Christmas 2007

We had a great time with my mom and my brother and his girlfriend Kristen. We ate really well and had a nice time watching to boys open presents. Here are some photos; included in this album are several shots from our visit later in the week with Libby's brother and SIL Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. Here's Eli on his new bike; and here is Briggs on his. Above Briggs is showing off his new watch and Spiderman sweater. Though you can't see them, he's also showing off some new firefighter boots!

Two great tastes that taste great together

The last time we had pizza a couple of weeks ago, Briggs got onto the topic of his favorite foods. Those are pizza and chicken nuggets. The next day when he was suggesting (as he does every day) what he wanted for supper (always either pizza or nuggets), I suggested a "chicken nugget pizza." He was stock still in his tracks! He barely could comprehend a meal of his two most favorite things at once. We agreed that next time we had pizza his could be a chicken nugget pizza.

Tonight was the night. It was heightened by the fact that the nuggets had dinosaur shapes! One half was "his" pizza; the other was Eli's usual pepperoni. FWIW Libby had green pepper and ham; I had barbecued chicken and red onion. Next stop for Briggs, the virtues of "tastes great; less filling!"

Elf-ed

Too cute! Take a gander here!

Stupid Cat

She's not looking at anything; she's asleep! The cat has found the heat rising from the basement wood stove to be a real enticement. She likes to be near the vent where the heat rises into the living room. On the floor, on the sofa, on the arm of the sofa, as long as she's near the heat, she's very happy. So I thought she was just looking at the floor while enjoying the heat. But no; I nudged her head and she didn't move. She was totally asleep! Amazing. The other shot is from below. You can just make out her face between the arm of the sofa and the wood top of the side table. I expected to see a trail of drool dribbling from the corner of her mouth!

Christmas Party

We kind of missed doing a party for Eli's birthday, so we made up by doing a Christmas party with several of his buds. They played with Legos, watched "Fire House Dog" and decorated cookies. A lunch of hot dogs and chips completed the day. Here are some photos. Merry Christmas to Sam F., Matt B., and Ian K. from all of us!

Christmas decorations

Here are some shots from around the house
with our decorations up. Libby says the wreath
is probably her best one yet. The house looks
very nice at night with single white candles
in each window (very Richmond) and the
front stoop lit up. I'll try to get a picture of
that later. We also have stockings yet to hang,
so I'll get that later too. We got our own
tree this year from a farm (Doug Harrell near Spruce Pine, NC); it's nearly 8 feet tall.

At last

Painting's done. Including the little hallway in the upstairs. The same weekend I finished the painting, I built this bookcase. It did it in between coats of paint upstairs. I tried some mitred edges on the trim of the bookcase. One of the four actually met and looks nice, the others needed a little bit of wood putty. Hate the orange color; it's supposed to be maple. But in the basement it will be fine. Notice it's already pretty much full!

Lazy weekend

Eli had a sleepover Friday night with his buddy Sam F. Nobody's talking, but we're guessing there wasn't a whole lot of sleep at the sleepover. Eli had a second get together at Ian K.'s house Saturday afternoon and night; it was to have been another sleepover, but Eli pooped out about 9 PM. This is him Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness Monday is a school holiday. Briggs has had a cold this week and it was really kicking his butt this weekend. Lots of quality time in front of the TV.

Last bit of painting

I finally have been able to work on painting the stairwell. It took two weekends, but I managed to avoid buying any new equipment. It only felt like it was 75 feet up! You think this photo is dizzying; imagine being 10 up a ladder with brush and pan in hand, cantilevered across the abyss to reach the trim! We used a lighter shade from the living room color palette for the upper reaches of the stairway walls, and then the same trim shade as in the entry and living room. That's a total of three shades of yellow. Fun to look at, but a bitch to clean brushes for each color! The new colors really, really brighten up the stairs. The new fixture we bought months ago now can actually do some good instead of competing against the dark paneling.

That's it; everything's now been painted on the main floors. Nothing to do now but start touching-up the scratches we've inflicted the past 10 months.

