ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN AND THE SKY IS GRAY...

Mellow Today...

I know it's been a long time since I've written in this blog, but I vow to do better.  There has been a lot going on these past two months or so, but then again there are days when I wonder about posting because nothing "significant" is happening.  Oh well...this is for me anyway, so what do I care?

Like the rest of America, I am deeply saddened by the events which occurred yesterday in Newtown, CT.  I cannot imagine how the parents of those twenty children must feel, or the families of those six teachers and staff members, or even the brother and father of the disturbed young man.  Another American tragedy.  How many more?

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered 'snow'

I guess I'll work backwards in time to try to catch up on the events in my life since the last blog entry.  I am currently listening to Gordon Lightfoot (Gord's Gold), which is one of my all-time favorite albums, especially in the fall and winter, or when I'm in the mountains.  I am still in my pajamas and slippers and it's almost four o'clock in the afternoon.  I have not aspired to "accomplish" anything today (save doing a couple of loads of laundry and running the dishwasher).  My only goal for the day is to read some more in my Margaret Maron novel (she's good if you haven't read her and like mysteries, especially the Deborah Knott character series), but I keep getting distracted by Pandora, CNN and even the newest Blue Ridge magazine.  Have I mentioned lately how much I have LOVED these past six months of retirement?

Carol and I got the house decorated for Christmas on December 1st, I think, which is without a doubt the all time record for me to get decorations up.  Since I didn't have to struggle with balancing time among two jobs, grading papers, final exams, AND Christmas shopping.  I have never been a major fan of Christmas because of the stress, but this year I'm really enjoying the festive decorations.  We even put lights on our outside mini Christmas tree.  The funniest part is that Carol (always inventive) used inverted tomato cages to make trees, and they look great!  Here are a couple of pictures of our living room.  We have more decorations in the den but I didn't make

            any pictures of those for some reason.

            

We've tried to get into the spirit of the season by attending some of the local Christmas events here in the Waynesville area.  One of them was a Christmas madrigal dinner at the nearby college, Western Carolina State University.  It was a nice event, and we enjoyed meeting some of the music professors.  Carol in particular felt right at home, and it made her miss the LSU SOM productions.  Western does a good job with their music program, even on a much much smaller scale than LSU.  We also attended their annual music program, which featured their voice students, their bands (what is  the right term if they don't have strings?), their jazz band (which the BRHS jazz band puts to shame!!), some of their faculty brass and voice professors, and a local children's choir.  It was much less high-brow than the LSU annual concert (more accessible to non-music majors such as myself), but definitely enjoyable.  We hope to make this an annual event.  Last Saturday we attended a Christmas concert at Lake Junaluska (did I spell it right?), which is the big Methodist assembly here.  We met our neighbors Mike and Sue there and enjoyed the production, again featuring a quality children's choir as well as the Lake Junaluska singers, who are college students hired to sing at their church services in the summer and for special concerts.  A very, very talented group of young people.  We will probably make this an annual event too.  So...Donna has been in the Christmas spirit more than I can remember in years and years.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!!

  

On November 30, I closed on my house in Baton Rouge, so I am not to only half a mortgage payment.  Yay!!!  I am glad to have that behind me.  Here's a picture of me celebrating with a great bottle of champagne (from Sujata, a wonderful former student and current friend who had given it to me for my retirement).  Thanks, Suj!!

Ok...Thanksgiving was wonderful this year!! I had my brother Sam and his wife Dot who live in Natchitoches and their family, which includes my nephew Greg, his lovely wife Ashley and their great daughters, Olivia and Jane Ashley.  Also my niece Laurie and her husband John, and their two sons, Jack and Sam came over from Nashville.  Last but not least was my niece Katie, who "belongs" to my brother Glenn in Austin but who is currently a student at SCAD in Savannah.  Carol had spent a lot of time preparing some food in advance, and we all pitched in to help prepare the meals.  I think (hope) everyone had plenty of time for sleeping, reading, relaxing, and (most importantly) visiting.  I was recovering from a cold and Carol subsequently caught it, but as the saying goes, "a good time was had by all."

