Goodbye February mishmash

 Today's quote:

Philosopher and engineer Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) once said, “There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.”

What a strange month this has been. More late March-ish I'd say. So what are we in for in March and April?

If this has been spring, there's probably a doozy of a summer ahead of us.

Another classic ride!

No, not today's crowded beach...look at that woman with the parisol! But also look at how many people are immersed in the water!

Mountain snow sort of

     

The day after we didn't get snow...there's at least a bit on top of the mountain across the valley.

So I can see through the maple branches during the winter. These mountains all disappear during the summer when leaves are out!

Today's quote:

Everyone, in some small sacred sanctuary of the self, is nuts. -Leo Rosten, author (1908-1997)

Looking back in old photo albums

  Enjoy more photos from the past

Not yet this spring, but remembering another year!

Today's quote:

The brain is silent, the brain is dark, the brain tastes nothing, the brain hears nothing. All it receives are electrical impulses—not the sumptuous chocolate melting sweetly, not the tingling caress, not the pastels of peach and lavender at sunset over a coral reef—just impulses.
—Diane Ackerman

A Natural History of the Senses 

A dance hall that is just a memory

  Thanks to...

Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center for sharing this on Facebook.

"... This photograph by Don Talley features the exterior of the famous local juke joint, Roseland Gardens. Around 1920, or possibly as early as 1918, Horace Chambers Rutherford built a juke joint open to all people prior to integration in the U.S after he saw a need for a social gathering place for his friends and neighbors during a time when segregation prohibited the Black community from patronizing area restaurants, bars, pools, lakes, and music venues. Roseland Gardens’ reputation for lively entertainment spread quickly. Soon folks from as far away as Asheville, Old Fort, and Marion were regularly making their way up the narrow dirt road to Black Mountain’s Brookside community. Live music, performed by traveling musicians on juke joint circuits, helped keep patrons on their feet and dancing. Roseland Gardens closed in 1976.  

The building on Flat Creek Road that the renowned juke joint called home stood until the 2010s. However, despite many attempts to get the building registered as a historic landmark, it was eventually demolished in 2015. The original Roseland Gardens sign, as well as the movie projector, now reside at the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center in Black Mountain."

Early publication of this photo.

Later publication with some photo editing...not as clear for some reason!

Kat Debro in "Black Mountain News".

“People were coming here from all over, working at Montreat, Ridgecrest and Blue Ridge and of course those people had no way of socializing other than church,” said Rutherford’s granddaughter, Katherine Debrow, then 67, in a 2006 interview with Sally and Garry Biggers. “That’s why my grandfather built the juke joint. But he was also a businessman, and so he just came up with all these ideas of ways to make money." Quote above from "WNC History: 'Black Mountain Blues' at Roseland Gardens" By Anne Chesky Smith, in Asheville Citizen-Times, Feb. 19, 2023

When I arrived in Black Mountain in 2007, the building was already somewhat delapidated. Vines and a tree were growing over areas of it, and the roof canted a bit, as well as one of the walls. I learned that this used to be a dance hall for the Black community from my friend who lived up the mountain from its location.

I didn't go down that road often, so I didn't know when it was finally taken down.

Sepia Saturday suggests "short" for this week.

Today's quote:

'Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends.'

~ Hafiz

Some views from around the mountains

  

My favorite little creek as it tumbles over rocks...Flat Creek.

Looking east from a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook.

I loved this old tree...it has certainly seen lots of storms on this exposed site.

Today's quote:

All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty. -Henry Clay, statesman and orator (1777-1852)

From past blossoms to enjoy again!

  

Isn't this fun with the rosemary growing bbehind the orchid?

I'm so glad Jack Ollis put his signature on this, a panorama of the town of Black Mountain.

Yesterday was a medical test...swallowing barium and then having photos taken of how my swallowing works. As usual, the prep work for the test was the hard part...just nothing by mouth 6 hours before the 10:20 test. That meant I could sip water all night until 4 am. Then nothing. I had thought I'd just be thirsty.

I actually felt weak, and it was my first experience of feeling frail. I'm a rather well padded 5'-5" and can still walk around without any aids. But I almost fell over when leaning down to get my insurance card our of my wallet. So I sat and waited till I was called, and kind of took tiny fast steps down that hall. 

