SoCS: 3/25/23: Reaching the Bottom of the Laundry Hamper and Other Natural Highs

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “the last thing you emptied.” Think of the last thing you emptied or something you empty often and use it as your prompt any way you like. Have fun!

We arrived at the mountain house late Thursday afternoon. I thought David had gotten everything out of the back of the car, then discovered he had not gotten the yoga mats and something else. I forget what. Hopefully, I will actually use a yoga mat while I’m here. Probably Monday, or tomorrow, when the kids will be going to see their paternal grandfather who’s in town for the visit since some family have come from Indiana.

In preparation for the trip, I washed clothes and actually got to the bottom of my laundry hamper. That had not happened in a while, so I got to empty little pieces of debris that had collected in the bottom. They looked like tiny pieces of leaves which are abundant in the home of this tree lover. But I really don’t want to know. Now, it’s clean at the bottom.

What’s something more interesting I could write about? Surely there are interesting things that have happened or been talked about. The air here in the NC mountains is fresher than on the coast. The trees are different and have more of an earthy-airy smell, while on the coast, there are different kinds of pine needles, sand, and more pollen since Spring comes earlier. My sinuses are not empty but seem less stuffy. I was reading about the worst cities for allergies. They only looked at big cities, and I don’t think mine was quite big enough, so didn’t make the top 20 list, though Raleigh, the state capital, did. Florida had more cities than any other state.

On Friday, I did a two short hikes with grandkids with a nap in between and more to come. Here are a few photos so far:

On our first night we saw a smiling crescent moon with maybe ? Venus above. My phone camera does not even come close to doing the scene justice, so just imagine it being a smiling crescent moon.

The moon and Venus ?

Do you see a face in the mossy tree trunk below?

Do you see a little green man stepping out of the cave?

I swear my only high was and is a natural one.

Mossy trunk and more

Mountain Stream in Early Spring

Kids in the clouds

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Scotch Tape, 8 Track Tapes, Duct Tape, and My First Airplane Flight with David as Pilot

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “tape.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Use it any way you like. Enjoy!

It’s Friday evening at 8:16. Earlier this afternoon, after reading the prompt, I became curious about the history of tape. Seems like it’s a relatively recent invention in the big tapestry of time. Tapestry, by Carol King is one of my favorite albums, by the way. But we will come back to music, if the stream goes that way.

“Scotch” tape was a brand name and a household marvel in the 50s and 60s. It was developed to help make a dividing line between paint colors on cars staring around the 1920s. Before Scotch Tape, there was glue and paste, wrapping things in paper, and string. There was a video I watched not long ago about wrapping presents in cloth – like small blankets or bandanas. Very cool way to save resources and reduce waste.

After Scotch tape became a common household tool, there were tape recorders. Or maybe tape recorders were about the same time or earlier. When my dad was overseas in Vietnam, he sent a recording of himself talking to Mom for her to play on the tape recorder which had two small reels. Later there were 8 track tapes that took the place of vinyl record albums, but not completely. I still have a box of vinyls that held up way better than 8 track tapes. But you could play 8 tracks in your CAR! and that was amazing at the time. When David and I dated in the 70s, he had a case of 8 tracks that he brought with him when we hung out with friends. I’m sure Jethro Tull was one of the tapes. Then there were cassette tapes. Sometimes the tape player would eat the tape. If a whole loop came out without breaking, you could sometimes wind it back in with a pencil and it might still play. Then there were VHS tapes for the TV, another amazing invention at the time – to be able to record a TV show or watch a movie whenever you want was quite a revolution for someone who liked TV.

Oh, remember taping posters on your wall as a teenager? Now, it’s considered tacky, but back then, it was fun.

Tape. So many ways to go with this. Duct tape is pretty versatile. I had a coworker years ago who said he (or someone else) needed duct tape on their mouth to keep from saying something inappropriate in a staff meeting.

I have a picture of duct tape on windows somewhere.

Speaking of windows, I have to be careful next time I fly with David in a small plane to not look out the side windows much. Motion sickness has always been a problem for me. Dramamine has usually helped a lot in big commercial planes and on boats, so I figured two Dramamine would work for my first private plane trip with my husband David as pilot. I didn’t quite throw up but came very close.

