Mornings arrive early at Bogle Farms as the songbirds awake to the rising sun and begin their symphony of song. Cardinals, finches, wrens, bluebirds, dozens of other birds and even the occasional chirping squirrel inform visitors that another day dawns. The sun rises low on the eastern horizon and begins to cast long shadows from the 100 year old pecan, oak and pine trees across the property. In warm months, after frequent evening rain showers, a soft, gray mist covers the ground and softens the edges of the woods and meadows. The sound of vehicles passing by on the main road is so rare that you might discover yourself peering out the windows of the Spradlin cottage to see who is driving by.

If this morning is not one for fishing or hunting, you may decide to take a walk towards the ponds or wetland areas. There you will likely see one of a couple of Blue Herons fishing for breakfast and you will certainly see larger bass and bream hitting the surface of the ponds as they search for unlucky insects. The grasses in the meadow will likely be damp from the evening dew, so wear water resistant shoes. Early in the morning you will also see squirrels scampering across the ground in search of food buried months before. If you are still, your chances of seeing a few deer or turkeys saunter out of the woods and into a meadow to feed on young grasses, legumes and the sweet roots of the chufa which was planted for just this purpose.

Breakfast and your first cup of coffee or tea can be leisurely enjoyed in one of several oversize rocking chairs around the farm, or you can make your way into nearby Warm Springs, Pine Mountain or LaGrange where numerous small breakfast places can be enjoyed. If you decide to cook your own eggs, make certain you include some fresh herbs from the herb garden outside The Spradlin Cottage or Three Sisters Cabin area.

Midday at the farm is a good time to visit one of the nearby towns: Warm Springs, Thomaston, Pine Mountain or LaGrange. Pine Mountain (about a 10 minute drive) is home to Callaway Gardens (www.callawaygardens.com) which offers an 18 hole championship golf course, butterfly pavilion and lots of other attractions and activities. Warm Springs is a quaint, southern town with several antique and gift shops and is also home to The Bullock House, one of Georgia's most well-known country lunches. "All you can eat" meals of fresh vegetables, fried chicken and homemade biscuits bring hundreds of visitors daily to this restored antebellum home which is now a restaurant. It was at Warm Springs that President Franklin Roosevelt spent a great deal of time at his Little White House. President Roosevelt died at Warm Springs in 1945. From the Farm, you can hear, twice daily the faint whistle of a train. This is the train which carried the President back to Washington D.C. for his funeral services. For more information about Roosevelt's Little White House and Warm Springs click here.

Late afternoon is a great time to climb into one of several wildlife viewing areas with a pair of binoculars and view the abundance of wildlife native to Bogle Farm. Foxes, turkeys, red and gray squirrels, whitetail deer, and a variety of hawks and owls are active at the Farm. Those brave enough to stay in the woods until the sun sets are virtually guaranteed to see the larger animals in the early evening as the nocturnal creatures come out of their bedding areas to feed.

Depending upon the season of the year and the phase of the moon, you can see why it is in the evening that the Farm comes alive with life. Immediately after sunset is when the animals are most active. Geese fly overhead from their feeding areas to their nighttime roosting spots. This is also the time of day that the air stills and, in warmer months, cools to a pleasant temperature that makes sitting on a bench near a meadow or in a rocking chair such a wonderful experience. With the sun setting across Harman Road, the sky changes colors every few minutes and the shadows again lengthen on the lawns and meadows. Growing longer each passing minute, until once again asleep in darkness, the shadows of the trees have a calming, peaceful effect upon the soul as the earth goes to sleep. This natural rhythm of the day gives the visitor to Bogle Farms the overwhelming sense that whatever is being reported on the evening news---the world that God created is at peace with itself and will soon awaken to greet a new day.