Help Save the Mountains, PLEASE

The Current Occupant of the White House is urging a "clarification" of rules regarding surface coal mining. While the coal industry may call it surface mining or mountaintop coal removal, it is in fact blowing off the entire top of a mountain to scatter the coal and debris for easy mining. Yes, blowing up the entire top of the mountain. When the mountaintop is blown up, tons of rubble are shoved down the mountain through the valleys below. Habitat is lost for man and beast, and the environment is harmed forever.

Current regulation states that the debris cannot be dumped or pushed within 100 feet of a river stream. This is the regulation the Current Occupant and coal industry want the Environmental Protection Agency to "clarify." (Measure 100 feet and you find this is not a great distance.) Not happy with this restriction, the Bush Administration, on behalf of the coal industry is asking for clarification that the regulation was not intended to apply if the coal industry tried to minimize the damage to the extent possible. In other words, if you cannot limit the damage, then you are free to dump the coal waste directly into the stream, polluting the water and every creek or river downstream.

The change must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and several members of Congress and interested individuals are trying to stop the rule change. There are several organizations that are provide information and are designed to help you know whom to call or write. I'm asking every person I know try to learn more and stop this awful action. The rule change has been published in the Federal Register so time is of the essence.

The following Web site provides comprehensive information about this frightening issue: http://www.ilovemountains.org/. Here you can find a great deal of information and what you might be able to do.

I am very proud to say that our State lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced the first bill in the nation to ban the use of the mountaintop removal of coal. I urge you to get involved, even if you live in a state far removed from the rape of the mountains. What hurts the environment in one state hurts the environment in all of them.

Please go to the ilovemountains Web site and find out more about this horrendous proposal. Listen to Robert F. Kenedy Jr.'s testimony to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. We cannot allow the further destruction of the Appalachian Mountains and their people.



Does anyone really believe this mountain can ever be reclaimed? (Photograph from ilovemountains Web site.)

You may wonder why I have taken to calling the President of the United States the Current Occupant of the White House. It's quite simple. In view of the horrible and devastating changes he is trying to wreak on the environment during his waning days, I can no longer respect the man at all, and he is not worthy of my respect. He is not my President. And this has nothing whatsoever to do with politics. It has to do with the man and the actions of his administration.

Fridays are Golden

Little Lucy wants to play!

Four inches of rain have fallen on us since Wednesday. Our county remains in extreme drought conditions, so hardly anyone is complaining about the rain.

There are some who really dislike rain. Two of them are our Golden Retrievers, Ellie and Lucy. They do not like being out in the rain at all. They complete their outdoor duties and immediately want to come back inside. Once inside, Ellie is content to find a cozy bed and snooze. Lucy, on the other hand, tries to wish the rain away.

Lucy stood near the door to the deck.

Mom! Look! It's still raining!
Yes, dear.






And it's gray and there is nothing to watch! I don't see any squirrels, and the birds are just sitting there.
Yes, dear.

Even that old Santa doesn't like it. Wish I could slap that silly smile off his face. But you might get mad if I mess with him, wouldn't you?

Yes, dear.

Lucy ran to the dining room window to see how it looked from there.

Mom! It's raining on this side of the house, too!

Yes, dear.

Suddenly she had an idea. She sat and looked at me.

Hey Mom! Can I go out to the garage and see what Dad is doing? I might be able to help him.

All right, dear.

We went to the garage. My husband is trying to make yet another squirrel baffle, this one from PVC piping. Lucy just loves watching either of us working. She checked out the system, then seemed disinterested.

We came back inside. Lucy made the rounds, checking all the windows. It was still raining from each one.

Finally, Lucy just gave up. She settled down for a nap.

We are so grateful for this nice rain. The trees really need it before winter. It was a nice, gentle rain that really soaked into the ground.

All of us seem to be on some sort of countdown these days. Friday after next will be Christmas Day. We're counting the days until our family members come home to celebrate with us. Whatever your plans between now and Hanukkah or Christmas, or simply to the end of the month, take a breath now and then. Relax and don't let the holiday stress take over your life.

Have a wonderful, safe, and happy weekend.

Bare Mountains

I know we have a few more days until it is winter, but when the trees shed all their leaves it certainly looks like the dead of winter in the mountains. While we love the emerging spring greens and the fall burst of color, the majesty of the mountains is not diminished even when the trees are bare. The mountains change a lot during the winter, especially when covered with snow or ice. And the mountains change with the sky around them as well.

Here are some random shots taken during a drive through our county.

We have a large plaque under a map of our area. It reads, "Life is always better in the mountains." And that expresses the sentiment well. Life IS better here.