The first half of the 30-minute flight was interesting as I made myself think of something other than my fear of heights and that I might die. It was fascinating to look down at the Atlantic Ocean and intracoastal waterway. I took a bunch of pictures which probably didn’t help. After turning around to go back to the airport, I started feeling worse and worse nausea to the point of feeling miserable for the second half of the flight.

Before our next flight, I’m going to research additional motion sickness remedies, including pressure points on top of medication, and I’ll try to minimize looking down over the side…. next time.

Our flying club rental

Seating

Dashboard

Roads and waterways

Carolina Coastline

Inlet

Pier and Waves

Large brush fire

Waterways and Beach

David flying toward Carolina Beach

David did an excellent job as pilot. I’m proud of him for working hard to accomplish his flying goals. There are not many people I would trust to fly me in such a small plane. I hope next time, I’ll be able to enjoy the flight more.

~~~

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit

our hard working host, Linda Hill,

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Wild Animals, Church Music, and Eagle Wings

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wild animal.” Choose a wild animal (or many wild animals) and use it any way you’d like in your post. Enjoy!

Wild animals are not necessarily wild to each other. People can act as wild as (other) animals sometimes. Elephants grieve the loss of their loved ones in ways that we can see. Whale mothers carry their dead babies for days or weeks, not wanting to let go. Dolphins, Chimpanzees, and birds have been seen using tools. Wolves use strategic pack coordination in hunting. What makes them wild and humans not wild?

You can read about the emotional lives of “wild” animals

HERE in Greater Good Magazine

Today, penguins have been on my mind. Our choir director used to call us penguins because we dressed out in black and white choir garb. He has a collection of stuffed penguins on the organ. Now, his body is becoming overwhelmed by cancer. He’s been moved to hospice. It’s real now.

Chris has been a big part of my life for years of Wednesday night choir practice. His strange sense of humor made practice interesting. When Mama Cat was living at the church in the pre-pandemic years, Chris was the main person to feed her. She had a reputation as being mean, like a wild animal, but she was really scared. Her first expression of affection to a human was to rub against Chris’s legs. During the pandemic, when we were not having church, Mama Cat came to live with me. She’s not wild anymore.

Since Chris has been sick, I’ve been picking most of the music for Sunday mornings and playing my guitar to lead the congregation in singing. We tried a couple of hymns acapella, but that is risky. My guitar skills are very basic and much softer than Chris’s organ playing, but the guitar helps us be on key as I find the confidence to sing loud and clear enough to lead the singing.

On Tuesday, after seeing the scripture readings, I emailed my suggestions for Sunday’s music. Our priest added a suggestion from the hymn book. I started to feel a little overwhelmed. Sometimes it’s hard to find the guitar chords for traditional hymns so I’ve been leaning toward more contemporary songs. Now, I’d have to look for the chords and see how hard they were. I started to respond in an email that I was feeling a little overwhelmed. But I got a nudge. I checked one of my songbooks with chords and found the hymn there. The chords were easy! No problem.

Yesterday, I was praying. I started by giving thanks for the blessings of my life. I suddenly realized that with all the blessings – David, retirement, security, and relatively good health – I realized that preparing and leading music at church for a while is the least I can do. This is a temporary situation. Life is temporary. I can do this ministry with love and gratitude.

Animals act wild when overwhelmed by fear or maybe hunger. They act on instinct to protect themselves. The same thing can happen with us humans. We get anxious or confused. I think, this is too much. It’s not going to work. My stomach tightens and not in a good way. But if I take a deep breath, pray, and get more information, things work out. I also want to remember that most things are not life and death situations, except when they really are.

Here are some old and new photos:

Feral Mama Cat

Domestic Mama Cat

Me with Penguin Friends

Our Good Shepherd Window

Light beam on church pew

Church windows reflecting sunset

I can’t get the “Eagles Wings” song chorus out of my head and that’s okay.

It goes like (this with God saying):

And I will raise you up on eagles wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of my hand.

Here’s our choir singing it a few years ago with Chris playing the organ.

