Whirlwind Week

Before I begin, I will say that I know I'll leave some things out.  Going back to last Friday, Judy and I have had a very eventful seven days. Here are some highlights:

• Friday  ~  picnicked and hiked at Raven Rock State Park, dined at the Pik 'n' Pig, and watched Carolina win in the Sweet Sixteen
• Saturday  ~ nothing unusual, just a great day, lots of time outside
• Sunday  ~ church, family dinner, afternoon service at Pinehurst Nursing and Rehab, watched Carolina's season come to an end in an exciting game
• Monday ~ all day in Chapel Hill, great medical reports for Judy, hit a few stores, home in time to do some yardwork and so forth
• Tuesday ~ special breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Gail and her sister Pam, played piano at First Health, lunch with Amanda's crew and a fun afternoon of babysitting
• Wednesday ~ much progress on next year's woodpile, afternoon singalong at Manor Care (one of my friends there is a former Rockette-- I love playing her requests, like "Pretty Baby")
• Thursday ~ out to Farm Life School for a rock and mineral show with fourth graders-- what a blast!  Checked out the nature trail and found it in great shape for hiking, Home for lunch with Judy and Thelma, evening babysitting with Brianna and Hunter-- what a bunch of precious moments!

Back to the first item on the list:  our day at Raven Rock was filled with excitement and is deserving of its own post.  If it rains tomorrow as expected I'll have time to compose that post-- or posts.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with a couple of teaser photos from this glorious whirlwind week.

The longest snake I've ever seen in the wild,
a seven foot black rat snake at Raven Rock!

The beautiful Cape Fear River

L to R: Jack, Thelma, Gail, Judy, Ken, Pam
at Cracker Barrel

Hunter: "What do I do when my Easter egg hatches?"

The Farm Life Nature Trail keeps calling me back!

The wisteria reigns at Judy's Grandma McKenzie's
house, one of the oldest in Moore County.

More about Raven Rock's wonders very soon.

Five Year Transplant Anniversary

We recently celebrated FIVE years since

Judy's successful liver transplant.  And

believe me, that's something to celebrate!

As usual, Judy would prefer that most of

the attention go to the guests of honor on

our night out.  So-- no surprise here --

most of this blog is the grandkids enjoying

our night out at The Thai Orchid.

(Don't miss the video at the end!)

I was a moment late to get a picture of the

mammoth hug that preceded this shot of

Evan and Hunter.

Bri: "You think that was a hug?  Watch this!"

Claire: "Brace yourself, Cousin."

And Grandpa just melts.

This is no fast food establishment, so 

Grandpa sets the boys up to watch cars

and trucks go by on U.S. 1.

Brianna knows a good thing when she 

sees it, and joins in.  And Claire knows a

good thing, too.  That's why she's already

at the table! And Hunter wants to make 

sure none of us miss the car zooming past.

"Waiter, how much longer will it be? I'm

almost through with my appetizer."

Evan: "Appetizer? They told me the cheese

crackers were the main course!"

I corral the reluctant star of the evening.

It was a wonderful time.

And wonderful times are even better with

marshmallow dessert towers.

And little bunny rabbits with propellers.

"Let me pour some water on your hair,

Evan, so I can dry it. Okay?"

Food?  Who cares about food.  This is

what rings Grandma's chimes.

And enjoying it all with all these loved ones.

You notice how few of them got in the

other photos?  Life just isn't fair.

It was time to go home, but somebody

mentioned that we hadn't yet played

"Ring Around the Rosie."  So that's

just what we did. Some fall down.

And some just keep on boogie-ing.

Now if you've got 22 seconds, enjoy

this excerpt from "Ring Around the

Rosie."  You can see that falling down

is the fun part.  And when Hunter is

hugged simultaneously by Bri and Evan

there's no way he can remain standing!

What's next?  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Feeling Like Spring with Claire and Evan

We recently had a chance to spend a day

with Claire and Evan at their new house.

They just love their deck.  And Evan

intends to do everything big sister does.

And if he can think of it first, that's even

better.  Here, he's looking through the screen.

So, naturally . . . .

Sometimes, Claire doesn't like to pose.

Today was not one of those days.

This is Evan's "Say Cheese" expression.

He says "Cheese" with a vengeance.

I have no pictures from our morning visit

to the park at Aberdeen Lake.  We had a 

blast there and also went for a stroll across 

a bridge.  In the afternoon we visited a 

small neighborhood park just a couple of

blocks from the new house.

