Top 'O Beech

Here's a picture taken at the top of Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

Sunday was a beautiful day for skiing -- we took close to 10 runs before we called it a day.

Monday? Not so good. It poured rain last night. Good day to be working, which we are...

High hopes for tomorrow. :o)

World's Biggest Brothers (WBB)

Yesterday I was on a flight from Chicago to Charlotte, NC.

I was sitting comfortably in my assigned seat, when I looked up and then I saw them...my seatmates. Two guys in their twenties. One of them looked at me and said: "Congratulations. Today is your lucky day. You have the chance to sit next to The World's Biggest Brothers."

Normally, I might be pretty bummed to be sitting next to two guys who were larger than the regular fellow, you know, sides slipping over into my seat, elbows out over the armrests. Fortunately, that didn't happen here. These guys were hilarious!

At one point, a woman came over to our row and started to take one of their bags out of the overhead compartment. "I'll just move your bag over here so that I can fit my bag on the plane," she said to them.

The Brothers: "Well, it's kind of heavy."
The Woman: "No, it's really not."
Big Brother #1 turns to me: "She just moved my dad."
Me: "WHAT?!?!"
Apparently, they were escorting an urn with their dad's ashes back to the East Coast.

We spent the rest of our time on the plane together going through the Sky Mall catalog, you know, with products like the Cat Potty Training program, or the Fake Security Camera that you can mount in your garage to fool criminals into thinking you have a real surveillance system, and the sunglasses with a video camera inside.

These guys are hilarious. I've encouraged them to start their own YouTube channel -- with snippets of their life. Tune into The World's Biggest Brothers. Remember, you saw it here first...:o)

Southern Tastes

Last night I asked my husband what he had for lunch.

"Beaver," he said.

"What did you say? I think we have a bad connection," I responded.

"Barbequed beaver," he said.

And, that's when I knew...I really do live in the South. :o)
BTW, I was told that the beaver weighed 65 lbs.

Flying High...

Yesterday I went flying in our Bird Dog. For those of you who don't know, the Bird Dog is a military observatory plane. So much fun!

We flew over Brays Island...I could see our house, the main Inn, the Equestrian Center, the docks into the Pocotaligo River, even the water standing in the dove field. Everything looked soggy. We've had a lot of rain down here...

Before we left the airport, I took a video of a take-off: Have a look...there he goes...

Nana's chair

WOW. Look at how beautiful this chair looks...

This chair used to be next to the bed in my Nana's room. The last time I saw her, when I was 3 years old, I was sitting in this chair. It used to be covered in a torn pink damask.

Look at it now. I love it. Thank you to the guys at East Coast Upholstery in Beaufort. They are amazing!

2010

It's New Year's Eve, 2010. The start of another decade.

Yesterday I was driving to the fitness center to go to a class when I tuned into NPR. One of the byproducts of living in the Lowcountry is that you have to drive a lot. I'm not used to that. And, when I'm driving, I find I listen to the radio.

The participants on the radio show were doing a "Decade Retrospective." Gee, I was just looking back over the events that had taken place over the past year...when I am challenged to think about everything that's happened, that's touched me, in the last decade? It seemed overwhelming.

The theme of the program was "Politics: 1999-2000 and covered the following: the impeachment attempt of Bill Clinton; the 2000 election with the Florida recount; the attack on the World Trade Center; the counterattack in Afghanistan and invasion of Iraq; Huricane Katrina and finally, the election of 2004. All of these events touched me in one way or another personally, some directly, some indirectly. What a decade. Wonder what the next one will hold...

'Tis The Day After Christmas

It's the day after Christmas, and all through the house,
All the creatures are stirring, even the stuffed grouse.
The dishes were washed in the kitchen with care,
In hopes that Miss Flo soon would be there.

My husband is snuggled all warm in our bed,
While visions of rice planting dance in his head.
And, Xena with her ball, and Blaze with his bone,
Have eaten their breakfast and now can just zone.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chaise to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
To open the french doors and threw up the sash.

The newly-risen sun on the dewy marsh grass,
Gave off kaleidoscopic colors of freshly-made stained glass,
When, what to my wondering eye should appear,
But, Sara and her dogs; -- oh, what a dear!

With her high snake boots, and dog whistle in her hand,
I knew that it must be time for her little band,
To rush through the old oak grove and dove field across the way,
They had time to get there, with nary a neigh,

For the owners with their horses were not quite up yet,
They were still washing and grooming and leading with reins, I'll bet,
So the dogs tore off, tails all a-wiggling,
To look for other creatures, to play, romp, do some diggling.

There were fire ants, chiggers, and plenty of snakes,
Mole crickets, toads, possums, even armadillos for heaven sakes!
So they rolled and they romped and they jumped and they jived,
Until Sara felt that she barely survived,

All the fun and the excitement of the field that they had,
She wanted them home before they had a chance to be bad.
So, whistled she did and they came running around,
Obedient hunting dogs they, not some dumb kind of hound.

I looked again out my window, and what should I see,
But a gander of goose, and egrets flying --with glee.
When I looked in the sky, I could hardly believe,
So many different birds, that I went to retrieve...

My camera, my binocs, my phone and my bird book,
So that I could see and record and have a good look,
Because the beauty of these birds had to be captured,
I was totally and completely and fully enraptured.

Kites, and terns, and long-billed white ibis,
Squawked and warbled like a low-country Imis,
Great blue herons, plovers, woodstorks and ducks,
Turkey vultures, falcons, and eagles, what luck!

Songbirds, and spoonbills, and sparrows and all,
Flying up, up, up, with nary a fall,
'Til they flew out out sight, beyond my vision,
Of that I am sure, there can be no derision.

So I looked into the water, and what should I see?
But, a dolphin and her babies, feeding at sea.
She breached and she splashed and she made the fish jump,
So her babies could feed and eat a fish-lump.

They splashed and they squeaked and they swam and they fed,
Until at last they had eaten enough of their bread,
So off they swam...
Down the creek, through the bay, to the sea..on the lam.

I watched until I could see them no more,
And, turned back and I then looked to the shore,
Where I saw tracks, new and deep, in the sand,
What was it, who left those tracks on the land?'

'Twas the 12 point buck, the one that men wanted,
The one hunters stalked and chased, but were still haunted,
By the elusiveness and stealth of the hearty strong buck,
Who left them feeling all bereft of good luck.

For they waited and sat in their stands way up high,
To see that strong buck when he chanced to come nigh,
But they waited in vain for that buck in the field,
For he never allowed them their hopes for a yield.

And, so, from the Lowcountry, all verdant outside,
Where folks tend the land with a great deal of pride,
We wish y'all a Merry Christmas-time,
And, we hope you enjoyed this new festive rhyme.

Seriously, hope y'all had a very Merry Christmas! With love from the Bubba-ette...