First Time in 18 Months!

For the first time in 18 months JR and I were able to spend the night in our mountain house. For those of you who are not really familiar with the saga of this experience, suffice it to say that rennovations are everything people say they are! Don't ever do one! We had to move out of our cabin about 18 months ago, because we could no longer live in the conditions that the rennovation required. We have spent the time staying with our long-suffering friends, Curtis and Chris Long (no pun intended) since then. They have been most gracious and we have been very grateful for their hospitality. And, although we have tried to be "paying" guests by bringing food and other supplies when we came, and tried not to stay more than one or two nights at a time, it is still hard to have guests in your house as often as we were there. We will forever be in their debt and celebrate their friendship. But this weekend...we stayed at our own place! It was kind of like being newlyweds and setting up housekeeping! In fact, we liked it so much that even though we had planned to come home on Sunday night, we didn't. We got up early and came this morning instead.

Chris and Curt Long, good friends, good neighbors.

So let me tell you about this place:

It is the most gentle of all places...where the sun comes up over the moutains looking like an orange billiard ball, setting fire to the landscape; or, as the Hawaiians euphemistically say, we have a "silver sunrise". That means it's foggy, sometimes to the point that one can barely see beyond her nose.

It is a place where the quiet is loud. I read a little poem in a book my mother gave me one time that described it perfectly..."You could hear an ant fart, it was that quiet." None of the sounds of the city, just the sounds of life at an easier pace.

It is a place where wildlife abounds right outside the door. If you sit still, you can see all manner of nature...birds, squirrels, groundhogs, bears (yes, bears), panthers (that, too), bobcats, turkey, grouse, predator/scavenger fowl like buzzard, hawk, and owl. Wild flowers are everywhere, and fill vases with a profusion of color that is unmatched anywhere.

It is a place where the August sun feels good on the skin; where the summer breeze is, incredibly, almost constant; where nights require the use of a sweater or jacket, and a fire is a nightly ritual.

It is a place where the sunshine filters through the foliage, leaving a speckled footprint as if it is reluctant to intrude on the stillness.

It is a place where the winds can be high, the temperatures low, the snow blows into drifts that can be higher than your boots, and where the coziness of a warm fire makes one feel safe and secure.

It is soon going to be HOME!!!

And Then They Were Gone

As long as they were in Chapel Hill it was pretty easy to just believe that they would always be there. But...they left and now they are gone to Texas. Adam and Shanna came to Cashiers to see the house that is not quite finished. It was somewhat slippery keeping up with Avie who is quick as greased lightening! See, we have no railings on the porches (which are 20 or so feet above the ground), and all of us had to keep our eyes peeled for a curious 14 month old! When we were all a bundle of nerves, we headed to town for dinner. Avie is an eating machine and Gracie allowed her daddy to bribe her before she decided to eat anything. I did notice (as I was sitting beside her) that most of her food found its way to the floor, but the Tootsie Rolls were carefully guarded, so when her food disappeared her daddy let her have them. I played along, just Gracie and me in a conspiracy! After all, what are MiMis for?

We went for ice cream after dinner and, boy, was that a hoot! It's a great little place where you blend your own flavor. I had peach and amaretto. Delicious! Avie got it, though, and dumped it on the ground. She managed to do the same with her mother's cone. All in all, it was not a very successful venture.

Adam put Avie down in the parking lot at the ice cream shop. I squatted down (yes, I can do that now) and she ran into my open arms. That's the first time she had ever done that. I nearly blubbered right then and there.

Adam left the next day, and Shanna left on this past Monday after spending a week with her family in Asheville. She and her mother and the girls arrived in Austin on Tuesday night. I spoke with them during the trip. They had had a long day, but were holding up. We were glad for their safe arrival.

I miss them already, but we'll see them in October and then JR and I will go to Austin at Christmas. Adam, bless his heart, reminded me that it wasn't like it was in 1800, when a thousand miles meant that you probably would never see your child again. And, he likewsie reminded me, he wasn't going off to war. I am counting my blessings, but I still wish they were here.