In front of the log cabin and a to-do-list

 

Log cabin of the 1890s.

I downloaded this, but didn't have the photographer, the location, or who these people were. Ah well

They were somoneone's ancestors...with only 2 men wearing hats, and a couple of little boys. A youngish girl with a short skirt on the far left, and a woman holding a squirming child sitting on the log...these are probably an extended family. That cabin was made with hand hewn timbers. The log in front was probably cut down and planned to be used at one time. And since there are real sash windows, these people were pretty well to do for the times and place. The window on the right seems to have been raised so perhaps someone could look out. 

Any other ideas?

Here's another cabin...

I don't know for sure, but I'm betting this is in one of the parks in the Appalachian mountains. It has the dog-trot design,  which means the big space in the middle is like a hall going from front to back. There's just one chimney, so that shows where the cooking and heating took place.

What do you call this man with his monkey? I have heard the Organ Grinder. And I think he also might be called a "hurdy gurdy" man. I vaguely think I saw one once when I was a wee little one, probably being held tightly by the hand. I don't think there was a monkey involved though, just the musician playing a organ type music box. He's the prompt today over at Sepia Saturday.

In case you might be climbing the walls because you are isolated due to the increased likelihood of catching COVID-19, I like this list of things to consider doing.

Catching up on my plants...and a lecture by Dr. Fauci

 

Taken after my tour of the YMCA last week. I'll have more up to date shots as I get used to exercising there! But I'm not sure how much I'll go there with the upsurge of COVID-19. 

So here's an interesting Sept. 2020 lecture from Dr. Anthony Fauci. In case you don't have the facts about this virus situation, here are lots of graphs!

The orchid that I expected to have a bloom or two soon, keeps swooping with it's stalk. Who knows where it will end up!

The other one of my orchid plants has decided to send up two flower stalks, as well as to try to climb out of the pot...but I know orchids like to stretch their feet.

Another fun Black Mountain fact

There's a train track that still runs east-west through Black Mountain. And sometimes you get stopped by a train. Fortunately I had my phone camera out, and was at the front of the line the other day.

Since the depot has become a shop for arts & crafts, there was no interest in stopping in Black Mountain.

This train going west had come down the mountain pass from Old Fort...and was carrying open cars full of river rocks. I don't know where they came from, nor where they were going. I was just glad it was a relatively short train!

I glanced over to see town crew members decorating the light poles with greenery and wreaths...and sometimes candy canes. They posted flags along State St. for Veterans Day last week, and they are still out.

It's Cuban cuisine!

Tucked in along other small shops is the latest restaurant to open in Black Mountain NC.  Cousins Cuban Cafe.  I found a parking spot early on Saturday and was happy to order a to-go of Cuban Bread.

A nice clean homey atmosphere was great for a few people eating their breakfasts.

 I took my bread home, buttered and toasted it, and let it crumble down my front as it brought back memories of Tampa. Of course since I've gone vegetarian, I can't enjoy a Cuban Sandwich...or wonderful garbanzo soup with sausage. But I could have done with some guava jelly...oh well. Next time...

Improvements at the lake

 

What a cute little hot rod! I imagine a young guy and a bobby-soxer gal riding in it, but I think it's more likely an older guy who just wants to be the young guy still. Who else can afford to make a car creation like this?

There a new swing with a safety harness for tiny tots. The newly paved area is still closed off for kids to play behind orange plastic fencing.

More orange plastic fencing with mounds of dirt, and the ever-preseent bush-hog, or whatever these are called.

Well, that yellow thing is new, definitely.

OK, there's a nice little waterfall...and they've widened the creek a bit before it flows over the waterfall. No idea what the yellow dam is there to catch.

The lake is still not 100% full.  But Saturday's sunshine made for a most enjoyable walk around Lake Tomahawk.

These ducks in the shadows look kind of bored. That's the spillway behind them, high and dry. The pipe valve is releasing water pretty fast through the dam, so who knows when the lake will be full enough for water to flow over the spillway.

Final day rehab

 Last Friday I graduated...

I never learned how to operate these weight machines...but I plan to at the YMCA!

I love the New Balance machines...and use them for my warm-ups.

I'm not a biker. But it shows how every-other-one of the machine is closed to use, so we could remain 6 feet apart.

And here are the "coaches" that got me through 8 weeks of Pulmonary Rehab. Actually Carolyn on the left with hair bun is an exerciser therapist, and Tonya on the right is a Rehabilitation Therapist. They were great to work with. For the photo I asked them to take off their masks and hold their breaths...thus we all look a bit puffed up!

parking lot pretties

 

Sharing downloaded photos and up-to-date ones!

 

I loved this mural being painted.  Sorry, don't know who took the photo!

This has been around for a while...with a hawk sitting on her glove! She does represent a girl with a fierce wild heart! I wonder what the first line (above the edge of the saved photo) said.

One of my favorite old post cards of the intersection of US 70 (State St.) and NC 9 (Montreat Rd.) in the center of Black Mountain NC.

And of course the most fun is to take a new photo today to compare!

 

Maybe if I drive a bit further...

Now you have a clear view of Tyson's furniture with all the blue awnings on the left (where the Auction house used to be.) And right in front of you is Town Hardware.

