Mountain Midweek

New River in Todd, NC ("right up the road") photo by Lynne Townsend

this is what a frozen river looks like, BIG CHUNKS of ice.

This is a picture of Grandfather Mtn taken from the highway by Brenda Hoss on January 2nd. Just plain frozen.
Even though it says the date is Wed., January 6th, the following is an account of today, Thursday, January 7th, 2010.

This morning:

Alarm did not go off ... why? oh, because it was set for 7AM instead of 6AM. Hmmmmm. Well, I woke up at 6:38 and hustled in to the kitchen to fill the kettle for some much needed coffee and tea. NO WATER is coming out of the tap .... come on brain, what does that mean? Strange moment, oh NO! Frozen water ... D A N G. Oh, I see, it's 2 degrees outside ... (thank you to the inventor of indoor plumbing and running water) PAUL!!! Get up ... please start up the wood furnace the water lines are frozen. Poor sweet Paul ... down to the dungeon to fire up the wood furnace WAY BEFORE he should have ever had to be awake WITHOUT A CUP OF TEA! Then up to the kitchen to fire up the wood stove. (thank you to all the trees we have been able to make firewood from, and to our sweet friends Charles & Sabrina for just bringing a load of wood by every now and then for kindness!) All that fire building takes a long time, and Paul's throwing his clothes on ... gathers a big pan full of snow and jokingly hands it to me with a kiss and says, "here you go, Pioneer Woman, put this on the wood stove and you'll soon have some water" ... and he's off with dimples blazing and a giggle in his heart. (thank you for this wonderful man)

Meanwhile, I go to put the pot filled with snow on the kitchen wood stove and climb into the basement to check the wood furnace when I hear the GLORIOUS sound of water running upstairs! Whoo hoo! (thanks for hearing! What a miraculous thing the sense are!) Up the stairs I go to fill the kettle with real water (not melted snow ~ although that would have done in a pinch) and then bounced in to the shower and on with my morning routine. All the while knowing I would take a thermos of hot English tea and some English muffin goodness to my sweet husband at work on my way out since he had no time for breakfast during fire building mania. (thank you for providing the opportunity for Paul to have a real job once again) As I go outside to start my wonderful warm 4WD car, I notice Paul's station wagon "ditched" in the snow on the side yard. Hmmmmm. (thank you for keeping him right side up and safe) Where is Paul? Must've walked on to work. (thank you to the Universe for having the infinite wisdom to find him a job within a mile of the house) As I am on my way out of the house to take Paul some "groceries" as they say around here, I see he is standing at the front door with snow all over his side. "Did you fall?" I ask him with great concern. No, I had to lie down in the snow to tie the rope to my car so you can pull me out before you leave". Well, okeedoekee! So, we get him out of the snow and on the road again. And now I am at work. (thank you for a safe journey once again) And that's the way it was this morning in the mid week adventure of Paul and Cheri in the High Country of North Carolina! We are expecting more snow this afternoon. Hot dog!!!!!

Happy Trails (and then some),

Paul & Cheri

check out our forecast: http://averyweather.com/Forecast/Newland