Mountain Events and Sights

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While I chatted with neighbor Shawn, she said, “With your husband and Dawn’s away, we ought to get together on the porch and chat. The next morning I sent texts to the ladies of the neighborhood. All but the clown could come. (Marla was dressed as a clown for an event in Cherokee.) There was one more person to include, because Joyce told me that Frankie had come back after being away for several months. The gathering morphed into a reunion and a black-out party. Our power went out mid-afternoon, because high winds knocked down an oak tree in the mountains, severing lines to our town. I told everyone to bring their cell phones to recharge, since our generator was on. It was wonderful to be together again to catch up on news. During cold months, we don’t see each other outside very often.

Joyce, Connie, Dawn, Connie, and Frankie

Neither John nor I noticed the Jeep until neighbor Nancy pointed it out as we walked by. It was her husband’s vehicle that died. He was only a few miles from home when the transmission broke. It wouldn’t go forward, but it could back up. Their sons went to help him, and they drove it backwards all the way home. That included a stretch on the four lane divided highway! She said they were laughing and took photos and videos of the event. Her husband said, “I’m gonna put a fork in it and call it done.”

The looks of the Jeep and the story made us laugh. John said, “I’d tell people I came to a fork in the road.”

The defunct Jeep: ” I’ll put a fork in it and call it done>”

After church on Sunday we went to Pearson’s Waterfall near Tryon. I was thinking of grandson Nathaniel, knowing he was flying back to NC after having competed in the J&W Iron Chef event. A quick text brought a reply; he was in the airport waiting for his flight. David agreed to pose by the stream on the way up to the falls, and we sent the photo to him. On the way down the mountain, we lost all bars, but we were together in spirit.

We had the official photo of David and John to prove we were there at the falls. I laughed when I saw the picture on a larger screen, because it looks like the water is falling over the rocks and continuing over David’s shirt. David was not wet, but we all enjoyed the cool mist coming off the falls.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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22 thoughts on “Mountain Events and Sights”

    1. I’ll bet a generator would come in handy for you. It’s overkill here, but I’m not complaining. I don’t think we’ve lost power for a full day since we moved here five years ago. The things I’d miss the most would be the lack of water (electric pump for the well) and no water to flush the toilet.

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  6. There was lots to read in your post- showing that you had lots to write about.
    Is this a waterfall you haven’t been to before ?
    Was the house downhill for those neighbours’ whose Jeep’s transmission broke?
    Susie

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    1. We had not been to Pearson’s Waterfall before. The trail was labeled easy. It was not particularly easy for me, since there were lots of roots in the trail and moderately steep places that taxed my artificial knees. It was worth the hike to see the falls.

      The house with the dead Jeep is down the steep hill on the way to the creek. It is really on the floor of the valley and very close to the four lane divided highway that we cross.

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  8. You did have me wondering when you wrote about a “blackout party”. I laughed when I read you were referring to a power loss. What a wonderful way to spend some time with your neighbors.

    One time I took a field trip with students. We drove a school van to Baltimore and the opposite happened to me – I could not put the van in reverse! I had to look for a parking space in the parking lot that I could pull through so I would be able to get out when we wanted to come home. What an adventure!

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  10. Hi Anne, What fun to have a gathering with friends. I also loved the fork in the jeep. I always wish I was witty enough to come up with fun visuals. One of these days perhaps I will if I have some miraculous inspiration. 😁 The falls on the shoulder photograph is amazing. If you had tried to line up the light it never would have happened so well. I love it. It’s one that might need to be printed out and framed.

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    1. I was glad I talked to the neighbor who had the fork in the Jeep. Other neighbors were wondering about it, and now we all know.

      You are right about the photo that made it appear the water was flowing down David’s shirt. I didn’t see that until the picture was on the monitor.

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    1. Grandson Nathaniel was the one with a conductor’s uniform, but that was years ago. John is usually more formal than those around us, probably because that is the way he grew up.

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  13. John went to parochial schools until college. His uniform included a tie EVERY DAY. Most of the time he wore a tie to work, too. It wasn’t until the last few years that the dress code was changed to business casual.

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