Jack, Laurie, John and Sam

Katie

Greg

Sam

Jane Ashley, Ashley, Greg and Olivia

Jane Ashley and Carol




Sam and Dot with the girls



Carol and I with the girls



Katie taking her turn on the trumpet



the whole bunch of us!!





Someday I'm going to learn how to correctly position these pictures, or to do a slideshow, but for now I'm tired of trying.  Sorry, follks!!

The first week in November found us in Baton Rouge, attending the LSU-Alabama game with Tiger Band. That was fun, as was visiting with KOGS and other friends, seeing the NEW BRMHS for the first time, and visiting with Greg's family.  Our thanks to Jo Paula and Bob for their wonderful hospitality.  They better be careful dropping phrases such as, "You're always welcome!"  The day after we came home, my dear friend Ann St. Clair, whom I've been friends with since 7th grade, came to visit for a few days.  We thoroughly enjoyed mostly just visiting, playing mahjongg, and enjoying food and adult beverages.  Next time you come, Annie, maybe Kirk can make it.  Annie was generous and gave us a housewarming gift of a stone sign with our address on it, which we can't wait to get installed as soon as it's ready.  Pictures will follow.

For my birthday this year we went to Cataloochie, which has to be one of my favorite places up here.  We camped in the campground and it was glorious.  There are no hook ups, so we had to learn to dry camp, which means essentially saving our battery power.  We had a propane heater, lots of water (plus bathrooms in the campground helped), and pretty mild temperatures for October 22-24.  We enjoyed it so much that we hope to make it an annual birthday gift to me. 

We have had an unusually warm December (and November for that matter) with temps frequently in the upper 50s during the day and with only a few hard freezes.  We've worked outside a good bit (Carol more than me) picking up the downed trees from when we had some of the thicket cut, clearing out brush, burning and burning and clearing some more.  We hope to continue this property beautification project into the winter and early spring with planting flowers and shrubs on the steepest part of the slope and also adding some pink dogwoods along the drive.  Always something...but it's great fun!!  I've also tried my hand at winterizing Dora (my travel trailer) and I sure hope it works since I don't want frozen pipes!! I'm about ready for some snow, but it doesn't look like there is any coming anytime soon!!  These are picture of the house from a couple of years ago though.  Doesn't that look like a wonderland?? 



I guess that about wraps it up.  I'm tired from fooling (unsuccessfully) with these photos, but I wanted to include them.

I hope you guys who waded through all of this entry enjoyed at least some of it.  Such are The Further Adventures of Donna Parker...for now.

RETIREMENT IS DEFINITELY NOT OVER-RATED!!

HELLO THERE,  IT'S BEEN A WHILE...NOT MUCH HOW ABOUT YOU?

It's been a while since I've written a blog entry, so I guess I better catch up a bit before it gets too overwhelming.  You know how you SWEAR you're gonna keep a journal, then you don't because you get behind?  That's the way it's been with this blog.  So here is a capsule summary of what I've been doing lately.

I'll start with this past weekend and work backwards.  Makes as much sense as anything else, right?

                 INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

Carol had heard about the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN since before we moved.  One of the LSU music professors and a friend of hers had insisted that when we moved we should go to this once a year festival.  It's in its 40th year, and since it sounded interesting to us, we decided to go.

We took Dora the Explorer, my 17 foot Casita travel trailer, and headed to Jonesborough on Saturday morning.  We had reservations at a riverside campground and had purchased tickets online for the Saturday night session and the Sunday session.  We had recently been through Jonesborough on our way to DC with our friends Jo Paula and Bob, where we had stopped at Tennessee Quilts, one of the area's best quilt shops, according to JP. We knew we liked the looks of Jonesborough and were excited to get back there.  It has a great little downtown shopping area, with some specialty shops such as the chocolate shop Carol fell in love with.  Of course, the weather did NOT cooperate, and it was rainy and cold most of the time we were there.  Big tents had been set up for the various sessions, so we were dry at least.  We did have enough foresight to dress warmly, so it really wasn't bad.

This event was one of the most unusual I have ever attended.   The audience seemed to consist of a lot of regulars who return each year.  There seems to be a ... (it's hard to describe) cultural connection among this group.  After all, how many people in today's society enjoy hearing people tell stories?  No gimmicks, no flashy  stages, just good old fashioned, spoken word entertainment.

