Raised bed

One of a mere handful of berries this season

We have had strawberries in the front garden pretty much since we moved in. They have been crowded out, though, by other plants. We decided to put them and perhaps some other food plants in a raised bed. I built the frame over the weekend, and added the dirt yesterday. We put it down near the big vegetable garden near the apple trees and play set. I am going to fill in some dirt around the outside of the base, and amend the (store-bought{gasp}) top soil. More later...

The new bed...

Weather coverage

Photo from Alabama, from Huffington Post

I was getting a little perturbed this morning by the coverage of recent weather. The storm that blew through Joplin, MO was called the "single deadliest storm in US history." I wondered, "whatever happened to the events in Alabama and other southern states in late April?" I also tried to keep in mind that coverage in the early days after such an event can sometimes tend toward the hyperbolic. On the surface it smacked of racism and disregard of the poor or of the South. I was wrong.

Alabama experienced a series of tornadoes. There were 312 reported, with 226 of those taking place in a single 24-hour period. The storm in Joplin was a single twister. The death toll in the Southern storms was 337 in 7 states. (That's second only to a weather disaster in 1925 when 747 people died.) There are reports of more than 100 deaths from the storm in Joplin.

Reporting of news sometimes worries me. Coverage of abducted white children getting more airtime than those of black kids; news from the 'burbs taking precedence over events downtown.

But in this case, I think I have to climb down off my high horse. And I'll be praying hard for those affected, and those involved in rescue and restoration.

Photo from Joplin, MO, from MSNBC.com

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.