Blue Ridge blog

Spring Notes

It may be invisible to the naked eye, yet when spring approaches, every single living creature feels the transformation. Yesterday, the spring season was felt by all creatures in the High Country.

Eldest daughter and I went for our first fair weather run of the season at Valle Crucis Park . There were Canadian Geese on the pond--no doubt en route back north. I saw green onions popping out above the blades of grass. Little children rode their bikes and fishermen waded into the waters of the Watauga River hoping for a bite on their line by a hungry trout.

When we returned home, I went for a walk down our road with youngest daughter. Mister Man decided to follow us. As we came to Harley's swimming hole, the cat climbed upon the rocks and was momentarily transported back to his ancesteral roots. He became Jungle Kitty.

On our way back, youngest daughter suggested that we go see if our secret stash of daffodils had bloomed in the woods. To our delight, we saw a sea of yellow and green. What a gift for a mother to watch her teenage daughter gather flowers and then carefully arrange them in a vase to be set in the middle of the dining room table.

East by Southeast

Today was a much better day to be on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This photo was taken roughly across the street from yesterday's photo. In a week or two, we'll start to see leaves obstructing more of the views.
Last night, Harley and I celebrated our first 'Deck Day'. I had to wear a sweater, but I was able to go barefoot and flick tennis balls up in the air for Harley to catch. Time to go fill up the propane tank. I just found out that this weekend brings the return of Daylight Saving Time. Gotta go run! Really.

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lion

Every once in a while I am forced to ponder whether my honor student offspring will actually contribute or harm the existing gene pool. Yesterday was one of those days. Upon picking up my youngest child from her driving lesson, the instructor hopped out of the car and calmly recounted youngest child's close encounter with an 18 wheeler. "It was a good thing I grabbed the wheel," was all he could say. Then he went on to describe the rest of the day: " She only ran off the road a couple of times. I wouldn't have a problem riding with her if I were you."  Thanks dude.

Later in the evening, eldest child came home from a trip to see the Dead Sea Scrolls . She went with a friend--who's father happens to be a history teacher. Silly me thought that she might grasp this opportunity to actually learn something. Nope.
When she returned home I asked her what she saw.
" A bunch of books written in a language that I do not understand," she replied.
I inquired further. "What was the name of the exhibit you saw?" 
She said, " I don't know."   
I ventured on. " What city did you go to?" 
And she replied, " I have no clue." 
I was determined to salvage at least one memory from the day. I wanted her to describe at least one nuggest of wisdom that she had picked up from her field trip. So I asked, "What was the best part of the day?"
"Hanes Mall, Mom. We stopped off at Hanes Mall. That was fun," she said.
I just hung my head and sighed.

Perhaps this morning was not the day to go onto the Blue Ridge Parkway--ya know, with the high wind advisorys and all. But, I literally threw caution to the wind and drove to the Thunder Hill Overlook. The clouds were hovering over Flat Top Mountain in the distance. I was nearly blown away and was forced to brace myself against my Jeep to get this shot. I decided to retreat when my Jeep starting groaning from the pressure of the wind.

Little Lamb

Introducing....MY NEPHEW! Look at those little fingers. Something about this photo wants me to play 'Little Creatures" by the Talking Heads. I'm hoping that those hairy knuckles belong to my brother!! Big <<Hugs>> little Peedab.

What Marie Does When She is Bored...

I hesistated posting this image because, well, it is rather graphic. But, I suppose that you should know my stranger side . Actually, I was sitting in the carpool line at the high school. Harley was with me. Local radio had nothing on but Talk Politics and Talk Sports. Ick. The classical music station featured a flute and a harp--which I consider just a step below listening to my daughters squabble. So, I let Harley entertain me. I climbed into the back seat of the Jeep and pulled out my macro lens. I took lots of shots of her eyes, ears and yes, her nose. She is quite patient and pliable and unlike most middle-aged women, doesn't have to 'fix' her hair before she gets her picture taken. I'm hoping to make a Hockney-esque  photo composite of Harley one day.

Youngest daughter's 15th birthday is tomorrow. We have no big plans. She just once wants to go shopping (**sigh**) and eat chocolate cake. She starts driving next week (**heavy sigh**). AND, she is actively looking for a summer job.

Dusk

I came home from the adult spelling bee yesterday evening and was in mid-sentence with my husband when I noticed this eerie light breaking through the storm clouds. I pointed outside and screamed, "The light!" and left him to get my camera. I shot several frames before the little hole letting in the evening sunlight was closed by larger clouds. Fortunately for me, my husband understands that I can be a little touched in the head.

