Success or. . .?

 Abandoned. U.S. 27, Rhea County, Tennessee.

 Over the years this blog has had maybe 5,000 hits, more or less, per month. Ten thousand hits in one month was cause for celebration. Recently, that number has increased radically to 15,000 hits, 17,000 hits, 25,000. . . Then in May the number shot up to 60,000. So far, there have been nearly 40,000 hits in May. 

Success, right? Well, maybe. Posting three times per week usually, I've racked up more than 800 original posts. Yet, there have been only a little more than 400 comments, and none duriing these months of greatly increased hits. Something smells. So what's happening? 

I think ny blog is being raided by bots, or more likely, by AI, pilfering content while ignoring my copyright. 

Master photo blogger Kirk Tuck suspected something like that was happening, so he shut down his blog and removed all his content, thousands of posts over 18 or so years, and stored it all in a safe place.

He's back now, but on Substack, where his content is only available to those he personally approves. Maybe I'll look into that, or a similar option. We'll see. I write for my readers and for myself. I don't want my work pirated.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Last week Louise had surgery on her shoulder, broken in a fall last February. It never healed properly and we were not happy with the orthopedist, so we went to a different one and she finally got the surgery she needed. As for myself, I'm being treated for an infection in my right foot. I'm also looking at procedures to open up the arteries in my legs and probably an aortic valve replacement. Getting older is definitely not for sissies!

 

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography  blogging     bots    AI

It's Been a Busy Week!

 Abandoned store, Georgia Highway 100, Meriwether County.

 The past week or so has been busy, busy, busy, with two days of Devlin's and Anna-leise's wedding celebration at Pigeon Forge. It was a great time, with lots of family all in the same hotel, and a shuttle to the wedding venue on a nearby mountain. I did too much walking on my game legs and have still not fully recovered. But it was a great time.

Five of my six grandchildren are married now, and have produced ten great-grandchildren, with one more on the way. Glad I'm still around to see them.

In contrast to last week's busy-ness, this week has been doctors, doctors, doctors. I have already seen one about an infection in my foot, and will be seeing two more about other issues. I've spent more time with doctors in the last three years than in all my previous life!

Louise fell in March and broke her shoulder. It has never healed properly, so finally this week they're going to do the surgery that should have been done months ago.

But we're grateful. God has been gracious to us and we are blessed to have lived so long.

The photo of Dave's Place was made with an Olympus E-M5 digital camera and the Panasonic 14-140mm lens.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography  digital photography    Olympus E-M5 camera    Panasonic 14-140mm  lens    Family events    weddings aging    senior health issues

Devlin Is a Big Boy Now

 

  Devlin discovers the sprinkler.

I made this photo of my grandson Devlin discovering the sprinkler in 2004, when he was almost three. He's 26 now, and at 6'2"and 210 pounds, is definitely a big boy. He's also a recent graduate from the University of Tennessee, where he studied something in nuclear physics so advanced I don't even know how to tell you about it. I suspect he does not consider the sprinkler episode to have been his finest moment.

My grandson Devlin and his fiancee Anna-leise. Photo by Kim, my daughter-in-law.

  Now it's time for the next step. Devlin and his fiancee, the lovely Anna-leise Bradbury, are to be married next Thursday, June 4th, at a mountain-top venue above Sevierville, Tennessee. Both families are fully involved, with relatives coming from near and far.

Also, on Saturday we're having a reunion of the guys from the Bible Study groups I led at UT-Chattanooga from 2006 to 2017. They're coming from several states and some are bringing their families. It will be great to see them all again.

So it's going to be a busy week. Thankfully,I won't be the official photographer for Devlin's wedding -- I no longer have the stamina for that -- but I'll be taking plenty of snaps and will post a few when the dust has settled. 

The photo of Devlin with the sprinkler was made with my first digital camera -- a Canon EOS 10D with the EF 28-105mm lens. Kim made the picture of Devlin and Anna-leise with her iPhone.

 

 If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography  digital photography   iPhonel photography    Canon EOS 10D camera    Canon EF 28-105mm lens    Family events    weddings

The Backroads Traveler: Watkinsville, Georgia

The Eagle Tavern has been a Watkinsville landmark for 225 years.

Entering Watkinsville from the northwest via Main Street, on your left, across from the courthouse, is the Eagle Tavern, at 26 North Main Street. Built around 1801, it was an important inn, tavern, and stagecoach stop on the route between Milledgeville and Athens. The tavern also has a rich history of ghostly tales and is considered by some to be the most haunted building in North Georgia.

Today, the Eagle Tavern is a history museum depicting frontier life in Georgia 200 years ago. It is open for tours Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

The Visitor Information Center is across from the Eagle Tavern at 21 North Main Street. They will be happy to provide guidance about tours and points of interest. Watkinsville, probably because of its proximity to  Athens and the University of Georgia, is also home to a very active and extensive art colony, with numerous shops and galleries awaiting your exploration.

 The Old Oconee County jail still stands in Watkinsville.

 Also across from the Eagle Tavern, behind the courthouse, is the old Oconee County jail, which in 1905 was the scene of one of the worst incidents of racial violence in Georgia's history, when a mob took nine men, eight black and one white, out of the jail, dragged them outside the town, and lynched them, supposedly for raping a white woman.

The Haygood House, built around 1827.

 Going south, the Haygood House, circa 1827, at 25 South Main Street, was the birthplace of two prominent Methodists: Bishop Atticus G. Haygood, born in 1839, was president of Emory College from 1875 to 1884, and his sister Laura Haygood, born in 1845, was one of the first Christian missionaries to China.

The Elder Mill Covered Bridge.

From the Haygood House, turn left and go back to GA 15. Turn right and go about four miles to Elder Mill Road. Turn right again and go 0.8 miles to  Elder Mill Covered Bridge, 

Originally built by Nathaniel Richardson over Calls Creek on the Watkinsville-Athens Road in 1897, the bridge was moved by wagon (don't ask me how they did that) to its present location over Rose Creek in 1924. It uses the sturdy Town lattice construction, with heavy planks fastened together with wooden pegs. The 99-foot-long bridge is in daily use, although weight-limited, and is one of very few covered bridges in Georgia to carry traffic without underlying steel support beams. 

This post was adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. All photos were made with a Canon EOS 6D digital camera and the Canon EF 28-105mm lens

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography  digital photography   travel photography    Canon EOS 6D camera    Canon EF 28-105mmlens    Watkinsville    Georgia travel    Elder Mill Covered Bridge    Eagle Tavern