I began walking, having my mind set on finding beautiful or unusual things. It wasn’t far from the front door that I noticed leaves beginning to turn red. Low mist sat on the mountain, making it look like a normal, rather flat neighborhood.
Near the firehouse were bits of road art. With a little imagination, I could see white cats on a gray road. Can you see the cats or something different?
The carving of a black bird has guarded a driveway for several months. Today I noticed fancy little growths in the bark, lichen perhaps? They were dark with white edgings.
For all the devastation hurricane Ian caused in Florida, the effects were not noticeable in the North Carolina mountains near Asheville. Were there dire warnings? Yes, indeed! The forecast was for heavy rain and high winds above 3,500 feet. I don’t know what happened on top of mountains, but at 2,600 feet there was nothing worth writing about. Rain fell gently during the night, and I never heard any wind.
I removed small items from the porches and deck and checked the garden for things that could cause damage if hurled about by high winds. I rewound hoses and unplugged fountain and waterfall. Shawn’s dahlias were moved inside for safety.
Here is what the sky looked like when the rain was due to begin.
I took a video of Jonathan Creek the day the storm was to hit and another the next day for comparison. It doesn’t matter which you look at; they are almost the same. Normally, after a good rainstorm, most of the rocks would be totally under water.
Creek before hurricane
Creek after hurricane
The final statement about this hurricane came from the rain gauge that my brother installed a few weeks ago. It read ¼ inch.
I continue to pray for all those whose lives were disrupted by hurricane Ian and the families of all who died. May God bless you and help you cope with all that is happening to you.
I had a busy week and couldn’t properly worry about having found a lump under my skin. What I did worry about was whether it was normal and just something I’d never felt before. How foolish I’d feel if everyone had a bump like it! The doctor had an appointment open a week later, and she was very reassuring. She explained there are three little bones at the end of the sternum. She thinks arthritis is active there, adding bone for the fun of it I presume. I am going to be upset if growing bone offsets weight loss. Now that would not be fair at all!
The bus ride was interesting. After I was on board, we picked up a young fellow and dropped him off at the community college. I saw the area where son John $ and grandson David played disc golf, and then we wound our way all through the hilly campus. The driver said the young man rides several times a week. We are so blessed to have this service available to us.
“When the Frost is on the Punkin” is the first line of a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, and it came to mind when I walked past Connie and Charles’ autumn display. I saw frost on the mulch, NOT the pumpkins. To my surprise, I saw the white blush on the photo. Too often I take a picture and find what I wanted to show does not appear at all. The temperature was 35F (1.67C) when I went out to walk. We had a frost, not a hard freeze, so the plants have not keeled over yet.
I had an unexpectedly exhilarating weekend. Neighbor Shawn and I had a slumber party! She was taking care of grandchildren in a nearby town when her son Logan tested positive for COVID at home. She needed to be home for the weekend, yet she couldn’t risk exposure because she was going back to the grandchildren three days later. The fun solution was for her to spend the night at my house. We did what most preteen girls would do – talked into the wee hours with laughter and giggles.
The camera wanted to record many things, but I shoved it back in my pocket. It would have been an invasion of privacy to show Shawn and Bob visiting six feet apart on my porch. Bob had been taking care of Logan and had to keep his distance. They needed time to catch up on all that had been happening.
Shawn said to keep it simple when I asked what she would like for breakfast. I was up first and threw together a cinnamon coffeecake. It certainly looked thrown together, because I accidentally jiggled the oven shelf when I pulled it out to check it. Ours fell flatter than a pancake. We, along with David, picked at the mess anyway. The smaller one for Bob and Logan looked a bit nicer.
When Shawn took a simple dinner across the street for Logan and Bob, she brought back beautiful dahlias from her garden. I let the camera out to record that. Rather cold temperatures are in the forecast, and Shawn said we should enjoy the flowers while they looked good.
When we went out for a walk, Bob and Logan were outside. We walked separately to the end of the street, stopping to talk to neighbors who were decorating their drive. I asked if I could take a photo, and they insisted Shawn and I should be the ones with the pumpkins and flowers.
Near the stop sign, we chatted with Lisa and Harmony while Logan ran on one side of the fence and dog Rosie on the other. Ever on the move, Logan ran among the trees at Cindy’s house. The camera delighted in watching that.
