Snow nearby and visiting the Black Mountain Center for the Arts

 And November 27, 2023, this was posted on Facebook...

Sugar Mountain NC. Up near Boone NC there are some ski resorts that will open soon. As well as Maggie Valley.

Our temperatures on Nov. 28 never got much above freezing. But that was just one day, thank heavens, as winter weather goes.

We in western North Carolina are still short of rainfall for 2023. Hope this last month gives us a few inches of rain...or even snow!

While outside the weather may be frightful (to coin the phrase in a Frosty song), inside has become a welcome place.

The little theatre room was converted to a sales room starting  the end of November, and especially for the Holly Jolly festival on Dec. 2 evening in Black Mountaiin.

I enjoyed hearing this artist's stories from his life when he also worked in the Clay Studio for many years. I think Fred Feldman moved to Virginia a few years ago.

The Feldman quirky wood sculptures are unique.

The entrance is graced by a figure doing a dance or ??

Today's quote:

Matter is spirit moving slowly enough to be seen. —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

NOTE to North Carolina visitors from northern states. These mountains offer some really great slippery roads, so most of us are of the drive-really-slow-because-we-forgot-what-snow-does, or we just stay home. All the schools close or have hour-late starts if there's snow anywhere on mountain roads!

Happy Hanukkah, starts at sundown today, 2023. I hope all my relatives and friends will enjoy the 8 days of celebrating a miracle of light!

Winters to remember

 

 

Old photos...

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Flat Creek, 2017 photo by Trung Lively

Flat Creek, Feb 4, 2014 photo by B. Rogers

Greenville SC - Main Street taken Jan 26, 1966 by Lewis Burress who worked at News Piedmont (large building under the sign perhaps)

Dec 9, 2018 around 8 am, photo by Black Mountain News.

Mt. Mitchell, January 2018, photographer unknown

Looking Glass Falls Jan. 2018. unknown photographer

Looking Glass Falls, January 2018, unknown photographer

Dec. 23, 2018 at Lake Tomahawk

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Repost from 2019

And though snow fell once (maybe twice with rain) in 2023, there was no accumulation here. We shall see what comes along in the next year...

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Today's quote:

Earth is home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a kaleidoscope of relationships.

Some music with snow for you in July

 Some beautiful music with a community in Alaska coming together to share a fun production of it.

Today's quote:

The earth is a living thing. Mountains speak, trees sing, lakes can think, pebbles have a soul, rocks have power.

HENRY CROW DOG

Which peak is which?

 

A nice summertime photo.

My photo with some of the same mountains showing.

The lake in winter.

The peaks on the right are called the Seven Sisters. There used to be a nice photo dioramma describing which one was which, but between weathering and vandalism, it's been removed. Several businesses in Black Mountain go by the name Seven Sisters.

And here's the update of our Friday-Saturday snowfall. All gone by Sunday.

Weather update for yesterday, Mon. Jan 16, 2023 Cool night. Daytime warmer, but I didn't feel like going out.

Today's quote: (Not sure I agree, dealing with carnivorous wildlife, I'm not going to sit still!)

The basis of all animal rights should be the Golden Rule -- we should treat them as we would wish them to treat us were any other species in our dominant position. 

-Christine Stevens, activist and conservationist (1918-2002)

The beauty of the mountains

When it finally got above freezing yesterday, and my cough had settled somewhat, I drove up to Montreat to the 25% sale at Ten Thousand Villages store. As I turned onto Montreat Rd. in the center of Black Mountain, this was what I saw.

No snow had fallen (that I saw) that morning. But on the peaks there sure was a nice coating showing off. Here you see the Fire Station behind the traffic, and the spire of the First Baptist Church. It faces Montreat Rd. which takes a swerve in that direction. I always think it's straight from this intersection, but it curves several times.

So I had to go to my favorite view of snowy mountains over the lake, at the "no parking" place where I parked and said a prayer and incantation that my 2 minutes to take a few photos would keep it invisible.

As you can see, I didn't even walk down the hill to the path around the lake. It was quite breezy and cold off the water, so I set a record getting back to the car.

Today's quote:

Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves.

 - Robert Neelly Bellah, sociologist and author (1927-2013)

Too cold for a walk

Nice rime ice on the tops of the mountains, or maybe snow still.  It didn't get above freezing in the last 24 hours (written Jan 21 6:30 pm). Anywhere in western North Carolina.  Lake Tomahawk did have some hardy folks walking around it. And it hasn't been cold long enough for the lake to freeze.

The more hardy people were in Asheville probably at the Martin Luther King march...but I hope nobody brought kids this year.  The weather man said 30 minutes in this temperature and there could be frostbite on exposed skin.  Yep.  I'm indoors most of the day!

