Blue Ridge blog

2nd snow...

While my husband stayed home, content with cleaning, I escaped on a Sunday drive to the tops of mountains. I found slightly deeper snows than down in the valleys. I started on Howards Knob and wound my way up Junaluska and along Tater Hill. I told my sweet husband that I was just testing out the new snow tires. He totally bought it:)

On my drive I listened to a mix of bluegrass and blues. I listened to Mavis Staple doing a live version of "I'll take you there." When I returned home I was doing a very innocent Google search when all the sudden I happened upon an internet train wreck. You know? A place on the web which is so foreign and out of place you just can't not look. Meet Diana Campanella aka Artemisbell. She likes to dance and it is a wonder she isn't more famous. She's 55 Y.O. and is quite a hit in Brazil. She is prolific in posting of Youtube videos of herself dancing in her Scottsdale, AZ living room. Don't worry--this is safe dancing. She is a completely wonderful nut.. 

Did you know...?

I am a shaved and crushed ice aficionado. I mean, I often go out of my way, making an impossible left turn across traffic on Blowing Rock Rd., just to enjoy the crushed ice and a wee bit of Diet Coke from a less than savory fast food restaurant only because they serve the best crushed ice in town.  I've often wondered why Icees couldn't be made with Diet Coke. And at work, I am newly smitten with a low cal mango mixture with a texture similar to that of a Slurpee. Luigi's Italian Ices have a permanent place of honor in my freezer. I like my ice all ways: flavored, liquored and straight up.
So it was with great pleasure to find my husband had whimsically purchased a combination ice shaver/blender yesterday. It is a Margaritaville Froze Concoction Maker , but ya know, it makes more than Ritas. I gave it a whirl by making this Ridiculously Easy Pineapple Sorbet.

You probably will never come to my house, but if you do, we can now have a party. Of course, we probably would have anyway without this new pleasure toy in my life, but you know what I mean. Still, know that in the foreseeable future, if I'm at home, there is gonna be a cupful of shaven ice nearby.

Welcome to Goo Goo, NC

Somewhere between Foscoe and Valle Crucis lies Goo Goo, North Carolina. More specifically, it is at the intersection of Clark's Creek Rd and Justice, and about a couple of hundred yards south of the Springhouse Farm. I have no further knowledge about Goo Goo, NC...I reckon I'm in La La Land.
(Hat tip to Stew L. who emailed me this photo he found on Flickr and wanted to know more about Goo Goo)

On a different note: Youngest has been hitting the pavement looking for a J.O.B. If any of you hear of any local job openings, I beg of you to please let me know.

This makes watching them blow up in the microwave passe'....

It is a real live Peep Show. This is SFW (that means 'safe for work, Mom)

It also begs me to ask: "What do you do with your Peeps?"
Wait, maybe I don't wanna know...

Cha Cha Cha Chia a la Shrek....

Oh Silly Blue Ridge Blogger!
You have many more pressing items to focus your attention upon other than a co-worker's submerged and oddly euphoric Shrek Chia Pet, but you simply can't turn your head away, can you?
(The above image is all you get when a promised snow fall doesn't happen.)

Saving a suicidal butterfly...

My sister-in-law noticed a butterfly in the pool this morning.
"I saw it light upon the water and I helped it out. A few minutes later, it was back hovering over the water and it went right back in. It was as if it was trying to commit suicide," she said.
I took a couple of photos and with the help of my almost three year old nephew, we fingered the insect out of the chlorinated water and onto a nearby sunny plant. After about an hour, it fluttered away, only to dive into the pool again...
There is no Hopeline to call for suicidal butterflies in the Yellow Pages.

Jimmy Smith Park

Hat tip to App Fan blog for first posting this gem of a local YouTube mockumentary on the Jimmy Smith Park on Rivers Street in Boone, NC. I thought the viral 'Hot Hot Hot' video was near marketing genius, but now millions, ok, thousands of folks will flock to the petite Jimmy Smith Park. Way to go internet. Now the 60 by 20 patch of grass, rock and bench will be a mecca:)
I met Jimmy Smith several times as he served on the Boone Town Council. He was also a beloved ASU math professor and taught in Walker Hall which is why the little greenspace/bus stop/skipping path/park was across the street. Jimmy Smith had a great sense of humor. Part of his public legacy is that he was instrumental in pushing through the construction of a state of the art Waste Water Treatment Plant which also bears his name. He passed away on Dec. 16, 2000.
When the Jimmy Smith Waste Water Treatment plant was named, I remember his widow saying how Jimmy would have delighted in having a sewage plant named in his honor. So I have to believe having a small little stretch of lawn tucked near campus for students to frolick and be silly would have tickled Jimmy as well.

(Just wondering if this is the world's smallest town park?)

And Bless the internet's heart...via commenter Richard, the smallest park in the world is Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon. Apparently the leprechauns and fairies frolic there...

If'n Shreck were a spud....

I took many photos today but by far, this is my favorite. Nope, I did not grow this potato nor did I draw the face on it. It was shared with me. You see, one of the hats I wear at the community newspaper is that of the photographer of bizarre produce. OK, I'm not gonna lie. I love this duty. To me, capturing images of rainbows, whirlygigs, firetrucks on parade, and veggies of all shapes and sizes and then seeing the photos inside the hometown newspaper helps keep the 'small' in a town. It balances the tragic in twisted metal wreck photos, the hate in the irrate letters to the editor and the sad in the drug bust du jour.

(now that's one ogre potato)

***Missing Appalachian State University Student****
Spring-break gone horribly wrong? Rob is looking for his friend, Virginia "Ginni" Woods.

What a nursing mother might say to her infant?

Saw this sign on the Super 8 marquee out Hwy 105 this morning. This ain't one of those computer generator images. Instead, it is an honest to goodness rascal generated sign. The maintenance man at the used car lot next door said he noticed last week the sign bandits had been mischievious with the Comfort Suites down the road.I don't condone vandalism or rascalness, but this made me smile, just a little. I need to grow up.

And Who Knew?
My youngest has a cold. I slipped her some cash to buy cold medicine on the way to school this morning. She called from the CVS and said they refused to sell DayQuil to her because she is under 18. Apparently folks around here are serious about tackling the Robotripping epidemic. New to the effects of overdosing on Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide? Read all about Bildow's robotrip as he untangles his way down the hall to the tunes of Marilyn Manson. Personally, I would skip reading Bildow's Big Adventure except reading the mind of a 15 year old boy is sort of like watching a train wreck.

A little Tim Burton moment brought to you by the Blue Ridge Blogger...

Yesterday the early morning summer fogs made their debut. For a photographer, this means the edge of light times are extended by moving up and down mountains instead of having to wait for the sun do it's thing. Apparently, all the big fat juicy spiders were also cued to make their seasonal debut yesterday as well. This spider almost killed me when I swooshed passed as it waited for me on my Jeep. It glowed in the sunlight and as I looked at it I asked, "Are you kidding me? You look like something out of The Corpse Bride. I'm not afraid of you." Then, I thought of Jeff's Ogga Booga spider I posted last year. I got out my macro lens and got way too close to it. The entire time I shot this spider I begged it not to jump on me and suck out my soul. They can do that, ya know.