Eating on high!

 Our Mt. Mitchell trip had a pinnacle event, (groan!) to have a picnic at the picnic grounds..

Plenty of tables, even handicap accessible, plenty of nearby parking. We ambled along until we found a shady spot with a view, and a bit of sun, since it was kind of windy at that point. (Thank heaven for the wind, which not only entertained us, but kept the tiny flies at bay - at least no biting!)

I tried making a 360 degree video...it isn't that great.

There are many dead trees in one area of the picnic grounds. The woolly adelgid continues to knock out perfectly healthy trees.

Aside: Adelges tsugae, the hemlock woolly adelgid or HWA, is an insect of the order Hemiptera native to East Asia. It feeds by sucking sap from hemlock and spruce trees. In its native range, HWA is not a serious pest because populations are managed by natural predators and parasitoids and by host resistance. In eastern North America it is a destructive pest that threatens the eastern hemlock and the Carolina hemlock. HWA is also found in western North America, where it has likely been present for thousands of years (See Wikipedia)

Evidence of HWA or Hemlock Woolly Adelgid - white patches on underside of branches.

 I thought at first this small rodent was a chipmunk...but no stripes. and a long tail.

So a baby squirrel with interest in the next table visited us, but was skittish enough to take off when we started talking about her.

Our prerequisite selfie...not sure who's on Teresa's shirt. I'm sure going to miss spending days with her and her granddaughter. But fortunately we can text, facetime phone visit, and phone call each other daily still! Making new friends (see below) but keeping the gold ones!

Wonderful young balsam trees growing. I could watch shadows of clouds crossing mountains in the distance all day.

I stopped for a shot with Madison after we'd had our lunches.

I found peanut butter and jelly on brioche bread were delicious, with a Coke Zero and Key Lime yogurt. Teresa packed PB&J and pickles, some pretzels and chocolate chip cookies for them. I shared some cookies I brought all around as well.

We ate "above it all!"

Yes, one of these vistas will become my header, when  I get tired of looking at the shot of Lake Tomahawk, which I just put up. Let's see, maybe a week from today? 

Sharing with Saturday's Critters (do pest beetles [woolly ageldids] count?) at least I found a wild squirrel!

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And oh yes, the fun part of Saturday (yesterday) was meeting Mary Moon and her daughter Jessie. Such a lovely time, even though short. Mary is just as she is on her blog, only taller than I thought she'd be, and oh so sweet, trim, beautiful, loving, and just the kind of friend who I hope I move next to in my new home. Can't I take her with me? Oh dear, guess her hubby might have something to say about that!

Barbara and Mary at Four Sisters in Black Mountain. (Soon to be thousands of miles apart, but still right here on their blogs!)

And yes, by 3:30 the dining table, two dressers and a book shelf had taken off in the Habitat truck. I tipped the workers $10 each and a Coke Zero...hope that was enough. Probably not... But they saw how I live, so most folks won't expect much from me. Just big gratitude!

What I'm discarding, and nature, are on my mind.

 Today the furniture goes...

While I wait for Habitat for Humanity to come truck away the dining table, a book case, two dressers and a couple of little shelves, let's consider what's happening in the rest of the world.

A woman athlete made some waves in the news while I've been watching a few World Cup games. Well, I don't watch sports news most of the time, I admit.

The Ferris Fire - this view from his ranch in Cortez, Montezuma County, CO - by Larry Don Sukla

Craggy Pinnacle Trail from David and Julia, Appalachian Mountains. Even without rain these trees just fog everything up.

Not my tent, but a reminder of all the people out enjoying wilderness this time of year.

Some of the small things going to the thrift store this week! Of course the watches don't work. And some of these pieces were my mother’s.

Speaking of watches, did you see the new fangled timepiece which uses numbers by name, arranged alphabetically?

This week a man at lunch time asked me the elevation of Durango CO (my soon to be new home) and I just answered "Mt. Mitchell." Thus my recent trip to the 6640 foot peak in North Carolina was to help me acclimate to the higher elevation where I'll soon be living.

When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

AUDRE LORDE Sharing with Sepia Saturday!

“Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.”

- Alice Walker

OK before the furniture is picked up a special coffee meeting is scheduled, to meet fellow blogger Mary Moon. Just had to add this bit of earth shattering news...hold onto your hats, big event here!

Metagraywacke and amazing big rocks (mountains)

 If you have no interest in geology, just skip this post. We visited the museum on Mt. Mitchell, and I only took a few photos. It was definitely user friendly with lots of gadgets to push, wind, pull or turn.

The monument on top of the mountain, which has been replaced by a big platform with lots of explanations of what you're looking at.

Yes, I've posted about climbing to the platform, and looking at each direction to see which peaks were out there. It's really kind of fun at the moment, but later on sort of boring.

I loved this rock's name!

I did pick up a piece of gravel at the picnic area, which of course is illegal in state parks, I guess. But it also could have come from miles away and been trucked in there.

The town of Black Mountain is about 15 miles due south of Mt. Mitchell as the crow flies. Of course I've never flown it, but drive along the parkway to get there, about 30 miles or so that way.

Manipulative Republicans posted such stupidly hilarious photos of a dying (or perhaps brain dead) senator...as well as this contrived AI three-armed wife and 6-fingered man! The video of him break dancing is really hilarious. All for the love of power of majority votes. What kind of people do this?

Power is not about exerting our will over others, it is about being in complete truth with yourself.

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Mt. Mitchell State Park

 

Our first stop in the state park was at the restaurant parking lot. From there we could see across the valley where landslides were still bare after the hurricane in Sept. 2024.

Nature sure has its way with storms and the aftermath. Many trees have the balsam wooly adelgid killing them, which is a source of many bare trees we saw.

I was happily the passenger while Teresa drove, and her granddaughter had the back seat.

Of course you want to see more of the mountain, and the museum, and the picnic….which will have to wait. 

We had lovely weather up there at around 6600 feet. Then came down to partly cloudy 80+ degrees. But it was a good time.

I came home and resumed packing. Took the first picture off the wall…there are half a dozen more to go…wherever I can fit them.

Did I tell you how thrilled I was to find an old Tupperware tub which will fit the toaster oven just right?

Simple pleasures!

I was able to breathe at the higher altitude, though I didn’t walk *hike up to the look-out platform. Came home and did use oxygen when resting between boxes. I sure was ready for my nap!

This attitude is moving toward peace between people who were at war with each other in the Civil War…certainly we can find a way to deal with the craziness in our political situation somehow.