Decorating the Tree

We always have a lot of fun decorating our Christmas Tree. Each ornament seems to bring to mind a story and we recall so many "Christmas Past" memories while we decorate. They usually being with "do you remember?" And of course we always do remember.

We also remember the Christmas Tree of 1995. We had spent a very exhausting November, moving my mother-in-law (Helen) from North Carolina to a nursing care facility near our home in suburban Milwaukee. By early December, she was settled in and happy and we were really looking forward to Christmas.

We got our tree on Saturday and put it in the stand. I awakened early Sunday morning to find my husband shaking with chills. His temperature was 104 and he clearly had influenza. (It is of note that we both had our flu shots, apparently from a recalled batch.) After some acetominophen and a shower, he settled on the couch and I started to put the lights on the tree.

I was interrupted by a phone call from the nursing home. Helen was ill. I put tissues and fluids by the couch for my husband and rushed over. I found Helen quite short of breath and coughing constantly. An X-Ray proved she had pneumonia. The physician suggested we treat her at the facility rather than the hospital and I agreed.

I awakened on Monday morning feeling as if someone had beaten me while I slept. I was aching all over and had a temperature of 103. Yep. I also had the flu. I called to see how Helen was doing. The nurse said she was fine, so I called her room to tell her I would not be coming over that morning. She was not fine. She was clearly confused and didn't even know who I was. Another call to the nurse and a pulse oximetry reading later and Helen was on the way to the hospital.

I took some more aspirin, got dressed, got everything situated for my husband, and dragged myself over to the hospital to meet Helen in the emergency department. I told the nurse at the hospital that I needed a mask. Have you ever been burning with fever, and had to wear a mask? I hope you never do. That Monday was without a doubt the longest day of my life.

After signing all the admission papers and seeing Helen settled at the hospital, I came home to make certain my husband was all right and to plop in the recliner. We both looked at the empty Christmas Tree and had to laugh. Laughing always seems better than crying.

The remainder of the week was spent in caring for my husband (who claimed he was sicker than I), running back and forth to the hospital (wearing that awful mask), and collapsing exhausted when I returned home. By Thursday, we were feeling a little better, so we would spend 15 minutes on the tree and then have to rest once more. It took more than a week to get the tree decorated. Fortunately, all three of us recovered and two weeks later were almost back to normal. Our children came home for Christmas and we had a great time. Nothing like a bad case of flu at Christmas to make you truly appreciate good health.

So...here is our tree this year:

This shot was taken upstairs from the bridge over the great room.

While I love "theme" trees, ours is an eclectic mixture. We have lots of doggie ornaments, lots of nurses and doctors, lots of Hallmark ornaments and lots of Waterfords, along with some homemade ornaments. It may look confusing to some, but every ornament on that tree has a meaning to us. And that's all that matters.

Getting the Tree

We always have a natural Christmas Tree. I think I would be just as happy with a good artificial one, but that would never suit my husband. Throughout our marriage, we have had as large a tree as our house (and wallets) would accommodate. Our favorite tree is the Fraser Fir and we are very lucky that these lovely trees are grown right here in Western North Carolina.

We buy our trees at a tree farm out in the county. The trees are all very good quality, and the mountain view from the hillside is wonderful. Most trees are under nine feet tall, but this farmer has lots of taller trees as well.


We hiked up from the shed at the bottom of the photograph to see all the trees. The larger ones seemed to be higher on the mountain.

The hillside was covered with trees of all sizes and the views were fantastic.

The tree farmer's little Beagle took a liking to me and followed along as we looked at all the trees.

Aha! There it is! The perfect tree! We checked the height with our pole. A little over ten feet. Just right. Now for most people, this would be the end of the tree search. But not for my husband. No matter how perfect this tree might be, it's always possible there is another, even more perfect one waiting for us to find it. So we flagged this tree and kept looking.

After checking out every other tree on the hillside, we came back to the one we first selected. The tree farmer cut it down for us and pulled it behind his tractor down to the shed.

Our tree farmer is also a Baptist preacher. It's not at all uncommon for preachers in the rural areas to have another job. The churches are small, and so is the preacher's salary. I took his picture so you would have the opportunity to see a Jesus baseball cap.

I have no photographs of the rather humorous scene of getting that big tree into the house. Just the two of us. The tree was wrapped securely with netting at the tree farm, but that reduced only the bulk, not the weight. As soon as we opened the door to bring the tree inside, Ellie ran down to get in her crate. Lucy, on the other hand, sniffed and followed us all the way inside. After some rather frightening moments, and some laughter but no shouting, we finally got the tree into the stand and straightened it.

