Blue Ridge blog

Perfect Day...

Knowing, upon waking, that a day is mine to do as please is a rare occurrance in my life. So, when the opportunity comes 'round, I carpe the diem.
This morning I called Harley (and Mister Man) to see if they wanted to go for a ride. Only Harley could be convinced. We traveled in Valle Crucis where I took several photos of Clark's Creek, Dutch Creek, and the Watauga River. We then headed to the park for a two mile walk. Harley chased rocks in the river while I ran two miles. I am now home cleaning out my closet which is exactly what I want to be doing right now. With any luck...I will soon hear the cello playing.

Showing off her Christmas presents

Just a brief post. The few free moments I've had these last couple of days have been spent on winter walks with Harley. Here is a photo of my favorite gal patiently waiting for me to finish taking a photo...
I did visit my mailbox yesterday and found the most wonderful card of from David and Gretchen. I couldn't find a link online to the actual artwork by artist Joy Campbell, but it showed a golden retriever gleaning 3 tennis balls in his mouth. The card was printed by Leanin' Tree .

 

Harley wasn't an inspiration for Ms. Campbell's painting, but I'm positive she surely would have posed for her. Anyway, thanks David and Gretchen.

With luck, tomorrow I will be able to get out and about with my camera again.

 

Christmas Kitsch circa 2006

After 5 days, 1200 miles and only 10 minutes of family dysfunction,  we returned safely home from our Christmas tour. It was all good. Highlights:

• Surviving 2 full days of pre-Christmas shopping at Raleigh's premiere malls with humor still in tact
• Baking Gingernut cookies with my mother.
• Listening to English medieval Christmas carols--I am 100% dork, afterall...
• Watching my daughters learn, with much grace and maturity, that Christmas is no longer a self-centered holiday. Sometimes, the best Christmas present is simply being with those you love. period.
• Sausage Cheese Balls! Good god, those little Bisquick boogers are addictive...
• Returning home to see Harley and Mister Man.

So now we get to the fun part: Examining the Gifts. By far my favorite special family gift this year was the automatic Table Butler by Park Avenue. This one came from way out in left field and left me wondering-- Do I look in need of a molded plastic hand which operates on two C batteries and which passes the salt or pepper at the speed of 15 minutes/hour? I think it was perhaps just a lark or momentary lapse of judgment by the giver, but it now has a temporary place of honor upon our kitchen table.  Christmas kitchen Kitsch , if you will... Other years I have received similar delightful gifts such as this freak of nature as well as this abominable snowman . You decide. Did y'all get any cool gifts? Please share.

A King Street Christmas Shopping Spree...

And shopping for Christmas began in earnest out of desperation today...Teenagers are not voicing wants and needs and that throws Santa Claus into one heck of a pickle. I began my search on King Street in Boone as I prefer the local flavor and can find there the funky fun stuff not found on most main streets. Scored baubles, but that's all. It is official, this is the latest I have ever been in preparing for the Yuletide. I bear an enormous guilt...I just shake my head and say, "I'm doing the best I can, man."

Where the buffalo roam...

You wouldn't believe my day. I started by madly cleaning the toilets in my home. I progressed to shooting 2nd graders performing in a wax museum. I moved from there to an Ashe county funeral home where I shot some girl named Twigglet (escorted by her boyfriend, Astrid) dressed as a vampire stuffed into a coffin. On my way home, I shot these cool buffalo hanging out on a farm along Hwy 221. Now, I'm listening to 8 teenagers eat their way through my pantry...oh, I forgot, I shot swans on a lake too...

Told you. I'm feeling existential--I mean, is this what it is like to be a human in the world?

Please, is it just me or was my day unusual?

Thanx.

Deep Breath...

I needed to get back to reality today. My part of football is just about over. In a few minutes I'm going to post the final fan photos in a New Fan Photo Album . These are photos I took of ASU fans from the sidelines. There are some mighty rowdy shots in there---especially loved the Darth dudes...
I went to Valle Crucis park late this after just to decompress and be with Marie for a few. Oh and, my eldest turns 18 tomorrow. I am happy about. Really.

**update**

Just noticed that Scraps to the Future has posted her ASU Championship Flikr set of photos. Allison, great photo of you and Ritchie!  Here's her photo of Me .

And check out this fantastic ASU crowd shot . Click on it to enlarge.

Finally ( I think ) more photos of the game and aftermath may be seen on my day job's website .

File this post under: The little things I don't want to forget....

How can we forget little Miss Alicia Torres? I'm not sure I have her named spelled correctly, but the NCAA official escorting her off the field during a tv time out didn't look as though he was in the mood for me to stop her and ask for the correct spelling of her name. The mother in me has to say this to the precious Ms. Torres:

"Bad girl. You should never run onto the field again and cheer for the Mountaineers like that again. tsk, tsk, tsk.. Don't you know you now have a certain reputation?""

The other mother thing I have to say to Ms. Torres is:

"OMG--thank goodness you didn't streak!"

...but way deep down inside, while I watched her antics and the confused looks given her by the officials, was:

"Yo! How cool, you have done something I don't believe I ever would have the guts to do. So while you won't get to see the end of the game and you only got about 3 minutes of fame, maybe I'll gain you another minute of fame on my blog. And, I'm so glad you didn't streak. (although I suspect there are those that wished you did.)"

Something you ought to know: She was completely sober, I think.

I don't know what happened to Ms. Torres so if someone knows her and could find out, I'd appreciate knowing.

P.S.--I think I have some photos of her tailgating...

Appalachian Fan Photo Album

It took me 24 hours, but I have about 125 photos of Appalachian State University fans tailgating in Chattanooga before the 2006 National Division 1-AA ( or whatever they are calling it these days ) championship game. These are just the pre-game photos. More to follow. Here is the LINK  . This is a work in progress so bare with me...

and is This for real?

Just a few images from last night...

I

It was so 'All About Kevin."

Gotta hit the road. Expect many more photos soon. If you are impatient, check out: The Alumni Blog which has links up already. Additionally Jeff Craven  and Weather or not NC have some personal photos of the event.

Words can't describe...or maybe they can...

3 signs were raised in support of Blue Ridge Blog. To me this means that there are at least 3 people in this whole wide world who first, read this blog, understand my sense of humor and then are proactive enough to make me smile. Of course, before I mention a word about the game, I will keep my WORD to them. Do understand I have been awake for nearly 22 hours so any minute now this post will die.
First I came across thing one, two and Scooby Doo. How I wish my eldest was here to play with her childhood friends because she loves this stuff now:

Frankly, I'm ashamed I underestimated Scooby Doo's URL deciphering capabilites...

Then, I ran into a really good friend who told me to look for a special surprise near the 30 yard line. I'm definitely feeling the love. From now on, whenever I doubt people give a crap, I'm gonna look at this photo and know they indeed do

And then, I was shooting inside the pavillion when an adorable girl came up to me and told me that she reads my blog...this isn't the cute redhead, Allison, who came up to me and asked if I was the Blue Ridge Blooger, but it is the cute blonde, Carol who did the samel. She described where she would be sitting during the game and I kept combing the crowd searching for her sign. Finally....check this one out....

Thank all 3 of you so much. It makes my job so much more fun with y'all around. Really.

And if you don't know who won by now, I'm not sure it is worth the bother, but ASU 28 UMass 17.