~~~

Update: Chris passed away this morning. I’m very sad, but thankful he did not suffer long.

~~~

For more information about Stream of Consciousness Saturday

and more wild animal posts,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Just Showing Up with Sunsets

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “prize.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Everybody gets a prize… sooner or later, big or small. I think it’s okay to get a prize for just showing up. Not a trophy, but something. Like a nice pencil or a bag of jellybeans. When my kids were little and went to the doctor, they’d get to go to the prize box after seeing the doctor and before going to the check out. Even if they cried, they got a prize after seeing the doctor. It might have been a little plastic dinosaur or a plastic ring. Lots or plastic. 😦 I wonder if they still do that.

In my old job as a counselor, I started the family Christmas party group for clients. For many years, I went to the dollar store and bought 50 presents to play that game where you can take the other person’s gift and go back to the pile. It was always fun to see a big tough guy open a baby toy. This was one of the highlights of my old job. I have a feeling they don’t do that anymore, but I could be wrong. It would be great to be wrong about that. I think probably individual groups have a party.

Yesterday’s prize was sunny weather in the low 80s. I broke down and took an allergy pill which helped with the fuzzy head. It’s cooler today.

Another prize, if you could call it that is that I get to play a lot more guitar and pull together music for church over the past three Sundays since our music director/organist has been in the hospital. He came home a couple days ago and is not out of the woods yet. He’s in what my husband would call, “deep weeds.” Healing prayers and good vibes are appreciated for my friend, Chris.

A couple of months ago, I was thinking I should use my singing voice more as a form of service. So now, I am called to do that in a way that was unexpected and not what I had in mind. Last weekend I invited a few friends over (something I rarely do) and we sang peace songs in the backyard. Maybe I’ll make this monthly and record something for you.

Sunsets are prizes we get just for showing up. Sunrises, too, though I show up more for sunsets. Here are a few recent sunsets seen from my neck of the woods:

(It took me a while to complete this post, because my photos would not load from my phone, and it took a while for them to show up in my aol email which is randomly slow.)

~~~

For more info on Stream of Consciousness Saturday

and to read more streams,

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: If You’re Going to Call Yourself Pro-Life ….

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with pro.” Find a word that starts with “pro” and use it any way you like in your post. Enjoy!

The first thing that popped into my head was pro-life. Then, Oh, no. You better be careful with that, especially if you’re going to be writing stream of consciousness style.

Maybe I should just get this out of the way and then change the subject. This is something I have strong feelings about:

If you’re going to call yourself, “pro-life,” then please be pro-life. Try not to harm things that are ALIVE.

If you’re going to call yourself, “pro-life,” at least try to be a vegetarian or vegan. Don’t use pesticides much, especially outside. Don’t buy poinsettias during Christmas time and then just throw them in the trash when Christmas is over if they still have LIFE.

If you’re going to call yourself, “pro-life,” then don’t support the death penalty. Don’t support war.

If you’re going to call yourself, “pro-life,” then help babies and children stay alive even after they are born.

If you’re going to call yourself, “pro-life,” then work to support all life on this precious gift of planet Earth. Protect forests and oceans from so called, “development,” which destroys the lives and habitats of so many plants and animals. Support renovation of existing buildings and build green.

The list goes on. Pro-life, means in favor of and in support of LIFE.

Well, I haven’t changed the subject yet. I’m not sure if I’m even going to publish this as it is so controversial. But it’s something that really irks me. If someone calls themselves pro-life, and they truly are pro-life and not just pro-human birth, then we could probably be friends, even if we don’t agree 100% on everything. I could respect them for being honest. For Life’s sake.

Maybe I’ll just have a gallery of life pictures:

