Grandson David and
I were longing for barbecue, so John took us to Dickie’s after
church. Dickie’s pulled pork might not measure up to the meat at our
favorite BBQ place in Virginia, but it was certainly better than
another favorite, Haywood Smokehouse, because it is closed on Sunday.
We enjoyed our meal and choreographed getting the free soft ice
cream. David, being the “professional” in the family working at
Burger King, would load the cones, and John would bring ours to the
table. He brought mine first, balancing it carefully. I had it
securely in my hand, and then it toppled onto my tray. SPLAT! By
the time I thought to take a picture of it, I’d already gotten a
spoon and taken a bite or so.
John brought his
cone to the table and sat down without incident. Two couples were
sitting behind us at one table, and their four children at another
table began watching David. By their dress and behavior, we assume
they had just come from church, too. As David walked carefully to
join us, he heard the children say things like, “Ohh! Look! I
want one like that. It’s so tall! How did he do it?”
The fellows were man enough to finish off their cones without losing a drop. John’s success was because of speed and David’s because of being extremely careful. David said he has been told to limit the ice cream to three swirls per cone at Burger King.
Many of you can
afford to envy that dessert. Several months ago we heard a person
behind the counter tell a customer that the frozen part is dairy
free. The cone is gluten free, as well. You can’t lose, except if
what you are trying to lose is weight.
Weather decided whether we would be outside. The forecast included thunderstorms, but storms are iffy in the mountains. We planned to find a swimming hole for grandson David if the temperature turned unbearable. If we were cool enough, we’d go to the arboretum in Asheville, which we’ve not been to yet. As we set out in the car, we headed for the arboretum. About five miles from it, I saw a dark cloud coming our way. The three of us dithered and decided to drive beyond it to the visitor’s center for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The center was lovely, having interesting displays about the building of this scenic highway perched on the mountain ridges from Virginia to North Carolina.
We heard thunder, and then came a huge downpour. We watched the video, looked at the exhibits, and examined the map of the whole parkway. I mentally pointed to the spot where our house is. I took a photo of John and David in front of the map. We left when it was only sprinkling.
Just down the road was the center for folk art. It’s a beautiful showcase for the work of contemporary mountain artists and includes a permanent display of historic crafts. I did not take photographs there, since most galleries do not allow it. It’s understandable that people might profit from stealing ideas. There were racks of clothing, Christmas ornaments, pottery, wooden utensils, musical instruments, paintings, furniture, jewelry, quilts, kaleidoscopes, and other decorative items for sale.
David and I got out at several overlooks on the parkway. I liked the foliage of some wildflowers and asked David to pose with white-bloomed autumn clematis.
Is this David’s gateway to the mountains?
On our way down
the mountain, we stopped at David’s and my favorite waterfall,
Sunburst. I took a photo of David with the falls. Where he is
sitting is not a dangerous drop off. This is one of the places where
people hop on the rocks and get closer to the falling water.
We were impressed
with the low level of the water, and David held his phone out to get
a closer shot. Light rain hit us at the falls, but it did not fall
on the car a few feet away. At the bottom of the mountain, we
stopped at Jukebox Junction to get David a milkshake.
On the way home, we stopped at a supermarket and a dollar store. If only I had restricted myself to looking for the things on my list, we would have made it home dry! John opted to stay in the car to watch lightning, but he came in to bring me my rain jacket. Just as we checked out, the deluge hit. We stood under the covered walkway waiting. It was amusing to watch people go through the rain to their cars. Some ran as fast as they could, and others shrugged their shoulders and walked. We couldn’t see past the parking lot for the heavy, heavy rain. When it slacked off, we waded to our car. Very few surfaces are level here in the mountains, and that included the parking lot. The water was rushing downhill as fast as it could go, but it was still an inch or so deep. The storm came down the valley, soaking Waynesville and Clyde. We live on the other side of Utah Mountain, and the roads near our house were bone dry. That afternoon we had several thunderstorms at home, and there was another storm raging when David and I went to bed at midnight. What an odd-weather day it had been!
As I was writing this the following day, a thunderstorm blew through. A photo of the deck in front of my computer shows heavy rain on the deck, with drops splashing up two inches in the birdbath. Behind the mountains were blue sky and white clouds.
