Christmas outside 2016

Some years it gets done; sometimes not. This year we had outdoor decorations for Christmas. Libby did the old basketball post as a giant tree. Pretty stunning actually. The boys got in on the act with an abstract creation that required the ladder and numerous tools to install. Somewhere I have a picture of the product at night, but I can't find it at the moment.

Pastoring days

I just finished reading Stanley Hauerwas' memoir, Hannah's Child. I somehow missed reading him while I was in seminary and pastoring. It got me thinking about those days, especially my brief tenure as associate pastor at Trinity UMC, Durham. The previous associate had had a rocky relationship with the pastor. I don't know really why I was sent, certainly not to try and repair anything; maybe just to be a somewhat stabilizing presence. Trinity was coasting on its history of being a high-profile congregation, though its glory days were mostly behind it. There were plenty of heavy-hitting folks still around, including a former governor and several faculty and staff from Duke Divinity ( where I did not attend). As I was reading this book, and enjoying how Hauerwas reflected on his arrival at Duke, I wondered if maybe that was why I was appointed to this particular church: simply because I was _not_ a graduate of the local school (I had attended Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC). I certainly wasn't going to "do" anything that grew out of being an alum of another school: I was far too timid and unsure of myself at that point. But I wonder if my superiors had this in the back of their minds. It's on my mind now. As it turns out, the pastor left the following year. I felt like I wanted to give the church a clean slate, so I opted to move along also (to Goldsboro). A couple of things spring to mind about those days: a major screw-up: I accepted a preaching gig at a neighboring church for a mid-week service and then completely forgot about it; I wrote a pretty scathing letter to the local paper in response to an article and learned that I don't like negative blow-back; I met the woman who would become my wife. A fascinating year.

Carolina Silverbell Tree

stock photo

Most years for our anniversary, I get us a plant. Usually a nicer shrub or tree that Libby has been wanting. Most years I know what I am looking for because I can recall something specific Libby has talked about. This year I hadn't a clue. With Calvin tagging along I went to the little nursery here in Black Mountain. After some hemming and hawing, and making the staff hang around after the announced closing time, I picked up a witchazel, a beautyberry, and a Carolina silverbell tree (Halesia tetraptera {Halesia carolina}). There 's not much to the silverbell (nor any of them for that matter), but I was told it was indigenous to our area.

 what we saw while walking

As luck would have it, Libby spotted one beside the trail as we hiked in Ridgecrest yesterday. It was gratifying for us both, that these do exist in the wild, and that ours has potential.

 our specimen

Slip and slide

Libby slid on the steps from the second floor to the first this morning. Just as she and the boys were heading to school. They got to hear and appreciate the sound of pain! we got sort of bogged down and Eli was late to school. By the time I got back from dropping him and Briggs off, Libby had managed to move to the sofa. We went to urgent care a little while later and learned she's broken toe #2 on her left foot (she had slid into the newel post). They bandaged it today and she'll go to an orthopod on Wednesday to have done whatever they do for a broken toe. I tried to pull an image off the x-ray disc they gave her, but it wasn't a compatible format; bummer. Trooper that she is, she went on to Manna at lunch-time.

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.

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!

Yeah, that's a Duke flag

We had complaints from neighbors who wondered just what sort of church I was actually working for! But it's Duke University; the Blue Devils. And even though they got their butts kicked around Coach K court last night by Carolina (hiss), we still love them. Libby is the grad; I graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro. So feel free to buy your own flag, hang it at your front stoop, take a picture of it and then put it on the web. But for now: HAH!