Cruising

Briggs has been getting the hang of a little razor scooter all summer. At last he has figured out balance. Here is a video of his progress; don't worry while watching: he stays upright the whole time, and doesn't get hurt! For the longest time he rode with his left leg cocked out in the air. Tonight he realized that he could tuck it onto the scooter and still stay upright. Of course that meant we had to add the protective gear! (Malcolm Burn gave Eli this scooter several years ago; Eli nearly wore it out, and still has a hard time keeping his hands off it when Briggs wants to ride! Thanks, Malcolm!)

Recently Read

I recently read Marilynne Robinson’s book “Gilead” (Picador, ISBN 031242440X) I have to confess I started it three times before I was finally able to get past about page 17. And that was the paradox: I was trying to read it way too fast, when the language required a slow and steady pace, with plenty of time to reflect on the words and images. Once I slowed down, I was able to really read the book and glean much more from it than I might otherwise.

John Ames is a preacher in Kansas, advanced in age, writing a serious of reflections to his young son. His father was a preacher too, and things religious hover around most of the stories in the book. Ames lived in a time when there wasn’t much, and that in and of itself is important for a reader now. The book is for those who can at least appreciate a slower pace of life, even if they have not yet attained it.

John Ames has lived a life attuned to the sacramental presence in all things. In no way a superficial naturalism, Ames' theology sees depth where others see only objects. Casseroles are augurs of communion. Napping is an appropriate prelude to prayer. There is a sacred mystery present in sorrow. Dancing in a sprinkler is as miraculous as the waters of baptism. Ames is so keenly aware of the life around him, and it’s critical import, that Feuerbach the Theologian and Soapy the Cat exists side by side in his estimation, and enjoy the same admiration.

There is a wealth of preach-able material here. And there is a wealth of wisdom for anyone looking to sense the greater part of living. Those who multi-task should walk on by. The meaning of the book will be lost on you if you read while doing anything else. Best to find a rocker on an ivy-clad porch, read a few pages and take a nap. Read a few more in a few days, and over the course of time let an attitude of appreciation for all things take root.

WNC State Fair

We went to the fair Sunday afternoon and had a blast. David and Brenda Barksdale joined us, as did cousin Martha Barksdale. Being Barkers, our first stop was the public safety tent to see the equipment (check out the photo gallery). Then it was on to rides and fun. Libby and the other adults stayed and watched Cherryholmes in concert. The rest of us bailed for home at dusk. We had a great time!

Busy Day

Busy weekend's more like it. The church choir had a retreat this weekend. Friday night was a covered dish supper in Montreat. Saturday was singing 9 AM until 3 PM. The guest clinician was Ginger Wyrick from Queen's College, Charlotte (with whom Libby attended elementary school in Eden). Eli had a birthday party for his friend John Paul. Today was church with excellent music at both services. Then this afternoon we were at Camp Rockmont for a youth outing. The lake facilities were open and it was warm (it wasn't the last time we were here in May). Briggs managed to escape naps both Saturday and Sunday; that coupled with a busy couple of hours at the lake led to this at 7 PM!

Expecting

Save the corny jokes; we know what causes it! We're expecting; due sometime in late-February or early-March 2008. Libby's pretty nauseous these days. The pic is from last month at about 13 weeks. To the right is the head; to the left is everything else. The baby's about 2 inches long. Eli's excited; Briggs doesn't know.

Briggs found the tomatoes

This is all that's left of the bowl of loose ones...a matter of minutes later!

I hate tomatoes

Go figure: I hate these things, but we've got scads of them this week. Briggs will wolf them down; Eli and Libby will eat a few sparingly. There are a couple of varieties of the small tomatoes (orange and red) in addition to the big purple variety. We wound up with two ears of corn.

Beach trip

We had a nice time at Kitty Hawk. Very relaxing, if not all that conducive to taking pictures. We did manage to remember to take a couple of shots at the Wright Brothers' Memorial in KDH. Otherwise it was sit at the beach; eat; sit at the pool; eat; nap; eat; sit at the beach; eat; nap...