They were very nice giving me directions, and listening to my difficulties. The final outcome will be sent to my Dr. by Friday. I will sneak a peak with my Care Coordinator next week since I don't have any appointments for a while.

So that was a Swallowing study. I stopped at Mc Dees where they had the breakfast menu showing, only, but they told me I couldn't get breakfast as it was after 11. And the man taking orders was terribly rude, saying he couldn't hear me. He kept saying that, and I said I really needed to eat something, so what was like a sausage biscuit on the regular menu which wasn't on display? I came away with plenty to drink, Sprite and coffee, and a simple chicken sandwich. They definitely helped me feel a bit more grounded.

But the 2 hour nap to make up for having tossed and turned all night helped even more.

Today's quote:

'Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends.'

~ Hafiz

From springs of yore

  

Today's quote:

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions. 

-Robert Lynd, writer (1879-1949)

Blooms and mountains last summer...and a big furry friend

  

A neighbor took this photo off their back porch. I'm sure this dear little furry friend has gotten into our garbage bins at times. We now have them tied down with straps. When the pickup service comes on Thursday, the maintenance man undoes the straps.

Isn't this a beauty?

I hesitate to post this, because it's not mine, and I don't know who took it. I hope if you know you'll tell me.

A beautiful summer combination.

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) photo linkup party. Though I am not quite wordless!

Today's quote:

The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests, and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance. 

-Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect, and author (1743-1826)

Last summer's blooms

  

These beautiful roses are near my apartment.

A few years ago I had purple petunias. Then I went back to red geraniums. I wonder what I'll do this summer.

We did learn what this strange bloom is, at the Arboretum...but I've forgotten now.

We were there early in growing season...I'd like to go back and see plants all over that tower.

Today's Quote:

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock" Thomas Jefferson

Old photos of warmer days

  

This little swimming hole, wading more like it, was dammed up by energetic young people...but I bet they didn't sit in that cold water for very long!

Today's quote:

The rain begins with a single drop. -Manal al-Sharif, human rights activist (b. 25 Apr 1979)

A something "long"

 

"The Great Wall of China"

It was built starting from 215 BC. at the behest of Emperor Quin Shi Huang, with forts arranged at regular intervals along the route.

Declared a World Heritage Site and included among the seven wonders of the world.

This week's prompt for Sepia Saturday is long. I like finding something on these themes...whcih seem to go all over the place...now long/short, soon high/low will be coming!

But here's another "long" to satisfy this meme.

The earliest surviving fan vaults are the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral in England are , designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Cantebrugge. Source: Archeology & Civilizations facebook post.

Today's quote: (not sure I agree with him)

In the oldest religion, everything was alive, not supernaturally but naturally alive … For the whole life-effort of man was to get his life into contact with the elemental life of the cosmos, mountain-life, cloud-life, thunder-life, air-life, earth-life, sun-life. To come into immediate felt contact, and so to derive energy, power, and a dark sort of joy. This effort into sheer naked contact, without an intermediary or mediator, is the root meaning of religion.
—D. H. Lawrence

Springtime blooms from the past

  

Not my photo, but isn't it grand?

I did so enjoy these abundant white blooms!

Yesterday was balmy, no doubt about it. But rain came in during the night. However, before the rain I had a craving. I don't often follow my cravings, for some are a bit extravagent and not available easily. But this one was to have a slice of apple pie a la mode. Not just vanilla ice cream, but butter pecan. And so I got my trusty sneakers on and went off to our local grocery, and was so delighted to find my favorite Dutch Apple Pie...with a crumb toping. It's a lot smaller than it used to be...which is how they managed to keep the same price. Anyway, it was the only one left. I knew a Ceasar salad was dinner, so a good desert was well deserved. 

However, cooking a frozen pie takes an hour and ten minutes, and then it needs to cool for 2 hours. I cut that finaly corner a bit short by 20 minutes, The ice cream had been waiting in the freezer, and I watched old NCIS Los Angeles shows.

Sorry, after taking the picture I was busy, so I forgot to add this till I was awake this morning. If you read the post earlier you missed this.

 

Today's quote:

A book, once it is printed and published, becomes individual. It is by its publication as decisively severed from its author as in parturition a child is cut off from its parent. The book "means" thereafter, perforce, -- both grammatically and actually, -- whatever meaning this or that reader gets out of it. -James Branch Cabell, novelist, essayist, critic (14 Apr 1879-1958)