Evan: "This sure beats taking a nap, 

right Grandpa and Grandma?"

You can tell this is an older park, but

we fell in love with it.  It also has some shade.

Evan: "Now what have I got myself into?"

Which one of Newton's laws says

"The bigger you are, the faster you slide?"

Now that he's decided he likes it. . . .

You may know that Aberdeen is an old

railroad time.  That theme was included

in this locomotive monkey bar. All we

had to do was supply the monkey.

Make that monkeys.

Claire corrected me when I praised her

for climbing from the back of the train

all the way to the front.

"It's not the front.  It's the engine."

And she's right!

Maybe you've noticed.

Claire, Evan, Brianna, and Hunter

are ALWAYS RIGHT!

In my opinion, anyway.

"March-ing" in like a lamb

It's time to share some of these late February

and early March photos.

Brianna demonstrates how easy it is to

ride my new tire swing standing up.

But some might prefer sitting down.

And you can always lay back and

holler "Yee ha!"

In recent weeks we've been able to take

little strolls to the neighboring property

to observe neat construction activity.

We've seen dump trucks, bulldozers, and

busy workmen digging, hauling, and even

pushing over trees.  Can't wait to see

the end results.

Hunter: "I sure could use a GPS."

Grandpa's car becomes a new playspace.

When it's too hot inside,we can just

play on the hood! Under Grandpa's 

careful supervision-- it's a long way down!

Whenever Bri heads off in a different

direction, Hunter just has know where

she's going.  Even if SHE doesn't know.

On another day, we journeyed to nearby

Camelot Park, where Bri tried all the 

slides.  Just look at that smile.

And look at what the static electricity and

the wind did to her hair.

Hunter says, "Bri, let's go this way."

"Okay.  Let's go your way."

You can't tell from this picture what Hunter's

standing on, but it's the bouncy bridge they

call the trampoline.  He likes it fine as long

as he has it all to himself.

As her last hurrah before we leave (see

Grandma and Hunter waiting in the

background), Bri zips down the super-

high spiral slide.  

What fun we have, wherever we may be.

Next post shows similar fun with Claire and Evan.

Can't Fiddle, but Ticklin' the Ivories

This will be my final blog about this year's

Fiddlers' Convention.  I wanted to share a 

few sights from that fun evening.  Here I

am with friends and supporters Jeanette

and Cy.  I met them at the hospital, where

we are all volunteers.  I later learned that

my other volunteer buddies Jim and Lyn

were present (up near the rafters) along

with their lovely ladies.  I had many other

friends who were there, including quite

a crowd from church.

It was worth waiting around past midnight

for the winners to be announced.  As you'll

note on my gold wristband, I was entrant

# 13.  But I've never been superstitious.

The following pictures are just a sampling

of the types of groups that performed.  Note

that each of these three features at least one

young performer.  One of the hallmarks of

this event is the encouragement of young

musicians and dancers.  And if you could 

hear the way they sing, pick, and clog,

you'd appreciate how this family friendly

venue is passing along valuable traditions

in our community and around the state.

North Moore's stadium seating is ideal for

everyone to have a good seat.  This picture

shows you there were almost no empty seats.

And this is only part of the lower section 

of the auditorium.

I took a brief side trip to the practice room,

where groups tuned up and loosened up

their vocal cords.  I don't normally go there,

since there's no piano anyway.

I performed just a little after 8:00 and 

returned to my seat to photograph the

cloggers of all ages, a perennial favorite.

Only acoustic instruments are allowed.

Most common are fiddle, string bass,

guitar, banjo, dobro.  There was one

harmonica player.  I keep waiting to 

see an autoharp player (like Mother

Maybelle Carter) or a hammer dulcimer.

I'm very thankful they include the piano,

which many fiddlers' conventions don't.

This video shows a good bunch of 

pickers, plus the top two prize-winning

cloggers (stage right) who can't resist

stepping to this tune.

This high-energy group does some fast
picking and has good harmony.

This final video is the best fiddle player

I heard at this year's convention.  He

really won the audience's admiration with

this version of "Orange Blossom Special"

which was part Charlie Daniels, part

Vasser Clements.

If you haven't been to the Highfalls Fiddlers'
Convention, you might want to put it on your
calendar for next year.  It's always the second
Saturday of March.  And you might need to
get there early to get a good seat-- the crowd
seems to be growing every year.