is known for its Class III-V whitewater rapids, appealing to kayakers and rafting enthusiasts. The upper section of the Ocoee was host to whitewater slalom events during the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics held primarily in Atlanta, about 100 miles (160 km) to the south.

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Clifford Brown, Max Roach: The Blues Walk

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Pic(k) of the Week: Rafting the Ocoee

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A respite on the Ocoee River (calm between Class III and IV rapids).

Ocoee River State Park in Cherokee National Forest.
Tennessee, USA.
22 August 2026.

The Toccoa River and Ocoee River are the names in use for a single 93-mile-long (150 km) river that flows northwestward through the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. It is a tributary of the Hiwassee River, which it joins in Polk County, Tennessee, near the town of Benton.

The river is called the Toccoa for its 56 miles (90 km) through Georgia, until it reaches the twin cities of McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. The remainder is called the Ocoee through Tennessee. The name Ocoee originates from the Cherokee name for Passiflora incarnata, the passion flower. Toccoa comes from a Cherokee word meaning "beautiful."

The Ocoee is known for its Class III-V whitewater rapids, appealing to kayakers and rafting enthusiasts. It is also home to the local salamander, Desmognathus ocoee. The upper section of the Ocoee was host to whitewater slalom events during the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics held primarily in Atlanta, about 100 miles (160 km) to the south.

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Duke Ellington: Suite from The River (Village Virgins)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Echo Lake arcadia

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A wooden fence and woodland suggest a picturesque rural location. Appearances can be deceiving. They're actually within the front yard of a house in a densely populated suburb of Metro Atlanta.

DeKalb County (Oak Grove), Georgia, USA.
24 August 2026.

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Geographical/historical note

Unseen in the image, there's a small, unnamed creek just beyond the fence. To left of frame, it flows under a suburban street into Echo Lake, an 18-acre private residential impoundment lake.

Echo Lake was built in 1938 by the Soil Conservation Service, now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Congress passed a law establishing the SCS in 1935 stating, “the wastage of soil and moisture resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands is a menace to the national welfare.” It was a massive national effort with most of the work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Five lakes were built with earthen dams to control flooding and prevent soil erosion in tributaries of North Fork Peachtree Creek. At the time, this was a rural area of forests and farms. Today, only Echo Lake and a smaller remain.

— EchoLakeGa.org (accessed 2021).

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Art Pepper: Goodbye, Again.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Passion on the blossom

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A summer treat: a passion butterfly sips sweet nectar from a Texas lantana flower.

Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA.
9 August 2026.

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🐤 Fauna:

Dione vanillae (synonym: Agraulis vanillae) — commonly known as Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly — is a bright orange butterfly in the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. The Heliconiinae are 'longwing butterflies,' with longer, narrower wings than those of other butterflies.

Gulf fritillaries are found primarily in the southern parts of the contiguous United States, from Florida and Georgia to Texas and California, in open habitats near open grasslands, parks, and woodlands.

In its adult form, the gulf fritillary is a medium-sized butterfly with extended forewings and a wingspan of 2½ to 3¾ inches (6½ to 9½ cm). The underside of the wings is brown and speckled with silvery white dots. In contrast, the top surface layer of the wings is deep orange, with black streaks running across.

— Wikipedia.

❀ Flora:

Lantana urticoides — commonly known as Texas lantana or calico bush — is a three- to five-foot (0.9 to 1.5 m) perennial flowering shrub within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), that grows in Mexico and the southeastern U.S. states of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, especially along the Gulf coast.

Flowers are colorful red, orange, and yellow small tubes with four flared lobes; in dense, rounded clusters with a leafy bract [specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure] subtending each flower, at the ends of peduncles [long paired stems] usually extending beyond the leaves, appearing from April to October.

— Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
— Wikipedia.

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Cannonball Adderly: Poor Butterfly

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Pic(k) of the Week: Woodland summer verdant

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

If you hold my hand and sit real still,

You can hear the grass as it grows.

It's a lazy afternoon,

And I know a place that's quiet.

Some landscape photographers dislike summer, if only because of all of its greenery. I embrace it.

Here, there's a flowing creek hidden under dense summer foliage.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park
City of Decatur, Georgia, USA.
2 July 2026.

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Grant Green: Idle Moments

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