We heard stories from people who "specialized" in Appalachian culture, such as the young woman who told about miners in a cave-in.  We heard a variation of the myth "Baucus and Philemon"; we heard a Cuban-American tell wonderful tales of her childhood as an immigrant; we heard hilarious stories that could be described as stand-up comedy with a personal twist.  We heard protest songs and African American poems.  There were others, of course, but this was the kind of stories  we enjoyed in our short time there.  I guess, as one speaker said, many of the audience members were librarians and English teachers, but there were lots of other folks too.  Older people mostly, of course, but some younger ones as well.  It is hard for me to describe just how good these tellers were.  And I was amazed to see that there is a community of tellers who travel to international festivals and are well known to their audiences.  If you have any kind of appreciation for people who can move you to tears or make you laugh until you cry, then you might consider this festival.  It's kind of expensive, but we found the money to be well spent.

And the scenery between here and there is gorgeous, especially with the fall colors.

               OUR TRIP TO THE OUTER BANKS OF NC

 A few weeks ago, we went with our friends and neighbors Mike and Sue to the Outer Banks.  Although they've lived in NC for years and own a beach home in the southern part of the state, they had never been up to the northern end of the OBX.  Carol and I were very excited to share this adventure with them.  Mike and Sue have a large trailer they just acquired, so we caravanned (sp?) with them.  The weather AGAIN was pretty lousy the first few days.  It rained over four inches at Ridgehaven during that time, but we managed to avoid most of the worst weather.

We saw the most  northern part of the Outer Banks, including Nag's Head, Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers Memorial, Cape Hattaris and a total of four lighthouses, Ocracoke, Roanoke and the Lost Colony site (not necessarily in that order).  We took two ferries, saw a few beaches (although not enough in my estimation), stayed in a couple of pretty bad campgrounds (not a lot of choice), and ended up in a great national forest campground for two nights. We did enjoy the town of New Bern, and I had my first shrimp and grits there.  My gosh, that's an amazing dish.  How have I not eaten  that before?  I'm not really a beach person, and I would have enjoyed a little more time ON an actual beach instead of just experiencing the ocean "breeze" and humidity.  My hair looked a lot like Bozo the Clown's on this trip, but I enjoyed the whole experience.  I don't think I need to go back to the Outer Banks, but I was glad to see a large part of my new state that I had never seen before.

                      VISITORS COMING TO RIDGEHAVEN!!

I'm being totally lazy today (stll in my pjs at 1:45), but I will need to get it in gear soon since we have guests arriving on Thursday.  Two of Carol's friends from her stint at the EBR Library are coming for the weekend.  I'm a little bit shy around strangers, but she likes these ladies a lot and I'm sure they're quite nice.  I have housecleaning to do and a bit of tidying up, and I have the lawn to mow.  I HOPE I only have to mow maybe two more times this season, but then there will be leaf clean up.  While they're here,  I suspect I will do some leaf peeping of my own in the surrounding area.  Now that the weather has cleared up and the sun is shining, it will be perfect weather for looking.  We went out on the Parkway last week and watched a glorious sunset, and the colors were already changing up that high.   I need to monitor that, I think, just in case the foliage needs my help!

I'm having much of my family here for Thanksgiving.  Laurie, my niece, and her family are coming, along with her parents, and we're still hoping to hear that my nephew Greg and his family can come as well.  It will be fun having them all here, and we think the house is in pretty good shape for viewing. 

A few days before my birthday later this month, we're going to take Dora to Cataloochee and camp for two nights.  That's where the elk herd is, and there are lots of hiking trails as well.  We're taking the bikes since there is a long road through there, so it should be fun.  I suspect the way the fall foliage is going around here that we might be past peak, but I bet it's still pretty.  We have never dry camped in Dora so I'm trying to get ready for that with a new battery, some LED lights, and learning how to save power.

All in all, it's been a good month.  By the way, I think the hummingbirds have gone.  I saw a lone one yesterday in the rain and felt sorry for him, but I'm keeping my feeders up for the stragglers.  I'll miss you little guys!!

Here are some pictures of our recent outing to Waterrock Knob for sunset.  Pretty darned nice.

