More Fun at Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock

I just realized that all of our non-facebook friends and family readers had not had a taste of spring break in NC. We set aside 2 days to have a little vacation and rest from all the reading, writing, and studying of the semester and headed out to Chimney Rock, NC. We were rained out on Monday, but spent the day mall walking and driving a beautiful back route to Asheville. It was a good day together, even if we were not hiking.

Tuesday dawned bright and clear. We began our "hike" with an elevator ride to the top of chimney rock. Then we climbed up higher for a birds eye view of the area. After that it was down to lower falls for a view of Hickory Nut Falls. Next lunch out in the village. Then we climbed some lower educational trails meant for children (I don't think we were disqualified). Before we left we climbed to the top of chimney rock and down 2 more times. Yes, we only planned one more trip to the top, but at the top we met a hammered dulcimer player and he gave me a lesson :) We wanted to buy a cd, but the ATM did not work in the gift shop. He let us take it on faith that we would send the payment, but when we got to the car we realized that we had the check book there. So - up we went again.

Oh, it was beautiful there. We upgraded our day pass so that we could return anytime in the next year. We plan to get picture in the summer and in the fall ... OOOOOHHH! We also realized that we need to plan a trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall - it is supposed to be gorgeous. It goes near to Mount Airy (aka Mayberry) and far into VA near the Luray Caverns.

I'm Not Jealous!

It was a good night at Bible Conference last night, but I was particularly struck by this thought in the last message of the night (Monday night) and thought that I would share it.

Think of Enoch walking with God ...
Imagine being Abraham - "the friend of God" ...
Moses stood on holy ground and saw God pass by the cleft of the rock ...
The good hand of his God was upon Ezra ...
The Lord was with Joseph ...
The disciples walked with, talked with, ate with Jesus ...

So why shouldn't I be jealous? Why? Because I sit in "heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6) I am a child of the king! (Ephesians 1:5)

It is hard to be down when I think on that thought. Just try it.

Time to Garden!

Well, our snow quickly disappeared as the temperatures soared to the upper 70's. Now it is time to work on the garden! This is the first year that we have had any land to work with and we are starting with our front "rock garden." We are using a method called square foot gardening. The area is sectioned off into "square feet" of course. Each square contains a different crop and is planted with something new when the first crop finishes. The great thing about this style of planting is that you don't need a lot of space (many sprawling plants are trained to grow upwards), you use minimal seeds (because you don't thin the plants), the crops are naturally rotated because have more than one crop in each place each year.

So it is time to experiment. We just planted peas, onions, beets, carrots, 5 different leafy greens, and radishes. Next time around will be pole beans, peppers, tomatoes, and herbs. The last season will be summer and winter squash, more carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, and lettuces. There is also a packet of pumpkin seeds here, but I have to find a different plot to plant these. I am also being urged to try watermelons!

There is nothing like watching the miracle of life in any form. Whether it be a new baby, or the plant that comes from such a tiny seed and produces food for us.

John 1:3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

Snow Day!

Well, I am a week late with this report ... OOPS! Last week the college had a snow day. I did not realize that colleges could do that. Being a college student in Florida introduced me to "Hurricane Days," but this was new and exciting.

We had figured that this was not going to be the year to see snow in NC, but on Sun., March 2 the snow started coming. We started to see the snow and freezing rain around noon while Chris was grilling our Sunday dinner (BRRR!). By the time we came home from church that night, it was just beautiful. As we drifted off to sleep, we could hear folks in the trailers around us enjoying it. We woke up to no power on Monday morning and the power company predicted it would be 5 pm the next day before it was restored (they beat the expected fix by 24 hours). The trailer got cold VERY quickly, but the snow was so beautiful. Yes, Chris did get the day off and got quite a few compositions done, some reading, and some studying as well as a trip to town! What a nice surprise it had been over a year since either of us had seen snow!