There it sits, straight and tall. Before long, the tree will be covered with white lights and tons of ornaments. It won't shed much at all since it was in the tree stand an hour or so after being cut.

And yes, the Canada Geese and the wheat will be gone, to be replaced by reindeer and holly. The tree looks as perfect as it did outdoors (and that is not always the case) and when you walk into the house you can smell the wonderful evergreen smell.

-----We decorated the tree yesterday. Some of the Christmas Spirit was lost in the expletives yelled at the television during the Green Bay Packer Game. Another game they should not have lost. But when the game was over, we put on Christmas carols and that, along with a little wine, put us back in the spirit of things.

If you celebrate Christmas, I do hope your tree will be the perfect one for you, whether natural or not.

Six Random Facts

I got tagged by Nina to complete a meme, designed to provide readers information they might otherwise not know. One rule of this meme is to write six random facts about yourself. So, here goes:

1. I totally love my car, and I totally love driving it through the mountains. Not a sports car, she is nevertheless a sporty, peppy car. She has a good engine, kicked up a notch or two with turbo. Complete with all-wheel drive and the optional "sports package," my car just loves rounding curves and climbing hills and I just love being along for the ride.

2. I have such a passion for peanut butter that I dare not keep any in the house. The jar of peanut butter calls my name constantly until it has been consumed.

3. I love cooking shows and cooking magazines. I read recipes like many people read novels. My favorite cooking magazine is Cook's Illustrated which gives elaborate detail about how a dish is made.

4. I have always been a reader. I have at least three books in process at any given time, usually one fiction, one non-fiction and one biography. I do not read at night, however. If I do, I tend to get too caught up in the book and stay up far too late.

5. I have never cared a whit for shoes. I hate shopping for them and I hate wearing them. I'm barefoot in the house most of the time and my outdoor shoes are sneakers or boots. On the occasion that I HAVE to wear attractive shoes, I take them off the minute I get home.

6. My circadian chronotype is the "evening" type. I am not a morning person at all. Forced to change into a fake morning person during my work years, I have now reverted to my true self. I must be given some time to come to life in the morning. It's simple, really. Just leave me alone while I cradle my coffee mug and sit quietly in my chair. I feel the need to speak on behalf of all of us who are evening types. We are not lazy! We are not slugs! We don't need (or get) any more sleep than you morning types. Morning people tend to think that they have it right and some of them are downright arrogant about it. [You know that old, "early to bed, early to rise" thing.] Believe me, I know about morning people. I live with one who is up at 5:00 am and loves nothing more than the brisk morning air.

So there you have six random facts about me; likely more than you cared to know. I am going to alter the meme cycle. I am not going to tag anyone else. However, I do think this type of thing is great fun, and I would love to know six random facts about everyone. So, if you like the game, consider yourself tagged and post on your blog.

Here are the blog rules:

The rules for Six Random Facts are pretty straightforward:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I think you will enjoy thinking of random facts about yourself and we will definitely enjoy reading about them.

Fridays Are Golden

Although our dogs are not allowed on furniture, they have two large beds in the great room and two large beds in the den. In addition, they can snooze in their crates which are kept open all day.

Sometimes I wonder why we bother to have so many sleeping spaces. Almost every time Ellie gets situated in one of the beds, Lucy comes along and plops down. Often there is no space, but Lucy sits and then wiggles until she has squashed Ellie if necessary to make a space. She is absolutely unconcerned about Ellie's comfort and doesn't seem to mind if Ellie's head is pressed against a chair. She acts as if Ellie is a giant stuffed animal put there for her enjoyment.

It is of note that while Ellie does not overtly object to this togetherness, she NEVER is the one to go to the bed occupied by Lucy. I'm not sure why she allows Lucy to squeeze her out or use her as a pillow. She is the alpha among the two and could certainly control something like this if she chose to do so.

Ellie has a behavior that my husband thinks is passive-aggressive against Lucy. Sometimes, during the day we will find Ellie sleeping in Lucy's crate! Her own crate is next to Lucy's, and Ellie obviously knows whose crate it is. When it's time for bed, she never goes toward Lucy's crate. We've often wondered what might happen if Lucy came into the room and found Ellie in her crate.

That's a dog owner for you. Trying to analyze doggie behavior. Enjoy our Golden Girls for what they are...the most fun dogs around.

The rush of the season is upon me this Friday. In sixteen days Hanukkah begins. Twenty more days and it will be Christmas Day. I refuse, however, to fall prey to the bustle and rush. Things will get done. The holidays are to be enjoyed and I plan to enjoy them.

Whatever your plans for this weekend, take some time for yourself. Enjoy this short holiday season and don't let others ruin it for you.