 

THE FALLING LEAVES DRIFT PAST MY WINDOW

                             GLORY IN THE HIGHEST

It's getting to be fall-ish around here, and I couldn't be happier!  (Well, that's not entirely true since I hate to see summer coming to an end.  It's been lovely.)  However, I am totally, completely, absolutely enamored of fall and cannot WAIT to spend the next six weeks watching it slowly make its way into the mountains.

The weather is the best indicator, of course.  We've had days in the lower to mid 70s, and the next few nights will be in the upper 40s.  The sky is the kind of blue that you only see in fall--deep blue and crystal clear.  I recall those days in Baton Rouge when we'd all  wake up to a day like this and know that we had made it through yet another summer.  (Yes, it might get warm again, but we knew that there was HOPE.) 

I am eager to watch the leaves change color this year.  Since we'll be here on a daily basis, we can see the slow changes as they occur and not just see the "done deal", so to speak.  I've not yet figured out what the correlation is between "good" fall foliage and rain or temperatures, but I'm hoping for a magnificent show of color.  The past two years, we have been blessed to be able to come the week of my birthday (3rd week in October), and that is usually the peak week.  I have to remember this year that the glorious foliage on the Parkway will be earlier in October since the elevation is higher, and I don't want to miss that.

Of course, there is that reality check that tells me that autumn leaves mean they fall OFF the trees and ON the grass.  Good thing we're retired and have lots of time on our hands!!  We'll have to see how well this mower mulches!

We have our own trees that we're eager to see how brilliant they'll be in the fall.  With the generous contribution of our KOGS lady friends in Baton Rouge after the death of Carol's mom, we bought some trees and planted them on the property last year.  They are both red maples, but of two different varieties with names like October Blaze and Autumn Glory.  Who couldn't love that, just for the names alone?  The trees did well over the winter, with the help of our friend and neighbor Rebecca who helped us water them, and they have grown a lot.  We named the trees Lois (Carol's mom) and Gladys (my mom).  Lois is planted up here in the front yard and Gladys is down below along the driveway.  We also bought engraved plaques honoring our mothers and put them on the trees.  These trees are very special to us, and if they live up to the pictures we saw when we bought them, they should be stunning inspirations.  Just like our moms.



Lois Weathersby



Gladys Parker





Geaux Tigers!

Another indication that fall is here is FOOTBALL!!!  I love football, both college and pro, and of course Carol loves LSU!!  We watched the first game of the season Saturday night and wished we could have been in Tiger Stadium.  We will be soon, though, as we travel to BR once again to see the Alabama-LSU game.  Currently Alabama is ranked #1 and LSU #3, so we'll see how that plays out.  I don't even wanna TALK about how steamed I STILL am at Les Miles and his doofus quarterback decisions when these two teams met last year for the championship game.  I also watched the Saints game online yesterday since we are sadly NOT in the viewing area to see the weekly Saints game, and it was not a good beginning for Drew and the boys.  That RG3 really cleaned our clocks!  On a good note, my boy Peyton Manning showed he's still got it when he led the Broncos to victory last night.   Shame on you, Colts, for letting him go.



Autumn Joy Sedum



We've also been busy in the kitchen.  A few weeks ago we picked apples with our neighbor and friend Sue, but Carol was gone for a week so we just got around to doing anything with them.  I cored, she cut, and then voila, there was applesauce.  (I think there was a little more to it than that...)  We have about seven quart bags of applesauce to put in the freezer, and we still have about the same number of apples waiting for us in the refrigerator.  I also had prepared a slow cooker dinner of pork chops, apples, and sweet potatoes, so the kitchen provided good autumn smells all day.



Cataloochee

We hope to go hiking one day this week at Cataloochee and also to stay and hear the elk.  Call me weird, but I just LOVE the sound of bugling elk.  I guess it reminds me of my visits to my friend Annie's cabin in New Mexico and all the wonderful memories of that place.  Recently elk were re-introduced to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and the elk at Cataloochee are doing well.  We want to drive out there, do some hiking, and hear some elk bugling.  Here's a picture of one of the buildings at Cataloochee in the fall, so it might be worthwhile going back out there in a few weeks.  Heck...too many beautiful places, not enough time!!  Oh yeah, we DO have time...whew.       

