Coach House Daffodils

 

The building was damaged by flooding 17 months ago, so is now for sale. But the daffodils don't know about it!

The former Coach House Restaurant was not as upscale as some steak and seafood places, but was family owned and operated. Southern hospitality was part of its charm. I spent many meals enjoying hardy food and companionable conversations.

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday

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The U.S. military announced on Sunday that three service members were killed in action and five are seriously wounded after a joint strike on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. (By Tuesday we know 8 have died.)

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By ETHEL SPOWERS – SWINGS

From Heather Cox Richardson March 2, 2026 (please read her information about the newest war.)

And her newsletter March 3 gives this info...

"Central Command has reported six American service members killed and eighteen wounded in the operation.

According to U.S. Central Command, which manages U.S. military operations in the Middle East, there are about 50,000 military personnel involved in Operation Epic Fury, 200 fighter jets, two aircraft carriers and bombers, and they are moving more support to the region. Yesterday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to rule out sending ground troops to Iran."

She goes on to give the cost estimates for this current situation.

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Who do you serve? To whose life can I most effectively contribute? What practice –- meditation, or relaxation practice, or prayer, or time in nature -- whatever brings you peace -– do you follow to build your internal power? Do you allocate enough time or emphasis to that practice? There is a time to give and a time to restore. Restorative time is the basis of all worthwhile creative work, and all work that seeks to contribute to the lives of others. And it gives us patience with our own foibles, and those of others. 

Rod MacIver in Heron Dance

Amazing to slowly drive by

Any time you're driving on US 70 through Swannanoa NC, someone will slow down here. Maybe they've not seen the extent of the destruction before, or in my case, I just clicked a bunch of photos this last week. The other drivers (most of them) understand what's happening. See the houses in the distance? There used to be similar ones here where the earth is scraped bare, and the piles of rubbish are all that's left of people's homes, and lives. Yes this is where several people died in Swannanoa NC in the flood from Hurricane Helene.

Here's a YouTube video, one of the best I've seen showing the disaster and recovery.

Hurricane Helene: A Love Letter to Appalachia

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I've got a 2 minute clip from the interview with a father and son who lived in one of those houses. I hope it will load. Maybe I'll have to cut it down into more than one...a new challenge here!

Well that didn't happen. I downloaded it from iCloud to my PC computer, where microsoft said I could edit it in Chimp Chip or something like that. But when I asked for help, it showed a different screen completely which provided editing capabilities, while my screen just seemed a big mess. Yes I could cut. But no "save" was available. Sorry folks.

Basically this is what they shared:  a father and son and partner and dogs quickly went into the attic of their home as the water rose and they had no cell service. But they had no way to get out as the flood waters were almost to the ceiling below. So father and son swam in the cold muddy water to the kitchen window, broke it and pushed the screen out to get outside. Some woman came by on a kayak - it must have been daylight by then - and they asked her for an ax so they could break through the roof to the attic. This done, the son went through the opening and pulled the dogs to safety. (They did leave out how the partner was saved.)

I'll keep the original. It probably is copyrighted by the TV station anyway.

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Today's  quote:

I saved this for the creativity that is needed now:

From Heron Dance's Journal: "The universe is a creative entity. We are both the result of that creative process and participants in it. When we do creative work we express, in our own unique way, our reverence for life, for the holy aspects of the creative forces out there, whatever they may be. And we often then sense that those forces approve, and provide support, provide energy, to our journey.

"But first effort. First dedication. Before entering sacred realms, we need to offer a sacrifice, and that sacrifice is part effort, part courage, part faith. We need to believe in our uniqueness, the value, perhaps even crucial necessity, of what we have to contribute."

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Overcoming adversity.

I quote Heron Dance Art Journal, from an interview between Michael Toms (At The Leading Edge) with Marsha Sinetar (author of Do What You Love, And The Money Will Follow).