Me and Daughter Ayla 1993

Ayla and Mira 2022

Esther and baby Mira

Butterfly on Lantana

Chimp mom and baby – Source Unknown

Life hiding in the grass

Family of Geese Crossing the road

~~~

For more about Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit out host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Once Upon a Time in Newfoundland, The Moody Blues Song, and Animal Sanctuary Pictures

Today’s prompt for #JusJoJan the 14th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “once upon a time.” Start your post with “Once upon a time,” then write whatever comes to you, whether it be fact or fiction. Have fun!

Once upon a time we didn’t have phones. Or even TVs. Computers were barely imaginable by the average person. In the 1960s, we had a party line and a phone that sat on a table with a chord. We knew the important numbers by heart. There were three TV stations in black and white. And we thought it was pretty cool.

Lassie and Captain Kangaroo were my favorite shows when I was barely walking and later in kindergarten. Except in kindergarten when we were stationed on the Argentia Naval Base in Newfoundland, Canada. There was only one TV station, and a lot of French was spoken. When my dad got orders to go to Artentia (pronounced Argencia) mom thought he said Argentina. For a city girl from Washington DC, my mom found Newfoundland remote, a bit boring, and of course, cold.

Cold reminds me of the “Cold War” that was going on then. It seemed like everyone was talking about The Russians. I must have picked up on the tension and said, “I hate the Russians.” My dad stopped what he was doing, probably spit polishing his boots, and said, “Honey, you shouldn’t hate the Russians. You should feel sorry for them.”

That was one of the things my dad said that stuck with me. Like “Nothing is impossible” when I was 13.

Don’t hate. and Anything is possible.

Well, mom made the best of being in the frozen wilderness by making friends with the other military wives. The men used to play pinocle. I remember going sledding down a hill out back and that there were wolves howling at night. We used to go on picnics and go out to see the blue icebergs. I would have appreciated the remote location more if I had been older.

Stepping out of the stream, or maybe the stream took me there, I looked up Argentia to make sure I was spelling it right. The base was decommissioned in 1973 and the land returned to the Canadian/Newfoundland government.

One of my favorite photos of that time and place was this picnic photo. I’m wearing saddle shoes.

Me with my parents 1961 or 62

Mom must be wearing Dad’s jacket. Probably a Marine Corps jacket of some kind because it’s red. But that’s just a guess. We went on a lot of family picnics when I was a kid. Why don’t we do that anymore? I wonder what lead me to write about this time and place which I tend to romanticize. These are some of my earliest memories.

And then there’s this nostalgic Moody Blues song and video about remembering an old romance.

More recent memories include the residents of Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary where I prepare and serve lunch on Thursdays. Jake, the sheep had a peculiar way of smelling something interesting in the air. Once upon a time, most of these animals were abused or neglected. Now they are living their best lives. Ed, the big rooster in the third gallery picture, had been confined at county animal services (near barking dogs) and had attacked a woman to the point of her needing hospital care. Now, Ed has learned he can trust Debbie and the caretakers at the sanctuary.

Jake smells something.

Delilah wants more broccoli

Manager Debbie with Ed

Debbie and Steve

Mira and Jack were born at the sanctuary.

Padre and Mary

Something must smell really good!

Watch out for the roosters, little guy!

~~~

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by author, Linda G. Hill.

For more streams and details, visit Linda HERE.

SoCS: Cozy Candles, Music, Movies, and Cats, Plus a Sheep, Rooster, and Dog in the Mirror

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cozy.’” Use it any way you like. Have fun! (And Merry Christmas if I don’t come back before then!) Linda was worried about losing power due to a big storm up there in the great white north as I think Canada might be known (as dubbed by a comedy team in the 80s). I have to interfect that even if we lose electricity, we still have power of some kind or other, like the power of prayer, song, laughter, lighting candles (but not near smoke alarms…) I hope Linda keeps her electricity and everyone else does too.

Lighting candles has always been cozy for me. My fireplace doesn’t work as it would need a lot of repairs to be safe, but I light candles in there to give the illusion of a fire. There will be candles tonight and Christmas night, especially since the lows will be in the teens and twenties which is unusual for the Carolina Coast. Where my son lives in the mountains, the low was -6 F last night. That’s minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Burr. Maybe I don’t want to live there year round.

I hope everyone who has animals keeps them warm and safe inside. Up North, it might be a three dog night, meaning that’s how many dogs to sleep with. But all dogs should be inside the house. Period.

Back to cozy. I’ve been listening to cozy music on Youtube. Sometimes it makes me sleepy. I’ll share some in a bit. Or why not now? You can always come back to it when you want to relax. I especially like the picture that goes with this one.

At the sanctuary where I volunteer on Thursdays, the sheep and goats were in the barn because of the heavy rain. I’m sure they’ll all be in there tonight. The pigs, too, and some of the chickens. Other chickens will be in their coops. I still wonder how birds survive the cold. Must be some miraculous design. And they can fly! Pretty amazing when you stop to think about it.