Finally, the hummers are stoking up energy for their journey south.  I have noticed that we seem to have an additional visitor, but it's hard to tell since our General Ruby seems to chase them off.  I put one of the feeders in the back so that maybe they could share, but oh no, that's not gonna happen.  (These guys need a good kindergarten teacher to teach them that rule.)  But we've usually had three and now I think there are four, so we are going to keep them well fed until it's time for them to head south.  I don't know if we'll get others migrating through, but I want to have food for them if they do.

So...I am thrilled that autumn is here.  I just revel in it.  I told Carol yesterday that I might not be sitting in a church pew, but I was definitely giving all the glory to God the Creator for making such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place and for blessing us to be able to enjoy it all.  Amen!!!



Lake Logan

 











EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING...

               IT'S THE END OF AUGUST ALREADY?

This morning it's Sunday, August 26th.  I can't believe we've been here at Ridgehaven almost three months.  That's one-fourth of the year I've given myself for vacationing.  My goodness, how hard it would be if I had to go back to work full-time! I won't think about that today.  Right now, the weekdays meld into weekends...all of them are delicious.

It's hard to write this blog often because we don't DO much to write about, at least that would be remotely interesting to anyone else.  Friday, however, we went for a  hike.  Off the Blue Ridge Parkway is an easy trail we had been told about and decided to try.  (We're still looking for the hikes labeled "easy" or "moderate" since we're still trying to get in hiking shape.  I told Carol I want to hike Mt. Pisgah in the spring, to gauge my progress in hiking since I hiked it a few summers ago and was exhausted by the time I reached the top.  It didn't help any that my great nieces and nephews were scampering up and down the trail like little mountain goats while I was huffing and puffing.  So Mt. Pisgah is my personal measure of whether or not I've improved.) I do have good boots instead of tennis shoes this time around, and that helps a lot!

Anyway, this trail was Graveyard Fields at about 5100 feet.  It's an extremely popular hike, so much so that the parking lot was full of cars when we arrived.  And even with most area schools in session, there were still a large number of hikers on the trail.  I wanted to ask some of the kids why they weren't in school, but with all the home schooled kids these days, and with so many schools not starting until after Labor Day, I decided against it.  Besides, I'm not the Rule Enforcer anymore, so why do I care? 

One of the interesting things about this hike is that there are many wild blueberry bushes along the lower trail.  Most of the berries weren't ripe, but Carol found a spot where there were a fair number of ripe ones.  Always prepared, she pulled out a little plastic bag and began picking them.  She said they reminded her of the blueberries she and her daughter Laura had seen in Maine on their trip up there--the small kind you see in blueberry muffin tins.  She was also reminded of the book Blueberries for Sal, but fortunately Mama Bear never showed up with her baby.  As we were hiking out, another woman was picking berries and mentioned the same book, which she also read with her children.  We finally figured out why we saw so many little trails shooting off from the main one and realized that these were the trails that many blueberry pickers had made.

The trail itself was easy, the only real obstacles being wet patches which we had to circumnavigate.  We hiked to the upper falls through meadows filled with butterflies feeding on thistle, then shady groves of rhododendrons higher than our heads.  Along the path for much of the way was a small stream (maybe the Prong River??) which made me happy with its burbling murmur.  We saw the first inkling of fall color with red leaves on some of the bushes and red vines.  In our neighbor's yard we can see one or two trees turning golden.  Maybe, if we're very lucky, it will be a long, delicious fall!!  We can't wait!!!  I am trying to stop wishing my life away now that I am where I've wished to be, but I do love fall.

I took my pedometer with me, but I didn't trust its reading when it said we had hiked about a mile, but sure enough that was what the mile marker said when we reached a junction.  I think when we finished the hike, the pedometer said a little over four miles around the loop trail, but my legs are short and I'm not sure my pedometer is set correctly.  I think that's pretty close though.  At any rate, Carol and I were both tired when we returned home, and I rewarded myself with a doze in the hammock.

