Stormy weather

We knew it was coming. But at 5PM it was sunny. By 6PM it was black with cloud cover. Then suddenly the wind, then hail. We were in Richmond 14 years and experienced hail once; so far we're in Black Mountain 4 years and have had hail three times. It poured for about 15 minutes then switched to rain. The whole time with the wind. It was pretty incredible. At one point I asked Libby if what we were hearing was indeed a train moving through the area, or something more ominous; it was indeed a train. Ultimately the power went out and stayed out for about 6 hours. A tree snapped down the block. Because it affected only a small number of people we were slower getting power back. The family got to enjoy a very quiet evening at home while I had a rehearsal at church. According to Briggs it was the best-night-ever!

Camping

After Scouts a couple of weeks ago, Eli, Briggs and I were talking about camping. Briggs' meeting had dealt with setting up a tent. We realized we had not been camping since getting to the mountains more than 4 years ago, and committed to a camping adventure. What I discovered a while back and quickly got reminded of is that in NC the State camping areas are all (at least all that I have looked at) primitive. That's different from Virginia, where the State parks and camping facilities are very, very nice. Here in NC the private campgrounds are the more refined. I suspect capitalism is involved; but that's another article. It was kind of nice in VA to know that the State Parks would be very nice. Here you really have to hunt down, research and vet camping facilities to know what you are getting. I finally found a camping facility that suited me: Bear Den Family Campground, nominally in Spruce Pine. They had drive-in tent sites and water and electricity available at each site. When we got there, it proved to be nicer than expected: the bath-house was very clean and the ancillary facilities (canoeing, swimming, basketball, etc.) were in very good shape.



We had a very nice time. Eli was especially helpful during set-up and striking camp. The past few years he has done more and more camping with Scouts and as part of his time at Rockmont. He knew what had to be done and was able to carry out jobs in ways I hadn't seen before. It was Briggs' first camping trip, and he managed to be helpful as best he could. He really enjoyed having basketball available.

The place was pretty deserted; there was a couple camping next to us, and that was pretty much it in our part of the grounds. The camp hosts were friendly but kept out of our hair. We spent the first evening exploring and trying out the pond and basketball court. We cooked over the campfire rather than gas; we took our own wood (which made loading the car tighter!). The weather cooperated, though we woke to cloudy weather. After breakfast and a little bit more exploring, we struck camp. We went gem mining at a place in Spruce Pine; the boys got some cool rocks. Then we stopped by the NPS mineral museum nearby. Finally we hit the road for home, via the Parkway. Since we had not other plans or schedule, we struck off for Mt. Mitchell when we got near it, even though it was quite evident that the view was socked in. For me and Eli that was the best part. We usually try to visit when the weather is nice and clear and you can enjoy the view. Briggs was very tired and had no interest. but toughed it out and made the ascent with us and discovered iced-up water at the summit. We got to experience it totally deserted and with 50 mph winds and zero-visibility fog.

We noticed that the Parkway between Mitchell and almost-Asheville had been repaved. A sign told us: "your recovery dollars at work." It was nice to enjoy that leg of the trip sans bumpiness.

There is a season

Basketball finished up today with a pizza and awards ceremony. Such as it was. Libby reports that everyone got exactly one piece of pizza, and the coaches gave out the awards to their own team. Very low-key, in the extreme. Everyone got the same mini-trophy; it's all good as far as Briggs is concerned. He had a good time, though, and that's the main thing. They also received their team photos. He really liked his coach. They had sign-ups for baseball this morning too. Practice starts next Saturday. Reminds me of the line by Sinbad, "man, I won't sleep 'til June!" Last week Libby reported that Briggs commented on the lawn under the goal at home, "Mom, why is the grass missing here under the goal?" Go figure, son.

A car is born

A pine wood derby car that is.

Pack 50 had its Pine Wood Derby last week. It went very well. Briggs asked that his car be designed like it was for both NC State (in honor of Bud and Greg) and Duke (iho Libby). He assisted all along the way. I weighed it at the church at 5.0 ounces; when we got to check-in, they registered 4.7 oz. Arrgh.

We were still in the midst of a lot of sickness around the Folly. Briggs had missed four days of school and his last basketball game on the morning of the derby. A flu-like bug had eased somewhat, only to give rise to some sort of eye infection that caused his eye to swell. Hence the odd features on his face. But he was determined.

In the first three of his heats, his car came in 2nd, 3rd and 4th. He blew by me at one point after the third race and stated quite certainly that in his next, and final heat, his car would place first. I wasn't holding out much hope. But Briggs was certain. And of course he wound up being correct. His last heat, his car came in first.

Birthday

Calvin turned three last month. Everyone was busy and had been sick off and on for a week, so it was all we could do to mount an effort. We also managed to enjoy a version of Mid-Winter Love Festival : 14 February - Libby's Birthday). The theme this year was snacky treats from around the world, concluding with a bottle of chocolate wine. It's still sitting on the counter.

Really big snow

The boys in the snow on Saturday afternoon.

Looking at the house from the intersection of Kerlee Heights and Old State Ten

The orange color is the lights on the deck stair handrail

We were warned. A week ahead of time word was out that snow was coming near Christmas Day. At church the big fear was that it would interfere with Christmas Eve services. We managed to avoid that scenario. But it started snowing about 7AM on Christmas Day and didn't take a break until Sunday. We did have ot cancel services on 12/26. We stopped counting at 8 inches. Plus, with the wind that kicked in on Sunday afternoon and evening, it was impossible to tell what was new snow accumulation and what was blow-off. These are some pics from Saturday. Today is supposed to be cold again with wind, but Tuesday should bring higher temps and a nice thaw.

The pecan tree and the intersection of Old 70 and Kerlee Heights

Seated one day at the organ

It wasn't actually me at the organ, but rather Eli. I had to fix a badly out-of-tune pipe today. And while I had the casework opened up, and since I was already dust-covered, I decided to touch up the tuning of the reed ranks.

I took care of the one note myself in the early afternoon. I used a pencil to hold the key down while I climbed up and fixed it. To do the reed touch-up, though, I decided to wait until Eli arrived at church off the school bus and let him hold keys for me.

All that went just fine. The reeds had suffered as we have been alternating between seasonably cool weather and bitterly cold spells. They sound much better now. As I was finishing up, Briggs asked to see inside the casework. I don't think he ever had before. Briggs was the perfect size to maneuver around the casework; I just wish he could handle the tuning! Then it was Eli's turn, though it was not his first peek at the ranks of pipes.

As we were finishing, a choir member showed up, and she and I sat down to chit-chat. Briggs ran off to find a basketball. Eli sat on the organ bench and experimented. I wasn't listening too closely as he drew one stop and another to hear the highs and lows and so forth. But as a few minutes passed I realized he was picking out the tune New Britain (Amazing Grace). I kept my focus on my conversation, but eventually had to pause because Eli was playing the melody on the pedals! My chorister had noticed the same thing at about the same time. Eli had pretty much figured out the basic melody and was beginning to add the grace notes too, mostly in rhythm.

His pedal technique was awful but I was struck by the fact that he deliberately chose to create the melody using his feet instead of using a manual. I demonstrated a soft, sustained chord for his left hand to accompany the melody and let him play the whole thing again. It sounded pretty good to me and to the singer!

Today Eli's band was doing its goodwill concert tour around the local elementary schools. It seems at least one choral group was also in the mix (maybe they were singing at the mall where the band had lunch), because he says that was how the New Britain melody had gotten in his ear: a group sang it today.

Who knows what this little experience may lead to, if anything. But it certainly was a nice "aha" moment in the midst of an otherwise ho-hum day.