Blue Ridge blog

Looking towards Hickory and Morganton...

And so my day started with a 4 a.m. trip to Hickory, North Carolina. Hickory is a lovely little city which sits at the feet of the Blue Ridge mountains. Only one tiny problem I could find with Hickory, NC...the downtown area is a complete and utter nightmare to read on a map in the middle of the freakin' night! Seriously, the city planners used no recognizable logic when naming the streets. There is no downtown grid pattern to the streets which by the way have cute little names like 3rd Ave SW which intersects 3rd St. NE. In any case, my husband and I escaped the Hickory gauntlet without divorcing. Upon returning home at 9 a.m., I could see the snow capped Grandfather Mountain and announced to my husband my intentions of going to get a look-see as soon as I returned home.This is just one of the photos I took looking south from Grandfather today. Maybe more later...I'm really tired and a wee bit grouchy.

But before I lay me down to sleep, want some snarky local headline links with your daily cup of coffee? Check out what the anonymous BooneWeb Blogger has to say.

Strange changes....

My weekend felt as though I was a satellite radio and someone kept changing the stations on me...
"What, you aren't in the mood for 'Weezer', Marie? How 'bout Hayden's #14 in D minor?"
Imagine being in Mayberry, NC or maybe some place more strange, like Avery County, and all the sudden being plopped down into a hippie hangout such as the Espresso News in Boone. Those places are all good, just really really different.
My weekend was filled with such weird transitions.
For example, on Friday I shot an angry deer in the snow and later walked around Valle Crucis park in 65 degree weather.
On Saturday, I watched a great coach and a good man cram piece after piece of Big Red gum into his mouth as his basketball team blew a mighty lead and lost to Elon by one point. (It is sad to see grown men cry)
Then I came home and ate tempeh and drank a 'Cold Frostie' beer while somehow being humored by three 17 year olds chattering like the little girl in the Volvo commercial.
Sunday morning I ventured into town for a lovely blogger meet up with Ripple's wife, Gretchen and her daughter Marjory. I made new friends which is always good and then later, I traveled down the road to the New River to take photos of a 13 year old girl and her horse and visited with old friends there.

See. There's Marjory and Gretchen!

Anyways, the weekend was all good, but was broken up into many little contrasting tangents. That's all I'm saying.

Freak Show Friday!

 

I am a freak and I work with a bunch of 'em as well. I took my new MacBook Pro to work today and wasted many minutes of possible productive time making my co-workers pose in Photobooth . We were silly. We had fun. If you don't get it, well, I reckon you just had to be there and watch the tears of laughter stream down our cheeks as we discovered the different sides of ourselves. We had a hoot and we didn't get caught by the boss. I say, "Heh" to The Man.

Every office needs a five minute Friday Photobooth break... just to kill the monotony.

And, I'm in 4 of the photos....rare.

A few snow photos...

 

All of these photos were taken in Valle Crucis, North Carolina today. Click to get a better view of each image. More area photos by by Brent who also has some freakin' awesome tunes  on his blog. I'm going to go chill now....

Snow in Boone, North Carolina

I just returned from a walk on King Street where I ran into  the ever-effervescent Mayor of Boone Loretta Clawson. She was quite happy to see the snow falling in Boone. "It has been so long. I just love it," she told me. "May I put your photo on my blog," I asked of her.
"Of course," she replied. So her she is...

It is 10:49 a.m. and nary a flake of snow in sight....

...but if the noise level of clucking office clerks or bread lines in the grocery store are a weather indicator, we are in for a doozy of a storm. Personally, I don't think it is a big deal. People just want another day off from work...
But I'm in it for the ride so I'll let you know as soon as whatever is going to happen, happens.
Here is our current radar .

I was deeply sadden to see one of my favorite cartoonists has passed away. Zoinks!

All heck, I just posted this and it starts snowing. It is 10:59 and there are many flakes in the air.

Snow Kidding...

Just sitting here watching the other football National Championship game because I promised this huge Buckeye fan that I would. I also promised I'd root for her team...

Also keeping an eye on the weather. Looks like SNOW on Tuesday. Some models even predict white out conditions. Keep checking back on Tuesday and I'll give you a look see at the weather up here.

Weather or not....

I spent an enormous chunk of time yesterday at Valle Crucis Park looking for birds and attempting to document the focusing issues I'm having with one of my lenses for the repairman to understand. The park is a favorite place for both birds and birdwatchers . I have no clue what kind of bird this is, but I found it posing for me while perched upon a cattail near the edge of the pond. It looks like a sparrow, but I have been wrong before. So if someone knows what it is....

So all everyone is talking about these days is the warm weather and lack of snow. After talking with a bunch of old timers last week it was pointed out that there is a whole lot of winter left. And, as they also were quick to add, this winter has started out exactly like the winter of 1960. My new studded snow tires are ready...

Details...

Besides watching the big bright moon was set behind Matney, this view is how I my day began. I remember stepping out onto the deck to see a cold fog mix with wood smoke to create a melty blue flow through the valleys.

And then I went to work. The day was filled with much blood and tragedy.

I prefer not to share those details which are superceded by the bigger questions of life and death. Instead, I want to remember the good details of the day such as the hearty smell of the smoke-filled winter air. I want to remember sound of the shiny new percolator gurgling a good morning greeting. I want to cling to the memory of the onset of enthusiasm my eldest daughter has suddenly shown for being eighteen, a senior in high school and college bound. I want to remember witnessing the thrill of my youngest daughter as she opened a present Santa did not deliver on time. And finally, I want to taste all of your tacky food suggestions...all except for the potted meat ;-)

A post with a little added bite...

Being friends with a horror writer means my life is just a little bit more colorful at times. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned I had a pleasant visit to an Ashe County funeral home ? The above poster to promote my friend Scott's new book, The Hunger, is the result of that romp through the graveyard. I like the campy 1950's movie poster style. And in staying true to form, he's offering up a couple of his teeth to a few lucky fans. Only Scott is capable of dreaming this stuff up.

Oh and, my mother wants your opinion. I know. I really had to do a double take on her email she sent to me this morning. Normally she gives opinions, and not asks for them. But because this is a matter of poor taste, something she obviously knows nothing about, she quickly went straight to the tackiest source she knows, me and you.

I am hosting a Tacky Tea on The 14th for the Tea society which is the opposite of a proper southern tea . Would you please ask your blog buddies for tacky foods I might serve?  The food must still taste good but which one would never actually have the audacity to serve at a real tea.

             Thanks, Mom

The only item I could think to share with her is the ever popular Velveeta Cheese Fudge. I'm sure if you offer up suggestions, I could twist my father's arm to take a couple of photos of the spread.