Blue Ridge blog

Presenting Uno, Dos and Tres....

Last night I waited in the field house at Kidd Brewer Stadium for the last fans to leave so I could introduce 'Trey' to his siblings, Kenny and Junior. It was a sweet Appalachian Family moment...the kind that go into the baby's photo album.
Note: See how the 2005 trophy has Div 1-AA while the others are FCS.

See who is talking about our Apps around the blogosphere...
Begin here: The App Fan blog is prolific as usual about all things Appalachian.
Southern Suburbia's Chirstmas wish came true.
Gnumoon has a sweet game day memory to put in her own photo album.
Wx-or-not was at the game too. He's got a nice round -up collection of video and photos of Chattanooga.
Musing from the hinterland, R. Sherman says App State is his favorite FCS team.
While in the middle of a Maine blizzard Melissa says, "Three-Peat or Michigan Who? Indeed.

Other items of interest...
Fan I.Q. talks about Delaware's Mark Duncan chucking the ball at a sideline security guard and links to the video.
My opinion: It is a small thing. Let it go. At least Delaware fans didn't riot.
John Armstrong comments on Appalachian's season. "It was no fluke," he says.
The Bleacher Report suggests App State should play in the ACC and ramp up the competition.
I say, "No thanks."
I enjoy playing in a strong football conference.

Appalachian State 49- Delaware 21

It is 7 a.m. and I was awaken by some Appalachian State students jumping into the pool outside the Choo Choo Hotel. They haven't gone to bed since beating Delaware in the FCS title game here in Chattanooga. My favorite quote of the game came from ASU Chancellor Peacock last night during the pep rally in the pavillion outside Finley Stadium.
"I think we are going to have to start calling this the Appalachian Invitational," Peacock said as he held up a rubber chicken painted blue.

I was nervous before the game, but the Appalachian offense and defense came out and made some substantial plays early on. This was the first ASU game of the season when I didn't feel like I was gonna have a cardiac arrest. Thank you, ASU.

Now we have three championship trophies. The newest one is called, "Trey," of course.

It is official. Appalachian State is hot, hot, hot.

You can read all abou the game in the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and of course, The Blue Ridge Blog. I'm laughing with you...

Much, much more later. Need to travel back to Boone and beat the snow/ice event.

On Appalachian State and Alpacas...

This post is for all of you who visit my blog and don't give a flip about Appalachian State football. You have to keep the faith and know that after tomorrow night, ASU football will be history, and hopefully will make history, and then chill out till next season. For those of you who really do care about ASU participating in the FCS football championship in Chattanooga, I promise to post images as soon as I get to the Choo Choo at midnight. Hopefully, Typepad doesn't go into full-fletch maintenance mode as it has for the past two years...in which case, you'll just have to wait till Saturday, sometime...

So the top photo is what it looks like through the lens of the camera right before an alpaca tries to french kiss the sky filter. Alapaca spit smears, just so you know. I was at a choose and cut farm on Junaluska Rd...near the spot of my favorite not-so-in-tact Rock House.

Now 'scuse me while several thousand Appalachian State fans and I move "The Rock" from Boone to Chattanooga. Watch the the game tomorrow night on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. EST.
How to see me? I'll be one of several girl photogs carrying a big lens and wearing black. Ifn' anything, I'll be a big ol blur while Armanti Edwards and team streak past me...so don't strain your eyes looking for me, just do some 'Go Apps!' cheers at the television and make me hAPPy.

Oh and, Coach Jerry Moore had some funny comments about the paper I work for. Just to clarify his statement about the 'one camera.' It is mostly true, except I own my own cameras and glass. All the others have to fight over the pool gear. But yes, we do only come out three times a week. Moore faithfully comes in each year to purchase a subscription for his mother so she can keep up with her son's work. Smile.

Edwards for Heisman? Let's just get through tomorrow night, then we'll ponder...

Licking wounds and liking barn quilts....

The Cooper's barn has a new decoration. I stopped in the field yesterday and admired the quilt on the side. I think it may be particularly becoming when it snows. I'll get back to you on that one.

On the family front:
My eldest daughter is licking her wounds.
The application she filed to transfer from USC to Appalachian early in September is still 'under review' with the swamped admissions office. No one is able to tell her a thing except that her paperwork is 'under review.' She is resigned to remain at USC next semester because she is days away from making important decisions. To further aggrevate the situation, she was told that if she wanted to be considered for next fall, she would need to re-apply. And, she missed the November 15th deadline for that early application because she was waiting to hear on her current application. With over 14,000 applications for Fall '08, I fear both my children will fall victim to Appalachian winning 2, and hopefully 3 National Championships.

Getting into ASU is like scoring a ticket to the National Championship game...

In search of the big light...

Look. Marie went out in search of pretty pictures for the first time in several weeks.
'bout time.
At 8:00 this morning I kissed my husband on the cheek and said,
"Gonna go find me some good light, baby."
Just so you know, I was in my pajamas when I took these photos. I did not brush my hair or teeth because light doesn't wait for vanity or grooming.
It was Sunday and I was thinking about how my perfect church would congregate outdoors.
As the toes of my sneaks were muddied tiptoe-ing around groundhog holes and my pj's were snagged crossing barbed wire fences, I thought of God and how if one couldn't find him in a great big field in Valle Crucis, then one might'n never find him.
Organized religion ain't my thing, but that doesn't make me a non-believer.
God is good.
You just gotta take some time and look-see for yourself.

Appalachian 55-Richmond 35

It is 2 a.m.
Holy Moly. App won the semi-finals.
The Choo Choo awaits us for the third time.
I escaped the mob, barely. Experience is my friend.
Night games are hard to shoot. My bad.
But, App goes for three.
Final score: 55-35.
Works fo me.
Go Apps!