"Studies of children from abused home situations or who have mentally ill or otherwise dysfunctional parents show that about fifteen percent grow up to be well-adjusted.  These kids make a bond to themselves. People who overcome great difficulties have a trusted, trusting relationship with themselves. They know that if all else fails, they have a sacred entity within themselves -- what Saint Peter calls the inner man of the heart. They are aware of the inner core of themselves that is always there, that never ages and dies."

      

Self sabotage

" I’ve tried to develop a knowledge of how "I tend to sabotage myself. I carefully examine the recurring adverse events of my life.

THis is from Heron Dance, a gentleman who definitely lives a life closer to nature than I do, and posts a newsletter about creativity. But he echoes some of my thoughts, my need to be creative, my need to be closer to the natural world around me.

So I'm looking at myself in a mirror of observation. Not criticism. Just seeing where I'm falling short, or indeed, sabotaging my own best efforts to live according to my own higher self.

He says that for him:

"When I am overtired, my life lacks a flow, lacks momentum. Lots of little things go wrong.

That may be the beginning of my frequent ill periods, where coughing, breathing problems, even fevers keep me from participating at all in my own life.

The beginning for me does have the similar overtired place where I've overextended, thus start coughing. Then I am in bed, too stationary, and at computer more and more.

So for me an indicator is more time at computer!

As well as coughing more.

And getting out of breath when just walking on a flat surface for say 100 feet or more.

These may be based on my not taking care of my home and health-supplies. (DING DING DING)

I'm aware how mold exists in the walls, coming into the windowsills when it has a chance, and appearing at drains if I haven't used them in a day or so. (Hey Barb, there are only 4 drains in the whole apartment!) DING

Non-tidy housekeeping is my number one self-sabotage. DING DOODLY DING!!!

I've asked friends if they know anyone who would do small apartment cleaning, say every other week? I could afford the current rate I think. But there don't seem to be any available people.

Maybe I'm not trying hard enough. I want someone who is already known by someone I know. I'll see if I can ask more people I know, without using Facebook of course. That's how I got the woman who stole some medications from me (not one of which would change her moods).

Heron Dance says:

"To try to break my old patterns I keep a list. On that list are things to beware of...

That's what this blog is starting for me right now. I just enjoyed a chocolate cookie and a glass of Almond Milk.,as I typed my thoughts, and those of Heron Dance...and thought more about my list. 

Consider your health. In my life, when my health has deteriorated, as with cancer, it has been after an extended period of living in ways that are not in sync with my beliefs and values about what is important in life.

To get back in sync, all I need to do is to walk in a forest of big trees, to sit down at the base of one, and watch for half an hour or so. 

So as close as I have recently been to being in a forest of big trees, which are on all the mountains around me, is to see photos, paintings, and other people's experiences in the forest...all on this computer.

But I know baby steps are the best way for me to live.

The goal is to go to the forest.

First step, turning off computer.

Second, cleaning something.

Third, go back to clay studio to unwind.

So those are 3 steps to get into the forest. Funny sounding, eh?

I'll let you know when I get there!

Note...two hours later, I've been off computer, and scrubbed the bathroom sink. Wow, such a lot of dust around things that I use every day or so, so now I know what's waiting for me in each of these endeavors. 

For my readers who have tidy homes, I somehow missed getting the gene, or learning a routine, or even having an impulse to clean house. I am a slob. But that's making me sick...therefore...

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Late PS.

Woke at 3:30 am, got up at 4:15 and decided AC has sent me some of his night-time-waking juju, so I'm here eating a chocolate croissant and drinking some juice. Reading whatever. Hoping I can get an hour or more sleep before my 9 am coffee date comes to pick me up. We're going to Thirteen Penney's where there's a thrift shop attached. Then yoga may happen, then lunch. But this afternoon is perfect for a nap...

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And again at 8 am, my laptop died somehow with that early morning post, so I'm on my old 2010 or so oldest laptop, which takes about an hour to open blogger. Haven't tried email yet! So glad it still plugs along!