After trying to find parking to try out the new Cuban restaurant (no luck) I drove down the next main road, Sutton St. It passes the Depot, and this relatively new store, Sassafras on Sutton. Their name is somewhere on the door that's open. I went with a friend a few weeks ago and saw the upstairs, which is devoted to children's games and books. Downstairs has lots of books and fun gift items. I love that store!

OK, one more (or maybe two) old photo to remind me that this is shared on Sepia Saturday!

Hill County Courthouse, Hillsboro, Texas...photographer unknown. I would imagine my ancestors Booth (especially the several attorneys) would have been familiar with this building.

I do have some great early photos of my father, whose birthday was last week. Check the sepia ones I posted HERE. 

And one of my grandmom holding her first son, (born April 6, 1906) while wearing her wedding dress! I always love the sense that she had gotten back into shape enough to put on her wedding gown following having a child.

The prompt photo this week is of a nurse and children.

One Door Closes...

 

Today I graduated from Pulmonary Rehab! 

I have been tested to see if I can walk further, or be able to do more modified squats (to standing from the edge of my chair.) And the results are being announced to my group of other patients.

I had a group that dwindled down while I was in rehab...whether people dropped out, were sick, or what, I don't know. So there were just 4 of us who graduated out of I think 6 who started together.

I noticed that a huge group (say 18 or so) patients are doing the cardiac rehab on the same days we do...MW & F afternoons. They are doing lots of exercises wearing those heart monitors, then have some sitting balancing and stretching training, and then do a few minutes of quiet meditation...much like the Ornish program, only just a few minutes to do "stress management." Ornish had an hour, with yoga and breathing techniques, then at least 15-20 min. of deep meditation. But I'm glad those folks are learning the importance of reducing stress in order to be more healthy.

The really sad part of all this, is having seen so many sick people be served in Heart Path...where cardiac rehab is offered. It reminds me of the hospital where a whole wing of a floor had nothing but cardiac patients. This is the number one cause of death for lots of us...whether looking at elders, or those who are obese...or just women. And I was all of those!  And the list of cardiologist doctors on the wall at the entrance to the Heart Path building is staggering.

I see all the folks in rehab, or in rooms at the hospital, or in a waiting room at a cardiologists office, and think, some of these folks aren't going to make it. And I have no way of knowing who's more likely to live several more years or not. I wonder if the technicians can tell.

I'm glad I'm not in a medical profession these days.

On a final note, not exactly uplifting unfortunately. The Ornish program is being put on hold as of December. The owners of our hospital and rehab facilities (Mission was bought by "for-profit" Hospital Corporation of America, HCA) are probably looking at the bottom line of the cardio rehab business. And if it doesn't make a profit for them, they may not want to continue offering it. Just think like this (I'm ashamed to say I do think like this)..."why keep these heart attack survivors alive longer, when a second heart operation would mean  more billable surgeries and beds full in the hospital?"

And now I'm going to just live my life one day at a time, including somewhere I can go exercise at least 3 times a week. Yesterday I signed up at our local YMCA. It's a bit smaller than the gym at the Heart Path center...but there's someone who can show me how to use some of the things I haven't used. And there's a heated pool. Of course there's no wearing masks in the pool, so I probably won't use it till Covid is behind us.

Speaking of which...the stats are ugly for today. Even though vaccines are apparently beginning to be available...there is talk that they will only last for a year. For now, I am skeptical that I'll get the vaccine right away. We shall see.

Playground construction

 

The red surface on the play area may be the rubber one.

A very scary machine, at least to my impression of it.

Part of the Bush Hog, which has been parked for the weekend.

The rest of the Bush Hog machine

The play area with the new surface...but what will be done to help a disabled child be able to play? I'll keep looking.

Are they real?

 

Our little church has not been packed on a Sunday morning since March and the pandemic which sent us to a virtual service via YouTube and Facebook.

I happened to be checking something at the church when I saw these 2 beautiful bouquets. Our Office Manager had brought them in. They are silk!

The minister has been recording the services on Wed. around noon here in the sanctuary. Then it is edited before the "broadcast" on Sunday morning.

Thanks for the beautiful flowers! Of course silk flowers are real, real silk.

Would you like a chuckle today also? Or maybe a groan...

What did the Veterinarian say when the person brought his sick lizard in to be examined? 

"Does it have reptile dysfunction?"

And a quote from John Lennon...a bit long, but hey, I haven't posted any quotes for days!

“A mistake is only an error, it becomes a mistake when you fail to correct it. The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.

Love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep on watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.

We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.

You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are! There’s nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you.

You’re all geniuses, and you’re all beautiful. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you’ll get it as soon as you like.

That’s what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be.

I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.

Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away. Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace… we just need to declare it.

Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t expect Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end."

~John Lennon

More Thurs. construction work

 

Another construction crew was working (or maybe on a break at that picnic table) on the playground at Lake Tomahawk.

I'd read that the town has decided to upgrade the playground so there's a rubber surface for the kids to play on, and it's due to have something to make it more accessible to kids with disabilities. This particular climbing area is certainly not for the disabled kids. I hope they keep the big sand box that shows in the foreground.

I met a good friend who was on her second trip around the lake...and I quit after one go-round, which is 0.55 miles. I hope one day soon to do the second lap. I'll let you know!