Friday, October 18, 2024

Renewed friendship and being shown around

Since I've a backlog of photos from  my evacuation after Hurricane Helene, I'm afraid those are what are on the top of the pile.


When you've driven through Charlotte traffic on a week afternoon, but there are 3 times as many trucks and cars as the roads can handle, it does wear one down. So to have to climb 13 stairs with my various packs was a major chore (even though Martha carried the heavy suitcase for me.) And I was thrilled to see a crystal hanging in Martha's east facing window the next morning giving me a perfect spectrum. I still had trouble climbing the stairs.

So my first outing with Martha was in Pittsboro, the county seat of Chatham County.  You may note (if you remember a post from 2018) that they have removed the statue of a confederate hero!



A friend of Martha's has work displayed in this gallery.

And I'll skip the murals, because once I said I wanted a picture of one we passed, Martha drove me to various sites to see more! That's for Mondays though.


Pittsboro NC is a lovely town to browse in shops, but we had places to go and things to do.









Apparently Pittsboro is now known for many micro-breweries. (Sounds like Black Mountain too)


We visited a neat kind of community gathering place in Pittsboro, with this metal cut-out fence.



Some of the paper goods/plastic and even gasp, styrofoam cups which I brought back home and gave equal amounts to the give-away place at the apartments. I was determined to not use water to wash dishes etc, so I wouldn't use potable water for that, but it's a hard habit to break!

And you may have (especially if you follow Facebook) seen some of the shoppers who frequent Walmart, but I got a big kick out of being behind the Buddhist monk in the checkout.

 


As we returned to Martha's home, we were greeted by these lovely flowers and plants across from her driveway, planted by her neighbor.

I took more photos of her beautiful camelias...blooming in the fall? Yes! But you've seen enough probably by now. I dragged on and on about staying with John, not knowing what would happen tomorrow. But this is in retrospect now, and I want to move forward!






Enjoying her living room comfort we had to try for a selfie...not our best!

-----------











17 comments:

  1. Love the tour, flowers and the photo of you and your friend Martha! Take care, have a great day and a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You had a good tour in trying times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely not the reason I should go visiting - ever again!

      Delete
  3. ...I take the camellia as a show of hope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is definitely lots of that going around these days!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. It certainly is. I enjoy the small changes, and that Martha knows the places a tourist like me wouldn't be able to find!

      Delete
  5. Wonderful pictures of landscapes & flowers & trees & plants! Your opening picture of the mountains & fall colors is spectacular! And I smiled at the picture of the window with the "Pottery" sign in it. Of course!!! :) Sounds like you made the best of a worrisome time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, as that was what drew my eyes in that gallery. Several clay artists were representedd there.!

      Delete
  6. And oh yeah - the picture you captured of the rainbow spectrum is neat. I used to have a crystal ball hanging in the kitchen window of our house two houses ago. Then we moved to a place without a kitchen window (but open to light from other windows). Now we're in a place with a kitchen window again & I'd forgot the fun of having a crystal ball hanging in it to produce little rainbows all over. Gotta do that again! Thanks for the gentle reminder. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too. I could have rainbows during the winter, when the sun strikes lower in my windows, but unfortunately not the kitchen one!

      Delete
  7. Hi Barbara, It looks like you and Martha had a nice time...a relief for you I'm sure, given the disaster that is much of North Carolina. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

    ReplyDelete
  8. Interesting photographs. I like the selfie, and the gallery was intriguing and I wished I could walk through and explore it. I followed a link here from Floral Friday Fotos. Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good to see the good in these hard days. Loved the prism!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is a LOVELY trip, despite the circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Interesting pictures and story.

    ReplyDelete
  12. From Scotsue - thank you for sharing photograhs of your travels - - a happy occasion in shared friendship.

    ReplyDelete

There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.