Blue Ridge blog

A child's view of things...

Shooting from the hip has been fun. I enjoy seeing New York from a child's perspective.
Lots to blog about but not enough time. Please, Please, Please be thinking of me while I am tortured standing in Times Square from 1pm-Midnite (plus) on New Years. Going there is my idea of personal hell that I couldn't squirm my way out of...uggg! I will have my camera but probably not my sense of humor. I hope that my youngest will be happy. Eldest and I would rather go see the Brandenburg Concerto performed at some local church, but alas, this is a 'family' experience and I should probably be there. For giggles, I made youngest suffer through an excruciating tour of the Whitney Museum this afternoon. If you are the arty sort, I highly recommend a visit to the Upper East Side museum.

More later....

Oh yeah, saw 'Stomp' this evening and 'Beauty and the Beast' last night. We had crappy seats and were surrounded by uncouth people (mind you, this is coming from a hillbilly) yet loved both shows...

Until next year....

New York City

Plain Jane of Coffee and Varnish guessed of my location first so she gets a prize from the Big Apple. Send me your snail mail via email, Plain Jane and I'll get it into the mail directly.
I made a photo album of the trip so far...these first 6 photos are shot literally from my hip. Ok, more like from my belly button mainly because my youngest didn't want me pointing and being obvious with my camera on this trip. But, while editing I found that I enjoyed the surprising results that I would get by just pressing the shutter in the direction of interest. Sometimes it is fun just to mix up the way I think photographically...My favorite lost moment was trying to capture a man eating the world's most disgusting street pretzel. It was literally a mound of mustard, ketchup and mayo piled in heaps on top of the pretzel. Youngest was disgusted but was entertained by my antics of trying to capture the photo without notice. I also missed a subway moment of a man really digging his fingers in his nose--both sides-without any thought. While eldest gagged, I wished I had brought my camera. And no, thankfully he didn't eat his treasure, but instead opted to rub his fingers in his hair.

Sorry, but these details are priceless family memories that I must commit to this blog--less I forget...

Where I am is nothing like Boone...

Hey there Fred , David, Gretchen  and Doug . I absolutely thought of all you guys as I was driving by at 75 mph. I'll add links later but am doing the best I can on an unfamiliar machine..

Here is a further view that I took several hundred miles on up the road...

Someone has already guessed correctly my location so I will post more photos tomorrow. Having a great time...
And if anyone is considering robbing my home while I'm gone..consider that Harley is not in charge of protecting the premises. Instead, I leave my trigger happy neighbor and his pet Roddie. Trust me. We have a huge buck prowling around the mountain and our neighbor is stalking the area. Just so you know.

Let the games begin....

Not Scotch...just hot chocolate. Thanks Mom for not sending my daughter liquor for Christmas. Although I would have put a nice single malt to good use....
We're planning a get-a-way. Can you guess where? On Tuesday I'll start sending you picture clues. The first one who guesses correctly where I am will get an offbeat souvenir of my choice...It'll be fun, I think.
Oh yeah,,,family and friends who know already where I'm heading are immediately disqualified from this competition.
I'll try to make the clues vague at first and then get more and more specific...

Ya'll just chill out and have a happy merry....

I took this photo of the Jones House on King Street a couple of evenings ago and saved it for Christmas Eve to post.
I was hoping to settle in today and read, read, read, but alas I used the last coffee filter this morning and we are getting a bit too low on toilet paper for my comfort so I will briefly venture out to purchase these small items.
Presents are tucked under the tree and so far, the present that my parents have given my 16 year old daughter, is the most intriguing. It looks and feels like a nice bottle of Scotch, but somehow I don't think this is what it is...
It is my sincerest wish that whenever you get around to reading this post that every single one of you have the happiest of holidays and/or the merriest Christmas.

Blowing Rock gorge

So I went to pick up my Youngest daughter from a sleepover in Blowing Rock this morning. I use the term morning loosely since the time was almost 11:30am. She wasn't awake yet. So, after I screamed in her ear I went outside to explore the surroundings. This view (above) was nearby. Yeah, I know, her friend's house really sux, doesn't it? In anycase, I got out my 200mm lens and my 1.4x teleconverter so I could smush all the ridges together. The view is looking southeast-ish. I'm not sure how it looks on your monitor, but the dingy looking strip near the top is most likely pollution/haze. Still, it is all quite purty.

For the record: The sausage/cheese balls were disappointing. The fudge was not.

Tomorrow I hope to sneak in an hour or so of reading your blogs. I hope to be able to comment as well. I can't wait. I miss all of you. Really.

On a winter's eve in Valle Crucis

Last night Eldest daughter and I were driving to My Wanda's house to partake in a wee bit of holiday cheer, when I noticed a bit of movement on top of Three Cross Hill next to the Shull cemetary. I simultaneously pulled over the Jeep and grabbed for my camera.

"Oh my, now that is a photo," said Eldest once she figured out what I was doing.
"But how in the world did you see that?" she asked.
"I just did, baby. I don't know," was my vague reply.

It got me to thinking. I reckon I constantly scan for photos. I'm always on the lookout. I wasn't always this way, but over the years, it has become a reflexive process for me. Now mind you, this isn't a great photo, but given that I pulled off onto an icy shoulder armed with my 200mm lens at dusk and captured this photo in like, 30 seconds, the complaint department is not open for business...

I have 2 more photos that I will share with you shortly. But first, I must go sample some sausage cheese balls and home made fudge. Tis the season, ya know!

My Little Town...

This is a shot looking east from Appalachian Tees towards Boone's First Baptist Church.

This is a shot looking in the opposite direction...

Life today has been good, bad and ugly...I won't go into it all of it.
However, if you ever need a well built well house, drop ceilings hung or just a positive outlook of making the best out of the crappiest of times...give me a ring! I have been successful at doing all 3 today. Have experience.

Winter Solstice

I am glad today is here. I realize that tomorrow is the winter solstice and that there is a whole lot more cold to come, but seeing the barren poplars against the first morning light made me happy. Then, as I was making sausage biscuits for my children to share with their friends at school, I realized that not only is today the last day of school for them but also my workload at my day job dramatically lightens.

Finally, It is beginning to feel alot like Christmas up here in the High Country.....

Taking pause....

A dusting of sleet rests upon bails of hay near Dick Church's garage in Perkinsville. I take a deep breath and move on...

Hey, what do you get when you mix an African, a Latvian, a Hillbilly and a New York Jew?
(Sounds like the beginning of a really bad riddle, doesn't it?)
The answer: A sweet sounding, money-making string quartet machine.
That's what.
Eldest (a.k.a. the Hillbilly cellist) has been raking in the extra Christmas cash lately while performing with this outstanding group of high school students at gigs. I think it is time for her to start paying me back for all those lessons :-)