The last time we
went out to eat, I chose Dragon Shrimp. The menu said there would be
shrimp and broccoli on a bed of rice with a spicy sauce. The
waitress asked if I wanted Bleu cheese or ranch dressing to tone it
down. I declined, not knowing that I would change my mind in a
matter of seconds. I tasted the broccoli first. Yoweeee!! Steam
may not have come out of my ears, but tears rolled down my cheeks.
The shrimp and rice were fine, even though they had the same sauce.
The day was saved with ranch dressing, and I thought no more about
it.
The next morning
the temperature was cool when we walked, in the low 60’s (15.6C).
That’s what it has been much of the summer. I said to John, “I can
see my breath.”
Blowing out, he
said, “I can’t see mine.”
“I know what it
is,” I said. “It’s Dragon Breath!!”
Neighbor Logan and
his dad were waiting for the school bus as we walked to the top of
the steep hill. I asked Logan to pose for a first day photo, which
he did willingly.
Logan’s hands are blurred because he was still moving.
On the other side of the car, John and Bob were discussing whether they had missed the bus. John knew it took us ten minutes to climb the steep hill, and the bus had not passed us. Logan did the floss dance for a few seconds, probably letting off steam and excitement. He declined being videoed doing the dance, but he agreed to recording his getting in the car.
Silly things go on in our kitchen, but I guess that is to be expected. We spend a lot of time there. Grandson David and I remembered John stored boxes of cereal over the refrigerator. I asked him to look, and before I could fetch the step stool, he was standing on the counter. The cereal boxes were there.
Grandson Nathaniel gave me some of his sourdough starter, and I found a recipe for biscuits that I wanted to try. I quit using sourdough when we moved to England in 1980, so I was excited to have it again. When the ingredients were ready to stir together, I was careless and did steps in the wrong order. Nathaniel would have dumped the mess and started over, but not miser me! Oh, no! The biscuits did not brown, and I should have made them thicker. David and I ate them, anyway. Next time they will be a lot better.
When I was putting the leftovers away, I found the angry biscuit scowling at me.
Oregon is much
more beautiful than an angry biscuit. Rose took a photo of John
$pencer with a Sitka spruce tree. The Sitka is the tallest of
spruces and can thrive even when hit by the ocean’s salt spray. It
can live for 700 years.
Rose took my favorite shot of the dog – Sadie observing her kingdom in Glacier Peak Wilderness .
On an August
Sunday, our son and grandsons were on opposite sides of the United
States. Photos show a great contrast of urban living and wilderness
splendor.
Nathaniel and David
We went to church
in Tryon because we were there once before and enjoyed the
traditional Lutheran service chanted by the Pastor. We walked to the
edge of the parking lot to see the lovely stream that runs behind the
church. It’s a good thing I couldn’t see it from the sanctuary, or I
would have been greatly distracted. We had lunch in Landrum, SC, and
I took a photo of David and Nathaniel. David drove himself back home
to work, and we took Nathaniel to Charlotte.
Would you like to see pictures of his dorm? He worked at the university all summer and has just moved to the suite he will share with three others when the next term starts. I’m sure you can label the photos yourself – shots from the kitchen, the living room, his bedroom, and the balcony.
Nathaniel and Charlotte
Johnson &
Wales has an urban campus, smack dab in the downtown area.
Nathaniel’s suite is on the seventh floor. Neat Nate had everything
put away in the kitchen. The living room will come to life when the
others bring in a TV and decorative items. Everything is in place in
his bedroom. I wish I’d taken a shot of his closet where clothing is
sorted – cooking clothes on one side and civilian clothes on the
other. The balcony photo speaks for itself. Nathaniel will share a
bathroom with another fellow. Two bedrooms and a bathroom mirror
theirs on the other side of the kitchen. The four students will
share a washing machine and dryer in the common area. This bears
almost no relation to my college experience of dorm living.
Now for the
contrast. Look at John $pencer’s temporary quarters in Washington.
He was studying a map. They spoke of being surrounded by goats one
night and thankful Sadie didn’t bark.
Rose took a
picture of $ and Sadie on the trail. With a little imagination I can
see my son, but I can’t find Sadie.
$’s joy is visible
as Rose had him pose with a glacier. They heard low noises while
camping near the glacier and are wondering if glaciers make sounds.