Big Windy has houses on it

 Old Sol shines through the clouds, and it's above freezing, however not much of the snow along the parking lot has melted.  That white warehouse in the distance is the Ingles Grocery warehouse.

The reason I took this picture is I located at least 3 snow covered roofs through the trees along the side of the mountain facing me.  Not really easy to see, but I dare say they will remain hiding after the snow melts finally on Friday when it's due to rain.

Didn't rain, didn't melt, now no sun either

This snow was ok to plow the first day, but instead of rain and melting yesterday, most of it became a 6 inch crusty ice.  I spiked it apart on the car hood and windshield (using the edge of the blade on the snow removing brush. )The sun was out at noon, and so some kind of melted.

 The parking lot where Rite Aid and Ingles Grocery are located.

 The geese were fluttering about and squawking in the water as I rolled by.

 No plowing at the Lakeview Center. Couldn't even find a place to pull over to take photos, so I slowly crept along the road and had the window down.  Thankfully nobody came along either way!

 Driving up to the dam, I saw a family of sledders about to go down the slope on the other side of the dam.

This was full of kids yesterday, but looks as if there's still plenty of snow on it.

Though our driveway was plowed, a big pile of this ice was left in front of all the cars.  After a couple of tries, I finally got over it onto dry pavement.

After my little jaunt about to see the snow in town, I came to the intersection of Old US 70 and Blue Ridge Rd.  The people on Blue Ridge have a stop, but not on Old 70...where I was.  A woman in a white SUV didn't act like she even saw me, just zoomed up the hill of Blue Ridge Rd, and fortunately I'd slowed down to make that turn...and said a few words to her as she went by.  The funny thing was, she was coming to visit the woman in the apartment next to mine, so she met me in the parking lot after we'd both parked, and she admitted she hadn't seen me at all.  (That was among the things I told her back as well as "Hey, you had a stop sign.")  All was well.  But I doubt that she'll slow down any.  Some people just zoom through life.

Today's quote:
The unrestricted competition so commonly advocated does not leave us the survival of the fittest. The unscrupulous succeed best in accumulating wealth. -Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US president (1822-1893)

Good morning world

Through the windows...snow is falling again, it had stopped before dark, and some melted even.  But as my day starts, its coming down steadily, though in small flakes, more the damp kind that falls like rain.  But we don't have sleet yet.

I loved seeing people sharing how their families were sledding (or sliding on cardboard) down hills near their homes yesterday.  I don't have those photos, because I'm stuck in the apartment.

 Photo by Black Mountain News 12.9.18

 Photo by Black Mountain News 12.9.18

 Looking downhill I can see car tracks in the snow turning the corner

 Snowing, looking over the building downhill from me, there's no view of mountains in distance today.

 Through the front door's storm window, my car is barely visible on far left (below the one that is visible across the street) behind the wall and a signpost.

Yesterday there was enough wind that snow didn't accumulate for long on the branches.  Today it's very still at 8:30 am.

It's due to get warmer, and sleet and rain, called a wintry mix is the forecast.  That's great, because it means we won't have to shovel to clear paths.  I see one (at least) vehicle has come up our driveway into the parking lot.  And there are also tracks on Blue Ridge Road, a steep hill I can see just partway through my windows. Of course for a while it will be slick out there.

Can't see the interstate through the snow.  Can't see even the street lights at the foot of the hill.   And the mountains behind the trees have been obscured by falling snow for most of 2 days now.

Today's quote:
As a human being living on earth, it is important to learn to ground yourself in relation to your earth mother. (Daily Om)

Still snowing in Back Mountain

I gave some glimpses of the beginning of this event on my other blog HERE.

My view out living room windows at 7 am Dec. 9, 2018.

 Same view at 7:34 am.

 And looking the other direction from living room...the steps are completely invisible except for the railing.

 From my bedroom, showing neighbor's balcony.

The bathroom window is iced and gives a glimpse of snow amounts.

When I posted on the other blog at 7 am, there was report of 8000 energy outages.  At 8:41 as I write this, the report in just Buncombe County is 18,000 without power.

Interestingly that may be the reason we are not seeing the weather channel at all at this time. (It was on until around 7:30 because I was channel surfing.) Or perhaps the local news and weather people meant more to those providing our cable services, than a national network which just arrived in our area to report on the storm.  I do wonder these days with how our news is controlled by mega-corporations.

Main intersection in Black Mountain, Dec 9, 2018 around 8 am, photo by Black Mountain News.

There's a ticking noise now as the snow falls, which means sleet is mixed in.  Yikes, that's going to give more ice on those trees, which usually break and cause power outages.  OK, I'm going to go meditate and not worry about all this for a while!