It’s a Good Day!

I love waking up with a positive song in my head. THAT does not happen often, I can tell you that for sure.

I love the silliness of this Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cinderella and Fairy Godmother duo.

(Godmother)

Impossible, for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.

Impossible, for a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage

And four white mice will never be four white horses

Such fol-der-ol and fid-dle-dy dee of course, is— Impossible!

But the world is full of zanies and fools

Who don’t believe in sensible rules

And won’t believe what sensible people say.

And because these daft and dewey-eyed dopes keep building up impossible hopes, Impossible things are happening every day.

4th of July

Rainbows, Hail, and Flowers, of course!

I have never seen the two ends of a rainbow at the same time. Here are two events that happened in the last few days.

Of course, in order to get a rainbow, you must have a little rain….and hail!

 

Where there is rain, there are also flowers!

Rain also can bring lightning…huge lightning.  Lightning that hit a tree about 50 feet from my RV.  Yup, scared the bejesus out of me. The split down the entire tree to the base. And the wind blew down thousands of trees in the area.

Fall at Hyco

The fall months in North Carolina are a cacophony of changes in colour and sound. Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the US. This is one of the days that Veterans fight for, and I am grateful for the freedom to enjoy it.\r\n\r\nIMGP471720141109_105616\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nHyco Nov 11 2014\r\n\r\nThis is a 6am B&W of Hyco Lake with fog.\r\n\r\nIMGP4734

Best Summer Ever!

Kids; this is the story about the best summer of my life. Think about how you would define the best summer of your life.  What would you want be doing? Where would you want to be? How would you life look if you could design the best summer ever?\r\n\r\nThe summer of 2014 is that for me, and much more.\r\n\r\nIt began when I moved my RV from Youngsville, NC to HYCO Lake, NC, outside of Roxboro.  It was the beginning of March 2014 when Mary Mount invited me to move into the Temboli Manor. I had no idea how my life would change.\r\n\r\nIt had not taken long for my affection for Mary Mount to thicken, like melted milk chocolate that turns to creamery delight as it cools. I found myself wobbling back and forth between pinching myself to make sure it was reality, and losing myself in the delirium of happiness. To say I was scared, is an understatement.  To say I was grateful is also an understatement. I felt like Peter Pan returning to Never, never land – not wanting to wake up and definitely not wanting to return to grownup world.\r\n\r\nI love the sunrises over Hyco Lake. The stillness of the water as the sky turns pink and mirrors the exact same colour on the surface of the lake. It often reminds me of a puzzle with the reflection off the water of the sky and trees around the scene.\r\n\r\nThe birds are an amazing cacophony of sounds in the morning. I have identified about 15 different species. It has been such a learning experience to watch the ecology change over the summer months. I watched Mallard Ducks mate and have their young. Unfortunately, I have witnessed the natural ebb and flow of life as young ducks disappear. From Hummingbirds, Carolina Wren, Cowbirds, Finches, to Osprey, Hawks, and Great Herons. It has been a joy to experience nature so closely, so intimately as never before.\r\n\r\nSome of the things that have made it so wonderful: sleeping out on the veranda and listening to the lake and forest go to sleep and wake up again, see the sunrises and sunsets, watching the space station pass overhead multiple times, all the flowers and vegetables grown this summer, all the photos of so many things, kayaking around the lake, gardening, lying in the sun, trimming the trees and bushes, writing in my blog, playing music, drawing, writing songs, developing CML, and most importantly, spending time with probably the most amazing lady I have ever met – Mary Mount.\r\n\r\n 

Hyco Mount Estate

Dreams need a date to become a reality. Goals have dates, otherwise, they are just dreams. I had written goals for 2014 that included seeing ten new places that I had never been to in the US. I had the opportunity to see Hyco lake district in North Carolina. It is a man-made lake, developed in the 1960’s to supply cooling water for an electrical power plant. Today, approximately 1400 homes occupy the shores of the extended lake tributaries. The lake provides recreational facilities for fishing and boating as well as retreats from the Raleigh-Durham urban centers.

This is my new friend, Mary, at her family retreat. The relaxing sounds of water, birds, and quiet walking trails provide a silent counterpart to the daily humdrum of work activities.