Blue Ridge blog

He's such a tool...

Much ado this weekend. We went to Columbia, SC to watch eldest perform in the USC University Chorus. Later we de-lofted her room and fed her in places other than the campus cafeteria. In two weeks, after her exams, we have her much closer to home. This make me happy.

Today, my husband and I constructed. Not much makes my husband happier than when he teaches then watches me use new tools. I am unskilled free labor to him..and I'm a girl. He convinces me to help him, is seemingly patient, but laughs at me the entire time. Today, I was getting used to the router and planer when he chuckled as I glazed my finger by the router blade. "Did that get your attention?" he asked.
If it wasn't for our lovely children, I would have shimmed the 'on' button of the router and chucked the tool at his head.
He's lucky I love the idiot. That's all I'm sayin...

Oh and the leaves are peepin'.

Coming full circle...

Perry Greene held audience yesterday as he sat on his John Deere Sulky plow while being pulled by three Belgian Percherons in the field behind the Mast General Store Annex.

"Ya just don't see this see sort of thing much anymore, " one passerby commented.

While resting his horses, I ask Perry why he enjoyed tinkering with this antique method of farming thinking his answer would lean towards the aesthetic and reminiscent yesteryears.
Instead his response was more telling:
"It's cheaper than paying for the diesel fuel to run the tractor and besides, this field is going to be used to grow feed for these horses. Reckon they ought to work for their meals."

If gas price continue to rise, we may see more and more of this...

I've been missing my Valle Crucis News. I found out it is temporarily being stored here.

Cold toes and a piggie nose, that's what Marie's morning was made of....

Today I got a much needed dose of Valle Crucis. I went to the Goodnight Family farm and visited piggies. At first I thought they had escaped, but after a few minutes noticed a huge pile of mud in the pen. Upon closer inspection, the pile of mud was piggies in disguise. They were sleeping in. Lazy pigs. They were happy to see me, until it was clear I did not come bearing piggie gifts.
Everything about the spring morning was refreshing, especially the frosty grass. I wandered over to the Valle Crucis wetlands and waited for the sun to illuminate the reeds. During my patient moments I noted the singing birds recognizing the happy season, though my cold toes missed the point entirely.

Giving you the bird(s)!

After work I went to the Valle Crucis Park. The weather was behaving and I wanted to see the havoc recent rains had wrought. There was some devastation, but the birds didn't seem to care. I saw many robins, including this one (top) perched on a fallen branch near the pond.

Later I saw a Blue Heron strolling and dipping his feathers in the waters. I scared it at first and it flew away only to return within minutes. I stalked it for a while, squishing my brand new sneaks in the mud, until he tired of me and flew down the Watauga's stream.

I returned home at dusk and noticed foreign globs in the trees. I finally figured out the blobs were turkeys perched way up in the poplars. I pulled out my 300mm lens and scooted 'round the woods till I could find a respectable silhouette.

Hee Haw

I got up early this morning to see what I could find to test out a new Canon 16-35mm 2.8 lens. Et voila, I wondered into Valle Crucis and found some ass to pose for me on the Taylor Family farm. The bottom photo is untouched-- just a little sharpening in PS. I discovered a bit of vignetting on the lens but this is something I can generally work around. I lit the donkey using a Fong (just google it). I played with the shot on top while in Adobe's Lightroom. I'm adjusting to this new software and Canon world I have been thrust into...and I dare say I'm may be going over to the white side.

See Mr. Ahn run...on insulin....

