Winter is creeping in tonight!

Rain! Rain! go away!!
Come again some other day!

Be careful what you wish for!!!

In my little corner of the mountains we have had two days of rain....which is a good thing!! However, starting tonight winter is creeping in......the rain is suppose'ta turn into snow sometime tonight and spill 1-3" by tomorrow afternoon....not bad...really!! and i know that some of you get many more inches than that.....but, here's the problem.....this is my weekend to work at the park's Visitor Center, about a 40 minute (one way) drive for me......i'm a Florida girl!!! We don't have snow south of Jacksonville!!

Even after two winters in the mountains..... driving in the snow makes me a little freaky!.....i tense up..... forget i have 4-wheel drive..... and send continuous prayers about me and every other driver on the road to the Lord....Snow is meant to be played in...it's meant to make you sigh wistfully at it's beauty..... it's meant for animals to burrow under and to decorate all the trees in your yard.....it's not meant for me to drvie in!!!

Guess you can take the girl out of Florida ....but, you can't take Florida out'a the girl.....

I really do love it here in the Blue Ridge!!! There's no where else i'd rather be.....i really do love the snow......maybe it's my truck that doesn't care for snowy roads!!! Does Dr. Phil do Ford 4 x4's?

Sleeping Weather!!

Yesterday the weather..... in a word was........"Nasty!"

The kind of weather suitable for ducks, toads and salamanders....

or those yucky old trolls that live under a bridge!

The kind of weather that you put on flannel PJ's, find your favorite romantic novel and spend the day on the couch in front of a roaring fireplace.....with occasional cups of tea and then occasional potty breaks.....in between naps!

But, being a working household...we had to depend on the hairy babies to fill in ....they had no fire or PJ's and perferred treats instead of tea......but, the sleeping part.......... they've got that down pat!!

Thankful Thursday

In cruising around some blog sites, I have found a delightful thing called "Thankful Thursday"...in these difficult times it's hard to find time and reflect on all we have to be thankful for.....so I'm going to take a moment and "smell the roses!"

I'm thankful for.....the three hairy babies the Lord has sent me. They are all rescues from broken homes and came to us over a period of time when we were moving from Florida and settling into North Carolina....gave us more to love...and helped take away the stress of building another home.

I am thankful we had the foresight to build an apartment in the walk-out basement...we no longer have an empty nest.....last April the son moved from FL and is now staying with us....the idea was...this would give him the freedom to return to school and I am thankful to say he starts this January!!

I am thankful for todays RAIN!!!! After a summer of drought ...we need it so badly...the ground seems to be sucking it up with a straw!!

I am thankful my seasonal job will be ending the end of this month.....it's been fun, I've learned so much and made alot of new friends.....I will look forward to starting again in March....but, for now not having to drive in the snow and ice brightens my near future!

I am thankful for my new Blogging Friends....it's interesting that no matter where we live...as women we seem to be dealing with the same issues...it's nice having a world-wide support system...........................................Later, brboomer

The two pictures above are just an expression of what happen to my day!

I came to work today with joy and excitement , looking forward to my part in judging a children's poetry contest about the mountains we live in. For the most part....the content of the poems were right on target....funny, wordy, lots of beautiful this and beautiful that, silly, short, L-O-N-G and fun to read...if you could read them.

What happened to penmanship!?!

I remember hours of practicing letters each day in grade school.....making sure each one was perfect...a penmanship award was a big deal!! Then you learned cursive...whoa!!...connecting all those squiggly letters together to form a word!!! WOW!!! And writing your name....OH Boy!!....you wrote it over and over until it was ....YOURS!! Your own style...your mark ...your signature....it set you apart from others!!

In this day of computers ,keyboarding and text messages...the art of the written word seems to be lost as early as first grade....(don't even get me started on spellcheck!).....will our future children sign their names as ""##@@* or (%?^^^...?!

Just a thought.................................brboomer

PS....the pictures are Mt. Jefferson before and during an ice storm last winter!!!

A Life Long Fascination

One of my deepest secerts ....I've had a fascination with church steeples since a very early age. I think this comes from my earliest memories of going to church with my grandparents. We lived in one of the few places in Florida that had hills (?) and I remember the 25 miles drive and watching for the steeple over the tree tops when we came into town or maybe it was the excitement of knowing I would be able to sit on Grandpas' lap and drive home at the ripe old age of 8!

Steeples always bring me a since of peace....knowing that they are there ...strong, straight, proud and reaching toward the heavens. Knowing that we have the freedom to worship at the church of our choice...knowing that we can gather as one and join our voices in prayer!

Today while I was driving into town, for my weekly visit to the Wal Marts....I started taking pictures of the steeples I pass on a daily basis.....I missed two....the green shingle one at the Greek church and the stone one downtown...sorry! Had a mishap with trees and batteries!

I know that steeples have a reglious history and have played a role in the history of our Country. But, I prefer to hold tight to my childhood believes that steeples shoot my prayers up to God's ears like a laser beam....

Annnnyyywwwaayyy...they make me smile...brboomer

Well..............it's over!

It's a new day! It's a new era!!

I for one, am thankful the elections are over!!

The negative adds on all the TV and radio stations were very depressing! Here in North Carolina we had some doosssiiees!! (Dole vs Hagan)

Whether you were a supporter of McCain or Obama....we as a nation now have the opportunity to come together as one and get some of these problems under control...Let's pray that Mr. Obama surrounds himself with godly, intelligent and down to earth advisers...who will lead this us "back to the future" and once again be the land of prosperity and equal opportunity for all...not just big business and greedy CEO's.

I'm not a political person...but, I am a history buff....and to live in a country and age that is making history as I write this is exciting to me......enough said!

Made a new blogging friend today....she always ends her post with a picture of her native land......the picture above is sunrise over Mt. Jefferson....Joan from Scotland.....this is where I live..........brboomer

Where has the summer gone?!

Just a few weeks ago the trees looked like this!

Then we had some frost on the pumpkins!

And soon the mountains will look like this!

Then once again...Time will fly and we'll be back to this!

No matter what season...it has it's own beauty......

Thanks to my co-worker Missy for letting me borrow some of her pictures