Sitting rather than walking

 The third post of one day by the lake...and tomorrow will be from another day, with different focus!

Don't get dizzy, this just happened when I slipped the phone into my pocket.

Yes, I hadn't seen this parking lot this full since I used to come eat lunch here daily. A clear Saturday in January brought everyone out!

Because of the crowded walks, with a few of the walkers wearing masks, I chose to sit and enjoy the day without walking around the lake. I also felt a bit lazy.

But rather than going to this bench on the peninsula which had some mallards enjoying lunch, I just clicked their image and kept on moving.

More ducks were joining them, coming out of the water (in the shade of the rocks so you can't really see them jumping up.)

My seat afforded me a rock to make sure I didn't go into the shallow water between the huge rocks. No ducks had yet made this a slope where some landscaping people had put a bit of grass sod.

View of the Rec. Building at Lake Tomahawk, from my peninsula. 

I just shared a great link on Facebook, which NPR posted...it's apparently been around a while. Radio Garden. Try it out and listen to radio stations anywhere in the world!

Today's quote:

The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within—strength, courage, dignity.

RUBY DEE

From a bench on a peninsula in a lake...

 

To continue my Saturday, Jan. 23 2021 sitting at the lake....some days I just don't have any new photos to share!

Yes, my bench was at the same peninsula as the gazebo at Lake Tomahawk

I was interested in the bark on this tree...perhaps a cherry tree? It certainly has lots of dead or dying  limbs.

Today's quote:

I and this mystery; here we stand.

–Walt Whitman

A very satisfying lunch

 

The last serving of my herb potato salad from Earth Fare grocery. And my hamburger that's plant based! However the thin whole wheat bread didn't make it through the whole sandwich, and I used my fork to eat the second half! I didn't see any reason to purchase a package of buns for the two patties I bought. The second patty was eaten plain, with various side dishes!

All the oil around the patties came from them, in my non-stick skillet. And I found pressing down on the patties to make them bigger, thinner, was a good idea. All the impossible burgers I've had at restaurants were thin and wide!

Yes, there's lots of fat grams in each one! But the taste is definitely of a real piece of hamburger!

This is what I made my sandwich from..as well as a bit of Veganaise. A flatter piece of lettuce and a bigger slice of tomato might have helped...as well as a real bun! I found it interesting that the 20 grams of protein was offset by 18 grams of fat. Many plant-based eaters scoff at that and say it's worse for you than a real hamburger. But hey, pea protein didn't mean killing a cow!

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Today's quote:

Listen to your heart and trust the direction you are being pulled.

Something inside you already knows what to do.

SPRING WASHAM

Jan 23 at Lake Tomahawk

 This poor old cherry tree sits near the gazebo at Lake Tomahawk.

Today's quote:

". . . the belief that humanity will soon become involved in a deep and abiding worldwide partnership with nature. Millions of us will commit ourselves to reversing the long legacy of environmental degradation that threatens to destabilize the climate as well as the great ecologies that sustain life on Earth. We must develop a vast stewardship initiative, which will become the great work of our time. Fortunately, there are as many ways to serve the Earth as there are people willing to engage in this vast restoration project. It includes nothing less than stabilizing the planet’s climate as well as saving ourselves."John Todd 

Craftsmen did it for practical reasons

 How did they learn to do what they were experts at crafting? Usually from their elders.

Several craft schools were started in the twentieth century around the Appalachian Mountains...to make sure the skills were never lost. John C. Campbell Folk School, and Penland School of Crafts area couple still in existence.

There are annual craft shows by the Southern Highlands Craft Guild in Asheville NC twice a year...at least there were before the pandemic. I hope they return soon. They were held in the largest venue, our civic center, which has now got a new owner, it's Harrahs Cherokee Civic Center now.

And there's the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Asheville. I'll have to check and see if it's even open. It looks as if it's open Tues-Sat, 10-5. 

Jim Henry and his wife Kristine Bullin Henry of Mt Vernon, Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Photo by Coley Ogg, as posted on Facebook by Clementine.

A simple style kick wheel on which to make pottery...base can have bricks inserted between two horizontal circles of wood to be a good balance that will keep the wheel going for quite a while. Most used in America these days have concrete for the "flywheel."

A more practical activity, keeping food fresh. From Abilene Texas comes this 1915-20 photo of the ice man, Olen Stevens holding his tongs in front of his ice delivery wagon.  Courtesy of the collection of Hardin-Simmons University Library in Abilene. As posted on Facebook for Traces of Texas.

My grandmother had one of these ice boxes in her home in Houston, which I visited in the 40's. She still used it with ice, though she soon had an electric refrigerator also. It had a little hose that drained the water through a hole in the floor to the crawl space under the house...which I found out by crawling around on the kitchen floor with my baby sister (I was a big girl of 5 at the time!)