Truth is:
Both field goals were tumbled by exuberant students. No injuries this time. Richmond fans are are zealous and polite. They had a great but small cheering section. The Richmond team should demand their fans travel better. It is a quality team that deserves more fan participation. What? 6 hours is too hard to drive? Seriously. In comparison, App fans went to Michigan in much better numbers than the Spiders did for this playoff game. Attendance numbers for this home game were over 24k. It was Appalachian Black and Golden. As I left The Rock tonight, there were thousands in line at the ticket booths. The Rock will be driving to Chattanooga.
I'm posting a few photos, but it is late... much more later.

In the meantime, Armanti Edwards rocked THE ROCk. He broke records.

It's beginning to feel alot like almost Christmas...

It is almost Christmas so thus happens the annual insane rush to cram every single possible event in before the 25th. My poor blog languishes...
Last night after a high school basketball game I stopped at the most photographed landmark in Boone, the waterwheel at Geno's Lounge. I didn't have a tripod so grabbed a couple of shots while perching my camera on an icy post for stability. Expect more night time photos of this. I haven't exhausted the possibilities
On the family front:Eldest daughter returns this evening after enduring both a biology and calculus exam today. She has a week off before returning to USC to turn in a research paper.

In retrospect...

In honor of the last home football game Corey Lynch, Kevin Richardson, Nick Cardwell and other Appalachian State University seniors will ever play and/or see as students at 'The Rock' Friday evening, I thought I'd share a couple of photos I found while digging through files at work.
The above photo is former ASU coach, Kidd Brewer. I don't know who took this photo, maybe Jamie Fletcher in the late '80's early '90's, but the man's name tag clearly reads 'Kidd Brewer.' And he is in the stadium named for him.
Trivia: His son, Captain Kidd Brewer, Jr. was featured in the movie, "The Abyss and died in a diving accident very close to the date when this photo was taken.
More on Kidd Brewer stadium via Wikipedia may be read here.

Next, we have a photo of Current ASU football coach Jerry Moore.

Again, I don't know the date of this photo but I am grooving on the 'Black Saturday' t-shirts the football buddies are wearing. I'd love to have one of these retro shirts in a large size;)
And check out Jerry's not-so-gray hair. If I had to guess, this photo is circa 1990, which means one of my daughters was almost 2 and the other was less than 6 months old. The children in this photo may have the next generation of students in the next 10 years or so... Math was never my forte...
Last but not least: Check out these ASU graphics of the ASU Yosef and ASU football helmet. The newspaper had sheets of these hieroglyphics which would be pasted via wax to the sports pages before being shot by the large camera--back in the day, ya know...
Again, not sure of the date...

Think 'Bambi'

Wish I could say I was walking in the woods and happened upon this scene, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. I was shooting people ;) at Grandfather Mountain's wildlife habitat and grabbed this shot just as I was leaving. The naturalist explained that 'Beau' buck was entering rutting season and was a bit more aggressive than usual. I saw him chase the doe around the habitat. But she prevailed by out-dancing him. She clearly wasn't interested in fullfilling any of Beau's needs.
By the way, it was 28 degrees but felt like a zillion degrees below zero with yesterday's wind chill factor. Yet, so long as one is dressed in winter gear, Grandfather Mountain offers spectacular views in the winter months. If the top of the mountain is closed, the price is discounted. Just saying I would not exclude visiting the mountain just because of the season. Visibility is often the best and many of the animals are out despite frigid temps. And, I highly recommend the hot chocolate in the museum...

Tidyings of comfort and a bit 'Wanda-ful' joy...

I'm not sure exactly which of the many things I would like to share with you more, so I'll talk about my walk about with the cat and about one of my secret desires...

I went on my first walk around the woods without Harley. It was a successful step. The tears have long ceased, but as the saying goes, "old habits die hard," and so it goes with every move I make in or around the house. I find myself looking for her. For example, I accidently called for her when I got out of my car this week. "Here Har Star," I yelled. I caught myself, but then out came the cat to greet me. I think Mister Man is missing Harley more than me. He always loved the dog who tolerated him, but never reciprocated the feelings.
I've doted on Mister Man because of his loss of warm fur in which to rub, snuggle. And it's fair to say we lean on each other more now than ever. I took Mister Man with me on my first walk in the woods. In the past he would join Harley and me on our jaunts, but would be skittish and hang back as if to be the first one to tell the adults we were into mischief. Now Mister Man wants to walk between my legs. Out of frustration and necessity, I pick him up and and carry him the rest of the way, which is probably what he wanted all along...
We are o.k.
And now, about my secret desire...
Sit down because this is tough for me to admit.
I confess. I've always wanted to be a Cabbage Queen.
You heard me. I wanna be an over 40 princess who wears a DRESS and puts on a red wig topped by a tiara. I wanna be a 'Wanda' who supports zero tolerance of the beating of women and children. I could wield one heck of a dangerous cruciferous veggie if'n someone raised a hand at a child. But I have to work and I'm not connected to that particular community of women.
Me=Sad Face.
I reckon I'll just have to remain an in the closet 'Cabbage Queen.

Note: Mom, whatever you do, don't google 'Cabbage Queen' and see how the Urban Dictionary defines it. Don't do it. I warn you. It's nasty.
You're gonna do it anyway now. I know you...

The photos? Number 1 is from my walk through the woods with Mister Man. You can see our road. Number 2 (below) is of the Cabbage Queens of Boone in Saturday's Christmas parade.

P.S. Hey Mom, ASU won again. They played Eastern Washington University--which is kinda, sorta near where your little hitchhiker was picked up. Anyhoo, I made a photo album of the game. See my sidebar.

Much love,
Me