Does anyone know?
We had a busy week
with our grandsons. On David’s day off, we went to Linville Falls.
We walked .4 mile on a gravel path and stood on a large flat boulder
to see the low falls.
David and John at Linville Falls
The wide pool
seemed to be a quiet place for the water to gather energy to hurl
itself down the gorge.
Back in the car,
David reveled in the space for his legs. The middle seats had been
removed so that he could sleep on an air mattress at the train club.
As a selfie, this was unusual. I held the camera and had him direct
me for the best angle. My gray hair was watching from the front
seat.
Nathaniel came for
the weekend and cooked breakfast and lunch on his one full day here.
I took a photo of his luscious biscuits. [Biscuit lovers Karen and
Al, wish you could have been here!] Not pictured were the strips of
bacon he prepared for John and sausage links for the rest of us. He
took orders for the eggs, so that everyone had what they wanted.
John chose an omelet, and David opted for scrambled eggs. Nathaniel
and I had our eggs sunny side up. I have never been able to cook a
presentable one, and his were perfection.
Nathaniel’s biscuits
For lunch,
Nathaniel grilled three kinds of brats and the lovely squash neighbor
Logan brought from the garden. I took a picture of Nate’s technique
of eating two brats in a foot-long bun.
One-handed double bratwurst
In the afternoon
Logan came over, and inevitably a balloon made its entrance. The
still shot shows Nathaniel, John, and Logan with the feet of Logan’s
dad.
Logan blowing up a balloon
We were batting the balloon while talking with Bob. I sat there, letting the pocket camera observe the action. Logan seemed to be in two or three places at once. My foot appeared for a second at the bottom of the screen as I kicked the yellow balloon back into action. My apologies to Bob for such a fractured conversation.
John, David, and I all got haircuts in town and shopped at the supermarket before David went to work. That was a rather full morning for us and an early one for David. After lunch I decided to go to Asheville with John, just to keep him company while he had the car serviced. As we tooled down the highway, my phone rang. It was my brother, in his car with Beth and their granddaughter Kate. They had been quite near our home, but they were in a dead zone and couldn’t reach us. They were stopping at the Farmer’s Market in Asheville, which turned out to be 1.6 miles from the car dealership. After our car was ready, we found them packing their shopping in the car. What timing! We drove up the hill to the Moose Cafe to have dessert and a drink. Very few people were eating in the restaurant, so we could stay and talk as long as we wanted to. It was marvelous to have such a pleasant experience when we least expected it.
John, Beth, Kate, and Bob at Moose Cafe
They had a two and a half hour drive back to Winston Salem, so we didn’t want to keep them too long. Good things never seem to last long enough do they?
Neighbor Logan (9)
was waiting patiently for grandson David to finish eating, because
David promised to retrieve the glider from the tree. As he waited,
he played with my free weights. I caught one episode where he
pretended a five-pound weight was terribly heavy.
Of course, Logan
can and did throw the eight-pound weight around. Later David
gathered six weights in one hand and lifted 24 pounds. He declined
to be videoed, but I was impressed.
When
John spent several days at the train club in Tennessee, I sometimes
got the hankering to read a book. Going to the library on the spur
of the moment was often not possible, so checking out an e-book was
the best option. However, it wasn’t easy. I had a Kindle app, the
Overdrive app that was supposed to connect to libraries, and another
one or two that came with the operating system of the computer.
Nothing ever worked seamlessly. I might have confirmation that I had
checked out a book, but I couldn’t find it or get it to load. There
was once when I could read only when the tablet was connected to the
internet. This time I went to the library website and saw a new app
being advertised – Libby. This app worked like a charm! A few key
strokes connected to my local library, registered my card number, and
found the book I was looking for. In addition, it was easy to get
back to the book the next day. It was very difficult to return books
with the other apps. I read this book and returned it on the third
day. Easy as pie!! Have any of you used Libby?
I met
neighbor Joyce while we were both out walking. She passed me twice,
coming and going. As she headed home, I said I could see she was on
a schedule, because she had her phone in her hand. She explained
she walks for a time and jogs for a time. I said, “I just wander.”
Without missing a step, she said, “I think that is WANDERful.”
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 