Inauguration Day

Well, after our repeat near-death experience the night before I decided I would stay in all day Tuesday, watch the swearing-in fanfare and make my Inaugural Pasties. They were so good we had three apiece. They kept referring to Obama as African-American. Oh hell, I thought he was a Finn!

Harvey waiting for his pasties.

The Morning After

You can tell how cold it is out just by looking at the sky.

We didn't get much snow but it was still pretty. Most of it melted by the afternoon.

Anyone driving to Creston from Black Mountain or Asheville has to come in on Crooked Creek Road. We get a clear view of it from our house and on icy mornings can see cars pulled off to the side of the road because they can't make it up the hill.

Death Slide II

Monday we had winter weather advisories and 2 - 5 inches of snow was predicted. The local news stations were putting out "bread & milk" alerts so we went into town. Not because we needed to stock up on bread & milk but just because we were going to go for food anyway. It was snowing huge flakes of snow on our way home and it was starting to stick on the ground. It was really pretty. We stopped at George & Theresa's because Robert wanted to christen the new wine glasses George bought on sale at Wal-mart so we brought a bottle of wine. Their house is in our development but about 1 mile further up from us. When we left to go home it was about 7:00 and dark. I kept warning Robert that the roads may be slick but, of course, he pooh-poohed it as he does in his English way but he did go slow. When we got to our road we turned left and started to go up the hill and then started to slide down backwards! It was deja-vu all over again! It was almost exactly a year to the day (Jan. 20, '08) that we did that with Carol Morehead in the car. She is still traumatized by it. Well, once again the thought went through my head to keep my seatbelt on and stay with the car so when we went over the edge I wouldn't be thrown from the vehicle and have it land on me. Then, just like last year, the car came to a stop and I saw my chance. I grabbed my purse (you know, so I'd have my cell phone to call 911 for Robert) and jumped out. Robert said he was going to try to steer the car to the side of the road and drive up the shoulder for traction. Just like a captain going down with the ship. I was trying to walk on the ice and get as far away from the car as I could and he kept sliding down the road sideways. Suddenly, the car came to a stop and Robert got out. We decided to abandon the car and walk up but we had a car full of groceries and couldn't leave them or they'd freeze. I could barely walk on the icy road and remembered my hiking shoes were in the backseat. I made it back over to the car and put them on. Then I saw the umbrella on the floor and decided to use that as a walking stick. Luckily, we keep a small flashlight in the glovebox for such emergencies so we weren't completely in the dark. We started grabbing bags of groceries, slinging them over our shoulders (thank goodness for the sturdy Holiday Market totes) and headed up the hill. Wouldn't you know that this would be the time Ingles had a special on canned goods and I decided to stock up to donate them and that we would also buy a 6-pack of wine (but not for charity.) We made it up the road and then our driveway in the cold & dark with just the small flashlight. Of course, we didn't leave any lights on in the house. Well, now we know we won't be able to get up our road in the snow so will have to park further down and walk up through the woods.

The car at the bottom of the road the next morning. You can see the tire tracks how far we made it up before sliding back down.

The first picture is our footprints in the snow up the driveway.

Moore Cove Falls

For several years now my much-older siblings, Bill & Bobbie, have been getting together for Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend. I'm not sure if they go to parades or prayer services or if it's just because they both have that Monday off. We made plans to meet Bobbie & David and Bill & Kent for lunch in Brevard. Brevard is a smallish town (but bigger than Black Mountain) about an hour from here and is known for its white squirrels. They even have an annual White Squirrel Festival. We met for lunch at Dugan's Irish Pub. It was highly recommended by David and his biker friends. We all had a filling lunch and a pint then decided to go for a hike to walk it off. We went to Moore Cove Falls in the Pisgah National Forest. It was about a mile hike round-trip. The falls were very pretty this time of year with the ice & snow. The creeks all have ice in them, too. It was sunny and in the low 40s so was a great day for a hike. After the hike we stopped at nearby Looking Glass Falls to see it with ice and snow. We have been to these falls several times and is a favorite for taking out-of-towners to who prefer not to hike to see waterfalls. You barely have to get out of the car to see them. After that we went back to Brevard for coffee so Robert could wake up for the drive home, then parted ways. I drove home and Robert slept. He must've had decaf.

You could go into a cavern to view the falls from behind.

Frigid Weather

Well, we finally got the frigid weather they were warning us about. It actually got down to the single-digits here. I know, I know, all you from up north are saying, "That's not cold! It was still above zero!" Well, that's true. But it is unusual for here. It was 5 in Black Mountain. We had some pipes freeze on us. Our bathroom is on the north side of the house and the sink faucet pipes are in the outside wall. We also had the cold water faucet for the downstairs bath freeze. Everything finally thawed by Saturday night with (thank God) nothing bursting.

My amaryllis finally bloomed in spite of the cold weather.

Robert & Harvey knew how to wait out the cold.

Walk to the Mailboxes

I made the decision for the both of us that we weren't walking enough. Not far enough or up the mountain enough. Everyone else here walks the roads a lot further than we do. I've been able to get Robert to walk to the roundabout and back (1 mile) but no further because he always cries about his sore hip. Well, no more Mr. Nice Guy. We're walkin', buddy! I set our first goal to walk to the mailboxes and back. It's about 2 miles round trip. Now, any idiot with a sore hip can walk 2 miles, you may say. Well, not necessarily when it's one mile down and one mile back UP. We started out gradually, walking a bit further each time. Finally, last Wednesday I said, "Today's the day! We're conquering the mailboxes!" I was watching the local weather before we set out and the Top Story was the frigid weather. Being from Michigan it's kind of funny when the top story is the frigid weather and it's like 24 degrees. So, we dressed for the weather. One of us kind of OVERdressed with the choice of head wear. It ended up being in the low 40s and sunny. I was stripping off layers within 5 minutes. Robert finally ditched the Eskimo hat on the way home. Anyway, we walked most of the way down to the mailboxes then took the Spring Trail the rest of the way. The trail goes past a pond with a natural spring and comes up next to the mailboxes. We gathered our mail, took a break, and headed up the road for home. We made it! Next goal - the swing! It's also about 2-miles round trip but is a very steep climb up. I have walked almost to the swing (by myself) to our friend Barbara's house. Now to work on Robert.

You can see our house at the top.

The Sun, the Moon and the Fog

These are pictures of things I have seen from my window in the past week or so.