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Meet the newest member of my extended family. I guess you could call the fish my brother, but since my children gave this fish to my father for Christmas, I sense that the whole relationship could be called into question. In any case, the fish has been dubbed Alpha Betta and now has a wonderful new home. We are once again traveling and this time in the big city of Raleigh, NC. I am so weary of malls...
I've heard that an opportunity cost is an opportunity lost and because I didn't take the most perfect photo of Aunt Marie when I had the chance, it'll never happen again. The lost image is forever etched into my brain.
It was several years ago that I was standing nearby this barn watching in awe as Aunt Marie fed her chickens and cows. At almost 90, she showed no signs of slowing and was quite capable of tending to her farm all by herself. Aunt Marie is somehow related to my husband's side of the family and lived quietly on this farm in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee . The farm sits on a ridge and overlooks both the Tennessee River as well as the Sequoia Nuclear Plant . On that day Aunt Marie wore a plain grey dress that was hemmed about mid-calf. She had beige hose and wore matronly sturdy black shoes. An apron was secured around her waist and she wore an old timey bonnet. She faithfully attended the Church of God. As she spread out chicken feed, I was struck by contrast of her look with the steam towers of the nuclear plant in the background. I had my camera around my neck, but I was too distracted by my children who wanted to chase down the feral barn cats to snap the shutter. I have regretted to this day not taking the photo. Aunt Marie died a couple months ago. Yesterday, before we returned home, I revisited Aunt Marie's farm. Although picturesque, it was simply not the same without her presence. I left disappointed.
Well folks, in a matter of hours I am headed off to 'The Land of No Computers'. Sounds scary, doesn't it? Our sleigh is full and should eldest daughter pass her driver's test this morning, then she shall have the honors of steering us at least part of the way. The house where we are spending Christmas will be full of babies and old people so I think I'll have a jolly good time. Here are my sincerest wishes that you all have a good time, and if not, at least enjoy the day off.
Freakin' cold describes how it felt this morning climbing out of a tepid shower. With the ultra nippy morning temperature of -1 degree fahrenheit and wind chills making it feel like 20 below, our water decided to freeze. This is not uncommon, but is annoying. School was cancelled for today. Birthday wishes do come true!
The above horses gathered around the feeding trough yesterday while the snow and wind whip through Valle Crucis.
I turned sixteen on a weekend so had an agonizing wait all the way to Monday in order to get my drivers license. When Monday finally arrived, my mother took a few hours off work in the morning and we drove to the testing office. I don't remember a thing about the drivers test except that I passed. I drove home with my mom as the passenger. At home, I proceeded to get into the car (in the above picture) all by myself. I vividly recall the feeling of pure freedom as I pulled out onto Millbrook Rd. I remember thinking that if I took the notion, I could drive all the way to South America via the Pan American highway. I could even stop at a gas station and snag a Tab cola without asking permission. It was a wonderfully mind-boggling experience...
Sixteen years ago today, I gave birth to my first child. She was pinkly perfect all over and hasn't shut her mouth for one day since. Today, the cello-shaped birthday cake is made and my sweet sixteen princess is happy with her LAX stick and other gifts. BUT, it is the weekend, it is snowing, and she must study for final exams that begin Monday. With snow on the roads, the drivers license office will probably be closed tomorrow. There is not one thing that I can say to her to temper her youthful impatience. All she really wants for her birthday is to get in the car and ponder her own freedom. I guess I'll just have to make extra good crab cakes and shrimp alfredo for dinner this evening...
So I thought that buying a silly pair of fake antlers at the Dollar Store to make Harley seasonally cute for a snowy photo would be fun, but despite her most patient disposition, she just was not going to smile for the photo. I had humiliated her. We ended the session with a rousing game of 'bite the snowball'. All my sins had been forgiven. However I accidently left the silly pair of fake antlers outside on the porch and when I returned home in the evening, Harley had taken all of her aggressions out on the antlers. Only bits and pieces strewn around the yard remain...
Tonight we gathered in the sunroom and turned on the outside flood lamp to look at the snow, well , fall upwards. Here in the mountains, there are times when it snows buckets, but the precipitation doesn't land here...it just finds some poor unfortunate area, like Wilkes County, as its final destination. I dunno, looking outside, the snowflakes are whirl around like we are trapped inside a snow globe.
The following photo is one I took on Saturday. It is of some mighty hemlocks that will eventually succumbed to bastards called the woolly adelgid. My goal this year is to photograph as many of our hemlocks as I can so to record them at their strength in our environment. It is inevitable that I will be photographing their skeletons soon enough.
On the saddle of Howard's Knob is a field with a perfect view of points north. The best I can guess is that I am looking at Fred past those far away mountains.
I am just about to get my weekend 'Do' list completed. I just finished making my soon-to-be-nephew (currently I call him 'little pe-dab') his own little Elf calendar. And now I need to venture into the attic and collect the Christmas decorations. Everything is a little late this year but I'm just not going to sweat the small stuff. The girls are busy studying for upcoming exams which are a week away. I think I'll interrupt them to bring 'em some milk and sugar cookies. My youngest likes to bite the wings off the angel first....
My Saturday:
My eldest child likes the 2nd photo while I like the 1st. Which one do you prefer?
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