Here are pictures of Bennie, one of the sheep, staying cozy in the barn and studying his image, along with a rooster, Marley in the mirror before I donated it to the sanctuary, and Mama Cat being cozy on the couch.

Bennie getting enrichment

Bennie looking at his friend Jeff

Maybe “Simon”

Marley in the Mirror

Mama Cat Cozy on the Couch

Speaking of CATS, I saw some hilarious/cute photos of cats getting cozy in nativity scenes. Here’s a link from Bored Panda.

David said tonight after church he wants to take Marley for a walk around the neighborhood. He took Doodle for a walk on Christmas Eve years ago and it was wonderful, so he wants to revive that tradition with Marley. It will be cold, but David’s from Connecticut and Marley is half husky, so they’ll be fine. I’ll probably be watching a Christmas movie.

Watching old Christmas movies and singing Christmas songs makes me feel cozy. It’s a bit weird how often I can watch the same movies over and over, like Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, and more recently, Last Christmas which I just discovered this year. Last Christmas was inspired by the music of George Michael and Wham who I have paid little attention to until this movie enchanted me. I also like the starring actress Emilia Clarke who was in Solo, a Star Wars Story. It’s comforting to watch familiar movies again and again. They become like background music (like Star Trek) as I blog and do other stuff on the computer.

One of my favorite old Christmas songs was redone by James Taylor. I like how he’s changed the words just a tiny bit.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

May your heart be light

In a year our troubles will be out of sight…

Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays!

For more cozy streams of consciousness,

visit out host, Linda Hill’s blog

by clicking HERE!

SoCS: Note to Self – Don’t Call That Number!

Today‘s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “dict.” Find a word that contains “dict” and use it in your post. Have fun!

Dictionary… Dictation…Dictator…vindictive… Going in a negative direction here. I try not to be vindictive or to write too much political stuff here. It’s obvious to me that a recent former president desperately wanted (wants?) to be a dictator. Yuck. I don’t want to write about that. What are some other words… Sigh.

Dictionary. Who still has one on a shelf? I do! Diction. I took a class in college called, Voice and Diction. That class, along with acting class, helped me get over some natural shyness and allowed me to speak clearly in front of people. Not that I want to do that now, but if there’s a good reason, it comes in handy. I’ve always had pretty good diction, but the college class gave me the ability to speak “Standard American English” if it was appropriate. Of course, it’s also good to have something relevant and true to say. Speaking from the heart is more important that diction.

It’s a good skill, speaking clearly, but not that necessary, like speaking to scammers is not necessary. It’s best not to speak to scammers at all. I made the stupid mistake of calling a number in an email that said it was from Paypal. As soon as the speaker mentioned that I had invested in bitcoin, I knew it was a mistake. I said the words “No” and “Never” very clearly. I’m not entirely sure what bitcoin is and, no, I don’t want to know.

Now I feel a bit paranoid. Sigh.

Getting back to topic of college, the first years at the community college were fun – being a big fish in a little pond and all that. Then I transferred to the university and got serious about finishing. I’ve never taken dictation, but I was good at taking notes. That was so long ago. Now, I’m retired. Yay!!! I only take notes if I feel like it or really want to remember something. If I start asking the same questions over and over again, say like 10 or 20 years from now, I’ve asked my husband to encourage me to write stuff in a notebook and carry it with me. But we’re not there yet.

Exercise is good for the brain as well as the body. After the scammer incident, I went to the Y where I recently started back with a personal trainer on Fridays, just for 30 minutes. It felt good and helped with the paranoia. Maybe exercise will help my memory and save on notebooks.

Note to self: DON’T CALL THAT NUMBER!

Sometimes we get to learn the same lessons over and over again. I will forgive myself for the mistakes and remember the lessons:

DONT CALL THAT NUMBER!

Now, move on! Find a pretty picture.

