Blue Ridge blog

Thankfully the sun still sets...

My Eldest returned home this evening, for good. Ba-bye y'all, to the way deep south university. Just now I kissed her goodnight and gave her one of my hoodies to wear because most of her clothes are still packed away.
"It's colder here than in South Carolina," she said in an almost a surprised tone of voice. My Youngest rolled her eyes in response but seemed happily irked that once again she has a sibling roomate to have to work around. Besides, it is her turn to move away next to the same deep south state yet even farther away.

SHEEP!

Continuing on the barnyard theme of my last post, I saw this roly poly while on assignment in the Fall Creek community of Avery county yesterday. It was snowing slightly and I was making my way up a mule face of a mountain when I saw Mr. Sheep looking at me. I immediately had a 'The Hills are Alive," kind of moment where I was overcome with the feeling of running with my arms wide open towards Mr. Fluff. I briefly imagined trying to fit my arms around his body and burying my face in his softness. Alas, Mr. Squishy could read my mind and my thoughts scared him . All I got was this photo.
But, he is adorable with all that wool he's been growing over the winter.

Hey, I wonder if I'm this darn cute with all my winter weight?

A Rainbow Fallout

The High Country experienced a significant 'ice event' yesterday morning. Schools were closed, powers went out and for awhile, nobody did much of anything except hope and pray that big old tree too close to the house would'nt yield to the pressure of the coat of 1/4 quarter inch or more of ice. Around 11:30 a.m. I stepped out on my deck and heard the snap, crackle, pop cacophony of brittle branches as they succombed under the weight of ice.
All the sudden I noticed THE RAINBOW. Holy Moly, I ran down to the car to retrieve my camera. Rainbows are fleeting and I thought I might lose it. Yet the rainbow remained. As I fiddled with the polarizing filter, it tumbled over the deck. Shit. I ran downstairs and outside in my jammies and slippers, knowing full well the rainbow might be gone, again. I tripped up the stairs in my slippers and my jammie bottoms were at my knees. I walked out of my jammies and back into my slippers. I was now a comedy in action. Yet, the rainbow stayed and became even more intense. It spanned over Valle Crucis, from say Daisy Ridge plum over the horse farm, the river and the pot of gold was on Old Hartley Rd. The rainbow visted for more than 10 minutes--a record in my books. I scored lots of shots.
These photos are fairly straight forward though I did have to work with level adjustments in Photoshop in order to get the ice covered trees to show up. I also used a touch of Photomatix in the middle image. The last image is a close up of the rainbow against Matney mountain.

I woke up grumpy this morning. Not sure why but when I stopped at the Mast Store to pick up my mail, I noticed shoes on sale. Retail shoe therapy is oh so much better than a massage.

In between the clouds and a hard place...

Today's photo is brought to you because I needed high elevation and fresh air to free my mind of some egregious bureaucratic blunders. Both of my children have been seriously affected by said blunders and I will leave it at that...
I relieved much of my stress as I trudged through crunchy snow on Howards Knob this afternoon. Rime ice covers the tip top trees on most of the high ridges. The contrast between blue skies and white snow made me feel quite alone--and trust me, in the mood I was in at the time, that was probably a good thing.

(Howards Knob is closed during the winter months because it is turns into a solid sheet of ice. Don't trespass. It is not wise nor safe and it is against the law. With that said, I hope the town of Boone forgives me for my trespassing while I attempt to forgive those who have trespassed against my youngins.)

Courtesy of Momma Nature...

I rotated this image, but that was only after I returned home to thaw out my fingers and toes. This is an image taken on the ice gathered on the Watauga River while I straddled the bridge near Preacher Billings Rd. A couple days of ice which runneth over make for ripples and dents and well, interesting images of the quite ordinary winter trees. It helps to time the photo sessions as the sun lowers (or rises, yawn) to help intensify the colors. I used no filters or Photoshop other than 'Sharpening' in the photo. It is Momma Nature made-I just rotated her a bit to suit me.

A snowy/icy day in Valle Crucis....

It was just another snow day which turned to icy slush by noon. Still, the whiteness cleaned-up the scenery with muted colors while the local beast hung out and did whatever it is they do. Check out John Doe snoozing on the Mast Store's bench in front of the pot-belly stove. And look how big the piggie is. My how it smiles.

