Our Humanity, Or Lack Thereof

Carve us a table, green, soft on foot, weeds unseen
Paint then a canvas low, brushed in youth, alive to grow
Etch now a path for two, tendered smooth, to lead us through
Frame strong the hedgerow gate, encircle us, nurtured fate

We returned home,from a relaxing weekend vacation, to a sweltering heat and an unkempt yard. I needed to mow. I like the land to look healthy and happy. I hate to fuss over it though. It has dandelions, crab grass, stilt grass, tall fescue, onion grass, clover, moss, and much else. It won't win any yard superlatives(at least not in the usual categories) but it has its own charm and I care for it. So after work today, I drug out the blade runner, filled it full of expensive fumes, and forced it, sweatily, around the property. I wasn't very careful. I wanted to get it over with and take a cold shower.
It seemed like an angry affair this evening,with the screaming machine, slicing noisily through the rough, tossing aside headless hoppers and zinging my bare legs with bits of hard earth. Not a pleasant toil. For almost the full hour and a half my mind was flooded with past mowing malevolence, from stinging hornets to a vivid memory of an encounter between me, on my dad's riding mower, and a garter snake who slithered unseen under the whirring deck immediately birthing a slew of messy mutant snakelings. Yep, hard to forget that one. Sorry. Must have been the heat this evening that brought that stuff back. These warm days tend to put us in our place; remind us of our humanity(or lack thereof).
But it finally ended at dusk with no real excitement as far as I was aware. In the morning I'm sure all will look lovely and I'll be glad I spent the time as I did.

Mercifully Happy Interlude

On Sunday, Heather and I took a long hot walk. It was probably a bit too long. And for some reason I convinced her we didn't need to bring any water. We walked out the front door and proceeded to get very hot and very thirsty for the next 3 hours. We made it over to Occoneechee Mountain and eventually made it back home. There was a mercifully happy interlude, spent in the cool shadow of the mountain along the banks of the Eno, where we snapped these photos. And then we had to go back out into the sun. Next time it will be easier. We'll have water.

Garden Update 4

We now have plenty of lettuce and peas to eat. Giving the extras away.
Little Squashes will be here soon.

Gently Down Joanna Mountain

The short slide show is composed of a few of the many photos taken during our time at the Mountain home with my parents and brother. Sis is still wrapping up her schooling out west. Here we see what it was like outside during Memorial Day weekend at Dupont State Forest.
For many years we did not have access to this land. It was recreation land for Dupont employees only. It later became held by a large developer of luxury homes. Before the homes were built, however, the State of North Carolina negotiated an important buyout. This was not a quick nor easy sequence of ownership...though an extremely valuable one.
It is a 5 minute, uphill and then downhill, drive from the Mountain home. Yes, there can be crowds now, not surprisingly, considering the views and adventures. They come from all over the East..especially on holidays. But...you can find solitude, as we did this day along the laurel paths and finally at Lake Dense where the breezes rolled gently down Joanna Mountain, cooling us as we lounged on the shady dock.

Simple Shared Experience

It was just dad and me on the river. Not many opportunities come up, so we made this one happen. The French Broad River starts in the North Carolina foothills near my parent’s home, snakes through low farmland, and then cuts through the mountains on its long way to the Gulf of Mexico. It is important to know the local waters. Know how you affect them and how they affect you. So, for a few hours, we paddled a gentle 10 miles under a narrow canopy of green shade, to see part of a waterway that is more than just part of the landscape. At times we pushed our way through while other times we sat and let the current carry us along. What we saw was up close and personal. Some of it we knew by names, like the roadways along its course, the big trees over head, and the wildflowers hanging on the banks. Much of it we didn’t know, like why the muskrat waited so long before dipping below the surface as we floated by, and how many gallons were being pumped up to the dry fields via dangling pipes, and who had tried, but failed, to clear a tree fallen across the full width of the river. But we thought about these sights and talked about their reasons…the latter while we carefully, then forcefully, threaded the empty red canoe through the tangle of downed, wet branches.
We shared experience on the French Broad...simple shared experience.

238 Miles One Way

We were in the mountains of North Carolina for 4 days visiting my family. The weather was very nice. Sunny days prevailed with some passing clouds and one good rain shower.
Among other things(following shortly) I walked around Their yard and snapped photos. It was a refreshing trip. Well worth the 238 miles one way.

Garden Update 3

We have been getting regular rains lately! The Garden is getting higher. There seems to be an abundance of Aphids on the peas. I've spotted a few ladybugs and other little ones feasting on the green miniscules (photos a little later). I forgot to take shots of the leeks, broccoli, tomatoes and fig tree...they are doing fine.

Heather and I ate all the mature Path Lettuce. No sign of "Nibbles" in the garden since last update!