Who'da Thought It Would Last This Long?

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this weekend. We were married in 1971. Two very different people certainly didn't seem destined to enjoy such a long, happy, and successful marriage.

We were both "children of the 60s," having graduated high school and attended college in the soaring 60s. I spent the 60s attending hootenannies, learning to play the guitar, marching in protest rallies and listening to the music. My husband spent the 60s studying and planning his future. How many other physicians do you know who have an AB undergrad degree with Honors in English? Wisely taking sufficient science for his pre-med, he felt this might be his last chance to read and enjoy English. He thinks things through like that.

He was always (and still is) a planner. Not just a planner, he follows through on the plans. I'm more of a dreamer, since you don't really have to follow through on them.

He was a Roman Catholic and deeply religious. I was raised Southern Baptist, but at the time was more agnostic than anything else. Our marriage began as a compromise which pleased the two of us but didn't go over so well with the families. My family was not terribly happy that we were married in the Catholic Cathedral with a priest officiating. His family was not terribly happy that I was Protestant and that we were not having a mass with the ceremony.


The day was beautiful with bright sunshine and fall color. Here father and daughter prepare to enter the cathedral. No one would suspect that a rare illness would take his life less than 6 years after our wedding.





The happy couple immediately after the ceremony.

For so many years of our marriage, we managed to buy each other the identical anniversary card. This year I was determined not to repeat that, so I purchased a "dear husband" card. But this particular card caught my eye and I almost changed my mind and bought it instead. Not surprisingly, it was the same card my husband gave me. Perhaps it explains why we are still together after all these years.

She says: I think we're lost.

He says: We're not lost.

She says: We should stop and ask for directions.

He says: I'm NOT stopping to ask for directions.

She says: Dear God, Give me strength.

He says: Lord, Give me patience.

Inside the card: IT'S TRUE---THE COUPLE WHO PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER.

I must confess that after looking at the wedding photographs, I said to myself, "Look at that young and slim bride! It can't possibly have been 38 years ago!!!"

Then I looked in the mirror and the reflection said to me, "Oh, yes Carolyn. It definitely has been that long."

Fridays are Golden

The Golden Girls are in love with their new beds. They do not pay any attention to the names embroidered on them (did anyone really think that mattered?) and plop in them whenever we are in the den. In the past, both dogs loved to lie under the pigeon hole in my husband's desk when he was sitting there. Not any more...they go straight to their new beds.




Ellie almost always has at least one tennis ball with her. She carries them in her mouth as she "talks" with me. She also like to take charge of the blue tug toy and decide when they will have a battle over it.

The beds are quite spacious. Each of our girls is normal-sized for a female Golden Retriever and while Ellie looks much bigger they both weigh about 65 pounds.

We did not replace the beds in the great room. Because the floors are hardwood, they use these beds most of the time. They do lie in the floor when the sun is shining on them. Almost all the time Lucy climbs in the bed Ellie is using.

No matter the sleeping position, Lucy manages to find a way to fit herself in the bed.

And if there isn't any room to fit herself? Lucy is quite content to snuggle in and use Ellie as a soft pillow.

As we approach the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, take this weekend to veg out like our Goldens. Reflect on what is REALLY important and don't let the rest of it make you anxious. This should be a time of love and joy, not stress. Make a promise that you will NOT give in to the madness but will actually enjoy the upcoming holidays, whichever ones you celebrate.

Our thoughts go out to the victims and families and loved ones of the recent incident at Fort Hood. Such senseless violence with such dire consequences.

HAVE A MOST WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE.

The Annual Divide

Several weeks ago our community garden club held its fall Great Divide. The gardeners re-pot all the divided plants every fall and offer them to neighbors. In the past, the plants were free. Unfortunately too many people came early and took far too many than the allowed two per family. As a result there weren't many choices for those of us who came to the event at the proper time. This year the club decided to charge a small fee for each plant and you wouldn't believe how much difference that made. These "freeloaders" were reluctant to pay a few dollars for a 25-dollar plant! It almost makes me wonder whether they actually planted their freebies in the past. It makes me sad to think they didn't.

Plants that deer aren't supposed to like are always a high priority around here. The club had a nice selection of deer "resistant" plants, but made it clear there is no such thing as a deer proof plant. (We found that out last year when the deer stripped our rhododendron buds.)

