Blue Ridge blog

Pieces and Parts...

Annie has a new best friend. Our neighbor has a Chihuahua/ Jack Russell who has a bit of a masochistic streak. He loves to play with Annie despite being subjected to the mentally equal yet proportionally superior girl dog. It has turned out to be a fun friendship to watch develop, though I wince each time I see Annie accidentally sit on the little dude. I have affectionately nicknamed the him 'Little Dog' as he suffers a wee bit from little man syndrome and occasionally over compensates in personality for his petite stature.

My husband and I were saddened to here the news of the passing of Betty Keller. She was our dear summertime neighbor for nearly 20 years. She retreated to the mountains from her Naples, Florida home each June and stayed until the leaves dropped. She was the owner of the former Foscoe restaurant, "Witches Hollow." She worked hard as a single mother of five children to build her restaurant empire. She had a passion for gardening, golfing and drinking tall gin martinis seasoned only with ice. I will miss my deck time with her. The Naples news has a more complete life story.

I've dabbled in my garden since my return from Florida. And I've been harvesting gems such as a flying saucer squash, cucumbers, zucchini and at least two gallons of peas.

Yesterday evening, I drove to Maverick Farm in Valle Crucis to help Tom Philpott and friends harvest their garlic crop. Besides spending quality time with my buddy Tom (aka the beer fairy), I also wanted to gather info on growing garlic. There is nothing quite like hands on experience. Tom divulged that he learned his growing techniques from local garlic guru, Rob Danford.

Two new local blogs have surfaced on the horizon. The first is The Mountain Humanist blog which dabbles some in Zen Buddhism and Taoism from an Appalachian American perspective.

The second is A look back at Watauga blog which features entries from the popular weekly column "A Look Back… At This Week," a historical retrospective published in the "Watauga Democrat" newspaper of Boone, North Carolina, and compiled from past issues of the same.

Yeah she does, Mother Earth has curves...

The view from the saddle of Howard's Knob looking northward...I love the Watauga Amphibolites!

Driving the Viaduct

"Enough," he said.
My husband put down the sander and told me he was gonna take a shower and then asked if I would lay down the hoe and join him later for a Sunday drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
"Twist my arm some more or handcuff me please," I teased.
So at 4 o'clock today, we began our weekend of relaxation.
My husband raised the lid on his beloved '59 Ford Retract and we cruised to the sounds of nifty fifty tunes.
Tis the start of the Parkway season. The scent of wild roses, wild pink catawba rhodos contrast against the blue skies and the lush green mountains await visitors this week.
I saw many photo ops and plan to return soon for *cough* serious work.
May I suggest you come up here and play soon?
You'll thank me.

To market, to market to buy fresh pork and some worms.

The Watauga County Farmer's Market was in full swing Saturday morning and I took a few dollars along with my Nikon camera to check things out. Going to market has become a tradition for many in the High Country as it is not only a place to find fresh and local goods but is a splendid place to interact with real live human beings instead of on Twitter and Facebook.
I didn't want to carry much photo gear, so the only lens I used was the Nikon 50 mm 1.4. I limited myself to shooting with the aperture wide open to shoot the flowers. You might say I like to shoot bouquets with plenty of bokeh. (Sorry, that is photo geek-y humor.)
I made a small album of images I ripped off my Facebook page.
What did I buy at the market? This time I was so busy shooting and visiting with friends and neighbors, I walked out with  a bag of 400 red wiggler worms, a pound of Charles Church port and a belly filled with a shot of wheatgrass juice. Next time, I'm hitting the coffee and goat cheese!

 

A Tea Party in Boone, NC

I rushed home after work this evening only to be caught up in the rush hour traffic jam caused by the closing of King St. As I inched passed the Hardee's on Blowing Rock Rd., I  ran into Boone's own Tax Day Tea Party.
If you know me at all, you know I can't resist a protest. I grabbed my camera and ran into the crowd. I saw plenty of familiar and friendly faces.
This is a small town, after all.
An 8 foot trailer was the speaking platform and I estimate there was anywhere from 200-250, maybe more...folks gathered around. There were plenty of children present and the crowd was engaged, yet calm. If observers from some other opposition camp were there, they were not apparent and were respectful of the group's freedom of speech.
As we were all reminded by 8 years of the anti-Bush administration bumper stickers: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" and "If you aren't outraged, then you aren't paying attention."
So it is now time for the other side to biatch. And they did.
But not with drums and patchoulli. ( y'all know I am allergic to patchoulli, right?)
Instead they spoke via placards with quotes from Jefferson and other constitutional designers.
I did not witness extreme Right Wing extremists/terrorists in the crowd nor did I see any ACORN representatives taking names to hand over to Obama.
What I saw was everyday Wataugans pretty darn irritated with what they consider irresponsible government spending from not only the current administration and congress, but from those that preceded it...

