I’ll start by confirming that we did NOT buy land, house or a combination of both. If anything, living in the mountains for almost 2 months has confirmed that,
I am a true flat lander
When I confessed this to Bruce he let out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t too keen on living with these kinds of roads either. Especially since he loves to drive whatever vehicle he is in, as if it’s a race car.
I truly thought that habit would disappear with a 250 diesel truck. It did for awhile, but now, uuhmm, not so much. It’s one of the things we argued about in Chicago. I eventually asked if we could go places in separate cars. I just couldn’t take all the leaning, jerking, quick stopping and speed.
It helped – for awhile
Since we’ve been in NC, Bruce has wanted to see a waterfall. This morning rather than sit around, drinking coffee, lamenting the rain, discussing world events, watching last night’s SNL (yes we still do that), listening to the latest Dispatch podcast, and eventually going out to breakfast. I did a quick search and issued a command,
“Come, on. Let’s go to Saluda and see the art stores, have breakfast and maybe hit the Pearson waterfall.”
To which Bruce replied,
“Sure”
Mind you, last week this guy was at urgent care for another covid anti-viral injection! He’s been battling it since Thanksgiving, it simply won’t go away, (Round 4). It’s crimped our plans for local fun, and added a bit of boredom to life on the road.
So we hightailed it 11 miles south and went to Saluda and saw the Pearson Waterfall.
We were the only people there…
Hendersonville County has been in drought mode for awhile. Most of the falls are lacking enough water to make them as beautiful as usual. With the rains we’ve had, this waterfall was probably at about 2/3rds its normal volume. It made little difference to us since we didn’t know what it usually looked like. The hike up wasn’t arduous, and it made for a wonderful Sunday worship service.
Yesterday we went to Asheville, hoping to get into the Omni Resort, to see the National Gingerbread entrees. The competition was judged before Thanksgiving, but the entrees are displayed for viewing by the general public through December. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that they only take so many people a day. By the time we got there they were at capacity. So we made a dinner reservation for tomorrow…you get to see them if you have a reservation for something in the resort.
Backup plan to the rescue! We had some local BBQ, and a visit to a glass blowing workshop. Then a trip to downtown where vintage resale dominates.
Bruce has always loved blown glass art so when we passed this place it didn’t take much to encourage him to turn around and see it. It did not disappoint. A vase, a glass snowman and a gift later, we left feeling like our time was well spent.
The city of Asheville is a hipster paradise. Art, vintage everything, spendy restaurants, with locally made craft drinks, tattoo joints. It’s eco friendly, sustainable, reusable, renewable, farm to table…you get the idea. And the local shoppers all look like they came from a bus labeled,
Eco Trekker
I read up on various transits for hipsters, some have leather seats, iPhone plug ins, craft coffee service. Some are bankrupt. If Wicker Park Chicago is a hipster village, Asheville NC is its capital.
Sensing my disdain for hipsters?
It’s how my parents felt about hippies in the 70’s. Solomon was on point when he wrote,
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
It’s often lost on our generation when seeing all that goes on in the culture and the world at large. But truly, nothing is new, it’s all been done before in various ways.
It’s only new to us
The weather turned cold (20’s) last night. We’re growing restless with living in one place. Another 11 days and we leave for the west. Some sightseeing, Laurel Mississippi is on my list (much to Bruce’s chagrin). Time in New Orleans with friends over the MLK weekend. And a trek across Texas so we can land in AZ for the latter part of winter and spring.
Plans for our future are beginning to coalesce. Our hope is to spend May-August in Michigan and Illinois. Bruce’s contract work is settling in. I’m a sewing fiend. I’ve done enough quilting to warrant 5 trips to the long arm quilters, in 3 different locations. Learning the art of free motion quilting, coveting a machine with a stitch regulator. Time has flown.
We can’t believe we’ve been doing this for 5 months!!
And lastly,
Carolyn and Ben will be here this week!
Now that I figured out the trick to the oven, I’m planning some baked meals (minus gluten) and looking forward to spending time with them. She’s promising some fun games and Chimney Rock Village is on our agenda.
I hope your holidays are lovely, warm, full of the kind of family togetherness that creates special memories. I pray that you can avoid conversations that divide and hurt. And while this holiday may have evolved from pagan rites in the first century, I’m so thankful we have the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our savior.
Happy Birthday Jesus!
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