All of the artists selling their wares actually live in our little community. Gourd art is a really big hobby here and I am always amazed at the results. (I wish I'd taken a close-up of the turkey in the upper left.)

One of my favorites was this cut-out of autumn leaves.

We have several artists who carve decoys.

And quite a number of talented painters.

The divide always has a section for free glass. Anyone can drop off or pick up a vase or two.

We bought several beautiful fall-blooming plants. The girls were quite interested in them.

Lucy is our "sight" dog and she doesn't miss a thing in sight. Ellie is our "scent" dog and she catches all the smells. She is totally absorbed in this plant. I hope she will like it as much when it is planted.

If there was an election in your area yesterday, I hope you got out and voted. Further, I hope your candidate won.

Fish, Roadside Art, and Brett

As the title suggest, this is a Monday morning mixture of totally unrelated topics. The weekend was something of a bummer. Promised sunshine did not appear. It rained on Saturday's Halloweenfest, our biggest downtown festival of the year. The dogs did not understand why dinnertime came on Sunday with no dinner. Both of them frequently nudged my husband's arm as if to remind him of dinner.

When our neighbor's grandsons came over for trick-or-treat, I totally forgot to get a photograph. They are usually the only trick-or-treaters we have and I always purchase three large bags of candy and dump an entire bag into each boy's pumpkin. According to their mother, the boys had become heroes of their schools when they told their friends about the "candy lady" who gives each a whole bag of candy.

There were a few bright spots in the weekend. My daughter caught her life-time biggest salmon, a Chinook, she thinks. She caught it fishing from the shore of Lake Michigan. She sent a photograph from her cell phone. This is her fish, being held with some difficulty by her fishing buddy. Yes, my nature-loving bird-watching daughter is also quite an angler.




A couple of weeks ago we drove to our favorite cemetery. On the way we noticed some interesting art work on the roadside. Initially I thought it was an old truck that had run off the road. Closer inspection revealed that it was not abandoned at all.





Here's the driver...a full-sized black bear.





A boar peeks from behind the front wheel.





Just a bit further and we found the ultimate flower child car. This one was also driven by a bear.





I suppose I am obliged to talk about THE GAME, painful as it may be. Brett Favre brought his Minnesota Vikings onto Lambeau Field to resounding "BOOs" from the fans. He took off his helmet and revealed his grin that says, "Keep it up, folks. It inspires me." The game was pretty pathetic with the Viking offensive line protecting Farve on each play and a receiver named Rice who caught anything within arm's reach. Meanwhile the Green Bay Packers still could not protect quarterback Rodgers, and committed far too many penalties. It was a sad day. The defensive coordinator apparently knew nothing about the blitz until someone told him late in the game. Penalties made some great plays returned. In short, if you can't protect your own quarterback and you can't get to the opposing quarterback and you add stupid penalty after stupid penalty you don't have much chance of winning.

This photograph shows the mixed feelings among the crowd. Some felt betrayed and others wore their Packer green #4 jerseys.

(Photo from The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel)

A small plane circled the field with a trailing banner that said, "Retire 4 Ever."

This morning the sun came up as usual. And I'm looking forward to a much better week. I hope the same for all of you.

Fridays are Golden

We left the Golden Girls confused last Friday. Their beds had been taken outside. Lucy was standing bewildered and Ellie had high-tailed it to her crate...the place she can count on for safety and security.

Very soon my husband came downstairs carrying something of interest. Two very curious dogs examined it.



My husband left the room again.
Lucy said, "I'll bet there's going to be another one!"

Sure enough, here came another new dog bed.

You may have noticed that the beds have names on them. I thought this was foolish, but imagine my surprise when Lucy immediately determined that her bed was the one that said, "Lucy." My husband insisted she knew how to read, but I think she just wanted the first one. After all, she deserves to be first in line.

Within 30 seconds and one quick turnaround, Lucy snuggled into the plush new bed.

She immediately fell asleep. "Finally! A bed befitting my status as Princess."

Ellie was typically much more cautious. She seemed a bit unsure that this was really hers. My husband said that unlike Lucy, Ellie couldn't read her name.

Ellie settled in the bed, but looked a bit uncomfortable.

"This is too much like furniture. Are you sure it's all right for me to be lying here?"

Ellie quickly made herself comfortable. In no time at all, Lucy got out of her bed to share Ellie's bed with her. There is a lot of room so she isn't using Ellie for a pillow.

