Good grief it has been far too long since last we met; it was not intentional, but when a son says he wants to meet up before Christmas, but of course that takes precedent over all else! For some time now, Matthew has been flying to New York for work which made him think, "I am on the same continent and all, why not visit with Mom and Dad?" Or something to that effect anyway.
As fate would have it, our neighbors also own a condo in beautiful Asheville, NC and had been encouraging us to use it to see the city. The plan was hatched and our rendezvous began last Friday night after he was kind enough to take a Lyft from the airport as it was well past our preferred driving time. What a joy it was to see him even though it has only been a few months since our anniversary trip. Thinking back to Covid, we didn't get to see him and Tom for nearly two years! Those were some crazy times as I think we can all agree. Sadly it rained, most of Saturday and Sunday, but we are all first class shoppers so to the mall we went, taking this photo in front of the tree there.
One super cool thing that happened while we were eating in the food court is this group from the Asheville Choral Society performing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.
Memory flashback to a time many years ago, almost 30 I think, that came to me. Matthew was but 17 in his first year at FSU and had a red VW Beetle that was old. At the time, I was maybe a little too nervous for my own good, but anyway, Matt was driving home for Christmas and because I was so nervous I corralled Jonathan and his friend Kyle and went to see HM at the old Bob Carr auditorium to distract me from worrying about the drive. Since that time, he has traveled the world in safety and I no longer worry. Well, maybe just a wee bit here and there. :)
There is more to report about Asheville but I would be negligent if I failed to report the time leading up to it, beginning with Fallon sending us an air fryer! In passing I mentioned that I did not bring ours this time, (the one she gave me when my home oven was not working) and she picked right up on that and sent one here. If anyone is counting, this is the third oven she has gifted us, the two air fryers, AND the awesome camping oven which turned out to be miracle worker. Those are some potatoes in the bowl and boy were they good.
In no particular order, let's see what I saw....
My Florida friends cannot relate, but gosh, I hope the occasion arises where these sleds become necessary. Not for me, mind you but I can watch! It has been super foggy some mornings,
and frosty most, with the lowest temperature to date of 23 degrees!!
So far it has been fine by me, but we shall see as the days march on.
In my last post I showed this same spot but with a taller pile of stones.
That same post was filled with foggy photos of the river walk that I often take in the park, very atmospheric and some might say gloomy. As such, let's see how pretty it is when the sun is shining!
So many of these types of shots I take to record what things look like at different times of the year.
Forgive me if I have mentioned it before, a real problem for us seniors, but when we got here in the summer, the water was high and John called it a lake. Okay, not like any lake we've ever seen, but who are we to argue? Another thing we both thought was it did not look very inviting because it was brownish and I am here to explain why that is the case. Duh, the bottom of the river bed is BROWN and the water is so clear, well, you can put two and two together I have no doubt! Whatever color, it has been such a blessing to me.
Speaking of blessings, Bruce won this super cool vase by Harry Hearne a pickleballer and local celebrated potter. You can find his work here.
The little bird was already perched on the shelf albeit with a broken tail but Mr. Peck took care of that. There was a charity drawing and my husband entered and lo and behold, he won! You may recall the photos from the folk school festival of Harry and his lovely wife Julie in costume as Morris dancers. Oh what the heck,
here's the link to that post.
Charity also comes in the form of toys and what we have learned since being here is the Valley River Picklers, led by Cobby Barfield and Nancy Frahmann are keen to participate. Turns out I had my camera that day and I took a few shots, one of which was published in this week's Cherokee Scout, Uncredited which was a shame because it would have been fun to see my name in the Scout!
At the same time, the group gathered for a "pickleball family" shot.
Fully half, or maybe more, have Florida connections! I have been nursing my side injury and finally I may have turned the corner. Talking with our son David, he reminded me of the time he had what seems like a very similar injury diagnosed as an intercostal strain. While I have not been to the doctor, I am certain I am suffering from the same. Our friend Ann, took a tumble some months ago and did the very same thing. The three of us all agreed it is far more painful than you can imagine without having one yourself. Trust me, you do not want it. Healing takes anywhere from a few days to several months!! I know Matt was alarmed at his parents, what with my rib and Bruce's knee suffering from arthritis, made worse by the cold and rain, but he need not have worried. Seemingly we bounce back just fine, just takes a little longer when you are in your eighth decade. Well, technically I am not there just yet, but what is 16 days amongst friends?
Bucee's fans will get a kick out of this photo taken at a crazy house across the street from the gym.
From the looks of things, the owner has a variety of interests.
Another look at a few of our wonderful ornaments! What story would they tell if they could speak? Why did someone give them away? So many questions with no answers.
Deer caught in the headlights.
An earlier post I talked about seeing Dark Eyed Junco, but had little photographic evidence to support my claim. Now I have.
Grey with an almost pink little beak. The good thing about winter is the birds are easy to spot amongst the leafless branches. Below is the Eastern Towhee. Or at least the back of it!
While we were gone the birds cleaned out the feeder so upon our return we quickly filled them up as the birds have been very much appreciating the seed. The Carolina Chickadees are plentiful and oh so cute.
Do you notice how puffed up it appears? It seems to me it has something to do with it being very cold!
Robins, I see them regularly, but each encounter is a joy and a privilege.
As Christmas draws near we are of course missing our friends and family, but at the same time, we are so enjoying a change of scenery. Yes, it is cold but that's what coats, boots, gloves and hats are for. We Floridians sometimes don't realize how good we have it only having, basically, one wardrobe. All the cold weather gear is very expensive.
Perhaps I should leave you for now with this photo I took a few weeks ago at Wal Mart. Can you imagine?
Seemingly there are a lot of ugly sweater competitions going on in these parts! By golly, I just realized I didn't talk about the Christmas parade that we watched from this perch at the First Methodist church.
Unfortunately most of the photos were trash, including this one, but here it is anyway. Clamoring for candy is what is happening.
We thoroughly enjoyed every moment and are grateful we are seeing life, for now anyway, with new eyes.
In this post from 2017 we enjoyed the Vancouver Christmas parade. Being able to relive experiences is one of the things I most love about having blogged now since 2007!!!
Our Asheville rendezvous with Matthew while short and sweet, was a Christmas blessing.
May you all have your own Christmas blessings this very week.
your friend,
Gail
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