Yesterday was kind of a lazy day for me.  Carol went to "town" to the Wal-Mart and the farmer's market. She purchased some more local honey, which I honestly do think has helped with my allergies.  We had bought some darker blackberry honey before, which I really liked, but this time she bought some sourwood honey from the same guy.  It's much lighter and not as flavorful, but it's still quite tasty.   The bees that have been flocking to our yard are giving some bee keeper some good honey--I'm quite sure of it!

Around noon our friend and neighbor Sue called and invited us to go apple picking.  It was one of those friend-of-a-friend kinds of deals, but we were thrilled to find a place to get free apples.  We met the owners of the property, who introduced us to their five horses and one pig.  We got plenty of apples too, all off two or three trees.  We're not 100% sure what kind they are, but we hope to slice some for cooking and to put up a lot of them for applesauce.  Our poor little refrigerator I brought from home is now crammed full of apples (to be processed when Carol returns from helping her daughter move to Kansas City since I've never done this).  We also have squash and cukes tomatoes from our own garden, which we hope will be decent to put in soups this winter.  We canned seven quart jars of tomatoes ( I DID help with that) and can't wait to use them in those winter stews and soups.  On our way home from apple picking, Sue showed us the home of Charles Frazier, the local writer who wrote Cold Mountain and a few other things.  I don't think he lives there now, but it was nice to see some local color--other than the pig, of course.

When we got home, we watched the John Travolta movie Phenomenon, which is a sweet little love story.  It was so nice having the time on a Saturday afternoon to relax and just chill, with no papers to grade and no chores that had to be done at that moment.  I think that's what I'm enjoying most of all--the time to find the pace of my own drummer and listen to that rhythm, however measured or far away. 

This morning was a slow wake-up day for me.  I slept until almost nine, which is sooooo much better than 5:15.  I have set an alarm only a few times since I retired, and those were for like 8:30!!  Carol was up bustling around, having already found plenty to do.  (She is currently, for the record, reclining on the sofa, so she DOES stop to rest, thank goodness.)  We had breakfast on the porch, watching the birds at the feeder and the hummers and butterflies in the butterfly bush.  Carol had made biscuits using a new recipe (it's a keeper) and we enjoyed some cina-pear preserves from Magnolia Kitchens, courtesy of our friends Jo Paula and Renee.  They were good ladies!!  I was also reminded of the thoughtfulness of my friend Faith, who sent me some lovely little rustic wind chimes which now hang proudly on the porch.

This afternoon we're going to the Haywood County Fair!!  I haven't been to a county fair in ages and ages, or a state fair for that matter, although some of Carol's favorite memories are going to the Wisconsin State Fair.  I did make it to the midway of the Texas State Fair a few times to see Big Tex, but not many.  Today is the last day and we're hoping to see some of the prize winners in the various competitions AND to catch a bluegrass group that is popular up here now, Balsam Range (I think that's the name).  Carol doesn't like bluegrass as much as I do, but these guys seem to be crossover, so maybe she will tolerate them!  That music is in my roots...not so hers.  I think her roots are more the polka beat as found in Milwaukee!

I must confess that the weather-watcher in me is a little concerned about Tropical Storm Isaac.  It feels odd to have a potential hurrican heading toward the Gulf and me not be there to observe first hand the preparations.  Of course, North Carolina got hammered last year, but the coast is clear across the state from here, so it's not quite the same threat.  Go away, Isaac!!

All in all, this new life is so very much appreciated on so many levels.  I think of Henry David Thoreau almost daily up here.  How could I not?

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

LOVING THE SIMPLE LIFE

                           A HEART FULL OF GRATITUDE

Maybe this happens to you.  You just wake up and know that it's a special day.  Not necessarily a day in which something special happens, but a special day nonetheless.  As a short cut, for those of you who understand, I'm going to call it a day in which you experience God's grace.  You didn't ask for it--that's what grace is--it's given.

This morning I woke up before six.  Now that's very unusual for me. I would probably sleep until nine every day if given the opportunity.  But I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went into the den to watch the sun rise.  It wasn't a spectacular one, but the morning was cool (in the low 50s to be exact), the dew was heavy, and the sky was almost clear.  I sat for a while drinking coffee and watching the streaks of light in the east.  I felt a sense of peace and contentment that is not uncommon for me as I'm observing nature. 

