Blue Ridge blog

These photos were lost, but then found....

These are two images of nearby barns taken only a few moments apart. In the mountains, a minute difference in elevation often makes a drastic change in the mood of a photograph. The second photo is of the barn near the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis. A couple of miles away as I rode up the foot of Rock Crusher Hill, the clouds began to lift as the sun made its way above the ridges. A gorgeous scene unfolded and of course I stopped. It turned out to be a stellar morning for making photos.

Too bad I lost them all. Really, I did. My camera started acting wonky. I took out the battery and rebooted it in the field. I confirmed that the images were on the card. They were. Then, when I got to the office and tried to upload the images, they had disappeared. There were no images on the card the computer could read. After numerous attempts I resigned to failure and I wept for my loss. Sadly I reformatted the card in the camera. That's when a friend told me to try to find a free card recovery program on the web. I did. I found the Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery program which searched my compact flash card and found both my jpeg and raw images. How? I do not know. But for $39 bucks it promised it would retrieve them from the grave. I gladly paid the money and now own my personal version of the software just in case this happens again.

For those of you following ASU football, I added more images of yesterday's game against the Citadel to the photo album on the sidebar. Just scroll down and you will see the newer images. And, I think my new favorite SoCon team to play is the Citadel. It is a class program with great fans who leave the battle on the field. Even then, I witnessed several acts of kindness towards opponents by both teams' athletes. I admire and respect good sportsmanship.

And look what else I found:  an awesome blog called Cloody and Frank . If ever there was an argument for age being no excuse for not embracing the new, then this blog is it. 81 year old Frank and his beloved wife live in a retirement village in Arkansas. Check out his sidebar, not only has Frank had fun with Photobooth, but he also reveals the secret of Copiah soup. Cloody and Frank is a feel good blog. Go visit and smile, y'all.

On the Blue Ridge Parkway today...

I woke up extra early to go out to the Blue Ridge Parkway and catch some end of summer photos. I made an error in judgement and went to get onto the BRP from Bamboo Rd. Oops. I forgot the road was closed there and had to drive back on Deerfield Rd during the school traffic rush. I almost gave up because I thought I had missed the best light, but decided I had nothing better to do so headed south and picked up the BRP in Blowing Rock. I hit a dense fog bank near Julian Price Park and could tell that with a few more minutes of patience, I might sneak in a shot or two of pre-autumn delight.
So here you go...

(Scroll down on my sidebar and you might find a new photo of me, but shhhh...it's a secret.)

Make like a tree...

My trip to Louisiana was better than it should have been since I was working...
Here are a few tasty morsels:
1) At the "Cheers" bar on Hwy 51 in Pontchatoula everybody knows your name, except of course, they 'Cajun-nize' it and instead of screaming "NORM" as he enters the bar, they yell, "AHN-REE!"
2) It is impossible to buy 'evil' voodoo dolls in New Orleans. Even if you go to the Voodoo Temple just off the beaten tourist path. All high priestess or white magic hippies refuse to discuss the 'dark side' of Voodo and just simply 'poking' an enemy is likely to rain of black magic upon your head..
3) Being part of the evacuation process for Hurricane Gustav was an eye-opener. Contra-flow works.
4) Some of the evacuees are hogs. I witnessed carloads of folks bearing dumping trash from their cars even with trash cans 3 yards away. As one Mississippi hospitality person said, "I wish I could take a dump on their house and see how they feel about being surrounded by s*it.  Ehh. Like hogs, they probably would like it." Littering anywhere by anyone is unacceptable to me. (This section edited).
5) The best way to know if you like a person is to travel with 'em. If you can't get along during good times, then sheesh, it ain't gonna happen no way/no how.
6) And I leave you with this: Try a sip of George Dickel with a couple of Doritos. It ain't half bad. The smooth liquor brings out the piquant flavor of the chip:) That is my tip du jour.

And the bad...

About burning bridges....
Sometimes I make errors in judgement. Rarely do I make them twice, but I did the other day in respect to a freelance assignment with OurSlickGlossyState magazine. I shan't go into details, but it will be FOREVER before I ever accept another assignment from OurSlickGlossyState magazine. May their circulation suffer...the bastards.

Oh. Annie and I took a walk in the woods and all I could find was this photo of a peeling tree. Whee!