We had our first thunderstorm of the year rock our roots at a little before  5 a.m.  Of course, once I am wakened from my sleep, it is impossible for me to return to snoozeland. I listened to the rain. It was peaceful in a stormy kind of way.

Happy Birthday Pee-Dab

I'm a real Aunt. My brother just became a dad and his beautiful wife just gave birth to a a healthy baby boy name Jacob .
The kid was supposed to be born on my birthday in April, but kept on knock, knock , knockin' on the oven door. I suppose he was just anxious to get on with the business of Life. Just wait till I get ahold of you little pee-dab!
AND--Mark  (The only real photojournalist that I know ) was nominated for a Photobloggies  award. Scroll down and please, please vote for him for the Photojournalism Award. In my opinion, he is more deserving than the rest. Congrats Mark!

Finding Spring

The sap is rising, I can just feel it. Yet the reddish tinge on the tips of the trees which signals an imminent explosion of green is not yet visible except in a few warmer microclimates up here. However, I did find a few crocus, daffodils and snowdrops blooming in the beds of Hardin Park School. I was belly-down in the mulch to take these photos--which is the prime reason that I do not wear high heels and fancy clothes to work.

And, as a matter of disclosure, I did fool around with the saturation of colors using Photoshop in this particular photograph. For the record, I will always disclose any 'tweaking' I do to a photo above and beyond my normal prep  ( color correcting, minimal dodging/burning, and unsharp masking ). I say this because lately I have seen too many photos online that have been 'tweaked'. I don't generally have a problem with this because playing with Photoshop is fun. However, I do not appreciate it when someone posts a photograph that poses as the real deal. It is a simple matter of photojournalistic ethics.
**Update** (open mouth, insert foot)
Let me please be clear--the above post is not in reference to anyone on my blogroll. I love the folks on my blogroll. I wouldn't put anyone on my blogroll that I had any misgivings about... My post on over-Photoshopping referred to one or two known photojournalist blogs that well, over use the program (in my opinion). I'm not talking about those of you who use Photoshop to interpret a scene for art--I don't have a problem with that at all--in fact, I know how much fun it is to play with Photoshop. Afterall, most of us know when Photoshop is used.  I'm just talking about when Photoshop is used and the photojounalist tries to pass it off as completely untouched. That's just bogus and I hope that you guys understand what I'm talking about. P.S.- Please don't ask me to 'out' anyone. It is not gonna happen.

Mixed Messages

As I was out and about today I noticed hundreds of seagulls cruising high above Blowing Rock Rd. This is not a common site up here in the mountains. They appeared to be particularly interested in the parking lot of the ever-so-tiny Boone Mall. Being ever-so-attracted to oddities, I drove to the outer regions of the lot and scraped together just enough left-over kid morsels from the floor of my Jeep to get the gull's attention. Several cars slowly drove by and I couldn't tell if the folks were looking at the mountain seagulls or at the crazy photographer sitting on the ground shooting the birds. I'm back in the saddle folks!

I'm back online... and I think I have a severe case of the Bloggin Blues. I'm just not into posting anything right now. I had a full weekend. Lots of blog fodder to post: Youngest daughter and dance team garnered at least 3 first place trophies...Eldest daughter worked out in the Westin with some of the Carolina Basketball team. Eldest daughter 'fouled out' of a LAX game. Apparently it is not ok to play 'Whack-a-Mole' in the game of LAX. Dear husband snored loudly last night so I ventured into the hallways of the hotel to escape. Upon my early morning ramblngs, I happend upon hotel security who was not amused and took me for some kind of rascal. They wanted me to provide a photo i.d. So sorry I forgot. My hotel key was inactivated and I was locked out of the room for several hours because I didn't want to wake my family. I am such a martyr yet I was not a happy camper. I didn't take one single photo this weekend... I needed a break. I had to endure yet another teenage trip to yet another mall. Is it me, or are all malls ridiculous, err, I mean, identical? We are no longer America, but Generica.
You guys are not posting comments so you must be bored with this whole blog thing. I am thinking about getting a blog book done and giving it up for good.
***UPDATE****
Sorry about the above pity party. I tend to get grouchy with lack of sleep. I could never give up the blog. Got my camera in my hand and I'm headed out right now. See ya later. Thanks.