Congrats to my good buddy Mark. His blog Photojournalism reached it's millionth viewer in the wee hours of the morning. If you are even remotely interested in photography and more specifically photojournalism, then his site is a daily must-read. His PJ related posts are a continuous reference source for me, particularly at the beginning of each new sport season. The blogosphere is fortunate to have him share his images and knowledge.

(The used Lucis Art on the above images. I applied the #3 plaid.)

Hey Mom and Dad: It's snowing in Boone!

Yee Hah! It is snowing in Boone and baby, I'm going back outside to shoot. Check back later.
And until I get back, just be content you don't have to have this conversation with your son.

It's all good now...

Listening today to a bit of Bluegrass on the radio made my 'end-of-vacation-blues' completely disappear. That, and the fact that the temperature climbed to the 50 degree mark, allowing me to be outdoors, play in the mud, both of which did wonders to revive my spirits.
I worked to neaten up Harley's grave site today. I owed her my energy today because up until today, I had avoided the task. I wanted it to be a happy time, if that makes sense...?
I trimmed trees, cleaned her rock, raked mud in preparation for spring plantings and generally puttered around while Mister Man wove himself 'neath my legs.

And, I got to thinking...

And, I'm not one to resolve much of anything....especially while I'm thinking...

But I want to do some change-ups this year. Nothing too drastic, of course, just work on some if'n's:

If'n possible, I want to work less hard on nights and weekends doing work-related activities...
If'n possible, I want to learn to play the mandolin, or the ukelele or maybe the banjo....
If'n possible, I want to clean up our hillbilly redneck-ed home to the point where I might not be too embarassed to invite others over for a deck day delight. I'm not wanting perfection, just a few vehicles taken off cinder blocks...
If'n possible, I endeavor to expand my photographic capabilities to include mastery of several off-camera
strobes, with gels, in an outdoor situation, a la Vogue fashionista. I wanna make 'hot' photos.
If'n possible, I want to keep running but add mileage and weight-training to my workouts. I'm not excited about this particular if'n, if'n you get my drift...but it is for my own good.

That's my all. What about you? What are your if'n's?

On Appalachian State and Alpacas...

This post is for all of you who visit my blog and don't give a flip about Appalachian State football. You have to keep the faith and know that after tomorrow night, ASU football will be history, and hopefully will make history, and then chill out till next season. For those of you who really do care about ASU participating in the FCS football championship in Chattanooga, I promise to post images as soon as I get to the Choo Choo at midnight. Hopefully, Typepad doesn't go into full-fletch maintenance mode as it has for the past two years...in which case, you'll just have to wait till Saturday, sometime...

So the top photo is what it looks like through the lens of the camera right before an alpaca tries to french kiss the sky filter. Alapaca spit smears, just so you know. I was at a choose and cut farm on Junaluska Rd...near the spot of my favorite not-so-in-tact Rock House.

Now 'scuse me while several thousand Appalachian State fans and I move "The Rock" from Boone to Chattanooga. Watch the the game tomorrow night on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. EST.
How to see me? I'll be one of several girl photogs carrying a big lens and wearing black. Ifn' anything, I'll be a big ol blur while Armanti Edwards and team streak past me...so don't strain your eyes looking for me, just do some 'Go Apps!' cheers at the television and make me hAPPy.

Oh and, Coach Jerry Moore had some funny comments about the paper I work for. Just to clarify his statement about the 'one camera.' It is mostly true, except I own my own cameras and glass. All the others have to fight over the pool gear. But yes, we do only come out three times a week. Moore faithfully comes in each year to purchase a subscription for his mother so she can keep up with her son's work. Smile.

Edwards for Heisman? Let's just get through tomorrow night, then we'll ponder...

In search of the big light...

Look. Marie went out in search of pretty pictures for the first time in several weeks.
'bout time.
At 8:00 this morning I kissed my husband on the cheek and said,
"Gonna go find me some good light, baby."
Just so you know, I was in my pajamas when I took these photos. I did not brush my hair or teeth because light doesn't wait for vanity or grooming.
It was Sunday and I was thinking about how my perfect church would congregate outdoors.
As the toes of my sneaks were muddied tiptoe-ing around groundhog holes and my pj's were snagged crossing barbed wire fences, I thought of God and how if one couldn't find him in a great big field in Valle Crucis, then one might'n never find him.
Organized religion ain't my thing, but that doesn't make me a non-believer.
God is good.
You just gotta take some time and look-see for yourself.