Who If Not I in the Great Smoky Mountains

Counting Skulls in The Front Yard

2011-01-04T22:51:00.002-05:00

Well it's happened again - The Dog managed to drag home yet another cow skull. The first time this she did this, I came home to a very Georgia O'Keefe greeting in my driveway. Not quite a match to life in the Smoky Mountains, but there you go. So far the count is 2 goat skulls, 1 cow skull and the hind leg of something undetermined...

This critter part thing is becoming a normal occurrence around here, facilitated by the meat processing place down the road. It's a trade off between between having easy access to fresh meat raised here in the valley, and tripping over large bones splayed out in the yard when I come home in the dark.

Sometimes I think The Dog is just out to amuse herself at my expense...

Reindeer Pause In the Great Smoky Mountains

2010-12-29T12:32:00.001-05:00

Snowy Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains

Well Santa sure had to stop and admire the view here in the Smokies Christmas Eve. Mysterious prints on the roof of the house were a sure sign the the Reindeer paused to take in the rare site of over a foot of snow in our little valley. This unusual event heralded in three days of falling white-stuff — a rare occurrence for us here in low spots surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains.

The Dog, the Man and I spent the day exploring the snow-covered roadways and trails that surround the house, following rabbit tracks and avoiding the occasional piles of reindeer poop dotting everyone's yard. (Santa must have been too busy to clean up after his sleigh-pulling friends.)

A joyful white holiday was had by all, with hot grilled cheese sandwiches and some homemade soup to keep us warm. Ho ho ho to Santa and his four-legged companions and thanks to stopping by!

Cold Day and Warm Hearts in the Great Smoky Mountains

2010-12-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

It's barely going to reach a high temperature of freezing today here in the mountains, but, rather than being depresses, most people here in town are digging through boxes pulling out warm clothes, enjoying the change to wear wool sweaters again and wishing it would snow so we can go sledding!

Last night, the open house at the Cottage Craftsman and Choo Choo Coffee Company features homemade crab cakes, fresh meatballs, smoked salmon and mulled wine and cider. Everyone in who dropped by was smiling and laughing and we all ate way too much. It's a perfect way to ring in the December Holiday Season. Hoping for many more fun and friendly nights like that as the weather keeps growing colder.

Great Smoky Mountains Leaf Crunching Time

2010-11-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so what is there to do in the Great Smoky Mountains this time of year? If you're not into outlet shopping in Pigeon Forge or psyched to ride the Polar Express Train with the kids in Bryson City, but are a bit depressed that you missed fall color, and that it's the wrong time of year for flowers to be blooming -- try crunching some leaves. I find myself doing it all the time, even just walking across the parking lot to work.

Crunch, crunch, skitter crunch crunch...kind of reminds me of those old dot matrix printers making noise in the background. It's the white noise of this time of year -- feet on downed leaves, cars on leaves, bike tires on leaves, wind blowing through leaves -- why not take a few minutes and make it part of your day? What's there to do in the Smokies this time of year? There's listening to be done. Leaf music. Pick up a few and crackle them in your hands. Stomp on them. Run through a pile of them. Add the sound to the rush of a mountain stream and the laughter of the kids down the street. Tis the season for creative enjoyment of the less than obvious and of giving thanks for the little things. Crunch, crunch, enjoy!

Take in History Around Cabins In The Smoky Mountains

2010-11-20T08:23:00.001-05:00

There are lots of cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at the Oconaluftee Farm Museum, in Cades Cove, at Hazel Creek, in ruins throughout hidden coves in the Park. Some of these cabins have had lots written about them, are often photographed and are instantly recognizable from brochures and books about the area. Sometimes, though, the best hints about the history of these buildings are not in what's written down, but in the land that surrounds them.

Spreading boxwoods, overgrown and ragged indicated the location of a once carefully tended hedge row, perhaps marking a garden or a pathway. Rings of stones set among young trees may indicate the location of an old herb garden. Clumps of non-native plants like daffodils poking up in random patches in the spring mean once well tended yard was nearby. Keep an eye out for old rusting water pumps that might indicate where the cows were once watered, and for overgrown paths that might lead to a hidden cemetery.

Cabins in the Smokies are not just modern places to rent, they are the old home places, starting points for exploring the history of life in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Simple Things Amuse Me

2010-11-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The World as We Do Not Know It

2008-11-23T22:23:00.003-05:00

I was asked to write about a color, or, more specifically, to write from the point of view of a color. The request started me thinking about how I think of myself versus how others see me. I believeI see myself less generously and yet perhaps more poetically than my friends, family and co-corkers do. I wonder, if we all had to write 300 words about how we think the person sitting next to us might see the world, what the result would be?

Here's a little bit on a shade of blue:

"I am the blue between twilight and the enveloping darkness that ensues. Find me on the rim of night, the farthest edge of midnight.

You can trace me - the crack in the heart of trust, and the strength found in sadness. Mourn me, the wisdom of the fleeting and the endurance of its memory.

Drink me down, a sip from the consuming depths of a mountain lake before the long-light of dawn. Place your hand within me, the shadow where branch meets bole on a trunk of the hemlock tree.