Here’s just one of my favorite Christmas ornaments from a musical friend:

David made the smaller one on the lower right from wood

~~~

For details on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

and more streams, visit out host, Linda G Hill

by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Twin Flames, Soulmates, Dogs, and Cats

I had a great time collecting and arranging these leaves

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “twin/tween.” Use, “twin” or “tween” any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Enjoy!

A twin flame is a person (could it be an animal?) who shares your soul. Like the soul split into two bodies. That’s what I read somewhere. No scientific evidence to support this. Sounds kind of mythical. That doesn’t mean it’s not true. Afterall, anything is possible. Twin flames are said to share many qualities mirrored in one another. They also may share past traumas.

Excuse me, but I don’t really want to share a soul with someone. I much prefer the concept of soulmates. One difference between twin flames and soulmates, besides soulmates having their own souls, is that soulmates are not twins. They definitely have a lot in common, but not like twin flames.

My soulmate David and I just celebrated our ten-year wedding anniversary on December 1st. This is my second marriage and David’s third, so ten years gives me hope. Of course, the fact that we were high school sweethearts reunited when the time was perfect also gives me hope. I appreciate how he supports me and also gives me space, how he loves dogs and has come to love Mama Cat, too. We have a lot in common, but our differences complement each other well.

Meeting your twin flame could be exciting and helpful. A twin flame does not have to be romantic. It can be platonic or intellectual. To be honest, I’m no expert on twin flames, so feel free to add alternative information or ideas. From what I recall, a person only has one twin flame, but can have multiple soulmates (maybe not at the same time which could be complicated.) I’m okay with not having a twin flame, but I’m very happy to have a soulmate.

As I type this, Mama Cat is lying next to me on the couch making me wonder if a person could have a cat or a dog as a soulmate. They certainly can be good companions. When David and I reconnected in 2011, we had five dogs between us. That was quite a pack in our little bungalow. That’s what happens when you manifest your soulmate “must love dogs.” In our ten years together, each member of the five pack has crossed over the rainbow bridge. We’ll see them again and won’t need leashes.

Soulmates with the original “Five Pack.”

We’ve had Marley for one year now and brought Mama Cat home from the church about two years ago. They are part of our family, though they have limited contact with each other under close supervision.

It’s unlikely that a dog and a cat could be twin flames, but soulmates maybe. Anything’s possible!

Marley with heart of leaves

Mama Cat watching squirrels from the catio.

Marley staying in “PLACE.”

~~~

For details on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, and lots more streams,

visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Taking the Easy Trail on Thanksgiving Day

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “on your/my plate.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

You don’t have to eat everything on your plate in one sitting. You can save some for later. Put it in the fridge. Maybe even the freezer. This has been a weight loss strategy for me. Sometimes it works. I tell myself I can still have the rest of the food or a second helping. I will just have it tomorrow. (Unless I go back and get it at 9pm as a bedtime snack.)

The exception may be Thanksgiving dinner which traditionally has been a time when a lot of us overeat. I certainly ate more sweets on Thursday than usual since I usually don’t eat sweets… much.

There have been plenty of times when I’ve had too much on my plate and not always food. Responsibilities taken on due to interest, a sense of obligation, or not saying no, may need to be put in the frig, the back burner, or prioritized. Delegated maybe.

We packed a lot into Thanksgiving Day in the Appalachian Mountains and drove back home to the coast on Friday. Thursday morning, we went to Linville Falls and took the short, easy trail since my knee has been bothering me. I got a stretchy sleeve to put on my knee which helped a lot, though it falls down after a while which is better than being too tight. I also wore my compression socks to help with my heel spurs. I’m very thankful I was able to hike the half mile or so to the falls and decided not to continue on to the uphill climb to get the view further along the falls. That will be next time. That hike will go in the freezer maybe for next year.

That afternoon, my son cooked practically the whole dinner of mostly vegan food, while I helped my granddaughter with a school project on temperate forests. We ate too much and then went for a walk along the nearby river trail. Then we went back to the house and had pumpkin pie, macaroons, and vegan ice cream sandwiches. Everything was delicious! My granddaughter and I set up the nativity stable made by my father many years ago and then decorated the Christmas tree. Whew! It was a busy day. But not too much. I’m thankful to have been with family in the mountains. Still, it’s good to be home!

Now, to see if I can find the photos….

In the fourth photo, do you see the profile in the rock on the right? It has bushy hair.

Linville River

David, Marley and my son

Linville Falls

See the Rock Head?

David, Marley and Me

Blue Ridge Mountains

Mostly Vegan Dinner

After Dinner Walk

My granddaughter arranged the figures in my dad’s stable.

~~~

For more SoCS rules and posts, put Linda’s blog on your plate.

She’s our persevering host.