Boys and water definitely mix

The valley seems to have gotten over its drought. We've had 3 inches of rain in three days. Most of the week there were afternoon storms, the kind you associate with summer. But each day they've been increasingly consistent and insistent. Wednesday I made the mistake of biking back to church after lunch: it was pouring by 4 PM and showed no signs of letting up. I had to bum a ride with Jennifer R. (thanks again!). Thursday it rained most of the evening. Friday it rained in the afternoon and evening, and then started up again in the middle of the night. And today (Saturday) it's rained pretty much all day. Our two little Power Rangers have enjoyed trudging up and down the gully at the edge of the lot near Kerlee Heights Road; water gushes through there. Some construction up the street turns the water a nifty shade of orange as it washes through! At some point Briggs apparently tried sitting in it! Tuesday evening Libby got this shot of the sky, with clouds and moon. Pretty cool.

This-n-that

Not too much happening this month. We did find this whopper of a tomato; God-only knows what it tastes like. It's more purple than red at the moment. We picked it green and it stayed that way for the longest time! There's a single corn stalk in the garden; not sure where it came from. But it has fertilized, and there are baby ears developing! There is a lot of Rose-of-Sharon around the lot. I've grown to detest it, but it does have a pretty flower. Here are two varieties: no color in the center of the bloom, and a red center in each bloom. That's a shot of how it spreads: there are shoots like this all over. This is why I detest it! Lastly, there used to be a rusting aluminum shed on that slab. We're taking suggestions on what should go here now. It's about 20 feet from the back porch and deck, nicely sheltered by trees.

Blueberries

They are old plants and they got hit hard by the Easter freeze. There are lots of dead leaves, buds and twigs. But the plants seem to have rallied and produced a respectable crop of berries. We've been nibbling them by ones and twos for a couple of weeks, but this evening there were enough to do something with. This little batch will be perfect on top of some yogurt. There are a couple of other plants on the lot that are still a mystery. We're waiting for them to bloom to try to figure out what they are!

Blessing and Open House

We had a short liturgy this afternoon to bless our new home. We followed that with an open house for our church family and neighbors. It was tremendous! For the liturgy we walked around the whole house and shared readings and a prayer for various rooms. Bob Ratchford and Kevin Frederick did a fine job leading us in the liturgy and around the home. We had a huge crowd for the open house. It was wonderful to see so many new church friends. So many folks here had been curious about Barker's Folly, and the work we had done on it; we thought it would just be easiest to invite everyone over to see for themselves! Special thanks go to Charlotte S. and Ellen F. who helped with final preparations, and who helped keep food and drink moving; also Alice S. who worked the punch bowl later in the afternoon. And thanks to all the choir singers who brought tons of food! It was a wonderful spread. We are blessed with a wonderfully caring church family, who have outdone themselves in kindness today. One highlight must be mentioned: the impromptu concert by a spontaneously formed youth choir (on their way to youth conference at Montreat) was a truly moving experience. I'm not sure when I have heard a more stirring rendition of "Jesus Loves Me!"

Entry and Living Room

At long last I was able to finish painting the living room and entryway. I did the entry while on vacation at Easter. I got a good start on the living room, but it went slowly after that. I had to replace some ceiling tiles in the living room (water damage). Things look pretty nice now. I need to paint the rest of the stairway to the second floor (not looking forward to those heights!). The carpet clearners are coming Friday in advance of our open house. In this picture you can see a bit of the new front door which Kent installed this week. Also there is a drop leaf dining table (a gift from the Sollogs in Richmond). On that table is an antique lamp Libby has had for years, waiting for the perfect placement. It's there now: when the lamp is on, is shines through the cut glass of the new door giving a really cool light effect on the front stoop. We put a new fixture beside the front door outside and another in the ceiling of the entry.