Peer through a keyhole and glimpse me beyond, the room where daylight undresses, and the first garment in which it re-clothes. Run you finger along me, the inky border over which light’s filigree is stitched.

Seek me in the fusion of what has been and what becomes. See me flicker, almost linger; watch me fade."

Time Warp Kitty!

2008-11-14T15:20:00.001-05:00

Just when you thought all pseudo classical reference has left our world - a Rocky Horror Flashback!

more animals

Waving at History

2008-11-04T22:52:00.004-05:00

I left school early today to go volunteer at the election in my county. I stood on a street corner holding a campaign sign and waving at people passing by. The reactions I got were fascinating.

Some people honked and cheered.

Some gave me a thumbs down or shook their heads at me.

One man circled the block to glare and me and give me a thumbs down that was so violent if it had been a sword he would have stabbed me with it.

A lot of folks just ignored me.

But what was amazing to me, was how many people just smiled and waved - no matter whose stickers were on their car, or who they were voting for.

That was the best part of the day - smiles between poeple who do not agree - but who do not hate each other.

That's a country I want to live in.

I am hoping for the best.

Speaking Truth to and From Power

2008-10-20T09:37:00.003-04:00

My heart did a backflip when I saw this. Finally! Someone who has articulated the inclusiveness which we all should stand for - and done it publicly!

The Unpolled: Or the Diabetic & the Bellydancer

2008-10-15T11:42:00.006-04:00

"A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.” - Warren Buffett

I am willing to bet that I am like most people - someone who does not fit well into those 'polling categories' that are so talked about this time of year. You know "Rural religious-right gun owner", "College educated suburban middle class" - however people get lumped together.

Personally, I am college educated, work 40-60 hours a week and still live below the poverty line, have never been on welfare, live in the country, own guns, and an Independant Practical Leftist (in other words, I am pro-choice, pro-education, pro-peace, pro-clean-energy, pro-environment, eat meat and don't believe in gun control.) So...do I get boxed with liberals or conservatives...? Depends on who you are talking too!

Most folks stand with feet in different boxes and hands in still others. Here's an example: A couple weeks ago, I went to a Bellydance performance here in western North Carolina. It was a varied performance by a combination of students and professionals. Some dances were very traditional, some were cross- genre, some where performed to R&B and hip-hop - it was a gloriously fun time. I went with friends, and during intermission, a man in the front row turned to us and started telling us how he came to be at the performance.

He was in his 60s, dresed in jeans and a plaid shirt, with work worn hands and thick graying hair -- not someone most people would expect to find at a bellydance performance in the woods of North Caroliina. He announced to us that he was a diabetic and had several muscular/circulation conditions as a result of it. His doctor has suggested massage therapy, and while the diabetic had scoffed at first, he had eventually tried it. A young woman had just moved to town and started a massage therapy business, and he had reluctantly gone to see her. Wonder of wonders she had greatly helped him! Despite her youth, despite her 'funny notions', despite her being a vegetarian in a meat region - she had helped him and they had become friends. He had been seeing her for therapy for eight years - he was even drinking herbal tea she had recommended and declared to us that it was delicious!

And now here he was at a bellydance performance, because this woman was the organizer. She was also first up to perform after the break. He wanted us to know how wonderful she was and how much he had learned from her. He wanted to tell us "Some people don't understand all this, but if they got to know it better - they wouldn't have such funny ideas about it!" Just in case we might have some unfounded bias about either the dancers or him...he wanted us to know things are usually more than they seem.

Back to us - the unpolled majority of people who fit in multiple categories and who really want a better world and a better life and peace and health and justice...and we're worrying about all those 'folks with funny ideas.' But maybe it we just take a moment to look around - try something new - we'll find our ideas are just as funny - and none of them are as scary as they seem.

Marketing through Amusement

2008-10-07T22:02:00.006-04:00

I have run across some businesses with a names or a slogans that are completely unforgettable. I feel the need to share. Enjoy!

Eustis, Maine - "You snuff 'em, We stuff 'em" Taxidermy

Littleton, New Hampshire - "Curl Up & Dye" Hair Salon

Farmington, Maine - "Can't Flush? Don't Cuss! Call Us!" Septic Care Business

Atlanta, Georgia - "We're on Doodie" Pet waste cleanup

Slings & Arrows

2008-10-06T16:54:00.005-04:00

...Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them...

- Hamlet, William Shakespeare

So here we are thick in politics and the arrows are flying every which way. Some of them find their mark with validity, and some are just loosed out of fear and meanness.

Here's my thing...let's disagree all we want on the issues - but please - let's leave the superiority complexes at the door. Don't go tearing into someone because she happens to be have seen a moose in her lifetime. That has nothing to do with intelligence, or honor, or credibility. Don't go questioning a man's faith because you don't like the spelling of his name. Your name could be Sean - are you a member of the IRA? or Bubba - are you heading up lynch mobs?

People choose sides and seem to forget that they had parents who named them, that they were born or raised somewhere that others may not understand. Just because your father liked kumquats - does that mean you must as well? Just because you live in city, does that mean you have more rights than those from the country? Just because you are from the country, does that mean you have more faith than city dwellers? No, no and NO.

A little common sense is a good shield against the arrows of stupidity.

Shields up everyone.