Blue Ridge blog

A few snippets...

Dear Mom and Dad,

It's me. Mom told me she worries when I don't check in on my blog. So I'm checking in...

I sure hope you didn't miss the annual, "It's snowing in Boone" on my Twitter. I took lots of photos of autumn leaves covered in a thin veil of snow. I'd show 'em to you, but they're kinda for work.

And I have been working quite a bit these last couple of weeks. The fall colors don't last as long as I need 'em to. And, there's that little fall excitement thing called ASU football.

I missed getting photos of Annie experiencing her first snowfall, but we did play a rousing game of "Snow Ball," together. I packed snow into a ball and threw it up into the air. She would watch it land and then wonder what happened to it as it dispersed into tiny little flakes upon impact. We played this for almost an hour the other night. But her favorite game of all time is tug-o-war with her favorite crusty blanket. Every night when I return home, she jumps into my lap for hugs and kisses, then no matter what, we play tug, go for a little walk, and just spend time together. She's my little Sweet Annie.

I spoke to both my girls today. They're doing well. On my lunch hour I took a walk around the Boone Loop. I saw eldest drive by wearing her ROTC uniform. I then called her to say hello and she informed me she was on her way to play paint ball with her friends. She is insanely busy with school, work and her social life. She despises chemistry this semester but loves every other class. Youngest just called a little while ago and was excited to receive a little Halloween care package from home. We received her mid-term grades in the mail (who knew they send out such things) and are delighted to brag on her academic success.  She's in a good place and making smart choices. And remember that whole fender bender from Fall Break? Well, she's plotting ways to scratch up the rest of the money for the insurance...

Husband and I are fine. He's planing lumber these day. I call him a big termite.

I'm looking forward to passing out Halloween candy to ASU students tomorrow as they pass by my office. Actually, I'm just going to leave out a bowl and like birds to a feeder, watch which seeds they go for first.

Anyways, here's just a note from me to the two of you letting you know that we are fine up here in the mountains and are appreciating the small joys in our lives--like at this exact moment, the warm chips & salsa from Dos Amigos that a friend just brought in, are well, rockin' my world!

I love you both,

Re

P.S. And I don't want to forget about Doc Watson. but I heard him play the other night and here's a photo I took. His version of the Moody Blue's "Knights in White Satin," almost made me cry. It is a beautiful love song.

An October Surprise

Gnumoon and I threw this scary little snow creature (candy corn fangs!) together this morning. It is not uncommon to have snow flurries fly before Halloween, but to have actual accumulation of snow is unusual.

Five years and still going strong, more or less...

I hope you got a good look at the autumn leaves because after tonight's 35 mph wind gusts, the foliage will have launched to their winter home. That, and the High Country's forecast is to get snow flurries tonight. This makes me smile and I 'm not sure why. Probably because talking about the weather seems a whole lot more pleasant to ponder and is much safer to discuss these days than politics;)
Now if y'all will excuse me, I'm gonna go bust open a beer in celebration of the 5th year birth of this blog.

(This photo was taken a couple of days ago)

It was a better Black Saturday than last year...

All the cool kids wore black to The Rock. And then there was the one really sweet kid who colored me a sign. I wish I had asked him for it so I could hang it on my refrigerator. Thank you.

I updated the Appalachian State Football 2008 photo album with nearly 20 images of yesterday's Black Saturday defeat over Furman. My favorite game images? The back-to-back sacks of Sorrell. It would have been almost poetic if there had been a back-to-back-to-back sack, but I'll take those two. You'll need to scroll down to the bottom to get to the most recent images.

More later, I have lots to do on my day off. But first, I'm gonna go play with Annie...

Appalachian State student wins national title

Congratulations to Appalachian State University student Rebecca Tomaszewski for winning the Cross-Country Cycling National Championship in Banner Elk, NC yesterday. Lees-McCrae college is hosting the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships.

I'm head in that direction this morning to see the rest of the team compete. Go APP!

The creatures aren't cold so I couldn't dare confess my hands were a solid blocks of ice..And I like men in kilts.

It has been frosty the last couple of mornings. Maybe because I'm the only human around at the hour, the Valle creatures are more open to my attention. Or perhaps they want to snuggle...
And snuggle up to this: A new Valle Crucis photographer. Wow. Eric's photo goods are amazing. His eye is refined and his style is already well established. His raw talent can't be denied. I'll most certainly be linking to more of his stuff because his take on the Valle compared to mine is welcomed. He is married to Valle gal, Mason, and I met them both at, where else y'all? The Valle Fair.

And if'n you guys are thinking about Halloween...consider this post by Gnumoon. She wrote about Halloween costumes guys should wear, from a woman's perspective, of course. She also wrote about what is not hot. And, after extensive polling by the many women in our office...she is spot on. Especially about this. We are just saying...

