Getting there is half the fun

March 15 is the Ides of March...beware if you're named Caesar.

I owe Caesar for two surgical procedures in his name (which I highly doubt that he had knowledge of, but perhaps) which gave me two healthy babies. The first one was done the regular way of lots of my screaming, er labor.

My auto repair place has this car on display (possibly for sale).

A way to be cheerful when walking in the rain...(as I will in Asheville with friends today!)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Super Guppy arrived in Alabama on Nov. 6, 2023, carrying the heat shield that protected Orion’s crew module during its flight on Artemis I.

Daniel Boone Wagon Train, July 1965, Wilkesboro NC.

Somebody used the reverse setting and had no idea how to back up! Ooops.

Thanks Tom! The Blueridge Roadrunner is the name of my car (not red, not fast, but can go over mountains just fine!)

Sharing with Sepia Saturday today. Finding new information from those who post about various topics...this month supposedly about 'Going to Work.' Mmm, I think I missed it this week (again.)

Today's quote:

It’s precisely the people who are considered the least “likely” leaders who end up inspiring others the most. Everyday people and everyday acts of courage eventually change everything.

AI-JEN POO

On a more personal note

 I broke down and purchased some flowers...some to share, some to keep and enjoy!

I keep sticking my nose in them, thinking there might be a scent today. Nope. These could be made of tissue paper, though they are beautiful forms from nature, they no longer have any scents.

Can you guess what this is a photo of?

Answer will be at bottom of post.

I seldom look inside the car next to mine when I park...but this one invited me in...from fringe on the window to stickers on the dash, to the fun steering wheel. I didn't capture all the stickers on the back of the car though. Well, I have my pride!

Nope, I couldn't get the whole car into frame, since I was in my car, and it would have meant moving the car sideways, to back away. But isn't that a great whale of an American Chevy Belaire?

I made some potato soup the other night...which I had in a favorite bowl which I didn't make, but did copy. It holds the heat and can certainly hold a lot more soup than I served myself!

The last of the Christmas trees that were either 6 or 7 feet tall...at the lot in Black Mountain by the Methodist Church (a Boy Scout Troop sells them I think). Cost was $75!

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The circuit board photo at the beginning of this post is to take the electricity from batteries and power some little LED lights, in a small fixture which can be mounted under a shelf. I was using it when I did pottery displays, but no longer needed it, so was taking out the batteries. However, I couldn't budge them, so asked a friend, and she removed them. Then I offered the fixture to her, and she asked if it was warm light or cool LED. I didn't know, so she put the batteries back in, and they were warm, which she wanted. Problem solved as far as disposing of used batteries...she'll have them until they wear out now!

Today's quote:

Perhaps the most radical act of resistance in the face of adversity is to live joyfully.

ARI HONARVAR In Sylva NC the library (former court house) has a slope covered with little trees. IT IS THE sixth NIGHT OF HANUKKAH It's the feast day of the virgin of guadalupe I like her story which includes the goddess which existed in Mexico before the Spaniards came, and has a miracle of roses blooming in the winter.

When a vehicle becomes something more

 Just parked next to this SUV to grocery shop...

The favorite car in Black Mountain NC is a Subaru. Four wheel drive is the most popular of all. 

But to decorate with all these lovely stickers...ah, I have done such in the past. No more. I prefer to be a bit more anonymous in my elder adventures on the road.

And speaking of elders...I looked for this car (below) at the last car show and it hadn't arrived when I left around noon. It lives in that garage which is next to my church, so I was happy to see it out sunning in the driveway when I left church the other day!

,

I asked my friend what some of her stickers meant. The PL on upper left is important to her, it's pride to be Polish.

Two weeks ago (on yet another topic completely) I got my latest COVID vaccine. No problems beyond the usual sore arm for a couple of days.  So Mon. this week I got the next one that I thought would be good for me to have...the RSV one. Since winter gives me so many set backs with my breathing, I'm trying to cover all bases.  I'll give it a week or two then get the flu shot. I've been getting flu shots when they first come out in years past, but then I learned they are only supposed to last 6 months. So now I wait a bit and get it last. I do hope you all consider using this extra protection that vaccines can give. 

Today's quote:

Cicero claimed “older people who are reasonable, good-tempered, and gracious bear aging well. Those who are mean-spirited and irritable will be unhappy at every stage of their lives.”

Automobiles

 For Sepia Saturday this week, we get to find old pics of cars.

What's the difference between a car and automobile? No, I don't know the answer.

I'll share some old photos that I posted to another Sepia Saturday about a year ago.

But I also will give the link to a 2021 gas shortage post.