P.S. I have a small photo album on my sidebar.

Annie likes ducks and bluebirds like Valle Crucis...

I took Annie out to the Valle Crucis wetlands yesterday afternoon where she quickly discovered her dominate 'water fowl chasing' gene. It is a very good thing ducks can fly.
And speaking of birds, I met up with Dr. Lynn Siefferman at the Goodnight Brother Sustainable Development farm yesterday. She and an ASU student were busy installing bluebird houses around the farm. Lynn is a behaviorial ecologist at ASU and is continuing her award winning research in studying plumage color of the eastern bluebird’s brightness of color and how it correlates with personality traits and choice of mate. She began her research in the Meat Camp and Todd areas of Watauga county but hopes to extend it into the Valle Crucis community.
If you own property near an open field and wouldn't mind if Lynn and a grad student put up a bird house and then occasionally access your land to study the bird's behavior, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with her. Think of it this way, the bluebird has always been a symbol of happiness. By attracting more bluebirds to the area, you'll be helping the Valle be a happier place than it already is. Thanks.

A few snow photos...

The snow covered mountains of North Carolina as seen from the Danner cemetery.

A wider view from the cemetery.

This is taken from my driveway after I made my way down Killer Hill.

Three geese and a horse as seen from Baird's Creek Rd.

The Watauga River as seen from the bridge near River Rd.

A snowy campus; Appalachian State University

   

  

Here is but a few of the hundreds of images I have taken over the last several days. Despite ridiculous wind chills, the latest snow was picture perfect and ripe with marketing brochure possibilities.
Each morning I woke up, put on long johns then added several more layers of clothing to protect myself from the elements. When I entered the office I was greeted by student interns who were less enthusiastic than me about venturing outdoors to learn to capture such moments.

"I left my camera at home," one kid whined.

"I stayed up late last night and don't feel good," was the excuse of another.

My response to them was to ask the question:
"How badly do you desire to be a working photographer? Or are you content being a wanna be?"

Ahhh, I enjoy teachable moments. As I explained to them: Possessing a $2,000 camera and all the photo knowledge in the world, doesn't make a memorable moments alone.

Great photos rarely come knockin' on the doorstep....You must seek them.

Dutch Creek redux....

Sometimes I forget that Dutch Creek doesn't end at the Mast General Store Annex, but instead parallels the Valle Crucis Park meandering on a journey through the Valle until it empties into the Watauga River. I don't recommend this adventure because not only is it private property, but even in winter, the flood plain/field is filled with ankle-twisting holes and skin tearing thorns. I did not come out my recent trek unscathed. And, I shudder to think of the snakes that slither through this marshy area home in spring. Stick to the banks of the nearby Watauga River where it is just a scenic and safe. The Valle Crucis park offers public access.
 I am likely the only person in the High Country (besides the skiers) hoping for a extra large dump of snow early next week. Yet I am specific. I want heavy snow followed by a day of blue skies and warm temperatures as it is the weather combination which yields the most sought after images. <Keeping my fingers crossed>
*And I hope to see you through the viewfinder at the double-header Appalachian basketball game this afternoon.

Jealous of John Doe

John Doe, the Mayor of Valle Crucis, catches an early morning nap.
It is a blah blah drizzly day in the mountains.  I collected my mail from the Post Office at the Mast General Store and because I hadn't held audience with the Mayor of late, I inquired of his whereabouts. I was directed towards racks of red long johns, where tucked away in a safe corner of a dressing room, the mighty mutt snoozed, barely recognizant of my intrusion into his kingdom and lazy enough not to dignify my presence with any sort of reaction.
I am envious of John Doe's powers.
If I were in his paws, I would demand a winter's nap as well.