Steve Ahn, the guy in the center, taught my girls' science at Valle Crucis in middle school. He is responsible for igniting a passion in them for science which they continue to explore to this day. My children agree, if you could bottle Mr. Ahn's enthusiasm and ability to connect with students and inject said characteristics into the United States public education system then the state of education in America could quite possibly change overnight, in a good way.
Ok. We all love Mr. Ahn.
That said. Mr. Ahn is a Type 1 diabetic. He and two other local Type 1 diabetics are participating in Ironman Wisconsin in September as part of a team of ten Type 1 diabetics. You can read a whole lot about it here.
Or you may opt instead to check out Ahn's blog or his friend, Dave Shack's Blog and read as they suffer through the training process.
And did I forget to mention that Steve, Dave and the other Boone resident, John Moore will be part of a Discovery Channel documentary which will track their progress. Check out the trailer. They are the first three stars with speaking rolls. *sigh, movie stars*
I wrote a story about them in the paper which goes into a bit more detail. These guys have guts and I'll be sending in my check...but you don't have to.
However, when you read their blogs, you may understand a bit of the daily ordeal these guys go through even when they aren't training for an Ironman competition. Really, kudos to John, Steve and Dave, who now teaches middle school science at Valle Crucis. Go leave notes of encouragement.

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.)

In retrospect...

In honor of the last home football game Corey Lynch, Kevin Richardson, Nick Cardwell and other Appalachian State University seniors will ever play and/or see as students at 'The Rock' Friday evening, I thought I'd share a couple of photos I found while digging through files at work.
The above photo is former ASU coach, Kidd Brewer. I don't know who took this photo, maybe Jamie Fletcher in the late '80's early '90's, but the man's name tag clearly reads 'Kidd Brewer.' And he is in the stadium named for him.
Trivia: His son, Captain Kidd Brewer, Jr. was featured in the movie, "The Abyss and died in a diving accident very close to the date when this photo was taken.
More on Kidd Brewer stadium via Wikipedia may be read here.

Next, we have a photo of Current ASU football coach Jerry Moore.

Again, I don't know the date of this photo but I am grooving on the 'Black Saturday' t-shirts the football buddies are wearing. I'd love to have one of these retro shirts in a large size;)
And check out Jerry's not-so-gray hair. If I had to guess, this photo is circa 1990, which means one of my daughters was almost 2 and the other was less than 6 months old. The children in this photo may have the next generation of students in the next 10 years or so... Math was never my forte...
Last but not least: Check out these ASU graphics of the ASU Yosef and ASU football helmet. The newspaper had sheets of these hieroglyphics which would be pasted via wax to the sports pages before being shot by the large camera--back in the day, ya know...
Again, not sure of the date...

The Valle Country Fair is about community and so much more...

The Apple Butter Gang of Holy Cross
Ok, so the colors in these altered photos are garish, but so are fall's colors this year. I dedicate this particular post to Gary of the NC Mtn Dreams blog who wants to be from here more than anyone I've ever known. Hope you can make the VC fair next year, Gary!

Pressing Apples
The late frost killed our apple buds, yet the folks from Holy Cross used their state-wide connections to hook-up with off-the-mountain apples. Hot Cider drinking at the fair is a tradition.

My Friends
I was hungry at 9:30 a.m. when my friend 'B' was simmering onions and peppers in the Sausage Factory booth at the fair. It was everything I could do to keep my face out of that skillet. Her husband, 'F' thought I might actually do it which is why he is looking slightly amused in this image. If you look closely, there are at least 6 of my friends working in this Holy Cross Booth of charity--and that doesn't begin to count their prodigy working on the front lines. This is my favorite place to visit at the Valle Fair. I wouldn't trade all the M&M's and beer in the world for these people...

A monster in our midst-the metal, not the man
This is one of the many talented vendors at the fair. The dude makes amazing recycled metal art. I would say much more about his really cool work, but nevermind...

Local kids doing their local thing
I delight in watching my daughters' friends perform. These are some of the Valle's best. I enjoy the comfortable feeling of walking right up to them and pointing my camera in their faces and seeing their looks of recognition mirrored back by a slight shy grin. Goodness grows in Valle Crucis.

Hunt Hill Overlook
The secret passage way to Hunt Hill Overlook of the Valle Fair is a 6 inch board crossing the creek. From there you climb the hill slipping and sliding through fresh cow manure until you reach the sitting bench. The view is worth the dung.

Hope you like the photos, Gary.