Shawn spoke of the pumpkin farm nearby, and we planned an impromptu field trip. Every year the farmer displays pumpkins lined up behind price signs and leaves a locked box for people to pay on the honor system. I could have kicked myself for not taking a picture of Lisa, Harmony, and Shawn picking out pumpkins.
I missed another opportunity the other day when Lisa and Rosie walked to the creek.. It’s a tradition to have a photo of people who go there with me. When we got back to our area, I asked them to pose. This is my consolation prize.
I believe it was childhood friend Tom who spoke of muscadine grapes. He saw them while hunting, if memory serves me correctly. People talked about muscadine jelly and wine, although I don’t think I ever had any. When I saw them in the supermarket, curiosity made me buy a pint. I tried one before offering them to David. I’m not sure he will want a second one, so it is up to me to finish them.
There were two or three seeds in each grape, easy enough to separate in the mouth and get rid of. I began with a whole grape and chewed endlessly on the skin. The consistency was something like rubber gloves. Learning by doing, I cut the next one in half and scooped the pulp out with my teeth. By concentrating, I could discern a faint flavor of grape. Was it worth it? I don’t think so.
I brought home four photos from my walk this morning. I hadn’t taken many steps when I spotted a very colorful leaf. How appropriate that this is the first day of autumn!
This sign on a truck made me smile.
A neighbor’s yard presented this lovely scene. I thought there were red berries on the dogwood tree, but the photo says my eyes lied. The leaves seem to be the same color as the red pump. Vibrant green of grass, plants and trees set it all off to perfection.
On my porch was a scene of destruction under a chair. The day before, the chestnut lay peacefully beside a black walnut, still in its light green covering. Daughter Kate put them under her chair the day we sat outside after walking to the creek. I suspect a squirrel stripped the covering off and stole the walnut. He was welcome to it, and I shall clean up the mess as a good hostess would.
Before the sun came up, daughter Kate worked on the jigsaw puzzle while waiting for me to get dressed. We were using a puzzle of family photos taken in 2018. This puzzle is one from the annual gift of a dear friend. She picks the top family photos from the year, arranges them, and orders the puzzle.
Shortly after noon, grandson David and Kate started burning the trees and bushes that our neighbors had cut a few weeks before. The garden debris had dried out and burned fairly quickly.
After David went to work, Kate continued tending the fire as the shadows lengthened. Leaning on the shovel was her usual stance.
It took two days for mother and son to finish the puzzle. I put in about 10 pieces, being able to see them only when natural light was streaming through the window.
On grandson David’s day off, we drove to Charlotte to spend a short time with grandson Nathaniel. What a wonderful visit we had! Daughter Kate had not seen Nate’s apartment, his first place after being at university. David was getting the kinks out after being scrunched in the back seat of the car.
We ate at a barbecue place, and Nathaniel talked about wines as we waited for our food. One of his last courses was about wine. He works in a coffee shop that also serves beer and wine, so he is using his knowledge on a daily basis.
The youngsters posed after Nathaniel helped us order coffee, and he sat with us until it was time for him to clock in.
I wanted a shot of Kate with her hazelnut coffee and my latte. Both drinks were delicious.
Sarah dropped by on her way to work, so we saw her for a few minutes, too. It was a marvelous day from start to finish.
Daughter Kate is here for a week, and we are having a blast. She drove from New Jersey to our house in 14.5 hours. How she does it in one day, I’ll never know! The following day she drove us to church in Asheville, and we went out to eat at Fatz.
On David’s day off, we had a fast food picnic at the creek near the Rec Center. For a short while, they were engrossed in watching some people playing disc golf. This is the course that David has played several times with his Uncle John.
After shopping at Walmart, I took a photo of Kate and David in the parking lot. I never tire of seeing mountains in the background when doing mundane things.
On Day Three, Kate and I walked to the creek. We were impressed with the heavy fog or mist in the valley.
After taking the required shot of us at the creek, I showed Kate taking a video of the creek.
Kate spotted a little monster with a spider web that made us laugh.
Kate ended the day picking up limbs that had fallen from the old oak tree and beginning a catalog of our CD’s. She logged fifty disks, a mere drop in the bucket of all that are here. I think my job is to stay alive until she has finished that chore.
A blog about life challenges in mostly fictional writing based on some fact. I am trying this Blog thing out because I need a creative outlet and am amazed at everything my iPad can do to help me along the way. So why not, right ?
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 