And last but not least...thank you Beth. Wow. What an honor. I've got several awards to pass along, but not tonight...gotta chew on the post a bit and do justice to those who deserve it more than me.

I'm around...

I actually got my rear out of bed this morning early enough to wander through the Valle and shoot little Bambis as they skipped through  fields. But, I liked the sun filtering through the fog and trees while this horse was oblivious to the background beauty, so chose to post it instead.
P.S. This is on Preacher Billings Rd.

On the home front: My husband and I are doing swell as empty nesters. Unfortunately, the two nights we have had alone we were greeted by unexpected visitors. This is a rarity in our neck of the woods. Just so you know, tonight I'm turning off all the lights and sitting quietly in the dark if anyone shows up.

So, I have a new not-so-secret fantasy that I probably shouldn't talk about...
But here it is anyway. It is my desire to break into ASU's bell tower and program it to play this tune while everyone on campus stops and performs this dance. It would be the coolest site ever.
I know, I'm just dreamin'.

Parkway Day

After a brief rainstorm last night it suddenly became freakin' gorgeous up here in the mountain and shows no signs of letting up. I'm wearing my trusty ASU hoodie but will probably shed that in just a few. If you want ideal summer mountain weather, come up here now. Highs in mid-70's. Lows in the low-50's. Me? With low humidity comes stellar blue skies and long-range views. It is a Parkway Day for me, Baby!

Ce Soir

I worked today. Lots. And, I've been feeling like I've been letting you down by now spending the almost $4/gal. to travel the High Country scoring photos to share with you. In essence, yes, gas prices are even having an effect upon this little blog. Silly, but true. Still, I returned home to this now familiar deck scene.  I offer this carbon neutral view of the Blue Ridge Mountain this evening.
Annie is fine and so is my youngest daughter. But while operating the backhoe, Youngest accidentally ran over Annie's paw this morning. Annie yelped and scared my daughter who feared the worst. Within minutes, Annie was running around as if nothing had happened.

Whoa. Check it out.

It never ceases to amaze me that I sometimes get paid to take a hike. Today I covered various assignments along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I traveled Rough Ridge (near Grandfather Mtn.) all the way to Doughton Park. The only thing missing from the day was having someone with whom to share the occasional natural delights. After climbing a particularly exhausting summit, I looked down and out and said over my shoulder to no one in particular, "Whoa! Check out that view."
Now it is late at night and as I post this, I realize that not only do I get to relive the moment from the comfort of my chair, but I also get to share it with you as well. Ain't blogging grand?

Where does the sun shine a spotlight? It should be on my clean pantry...

I was late for a freelance gig but just had to stop and take this photo on my driveway yesterday morning.
Today however, I was a homebody, except for an early morning run on the Watauga River Rd.. It was the first year in many when I didn't visting Grandfather Mountain during the Highland Games. Maybe next year...

And you probably will never come to my house, but if you ever do, especially within the next year or so, please feel free to wander into my pantry and wonder in its dust-free and painted environment. Be sure to jump up and wipe your white glove all over my 15 year old still-to-be-opened bottle of Sambuca. What do you do with that stuff anyway? Yet, it is now clean and ready to be used. I sorted through oodles of canned foods and threw out a can of pole beans circa "best used by 8-2003." However, I could not possibly part with the can of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs Shredder pasta in tomato-like sauce from 1994. I reckon, out of honor of my youngest, we'll cling to the contents till it bursts with botulism in the year 2014. Afterall, that will be just about time to clean the pantry out again. Right?

Common Contrast...

The morning air was laden with the scent of milkweed, but it was the common rhododendron in full bloom along my driveway which captured my attention. In this case the word 'common,' to which I refer the flower, is with praise because having lots of them is considered welcomed. In contrast, this evening as my husband and I enjoyed quiet conversation on our deck, my husband recounted a run-in with a particularly irksome lady. "She's plain common," he commented. To which I grimaced for I knew he did not flatter her nor did he want her to replicate en masse.

Colored Clouds...

I shot this on an Ayer's Mountain overlook. A severe thunderstorm rolled through the area near dusk on Saturday evening. Temperature inversions caused mist to flow up and over the mountains. The setting sun colored the clouds.