...And he was smiling plenty yesterday.
Appalachian beat Western Illinois 42-14 in the biggest snow I've ever seen at The Rock on a game day.
For the fans, band, grounds crew, football players, coaches and yes, photographers, it was a day to embrace the conditions and have fun.
Here's a gallery of images ...just so you get the snow drift.
I promise, promise to post plain old regular pretty snow photos later today. Why? Because I am glady snowed in;)
Big whoop. It snowed again for the 5th time this winter in the HIgh Country. I'm actually delighted because the snowfall de-sensitizes folks to the winter conditions forcing them to manage their milk and bread supplies thus unclogging the grocery chain. And by now, the travelers with rear-wheel drives have learned to wait for the plow. All becomes right within the my snow globe. I left work about 10 minutes early and snuck some images from Baird's Creek and the horse farm to share with you. It was getting darking way too fast.
I do have a few things to share:
My buddy Frank is currently on a Rotary trip to India. He flew into Mumbia/Bombay but was out of the city during the terrorist attacks. Still, from what I can gather, the attacks have affected their country in the same way the 911 attacks affected ours. The gang has a travel blog, and here's Franks and his mama before he left. Frank is quite a storyteller and I will gladly purchase a beer for him just to hear him tell me more..
Ever heard of the Valle Crucis falls? Well, my friend Kenneth has photos of both the falls behind the Mission School and of the falls at Dutch Creek. These are rare glimpses of our own natural wonders.
These fine young chaps were among the first snowboarders to hit the slopes Wednesday morning as Sugar Mountain officially opened for the season. The local online weather guru had said the High Country would see occasional snow showers last night, but I saw nary a flake except the man-made kind on the slopes this morning. Oh well, at least it the weather report inspired me to pull out my navy pea coat and go to Walmart to stock up on my winter supply of Hot Hands and ToastyToes. Looks like I'll need 'em for Friday and Saturday football...
News Flash: New this season feature mega-sized Hot Hands--ya know, to keep your whole hand warm instead of just the finger tips.
After four days of no working out I took an evil spin class this evening. Every pore in my body released what amounted to a salty puddle I dubbed 'Lake Marie' underneath my bike. Ahhh. I'm renewed even though my legs ache.
We finally got rain yesterday. Quite a bit, actually. The rain helped clear the smoke lingering in the humid air cause by the Linville Gorge fires.
Currently blooming on the mountain our the wild rhododendron which range in color from pure white to light to mild pink. I muted the colors in this photo because I felt like it...
This is the Mast Store Annex as scene from underneath the tree near the old bathrooms in Valle Crucis park. Yesterday I took a small walk in the park. Except for the red roof of the store, everything seemed to be colored linen white, polarizer blue and appalachian spring green. Ya know what I mean? Planet Earth was colored some intense shades.
Oh and, the excitement of the day? Some friends and I listened on the police scanner as the deputies chased some foolish young man attached to a Honda crotch rocket fly through the town of Boone at speeds in excess of 130 mph. My editor yelled at me, " Hey Marie, go get a photo." I laughed. "Yeah, let's fire up the old news helicopter parked out back." Fortunately, the maniac motorcyclist escaped without becoming a mere greasy spot on the road and he didn't hurt anyone else in the process. Unfortunately, (that is, unless you are a Smokey and the Bandit fan ) he also eluded the law. He was wearing a red helmet, was riding a silver and red Honda bike and was last seen in Trade, Tennessee.
Speaking of Tennessee and colors, yesterday looked just like to the Appalachia flag on the top of my side bar designed by the talented Tennessee Jed. This post explains his philosophy in flying the Appalachia flag. He is a wise Obvious Prophet, that Jed, he is.
While photo hunting yesterday I came across this green scene in the Hodges Valley. I was rather disappointed with the rest of my daily photo cache because all but this photo failed to convey the power of spring green in the mountain. The color of new green is tricky for to pick up for me on my camera. What I generally get is a mucky blueish/green mixed with tones of icky red. Still, I was showing my husband this photo and he could not have cared less about my predicament. Rather, his attention was on the car. Of course. According to him, it appears to be a 1947 or 48 Chevy Fleetmaster. Well y'all have a wonderful Saturday. I'm off to the season opening of the farmer's market. My morning will be significantly better than my youngest who is sitting for the S.A.T. along with 300 plus other area juniors.
This photo, taken at 3:30 pm today, is no longer accurate. Instead, the ground is now white. So it is snowing in Boone. Yawn. I'm bit weary of snow these days....
I would rather talk trash. Yes, trash. Because early this morning my youngest and I picked up several bagfuls at Watauga High School. Oh please. Don't applaud us for our dogooder-ness because frankly our hearts were not filled with joy and fuzziness as we anticipated the work. Youngest volunteered only because she needed to fill in one more blank in the whole college application circus. I did it because Youngest couldn't sell any other teenagers on the idea of helping her pick of their own litter on a Sunday morning. The town of Boone's 'Big Sweep' began today and it is the only day she has free all week. The nice lady with the town of Boone gave her bright orange trash bags, gloves and an orange safety vest. The bags and gloves were helpful. The orange vest is most definitely on Youngest's list of fashion 'don'ts.'
Our mission began in the flower beds near the entrance of the school. There weren't many flowers blooming, but man there sure was a proliferation of gum wads. I was concerned Youngest might not hang through the tedium of fingering 'abc' gum. Her sense of humor was clearly absent and was mixed with the abject horror someone might witness her being good. The vision of a Bud Light can stuck in a bush right next to the 'Visitors' parking area did lightened her mood somewhat.
She held it up in triumph and said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Go Watauga."
As the Sacred Heart Ministries church service let out, she started to panic. She gathered her orange sack and ran towards the upper parking lot.
"I don't want anyone to see me doing this," she said.
I followed her.
It was there we discovered the mother-load of all high school sins/trash over in a ravine between the lot and the school's main drive.
I feel so sorry for the leaves and flowers currently budding in Boone, North Carolina. They sure are gonna feel a frosty turn of events overnight. But ya know, it's their own bloomin' fault for poking their heads out too soon. I mean, everyone knows it always gets cold again in April. Always. 73 degrees is gonna be feel like a tropical vacation once the 27 degree temps and breeze smacks me in the face when I'm shooting spring sports on Wednesday.
But this always happens up here in April. Always.
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.
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