Missionary Musician

I recently finished reading an autobiography by Dr. Kenneth M. Scott, M.D. Around the World in Eighty Years tells the story of this amazing doctor/musician. Dr. Scott is affiliated with the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, where his son, Ken Jr. sings in the choir and daughter Betsy (with her family) attends. Dr. Scott Sr. is an organist in addition to being an MD. He played organ to help pay his way through school, en route to being a medical missionary in Korea and India, before settling in Swannanoa, NC. Dr. Scott gave Libby and me this book as a welcoming gift. What a delight it is. It is in the missionary genre, telling stories of work in the mission field as an encouragement to other missionaries and all Christians. Being a travel buff as I am I was enchanted with the stories of people and places around the world. The added connection with Dr. Scott being an organist was a happy bonus; there are couple of tales that are universally familiar to organists and pianists on the run! Dr. Scott worked during the incredibly exciting era of Christian expansion in the early to mid 20th century. Call it Christian imperialism if you must, but Dr. Scott reveals a mindset that is humble, devoutly earnest and brave. Published by Providence House (ISBN 157736077X) the book will be hard to find on the shelf at your usual bookstore. Best to order through a Christian bookseller. Dr. Scott recently wrote a new tune for the text "Take my life and let is be" by Frances Havergal. The choir at church was pleased to sing the first stanza recently at worship; we hope to teach the tune to the congregation in the coming weeks.

New Music

I do a bit of composing on the side. Nothing comes easy, and it's a long time between projects. But every now and then the effort pays off. I am having a set of Christmas carol arrangements for flute and organ published by MorningStar Music. I had the proofs in January, and just got my complimentary copies last week. The book is available now, and will be promoted heavily late this summer for the 2007 Advent-Christmas season. I wrote these three pieces to be part of a concert at Crestwood Church a few years ago. After the season, I did some serious editing and sent them off. I didn't hear anything for a long time. Then I had a letter last fall asking if they were still available, i.e. not yet published by another firm. I hope there are plenty of church musicians who will find these useful. I had fun writing them, and our performance (Libby did the flute for the premier) was well received. Visiting the link you can see images of several pages from the score, and hear clips from two of the three arrangements. Tell your friends!

State Road 10

Leave it to Libby to actually dig up some information about NC Highway 10. And you might know, there are geeks out there interested in the history of roads and highways! (That's one (organ) geek, talking about others, so it's okay.) We found some sites that talk about the history of NC Highway 10. There's this one, and here, and this one. And if that's not enough, there's always Wikipedia. Pretty interesting stuff, if you're into that sort of thing. I went to the funeral of a friend's dad in February over in Catawba, NC. On the way in I had noticed some signs for NC 10. On the way home I decided to follow route 10 part of the way just to say I did. So I was actually on route 10 between Catawba and Newton, NC. Our little bit of NC 10 is only two blocks long. It starts at Padgettown Road, intersects Kerlee Heights Road, and then dead ends just a bit short of McCoy Cove Road, all in the east end of Black Mountain. On the back side of our house is Highway 70, which is also known as State Street. It's the main drag in Black Mountain, and runs over to Ridgecrest.

Where we were

When we moved to Black Mountain, we didn't go directly into our home at State Road. We rented a home in Christmount for six weeks or so, while Kent did the renovation work. I realized we had never really talked about that, let alone shown any pictures. Here is the place and a link to more photos. We remember fondly John Lamotte bringing by brownies before we even had the truck unloaded, and Mary Alice Murphy offering a hand truck to help with moving our clothes into the rental. Dot Borden and her family own the home. We've never met them, only spoken by phone. Charlotte Sprawls was instrumental in getting us hooked up. It was very nice to have a nice, tidy place to roost while State Road underwent the renovation work.

Wierd Weather

Libby insists that I post these things! It was a noteworthy series of weather events, to be sure.

Libby here: Mike finally got up out of the chair and let me get to the computer. He already commented on the snow and cold on Easter weekend, and last weekend brought more of the same. On Sunday, the day started off fairly warm and humid, with temps in the 60s (which we enjoyed in thorough heathen fashion [it was a vacation day from church] by eating breakfast at Denny's and going food shopping). By late afternoon, though, snow started blowing down from the Craggies; here's a shot of clouds of snow wafting across the interstate from Sunset Mountain. By midday Monday, the clouds had cleared out of the valley but were hanging tough on the high peaks. This view is from Old Lakey Gap Road looking north toward the Parkway and Mt. Mitchell. Oh, and we had 2 days of 60 mph winds to boot. Toward the end of the week, matters had moderated. Thunderstorms were forcast for Thursday evening, but nothing too extreme. Ha! We got nearly an inch of pea-sized hail in about 5 minutes, nearly covering up the flip-flops Eli left out on the glider. (Click on the images to see them larger, and really get the details in each.)

