A bird, a sheep, and clouds

I told my grandson and his girlfriend taht on their cruise in the Caribbean I'd be a seagull watching them.  The joke was that they couldn't tell which gull was really me. He took this photo of the bird, and sent it to me. Who knows what she (the gull) saw, it wasn't me that time!

The Black Mountain Yarn Shop shows a sheep, and there's a possibility one might be confused and think it was a black sheep...

A solar heart in the sky...

The wonderful intersection of the street I was stopped on, US 70 (State St) and crossing of NC 9 (Montreat Rd) gave a view of the Town Hardware on the far corner. And a few clouds up high or in the distance at the edge of the mountains.

Sharing with Thankful Thursday!

Sharing with Skywatch Friday!

Today's quote:

Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds. 

-Henry Adams, historian and teacher (1838-1918)
 

Clouds but no rain that day, and Mrs. Carter's Memorial

 Yesterday a friend texted me to see if I was watching Rosalynn Carter's memorial service. I said no, but then thought I should.

It was touching, and the good old hymns from my Christian upbringing were nice to hear. But I did come away with a phrase she had said when working with President Carter in his term of office in DC. She said (as the reason she sat in on Cabinet Meetings) she wanted to be able to discuss everything, and wouldn't know how if she didn't try everything she knew how to help him succeed. Or maybe that was when she helped him run for Governor of Georgia. 

But to do everything one knows how in order to help someone else succeed...struck a chord for me. It came home to my sense that I can't really get going on things I wish I was doing. So I'm not doing everything I know how to do to even help myself.

Mrs. Trump (first row) Mrs. Obama, Mrs. Bush, Secretary Clinton, President Clinton, Dr. Biden, President Biden (unknown, unknown) President Carter.

Today's Poem:

Rewild Yourself

There are places in you

Where thousands of bright, tiny flowers

Open each morning to the sun

In meadows as vast as the sky.

An ancient alchemy courses through your bones.

It speaks in feathers and stones and

precious metals and the footprints of mandalas

left by the stories we tell with our lives.

Rewild yourself.

Until green tendrils sprout from your fingernails

And lichen swathes your eyebrows.

Rewild yourself.

Until your roots spread and uncoil and

Writhe down through soil and rock.

Rewild yourself.

Rise up into your magnificence and

Take your place among the constellations.

Rewild yourself.

The Earth is her own medicine.

Be yours.

by Caroline Mellor

The wonder of a sunny day

 

At the top of our Town Square park is one of those "Splash Pads" play in water features. Here I was waiting in traffic and got to watch a young girl take her tiny little dog in with her (in her arms) and other smaller children yelling from glee at the cold water hitting them. Parents and grandparent watch them. I moved on, so you'll have to make up your own ending to the story of the girl and her dog.

As you can see in my header, I did take a pano shot. When I was the first car waiting at the red light, it was a great opportunity! Here you can see the block long store of Tyson's Furniture.

A favorite General Store (Town Hardware) is visited by locals and tourists alike, perhaps with different purchases in mind!

Going west on State St. (US 70) will eventually take me home. I will try to find the old photo of this intersection to add here.

Nobody knows when this photo was taken, between 1930 and 1950 is their best guess. The American Cafe is now Keller Williams Realtors with a red awning, see photo just before this.  That interesting  marquee covering the angled entrance on the left doesn't quite comouflage those curved upper windows on the Town Hardware Store. (Go back 2 photos before to see they are still there.)

Sharing with Skywatch Friday

Today's quote:

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than circumstances drive them to do.

 -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and novelist (1811-1896)

Wet days

 

Plus I've been sick. Corner of Blue Ridge Rd, and Old US 70. When I turn left onto Blue Ridge Rd, then it will cross US 70 where the signal lights are. Just in case you wanted to check on Google Maps of something.  I mainly was interested in the great clouds.

They move pretty quickly over the mountains. But this had been Monday. By Tuesday, I didn't want to try to take photos...there would be swooshing rain, with a bit of wind, then a let up that maybe lasted 5 mintues, then back to rain. From downpour to constant sprinkle, Tuesday was difficult to guage. I had to pick up groceries and medicines...but was able to do so without using the umbrella I carried. My shoes are another matter.

Barbara's Bruschetta (is that the right term for this?) The only problem I had was with getting a mouthful without disturbing all the rest of the toppings. I finally gave up and ate with a fork.

Italian bread with olive oil drizzled over it, fresh cut tomatoes, fresh picked basil, parmesean cheese. I forgot to put the garlic on it. But it was great just like that.

Today's quote:

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. -Arthur Miller, playwright and essayist (17 Oct 1915-2005)

Oops, should have used this blog site

Yesterday I posted about Black Mountain, and showed photos of it...on the wrong blog site.
That's the trouble with keeping 4 blogs straight.

So here's the one about "Mountains above the clouds."

Art is alive and well in Black Mountain

Very small print...Opening Reception Feb 8, 5-7 pm.  I like being a member of this group of artists...and having my work shown in their little gallery.  The Red House a.k.a Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League.  They are located next to the Monte Vista Hotel (which owns the building.) The hotel has a new owner, so I don't know it the Red House will continue to rent the studio/gallery building from them.

The other morning this bank of clouds seemed stuck on the mountains, slowly pouring over the low spot into the valley.

A front coming

There are clouds around most of the time.  Seldom does a day go by without any here in the mountains.
But recently when visiting my favorite walking spot, there was an obvious front coming through...

from the spillway on the dam, looking across Lake Tomahawk towards the Blue Ridge Parkway on those grey peaks.

Still standing on the dam, at the other end, now looking up the Seven Sisters mountains, with Greybeard and finally Mt. Mitchell hiding in the distance behind them.

Sometimes a front brings rain, and usually colder weather.

Quote for today:

The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle.  Margaret Storm Jameson

Not your ordinary cloud

Before I arrived in Florida, there was a cold front coming through.  This is why clouds are a big feature in Florida!  Taken at the Sand Bar Restaurant, Anna Maria Island, Florida about Nov 25, 2014.

Quote for Today:

I am, therefore I thank.

Cindy Lubar Bishop