I'm sharing these sepia photos with Sepia Saturday...they're on the letter "X" and my photos have nothing like the following one, so go on over to the link to see if someone has shared something closer to it!

Today's quote:

Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. -Will Rogers, humorist (4 Nov 1879-1935

Way down upon the Swannanoa River

 

Ice and snow melt, as well as springs in the mountains, feed the Swannanoa River.

There are some new sandy banks here by the river. Someone probably trucked in a few loads to add some height here where the bench can be found.

This nice area is next to one of the paths in our recreation area of Veterans park, a greenway and community gardens.

Today's quote:

I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe. And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. -Joe Biden, 46th President of the United States 

Community Garden asleep

 

I enjoyed my walk around these gardens, though nobody was working them that cold day of January.

There were just a few uncovered plots with green winter crops.

Several signs let everyone know how the garden is run.

Today's quote:

There is a perceptible energetic shift that takes place when we choose to see the good in all.

Julia Burr's sculpture

 

Glass marbles catch the sunlight...I am glad I could step close to get this detail.

At the foot of the gardens, stands a sculpture by Julia Burr.

It's located near an area which has a butterfly garden during spring/summer/fall. But now it only has grass and fallen leaves around it.

I actually misread it and thought it said Archery, rather than Alchemy. Duh. And me who has had a blog and a pottery business called "Alchemy of Clay." Hanging my head, I am.

Today I remember my little sister, who died a couple of years ago. Today would have been her 75th birthday.

Today's quote:

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow 
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

~Mary Elizabeth Frye

Winter Gardens Walk

 

The next time I'm on I-40 eastbound, and see this sign for the Watershed, I'll remember it's right next to the path at the Community Gardens.

A big field and big sky...and the little green patch? Possibly something to do with the Frisbee Course.

It's also a big hill. I only saw these two Frisbee throwing people the whole time I was walking. But there was the scent of a wood burning stove coming from one of those houses, and a bit of some delectable herb that I couldn't quite identify.

The volunteer fire department buildings were close to the road, where an indoor soccer venue is also located...off of S. Blue Ridge Rd, so they are really close to my home.

Most of the gardens are put to bed under hoops and plastic sheeting.

At the top of the hill are some strange crosses, which help some vines I think, which were dormant at this time.

Today's Quote:

Know the place and the land on which you are rooted, and then move outward from there. 

By fellow blogger, Terry Windling /the-unwritten-landscape.html

New month and good news

 Happy first of February!

Gratitude is at a high level today...yesterday (Saturday) two wonderful things happened. A friend called to say there's a climic that we can go to this afternoon and get our COVID-19 vaccinations. Another friend of ours had told her about it, who had just returned from getting hers. My friend asked if I wanted to try it. I thought of all the nothing things I was in the middle of doing and said YES!

So we met a few minutes later, I having changed from a long sleeved tee-shirt and sweater to a short sleeved sweater...and my "Connecticut coat." It's a puffy coat of many colors that is for when the weather is in the 30's or below. Anyway we drove through Asheville, and finally found the clinic. Incidentally we wore masks in the car, and I sat in the back seat...about 3 feet from my friend.

We saw two rows of cars in line, and turned in to the clinic where everything was set up to distribute vaccines. A man in a red coat came up to us and said the appointments would be over at 3:30 and if there were enough people waiting, they'd open another container of vaccines and give them out. We were told to drive over to a line of cars going up the street outside the clinic parking lot. We were the 5th car in that line. The man said with two of us we made 8 waiting. 

We waited about half an hour, and enjoyed talking together. Then the red coat man came by and said they were going to be taking us, just follow the car in front of us. We did! And by then there were probably 10 cars behind us.

We filled out the forms on their clipboard. Then we were at the door to the clinic, where a nurse came out, wearing wings! I kid you not! We had our temperatures taken, orally! 

This was the most upbeat nurse I've seen in ages. Well...at least since I was in rehab.

Entrance to the clinic had people coming and going...we didn't even get out of the car.

My friend receiving her shot. She said it was the tiniest needle and didn't hurt at all. I agreed.

That's when it started to snow!

We then drove to the area waiting to be sure we had no side effects for 15 minutes. We were told to come back in 4 weeks about the same time for our second Moderna vaccine doses. We received a paper describing it. (I haven't looked at it yet.)

And then the snow started to fall harder and harder...all the way home, and for at least another hour after we had come home. I thanked my friend immensely, and we called the friend who told her about the drop in clinic. What a blessing...or as I defined it, grace was smiling upon us today! 

Did I mention I got my mail while waiting for my friend to pick me up? In it was my stimulus check. So I'm waiting to go to the bank on Mon. to deposit it. I don't have any extra expenses at this time, but you never know. I feel doubly blessed. What a day!

____________

Today's quote:

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott