Blue Ridge blog

What's that on Marie's horizon?

Hmmm...Look right over yonder hill?
See it just 'fore the horizon?
What's it?
If'n I was to make a guess, I would call that a big 'ol heaping mess of change.
Yep. Sure 'nuff, that's what it is.
I'll spell it out for ya. That is my new J.O.B.
I decided to throw caution into the wind and apply for a position as the low photo flunkie on the ASU totem pole.
Silly them.
They hired me.
I start Monday and am deliriously happy.
So in my copious amount of spare time, I've been working extra hard to complete my regular obligations as well as my work in projects for my day, night, weekend job.
I think I've been busy and not posting anything this past week partially because I don't want it to slip out that I might, just might, miss some of the folks I work with at my day, night, weekend job. Alot. There are aspects and habits of this 15 year long community newspaper job that are going to be tough to push aside.
That, and I'm just a wee bit anxious about screwing up this new gig...
Too late.
It is a done deal.
So there you go. That is my news.
What's news with you?
(Don't you worry, my little blog is gonna stay right where it is...BRB ain't gonna change--just perhaps the times I'm able to post, that's all)

Nesting...

Something must have gotten into Marie as she spent her entire Sunday cleaning the main floor of her house--baseboards and all.

And what happened next was people freaked.

"I knew something was odd when I went downstairs for a cup of coffee and she shimmied up to me half singing, half saying: 'Sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears,'" recounted her loving, yet confused husband who retreated upstairs to the safety of his man cave.

Aerosmith's 'Dream On' song was not the only tune Marie would belt out as she furiously folded laundry.
Marie pushed and shoved furniture, vacuuming spaces that hadn't seen the light in 3 years or more. Suddenly she encountered green rat poop.
"Those rat bastards got into my Coumadin," she shrieked." She then remembered the exterminator had recently planted green blocks of poison around the house to combat a growing field mice population.
Living amidst filth and vermin irritated Marie and she needed to vent on a human.
And that someone would be her youngest child.
"It was a 'Shock and Awe' moment when she burst into my room at 1 p.m. this morning, errr, afternoon, and demanded I bring my laundry as well as a molded bowl of oatmeal upstairs for cleaning. I was scared. I thought she might actually insist I hand over the keys to my car. It was a horrible, unbelievable nightmare--worse than seeing 'Saw 4' ," said Youngest.

After hours of hand scrubbing floors while listening to ANTM on the t.v., Marie worked out her little problems and took realistic stock of her housekeeping.
"I need three months and nothing else to do on weekends. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll be ready to invite the Valle Crucis bourgeoisie over for petite dejeuner. Until then, ain't no one seein' my hillbilly ghetto trailer," she said.

Just stuff

Yesterday I chased snowflakes around Valle Crucis. I tried a few new photo techniques with a failure rate of about 99%. Encouraging. This horse at Dutch Creek Trails was my buddy for about 15 minutes. Oh how he enjoys a bit of nose rubbing...

A few links:

First, if you like word games but you have no time whatsoever to spend, do not click on this Free Rice site. On the other hand, if you don't mind sending rice to starving children at the expense of the site's advertisers and you love words, then by all means, click away. It is fun. The site is legit, Amy did the research.

Next, US Air magazine did a huge 22 page profile piece on the Boone/Blowing Rock area. My photos are sprinkled within. I must say, it is delightful to be paid industry photography rates- a rare treat up here in the middle of nowhere. The magazine staff was professional and kind. I suppose this isn't such a great time to mention I have a certain fondness for American Airlines...
However, if you are on a US Air flight in the next couple of days, check out the in-flight magazine. Be sure to bend the pages nearly clear to the spine, then squint real hard and then maybe, just maybe, you will see my photo credit. It's ok with me though, their check cleared;)

See Mr. Ahn run...on insulin....