"Thank goodness that's over," says Ellie.

"Cool it, Elllie. There's always the upstairs bed we can share. You are almost as soft as my new bed."

The wind and rain have played havoc on the leaves and this morning is chilly with heavy fog. October is ending. It will be a rough Sunday for the girls since their own clocks do not reset and they will not be happy that dinnertime will be a little later. November arrives on Sunday if you can believe it. As so many wonderful people sang Sandy Denny's lovely song, "Who knows where the time goes?" It surely does fly. (Listen to North Carolina's own Nina Simone, or Sandy Denny, or Eva Cassidy, or Judy Collins sing this beautiful song. So sad that of the four, only Judy Collins remains with us.)

Have a wonderful weekend. Pause to count your blessings in life and think of those less fortunate.

Hold My Chicken Leg While I Burn This Bible

No Trick-or-Treating for these folks. At 7:00 on Halloween night members of tiny Amazing Grace Baptist Church in nearby Canton, North Carolina, will gather to perform an ancient (and illegal) ritual. You may have heard about them. They certainly have tried to out-Gosselin the Gosselins in attracting the media. Why, you might ask, are the Associated Press, national newspapers and television networks, and even the UK Telegraph, so interested in this little pastor and this little church?

Some call it the "Bonfire of the Profanities." Pastor Marc announced a burning of Bibles that are not the King James Version (KJV). He maintains that the KJV is the true word of God and that all other translations of the Bible are satanic. During the past month Pastor Marc and his followers have been gathering the "satanic" versions of the scripture along with sermons, books, and music they consider satanic as well. Writings include those by Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, the Pope. It might seem a bit strange to include Billy Graham since he is a very popular evangelical preacher from the NC mountains. However, he has occasionally used bibles that were not the KJV so his words have lost their Christian context. Contemporary Christian music will be added to the fire.

A scripture reference always provides the explanation for the actions. In this case, the church uses Acts 19:18-20 to justify their Bible burning. "And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed."

This photograph of the church is taken from their Web site:

http://amazinggracebaptistchurchkjv.com/Download99.html

This photograph is Pastor Marc in an interview with an AP reporter.

It is of note that this Bible burning celebration will include a fried chicken dinner with "all the fixin's." The visual of tossing a Bible into the fire while holding on to a piece of fried chicken is almost too much, isn't it?

---------------The bonfire is NOT open to the public. Only church members and others invited by the Pastor will be allowed to attend. Anyone else will be considered trespassing.

---------------While this post is written tongue-in-cheek, there is a serious part of me that is very frightened to be sharing my world with people who so fervently believe only they are correct.

---------------I feel the need to clarify a couple of things. For the most part, the citizens of Canton are just like the citizens of every other little mountain town. Secondly, this "Baptist" church is not a part of any other group of Baptist churches...it is yet another little independent church that names itself baptist. Anyone can start a baptist church around here...just find a meeting place, a preacher, and a couple of families and you have your own baptist church. Oh, you'll also need a collection plate.

More Bad News About the Slide

As the NC Department of Transportation reviews the major landslide across Interstate 40 the stabilization of the mountain and clearing of the debis seems more major than first reported. It now seems likely that this section of I40, a few miles from the NC/TN border is likely to remain completely closed for three months. And that is assuming good weather.

Two methods are being considered by the DOT. A helicopter (or possibly a crane) would be used to deliver hand drilling equipment to the top which would then be used to bore holes for dynamite blasting. The other method involves building a secondary road to the top of the area to allow of bringing heavy equipment. The slide must be stabilized from the top down.

Aerial view of the slide from Asheville Citizen-Times

West to east view - photo from Asheville Citizen-Times

Direct view - photo from the Asheville Citizen-Times

Why is this rock slide deserving of so much attention? Because this section of I40 sees about 25,000 vehicles every day with about half of them being commercial trucks traveling to and from the southeast to the midwest. There is no other Interstate to use as an alternative.

---------------Why am I writing this? To encourage the readers who follow this blog not to change their plans to visit western NC during the next several months. All you need to do is to plan a little extra time to allow for the detours. You will be rewarded with more views of our lovely mountains and small towns. And you will still reach your destination of ski resorts, the Biltmore House, the waterfalls, and all the other wonderful attractions we offer.