Once Again, It Ends

Autumn on Bobcat Ridge 

 

 The mountain "season" lasts from May to October.  And a glorious season it is!  Pleasant days followed by cool nights, nature abounding, many opportunities to be with friends and family.  But, inexorably, the trees dress in vibrant reds and yellows, the days are cool, and nights bring the need for heat.  And when the trees drop their beautiful foliage, unveiling their bare branches, it is time to accept the frost and snow and move into the slowness of winter.  I'm really ready (thought that would never happen), but would like to share some of the fun.


First, there is the plethora of wild life.  Jim and I love to watch it, and we have even made some of the little critters part of our family by naming them (more or less).  There were "Daddy and the Girls"...a small family of grosbeaks.  For one reason or another the female adult was absent, but the two adolescent females ran their father a merry chase.  He nearly wore himself out feeding them, but it was almost poetic to watch him teach them how to care for themselves.  The two red squirrels, Junior and Freddie, were tiny, tiny little things.  Unlike gray squirrels, they didn't run...they just hopped from place to place.  They visited the bird feeders everyday until one day they were just gone.  The hen turkey, Mamalade, lived in the yard for weeks until she disappeared, perhaps to hatch a brood of her own.  I saw her last week, though, so I guess she is still around. Rackayla, the mother raccoon, still brings her brood onto the porch nightly, looking for whatever the birds and chipmunks leave behind.  Chester (our dog) wakes us up wanting to get at them.  We decline to allow him to do so.  And then there is Scooter...about the most industrious chipmunk I've ever seen.  We can all learn a lesson from him.  He is on the porch looking for dropped bird seed at first light and makes many trips before dusk.  Tuning in to wild life is easy up here, and provides many hours of enjoyment for us.

But we're never willing just to let the good times go, so we've had our annual "Big Chill" with our college friends.  This year there were 8 of us, the Teasleys, the Shopes, the Blaylocks, and JR and me.  We missed the Brooks', but I held true to my promise to stick pins in their dolls.  This is always a fun occasion and we act just like college kids ...not always a good thing!

The girls:  Claudia, Jane, Marti, Lynn (rear)

The boys:  Jim, Bob, Ken, Dave

I promised!!!

 And, other than my sister and her husband coming to make brunswick stew in a couple of weeks, we finished up the season with our Charlotte-made friends, Jim and Eileen (who live in SC now), and Jim's niece Fran.  Jim and Eileen have been good friends since Eileen and I taught together in the 70s.  Our children are about the same age, and we used to play cards at each others houses while our kids socialized.  Fun!  All the kids are grown and have families of their own, but we still have fun!!

Old Friends:  Jim R, Lynn, Eileen, Jim P

Jim's niece lives in Louisburg and decided to come for a few days.  We missed her husband Neil, but do appreciate her helping us season our stew pot.  Now perhaps we won't burn our stew when we make it!

Fran and an interesting "guest"

The leaf season has long since passed its peak, we've had our first dusting of snow, and cool nights are the norm, though the days are still generally pleasant.  JR and I go to Charlotte for a wedding this weekend, and we hope to spend some time with Jon and his family.  They're so busy that I have to get on their schedule early!

Love to all!

Bev, Friend Extraordinaire

Bev and Lynn in the 80s

 

My exceptionally good friend, Bev, left us on September 28, 2011.  She was a sweet and gentle soul, and the world is less without her.

I first met her when she and her husband, Joe, moved in next door to us in Charlotte in March of 1976.  Adam was two weeks old.  Although I didn't notice any action over there that day, Jim came in and said he thought there was somebody in the house next door.  So, while Adam slept, I ventured over and knocked on the door.  Bev answered, carrying 18 month old Joey on her hip.  (I can still see that picture today.)  When I introduced myself, she immediately invited me in for refreshment and a visit.  I did go in briefly.  Bev had a cooler, a lawn chair, and a diaper bag, but she was generous enough to offer hospitality to me!  As it was clear that she was waiting for the movers, I made an excuse about the baby sleeping, but invited her over after the movers left.  She came, we had tea, and a wonderful friendship sprouted that day.  It endured over great time and great distance, but we always picked up where we left off...giggling like school girls; musing about husbands and children, parents and siblings; lamenting the state of public education; and all those other mundane matters that weave the fabric of life; and which cement the love that friendship brings.

Bev had a sweet and gentle nature that calmed even the most restless, but that gentleness belied a constitution of steel...the consummate "Steel Magnolia", despite her northern roots!  Her unrelenting devotion to her family was reciprocated in their unrelenting devotion to her.  Husband Joe calls her "my beautiful Bev", and is as clearly in love with her today as he was they day they married in 1972.  Her children have basked in her love and have observed the strength of character that it takes to rear a loving and productive family...with uncomprising love and support, while allowing each member to grow in his/her own way.  They have each established strong nuclear families of their own, and are a testament to the power of "Mama".

I bid her farewell reluctantly, for she has enriched my life beyond measure, but her spirit will always live in my heart.  I will always love you, Bev.