Later in the morning, I sat on the porch and watched birds for a while.  This also gives me a sense of serenity that other people may find in a church pew, but I again sensed the wonder of nature and the awesome power that created this world I gazed at.

Carol and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, all the while commenting on how spectacular the air felt.  I know it's supposed to be unseasonably cool right now, but it reminded us of the end of the way September feels in Baton Rouge.  You know what I mean...a hint of fall in the air and a promise that the oppressive heat of summer is over.  We noticed that a few of the plants are beginning to turn in anticipation of fall.  What a treat that will be!!  Fall in the Blue Ridge, from the first falling leaf  to the onset of winter.

This life that I have been given is a great blessing, and today I am feeling, once again, such gratitude for it.  It's a simple life, boring by some people's standards, but amazingly satisfying.  The sheets on the line, the birds at the feeder, even the music on Pandora as I sit and read a magazine called Our State--all of these things emphasizing that this opportunity, at this time in my life, is something years ago I never dreamed possible.

Call it what you want.  Believe what you want.  Don't believe if you don't want.  But this is God's grace. This is God's gift.  I hope that I can continue to appreciate this gift and be worthy of it, every day, every season, every year.

BOOK REPORT...OLD HABITS LIKE YOU ARE HARD TO BREAK

                             READING HABITS

I've recently changed my reading habits slightly.  But only slightly. 

Like the rest of the world, I now find myself reading a few blogs, one primarily--rvsue and her canine crew.  This is a great blog written by a 60ish woman who retired from teaching last year and is full-timing in her Casita travel trailer (like mine!) with her two dogs.  She writes in an easy, smooth, entertaining style about her adventures, the sights she sees, etc.  Nothing too out of the ordinary, but it's one I like to read.  I had never followed a blog before, but I do like this one.

I have also found myself reading more forums.  I have followed the Casita travel trailer forum for several years.  It has wonderful information about the Casita, how it works, how to fix problems, etc.  The people on the forum are very friendly and they don't mind helping newbies figure out their trailer "issues".  I have learned a great deal about Dora, my Casita, but I have also spent money buying stuff as a result of reading the forum members' comments.  In the past week or so, I've begun reading forums about lawn mowing.  How exciting is that???  But I'm trying to figure out which new mower I should buy, and these guys who do it for a living have LOTS to say about mowers!!

I bought a Kindle a few years ago, and when I had more disposable income, I put lots of books on there.  E-readers are a great device for carrying lots of books with you, or for having everything at your finger tips.  I do love my Kindle, even though it's "only" second generation and doesn't have all the fancy bells and whistles.  (I also have an iPad, which is even better for reading except it's heavier.)

But mostly I love books.  Old fashioned books. The kind you actually get to hold in your hand and physically turn the pages.

Most of my family are avid readers, so I come by it naturally.  I remember wanting to learn to read when I was young.  I would look over the shoulder of my brother Glenn as he read the "funny papers" (isn't that a delightful phrase for comics?), and I think he was the first to teach me to read.  I don't remember much about learning how to read, but I do remember being  bored to tears in first grade with the reading circles and with the poor kids who could NOT read.  I guess I must have been reading before I went to school.  I have memories of my grand dad, Daddy's father, reading paperback westerns when we'd go visit them.  In his later years, when he retired, Daddy was a big reader too.  He ONLY read westerns or books about the west, so finding something new for him to like always put me on a quest.  He was a man of very simple pleasures, so if I could find a few new books for him to enjoy, it always made me happy.  One of my saddest memories of him is when he told me he couldn't concentrate enough to read any more. 

When I moved, one of the hardest things I had to do was to get rid of some of my books.  I got rid of diet and exercise  books (many of those), some cookbooks, and lots of novels I know I won't read again.  However, I did choose to save my collections of books from the authors I love.  I read a lot of I guess what you'd call mystery books.  Not Agatha Christy or stuff like that, but authors such as James Lee Burke, John Sandford, and Sue Grafton.  Those authors in particular, and several others who have continuing characters, are among my favorites.  I look forward to their new books with great anticipation.  John Sandford usually publishes a new Prey series book, "starring" Lucas Davenport, in May of every year, and one of my treats to myself for making it to the end of the school year was to go by Barnes and Noble and buy the newest one. 

