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?
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