A True Story

I watched "Dawn of the Dead" last night. So it doesn't come with much surprise that I woke up this morning with Zombies on my mind.
It was dark and cold in the house at my awakening. My husband snored, oblivious to the harp music playing on his new iPhone alarm.  I leaped out of bed, careful to jump far enough to allude any of the living dead from grasping my ankles via the underworld of dust bunnies.
I needed to bathe. As I turned on the water, the famous "shower scene" from  "Psycho" flashed through my hyper-aware brain. Neither the pulsing warm water or the scent of sesame oil could cut through my severe case of the willies. Still, the zombies and serial killers were reluctant attack and today I retreated from my shower unscathed.
"Let's move on with the day," I thought to myself as I watched a sliver of blue sky appear beyond a distant ridge.  I used a wide-toothed comb to free my tangled locks from a rat's nest.
When I leaned over the sink, it was only then my horror of the day would be realized. As I bent my head and brushed my hair forward to make an even part on my scalp, that's when I saw a black spider dangle from my comb.

I screamed. My husband jumped from the bed and he bopped the wee spider on the head.

That is the end of the spider.
But,  I am sure there are many, many more Zombie spiders out there waiting...to make me suffer.

<I shudder>

Two photos and then a third....

These two images were taken on two different days and about twenty feet apart. They were snapped at about the same time of day. The biggest difference is the weather. On the creek shot, there was a light fog and the sun filtered through to add a beautiful sidelight to the scene. I'm particularly fond of seeing Hanging Rock (aka the other side of Seven Devils) hanging out just below the clouds.

And kids, this is a perfect example of why you should be careful about what images you post of yourself on Facebook or on your blog. Yes, that is a photo of me underneath Sarah Palin's image. I just think it is funny they chose to use that goofy photo of me.

An one more thing...if you are into Appalachian State Football, the site "Biggest Upset Ever" is chocked full of past and present ASU football images, videos, news articles. Nice looking site. Somebody has spent numerous hours combing the web

Hillbilly Baroque

Ya know, if one could compare nature to a particular artistic style, this morning, she was opulent and waving around with dramatic flair.
Annie was with me as we made a tour of the Valle Crucis loop from Dewitt Barnett Rd, passed the Danner Cemetery then connected with Baird's Creek and back onto Broadstone. Sadly, Annie didn't have as much fun as I did. As soon as we drove up our gravel road my little pup tossed her cookies inside my camera bag.

On the home front: Two months ago my eldest daughter scoffed at the idea of using our extra stored furniture inside her apartment. Yesterday, she returned home to comb through the barn where she found many wonderful treasures hidden within. Amazing how poverty silenced her sense of entitlement yet heightened her appreciation for ordinary.

But, do you want to see a fantastic autumn portrait? Look Here. Kathleen Connally has reached rock star status in the Photo Blogging world. I am Little Cricket and have much to learn....

Autumn's movement

Before I took this photo I pondered and studied this Baird's Creek farm scene. The long sun of the season makes light dance around these hills. There is much afoot in this mountain valley...

As you read this, the worker bees of Holy Cross Episcopal Church are making the final preparations for the Valle Country Fair. For 30 years, this labor of love has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charitable causes.

"The Valle Country Fair was founded with the objective that all products sold at the Fair in Church-operated booths should be authentic representations of the traditional, simple, self-sufficient mountain way of living, the elder members of Holy Cross Church have for thirty years passed down their knowledge, skills and recipes - raising up new generations in the old ways of canning, quilting, jelly making, cider pressing and apple butter cooking, further preserving the heritage of the mountains and the ways of Valle Crucis."

Valle Crucis is not just another beautiful place, it is a community which maintains a strong commitment to Appalachian mountain traditions.

And I'll leave you with this poem by Carl Sandburg, the American poet who spent much of his adult life living in the North Carolina mountains. He clicked with autumn.

Autumn Movement by Carl Sandburg

I CRIED over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts.

The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper sunburned woman, the mother of the year, the taker of seeds.

The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes, new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind, and the old things go, not one lasts.

**UPDATE**

 Hey. He's talking about me, Monte Mitchell @ the Winston Salem Journal wrote a very kind story about about me...and Harley. I am humbled by the positive attention. All I really want to do now is pick up Annie and make a long trek to Carlene's place. I might do that tomorrow. There will be photos of course;)

And for those of you coming here from the Winston Salem Journal. Welcome. Please come in and sit a spell. Here are a few of the posts Monte wrote about:

Appalachian Artifacts

For Emily and Carlene

Meet Carlene Townsend

And about Harley's death