One of the first things I did in this new house was to put out these old friends of mine on bookshelves in the nook upstairs.  Right now, right behind me, they remind me of the many hours of pleasure I have had from reading them.  Some of the authors I probably won't buy again, simply because I've lost interest in owning them or I've lost interest in their plot lines.  Unfortunately, Patricia Cornwell is one of them.  I used to really enjoy her episodes of Kay Scarpetta, but frankly she's gotten a little bit "around the bend."  I don't know if she ran out of plot material, but she's developed her characters into people I don't really like anymore.  And that's one o my criteria for continued reading:  I have to LIKE the characters.  (As an aside, we're not talking great literary fiction here with my favorites, but I also remember feeling the same way about Anne Tyler's books.  I admired her craft, but I didn't like the people in her novels.)  Others  I won't buy anymore are Jonathan and Faye Kellerman.  Again, I do like their ongoing characters, but not enough to spend retirement money on!  One of the saddest realizations in recent years is that the Nevada Barr series about Anna Pigeon is also not holding my attention.  Anna Pigeon was a character I LOVED, but Barr seems to be getting dark and almost psycho!!  Unless she turns back to the Anna I loved, Barr won't get any more money out of me.  A writer I truly enjoyed but won't be able to read any more of his novels is Tony Hillerman.  Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn were among my favorites, but Hillerman died and all we have left is his legacy.  And Sue Grafton...WHEN are we going to find out what the W book in your series is?  I realize how hard it must be to write this alphabet series, but come on!! You only have four more to go and you and Kinsey can hang it up.  I'm waiting!!

(I have to give a nod to Amy Tan, Jody Picoult and Barbara Kingsolver, who also have a place on my bookshelf.  They don't write continuing characters, and they aren't mystery writers, but I do love them.  I probably won't buy them anymore either, but they're like old friends, waiting for those winter days when I might choose to visit with them again.)

So...now that I'm retired and trying hard not to spend too much money, I have rediscovered perhaps the best old friend of all...the public library.  One of the first things Carol and I did was to get library cards for Haywood County.  I've been to two of the branches and like them both, but the one nearest the house is probably my favorite in terms of atmosphere. The Waynesville branch is always bustling with activity and patron, but the Canton branch seems quieter and more intimate.  We agreed that we could see ourselves here in the winter especially, catching up on magazines and newspapers.  I just read the new Elizabeth George on loan from the library.  She's an author I used to love, but she alienated me and a lot of other people when she killed off a major character.  My niece has sworn off of her completely, and I did too for a few years after that fiasco in plot development.  She's gradually earning her way back into my life, but I doubt I ever actually buy one of her books again.  What DO these authors think sometimes?

When I was a child, like many of my friends, the library provided hours and hours of entertainment.  I recall going to the library and checking out literally arm loads of books, going home and lying on the couch under the swamp cooler in the living room, and reading voraciously.  I couldn't drive myself to the library then, of course, so I had to wait impatiently for someone to take me and let me refill my load of books.  Many times I would finish my stack before I could get a ride, so I was bookless for a few days.  That's NEVER a good feeling.  In recent years, when two jobs took up most of my time, I couldn't read as often as I'd like. (I'm probably one of the few people on the planet who has not read the Harry Potter series...that's pretty bad for an English teacher...and I said I'd read them when I retired.  I still have time!!)  

As much as I love the library, they make you give the books back!!  As a special treat, however, yesterday I went to the little independent bookstore in town and bought the new James Lee Burke Dave Robicheaux novel.  Burke is one of my all-time favorites, and I will buy this series for as long as he writes it.  (I'm wondering, however, if Burke should just let Dave and Clete go.  He's getting darker and darker as Dave ages, and it's sad to see.)

So downstairs, Dave and Clete and their latest adventures in New Orleans and New Iberia are waiting for me.  I SHOULD set up my personal files and begin filing my bills instead of letting them pile up in my mail basket.  I SHOULD put the last of the books in the bookshelf in the hayloft (our bonus room).  I SHOULD do some laundry.

But heck, I'm going to do what I've dreamed of doing for many months, and that's just sit down and enjoy an afternoon of reading, guilt free.

This retirement gig ain't so bad so far!!