Ramshackle But Still Standing...

This is a typical old 'ramshackle' barn still left standing 

on a North Carolina gravel road. Note how the road does a 

hairpin turn and the barn is built snug to the road itself. 

We love love these old structures and 

we cannot help photographing them!

Pink.

The view through the vines

in the back was amazingly pink this morning. 

It drove me to almost hop out of bed to take a pic. 

I thought the focus on the plant in the forefront 

made for this lovely shade of pink.

Spring Fun & Weather

Hail, hail and hail.

Rolling Clouds

Munching Green Grasses

Frolicking Fun

"What?" :-)

Our car ride this past Saturday was most
enjoyable, with animals out all over enjoying the mild
temperatures and all the lush, green, grass as it returns...
So nice.

Top: Spring weather is very changeable! We have had
rolling cloud cover, steady winds (last night), rain, sun,
rain, and repeated hail storms, leaving piles of hail laying
about for hours on end. It looked like it was snowing--
there was so much hail on my car windshield
yesterday as I dropped down from the mountain
and cruised into town!
High country weather
is not for the faint of heart!

Baffled

Clouds at Play, Unveiling

Clouds Rolling Off into the Distance

Emerging from a Slumber

Expansive Beauty with the Sun Peeking Through

(Click to enlarge)

There was thick mist hanging all about the mountains
this morning (on my trek to school at about 4000 feet)
so it lead me to believe that at about 5000 feet there would be
ONE HECK of a view, and I was right.

I hope you enjoy these shots of the spring-time
mountain mist and clouds hanging out on the top
of the Appalachian mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was bright and sunny up at 5000 (feet) but
the view downward was definitely a most heavenly one!

I cannot help believe that it is because the mountains unveil
themselves as such, that former generations of 'mountain folk'
could be heard to shout and sing up a storm in these ol' hills.

I cannot deny that if you look down and all about on these
beauties being unveiled, that in spite of the curse of poverty,
ill health or whatever might be ailing you...your spirit will
sing upon beholding the expanse of this dream; the slow
moving billows of cloud groups that hang still and then play
at moving upon the tree lined hills.

To study the bumpy batches of gray-white clouds
as they roll off into the horizon,
it gets you to wondering,
just where does the sky begin?
It also gets you to wondering
some other things,
as well.
:-)

Fabulous Forsythia

Forsythia heaven,
high up on the hill
deep golden yellow-
around me you spill.

Forsythia blooming,
just over the rise-
forsythia my forsythia,
you delight my weary eyes.

Pastel Morning

Pastels

Silver Moon

I brushed back the curtain this morning
to find a deer bounding off. The moon was
a sliver of silver through the trees on an inky sky.

On Having a Poem

On Having a Poem

Having a poem is like having a child.

Although there is, indeed, less pain--

you don’t often know what you’re going to get.

It could be a temperamental child.

You hope to God it’s not a child gone wild.

Like a child, an infant poem

you can caress, perhaps even digress to

pamper and pull, some.

You can bandy it about.

You can comb its long hair.

You can dress it up

and you can take it everywhere.

Having a poem is like

diving into a waterfall--

you don’t know exactly where you will end up.

Having a poem is like

being lost at night.

“Blink-blink,” there is a light

somewhere off in the distance…

and you hope you can

catch up to it

and make it out.

Having a poem is like having a shiny, new penny.

You can finger it

and turn it ’round and ’round in your hand, some.

Then you can (hopefully) turn it over to a friend.

It’s like a token.

Slip it in the slot

and just get on the train!

It might be a fast track or a long, slow ride.

Having a poem

is like (and unlike) having a child…

When it becomes a toddler and it

wanders off, alone, on shaky legs,

don’t worry--

you can just let go of its hand.

The Doors

She stood looking at the strange door.
"Should I go in?"
"What could be in it for me?"
she wondered.
She jammed her hands into her
dungaree pockets.
Then she dragged the toe of her
shoe through the damp earth,
back and forth.
She knew she was stalling.

"I guess I'll go," she thought.
"What do I have...to lose, anyway?"

Sights and Scenes...

Simply Delicious! (Large pink flowering bush; so early!!) :-)

Groovy

Salmon Door

Light Pink Blooming...

Asheville Street Mural

Saturday was a good day for a car trip to
Asheville, N.C. to take in the local scene
and some good food. It was in the mid 60's
with moderate sunshine. Asheville is 'loaded up'
with culture; murals, street artists, musicians, great
food choices and varied stores (including antiquing.)
We ate Indian food (which I LOVE...) while taking in
some leisure (for the details, I ate potato and pea stuffed
pastries over long grain white rice with garbanzo beans
bathed in Indian spices; and it was much better than the
average...) We shopped at a local organic grocery store for
bulk spices, and walked and then walked (some more)
all over the downtown. Asheville boasts one of the
biggest Goodwill stores in the nation (among other
things, mind you :-) ), so we had to pop in there.
Here is a sampling of a local mural, the trees
and bushes in glorious bloom and bud, and some
wonderful local architecture that I admired.
What is it about wonderful old wooden
doors that beg the need for study ?
:-)
Enjoy.

Party.

Loosed

Loosed at last.

Moving on.

Uphill journey.

Keeping

your

head

in the

clouds.

Traveling well.

Gratitude.

(Impatience.)

Praying all the day.

Hope like a companion.

Virtue no man can take away.

Leftovers

Quilt

Corner Barn

Bird Feeders

Last Year's (garden)

Winding Road (as seen from above)

We took a short road trip this past Saturday
as the weather is perking up. I liked this view
(bottom) of the winding ribbon of a road.
When we do see this kind of view, we often think,
"Wait, have we been on that road, yet?" Let's think.
If not..."Let's go, soon!" Then, after mild
weather (on the weekend) it really snowed and
it blew on Monday. Today (Tuesday) it has
cleared but it is cold (in the low 20's) this morning!

Monday...

"Sporting a New Do;"
note the saliva droplets, nice, eh?!

"No Bother..."

Ginger 'On the Watch;'
in all of her glory...Mountain Dog that she is...:-)

Down the Rail
(...please do note the 'blizzardy' wind whipping UP at the end of this shot;
gusting to well at 45 MPH; and that I stood here to get this 4 U :-) Ha!)

Through the Trees


Wellll, it's Monday, March 5th (2012)
and we have here, a blizzard
with snow...and NO school.

the fiddle heads

I've always wanted to draw them...
(a work "in progress," I suppose; but
when it comes to drawing, less is more.)
Fiddle heads (fern baby plants)
are amazingly keen.
Such a sweet little package
that when unfurled
produces a large, green,
and rather furry fern leaf
(say that fast, ten times.)
Anyway, they make me smile.
lg

fiddle head

fiddle head friends
where are you found?
fireflies tell, you are close to the ground

wee little people
in mushroom caps
play tiny fiddles, feet crossed, taking naps

fiddle head fiddle head
where can you be?
the first of march
and I am longing to see...

fiddle head, O fiddle head
alone up in the wood
tiny dearest spring plant
unfurling something good

A Writer’s Life

Hidden
(Wild Daffodil)

A Writer’s Life

A writer’s life

is not her own…

it’s like you sit right by the phone, waiting

most hours of the day

and oddest hours of the night,

and, of course, you look a fright--with

hair not combed

and glasses on…

for thoughts to drop right from the sky

(it’s like you’re just a passer-by…)

The thoughts may stay

but the words might go--

it’s like they’re not

your own,

you know.