Steve Ahn, the guy in the center, taught my girls' science at Valle Crucis in middle school. He is responsible for igniting a passion in them for science which they continue to explore to this day. My children agree, if you could bottle Mr. Ahn's enthusiasm and ability to connect with students and inject said characteristics into the United States public education system then the state of education in America could quite possibly change overnight, in a good way.
Ok. We all love Mr. Ahn.
That said. Mr. Ahn is a Type 1 diabetic. He and two other local Type 1 diabetics are participating in Ironman Wisconsin in September as part of a team of ten Type 1 diabetics. You can read a whole lot about it here.
Or you may opt instead to check out Ahn's blog or his friend, Dave Shack's Blog and read as they suffer through the training process.
And did I forget to mention that Steve, Dave and the other Boone resident, John Moore will be part of a Discovery Channel documentary which will track their progress. Check out the trailer. They are the first three stars with speaking rolls. *sigh, movie stars*
I wrote a story about them in the paper which goes into a bit more detail. These guys have guts and I'll be sending in my check...but you don't have to.
However, when you read their blogs, you may understand a bit of the daily ordeal these guys go through even when they aren't training for an Ironman competition. Really, kudos to John, Steve and Dave, who now teaches middle school science at Valle Crucis. Go leave notes of encouragement.

In between the clouds and a hard place...

Today's photo is brought to you because I needed high elevation and fresh air to free my mind of some egregious bureaucratic blunders. Both of my children have been seriously affected by said blunders and I will leave it at that...
I relieved much of my stress as I trudged through crunchy snow on Howards Knob this afternoon. Rime ice covers the tip top trees on most of the high ridges. The contrast between blue skies and white snow made me feel quite alone--and trust me, in the mood I was in at the time, that was probably a good thing.

(Howards Knob is closed during the winter months because it is turns into a solid sheet of ice. Don't trespass. It is not wise nor safe and it is against the law. With that said, I hope the town of Boone forgives me for my trespassing while I attempt to forgive those who have trespassed against my youngins.)

Courtesy of Momma Nature...

I rotated this image, but that was only after I returned home to thaw out my fingers and toes. This is an image taken on the ice gathered on the Watauga River while I straddled the bridge near Preacher Billings Rd. A couple days of ice which runneth over make for ripples and dents and well, interesting images of the quite ordinary winter trees. It helps to time the photo sessions as the sun lowers (or rises, yawn) to help intensify the colors. I used no filters or Photoshop other than 'Sharpening' in the photo. It is Momma Nature made-I just rotated her a bit to suit me.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Children, M&M's and Appalachian State...it is hard to go wrong with this combo. At the ASU v Georgia Southern game today I noticed this interaction between these two fans. An entire bank of photographers saw what I was shooting and asked if I had caught it. It was a sweet melts in your mouth but not in your hands moment....
And ASU whooped on some Georgia Southern punks. Final score 88-81. Mmmm...sweet indeed.

Oh Yes, this is a hot dog in the snow....

I know this is weird but bear with me. This is the sort of post that only my almost three year old nephew who has never seen snow would understand. PeDab looks at my blog and because I have the mentality of a three year old, I used up a perfectly good wiener and a sat down for a couple of minutes on ice just so little PeDab could see a hot dog in the snow. I think the photo of John Doe beside the pot belly stove in the previous post may have confused him when his father pointed out that roasting wierner....
"That's not a hot dog in the snow," he said to his dad in an eyeroll tone of voice.

Dear PeDab,
Here's your hot dog in the snow. I would have made you a snowman as well but this white stuff was too crunchy. I'll try to remember to make you an extra special snowman soon. Or better yet, why don't you come up here to Aunt Re Re's house and play with me in the snow? Oh Yes, that would be wicked fun.
Love,
Aunt Re Re

A snowy/icy day in Valle Crucis....

It was just another snow day which turned to icy slush by noon. Still, the whiteness cleaned-up the scenery with muted colors while the local beast hung out and did whatever it is they do. Check out John Doe snoozing on the Mast Store's bench in front of the pot-belly stove. And look how big the piggie is. My how it smiles.

Congrats to my good buddy Mark. His blog Photojournalism reached it's millionth viewer in the wee hours of the morning. If you are even remotely interested in photography and more specifically photojournalism, then his site is a daily must-read. His PJ related posts are a continuous reference source for me, particularly at the beginning of each new sport season. The blogosphere is fortunate to have him share his images and knowledge.

(The used Lucis Art on the above images. I applied the #3 plaid.)

Hey Mom and Dad: It's snowing in Boone!

Yee Hah! It is snowing in Boone and baby, I'm going back outside to shoot. Check back later.
And until I get back, just be content you don't have to have this conversation with your son.