Clingman's Dome (at last)

It was a gorgeous day today. The youth handbell ensemble, which normally rehearses on Sunday afternoons rang this morning (wonderfully!), so I gave them the afternoon off. That left us footloose and fancy-free for the afternoon. We decided to try Clingman's Dome again, on the NC-TN border. Here is a panorama video from the lookout tower at the summit. The crowd in the tower just didn't understand the need for silence and respect as I shot the video. The view starts towards the NW, with Mt. Mitchell barely visible at 73 miles distance. The view taking off parallel to the ramp follows the NC-TN border. (Briggs got to see some tennis today!) Here is an excursion below the walk-up ramp to find a hidden surprise amongst the vegetation below. It was 70 degrees in Black Mountain when we left, and a good 15 degrees cooler at 6643' at the summit; still, we didn't expect to find this! The tower doesn't really lean like you see it in the photo! We had a great time!

Soccer-man Briggs

Those of you who know Briggs, know that exactly two things occupy his waking moments: fire trucks (and other emergency equipment) and balls. Any kind of balls. So when we learned that Black Mountain Recreation and Parks offered a soccer program for kids as young as three, it was a no-brainer for us to sign Briggs up. In the end he responded only so-so to the whole thing. If it were just a matter of running around kicking and throwing the ball, that would be fine. But three really is too young to try to do anything more than that. And for the older kids, the program needed them to do more. Briggs spent a lot of time on his own knocking the ball around. We had the last session today. Briggs was excited to get a medal (that flashes no less), but we think he was kind of relieved that the program was done.

Webelos Camping

Eli and I participated in the "Mountain Man" camping event sponsored by his pack this weekend. The event was designed to let the boys experience some fun old-style activities. They got to try their hand with a BB gun, with a bow and arrow, with knife and tomahawk throwing, splitting rails, driving nails and splitting logs for firewood. Eli had a blast. Here is a link to a set of photos of Eli at the event. The camp out was held at Rockmont Camp for boys. One of the dads is on the staff there; and one of the guitar players at church, Dan Davis, is also on the staff there. We spent a lot of time with Kevin Frederick and his son Sam; they were the only two Webelos on the outing. It was chilly last night, but nice and warm today for the activities. No wind; no snow; no hail; how delightful!

What Is This?

I was able to conquer the east bank yesterday afternoon. There had been a fence set back from the road about 12 feet. It had fallen over in places and was seriously overgrown. I pulled it down a couple of weeks ago. The lawn inside the fence was in good shape. Outside the fence hadn't been mowed in forever. That's what I tackled yesterday. It all went fine, but I found this. It's concrete, set back from the road about 12 feet; it's about 6 inches square and sticks up above ground level about an inch. I have no idea what it is. Libby and I speculated that it relates to the road somehow: "Right of Way." But we are not at all sure. Anyone got any ideas?

Easter at the Folly: Jesus Rises; Eli Drops

Eli's too young to be trying to impress women, but he was trying to impress Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. Here's a link to a very short video of him trying to slide down a line in the yard. Short but memorable. Listen for the "twang" of the line at the end of the clip!

Snow!

It came as a bit of a surprise.

We had been warned this could be the coldest weekend of the year. But chances of snow were minimal. What started as blow-off from the Craggy Mountains last night persisted overnight, and became our own little snow shower. We awoke to a dusting everywhere this morning!

Libby is working a temp job this week at a manufacturing plant in Weaverville. Chatting with the folks there about the blast of cold air this weekend, she learned that there is often a cold snap right around the time the dogwoods bloom, and a good chance of another right around the time the blackberries bud. We're in the midst of the first, and lo and behold we not only got cold, but snow as well. Celebrating our 18th anniversary as we are this weekend, Libby and I reminisced about the fact that it snowed on April 7, 1989, the day of our wedding rehearsal, 18 years to the day that it snowed last night!

When we bought Barkers' Folly, the sellers told us they thought there might be asparagus growing somewhere on the lot. Earlier this week I found it and plucked three stalks. Checking yesterday, I found these gangly shoots that were not even an inch tall on Monday!