Thanksgiving

It wound up being a quiet holiday for us: Faye was ill and didn't come up; Greg came home sick with strep on Wednesday, so he nor Kristen came up. Just the five of us. On top of that Gloria had to take Bud to the hospital Wednesday evening because of a bad bout from his COPD. He's still there today getting straightened out. So what might have been our usual busy family gathering was pretty subdued.

We ate about 4PM on Thursday afternoon. Eli set the table, as is his wont. He actually does a good job, and seems to enjoy getting out the nice china and flatware and stemware. He likes to give himself a wine glass. Yesterday his contained diet Pepsi! After the meal the older boys wanted to check out the leaf piles. I had blown leaves on Wednesday afternoon for just this purpose. Here's a link to the leaf plunge and all our photos of the day. Yes, that is our small trampoline they brought out, "to see what would happen." It was not my idea to get it, absolutely not! We may get more over the rest of the weekend. We're going to Martha's Saturday.

Today we went to Montreat and hiked from the gate to the kid's playground, about a mile in each direction. I was able to carry Calvin in a new-to-us baby backpack that Libby got for free from another AshevilleMama. Calvin fell asleep on my chest at the park; he slept most of the way back to the car after the older boys had grown weary of the playground. On the way back we saw Mike B. from church with a metal detector and several bags of leaves. I joked, "looking for someone's retainer?" (Doubly funny because he's an attorney.) Not a retainer, but his own wedding band! Slipped off while he was packing leaves into bags yesterday. He and Tom D. were going through 25 bags of leaves, ripping them open and searching for the band (they opened each bag on top of a blanket). What an ordeal.

Post-Election reflection

John Ortberg has some very important things to say to all Christians following the recent election. For myself, who finds himself among the winning side, and I suspect for many others, there is a need for balance and humility. I find myself working and living in a community that by and large shares many of my own values. Yet I find myself wincing every now and then because of a careless remark or an unfettered sense of righteousness after the election. Ortberg has come up with 7 somewhat humorously tagged, but quite serious sins one can make in the aftermath of the election. His article is well worth reading, especially by those of us on the winning side.

NC Zoo

We made it to the zoo on Sunday. The weather was great; the drive was easy. The older brothers started showing their tails before it was all over, but we managed to have a good time. We had a picnic before hitting the trail. We didn't get a close up of the elephants, but we did get a good view of giraffes and zebras. Here are some photos, not as many as one might expect. Drive time from Black Mountain was 2:30; we had to stick to the limit on US 64 between Mocksville and Asheboro, because of the presence of local law enforcement all along that segment.

Weekend off!

I am taking this weekend off from church. I had originally thought about going to the Guilford homecoming, but decided not to go. Saturday we set off for the NC Zoo, but we got a really late start, and shifted plans at MP 111 and opted for South Mountains State Park instead. We had a nice picnic lunch and walked one of the shorter trails. Eli lost a tooth at lunch. Briggs managed to avoid getting wet in the river. We prevented Calvin from ingesting too many leaf bits. All in all a pretty good day. The place was pretty busy for a cool-ish fall day, but it was clear, so that brought out the hill folk and the urbanites as well. The main trail was nice and wide and paved for part of the way. There was a large clearing where several trails converged; the brothers were able to run around a bit. We hiked to High Shoals Falls, about a mile. It was an easy hike, with plenty of wooden bridges and steps in place. There were a couple of steep places, but all in all quite easy. The view at the falls was very nice. There were lots of campers, so the scent of charcoal fires was deliciously hanging in the air as we left. We're heading for the Zoo on Sunday.

Regal Footwear

Bhutan crowned a new king today. The reason I care: I have had five postage stamps from Bhutan since I was 11 years old. Rachel Maddow compared him favorably to Elvis Presley. And do check out the royal shoes; in Rachel's words, "awesome footwear." Christine N. and Mary S., eat your hearts out! (Click the picture, from Guardian UK, to see it a good bit larger.)