The following photos are the Rogers' family Studebakers, as well as some members of the family!

My father is Jr. and may be the one standing outside the car. His younger brother James would be driving, and Gummy (my grandmother who never drove) would be the passenger, wearing a hat.

In 1942 my grandparents stand as bookends for my father, in front of a Studebaker which looks very much like the one in the first photo. What do you think?

Here my younger sister and myself are standing in front of the Studebaker when we lived in St. Louis about in 1950.

Above, another Studebaker, and another set of Easter clothes (complete with hats) as my sister and I stand  on the campus of Principia, where we each attended from 1950 on, graduating from high school there, and attending 3 years of college before we each quit. 

This may have been my father's last Studebaker. It was sporty two tone with dark blue on top and a pale blue bottom. On the left hand photo you can see my grandfather and my little sis, and maybe myself in the window. On the right side I'm pretending to drive, well before turning 16 when I would finally learn how (in another Studebaker of course!)

I greatly enjoy different museums which have been visited by another blogger, so try going to 

Big Daddy Dave's post on art in automobiles.

or even better, Big Daddy Dave's visit to the Studebaker Museum

Yesterday we had some sunshine and at 60 degrees around 3 pm I ate my lunch in the car at the lake. The wind was pretty cool. One radio-controlled sailboat out there, and a trio of Mallards with the aim of making little ducks. I wonder if this weather brought them into season. Tomorrow night is due to get back down to freezing as we go through rain and maybe snow. We shall seee, grasshopper, we shall see.

And to carry forward from yesterday having my (new to me) car checked out, I anticipated that in March I'd have to have it inspected prior to getting my new license plate tag (sticker with the year's date on it). Thus the state of NC has done previously. But today I got the bill of all taxes, local and state for the car, and it said my car didn't need to be insepected for NC. Wow! So I got a freebe yesterday of the look-over, and won't have to get the $30 inspection at all next month. Whoopee! 

Today's quote:

If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. -Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President (1822-1885)

You'd be surprised to find this car parked outside...

And here it was, right in the parking lot by the Clay Studio in downtown Black Mountain NC!

 

I imagine I would have done a double-take if I saw it driving down the interstate as well.  Fortunately it was parked, and I got to look with my mouth open in awe.  Do you remember when these cars were part of the American traffic, along with many fish-tailed vehicles?

Today's Quote:

​The trick, it seems, is to be able to hold
both things very close – the gratitude
and the misery – and then,
with a semblance of faith,
to let them fly.

​ELIZABETH AQUINO

A short race

On your mark...

 The train tracks are parallel to this road (Sutton) until the road makes a sharp turn about 100 yards ahead of this SUV.

So the train continued straight on its way, while the car went to the right to the stoplight on the hill that has been called "where your car rolls back at the light." Those are people who haven't got a good handle on a clutch, though most of them don't even have a clutch, as almost everyone drives automatics these days.

Anyway, that's the depot over in the shade on the far left.  The train (as usual) is coming with 2 engines in front, and one behind. It has already gone over the pass through the mountains to the east from Old Fort, and is heading downhill to Asheville.  I've heard there are 13 tunnels on the track through the pass...many switchbacks, which is probabaly why they have the engine in the rear.

Who one the race? The plane up above, of course!

You never know who

...is going to park next to you in the parking lot at Lake Tomahawk.

My Toy Yoda was a bit outclassed yesterday by a Bentley.  No kidding.  It's so classy the only place I could find the name was the hubcaps.  The burl wood dash and leather upholstery didn't say it.

I pulled out my trusty smart phone camera just to prove it to you (unless of course you own the Bentley, and you already enjoy it!)

 Having  walked all the way around it, I decided not to wait for the owners and gawk any more than I already had!

Quote for the day:

The progress of our soul is like a perfect poem. It has an infinite idea which once realised makes all movements full of meaning and joy.  Rabindranath Tagore

Antique car

My neighbors at the end of my road drove past me the other day, and I whipped out my camera, and they paused long enough for me to click the shutter.

That's their lovely home right behind them.

Reliable car shop

Swannanoa, NC

This is where my mechanic(s) hang out, waiting for me to bring my '96 Toyota in to keep it running.  And they tell me if I take care of it, it will run forever.  (I'm not sure I want to drive it quite that long, but I've had it since 2000 already)  At least the next owner can know that it's been driven by a little (?) old lady!

Thought for the day:

Be still, and the world is bound to turn herself inside out to entertain you. Everywhere you look, joyful noise is clanging to drown out quiet desperation.

Barbara Kingsolver
High Tide in Tucson


And here's a shot of spring, just in case you're turned off by pics of auto shops (well, they are a necessary part of life)