Busy, busy

This is just a note to say we're still around and perkin', in spite of the lack of blogging.

We've either been on the road, or had company in our house, for the vast majority of the last week or two. This is lots of fun and is interesting, but badly interferes with my blogging time.

We drove to Michigan for our traditional Thanksgiving celebration with old friends, then home for a quick turnaround (and around-the-clock work on a Publisher project to get it ready for the printer ... a cookbook for John's mom) and then a two-day drive to see Karin and Sid and Sheela and Sunil.

John and I will be going downtown this afternoon straight from school (we'll be picking the kids up at 3) and first heading for the big Farmer's Market. We have a long list - mostly fruits and jalapeno peppers - of things to buy. Then to the hotel to meet up with the parents and out to a birthday dinner for Sheela. Wow - she's TEN!!!

The parade tomorrow, then everyone sort of scatters again, with lots of kid-related activities.

I'll do catch-up photos early next week while we're still here, and the kids will be back in school.

Elk Bugling

No photos this time. Just a written account of a recent fun adventure.

John and I picked up Aunt Sandy on our way to a remote wilderness area on the Cumberland Plateau near the TN-KY line a few weeks ago. We drove first on the Interstate Highway, then turned onto a state highway, then onto a curvy lane that wound for miles and miles and miles, then onto a logging road for more miles, then finally onto a gravel parking lot. Then, we had to walk about a mile (maybe less but it seemed longer) on a nice pathway covered with crushed stone, to an elevated wooden viewing station. The platform was about 30 wooden steps above the ground, about ten by ten, with a rough shingled roof.

We found ourselves overlooking a wonderfully pastoral scene ... a large, lush clearing surrounded by forest, perched on the flat top of one of the mountain ranges. There were several other clearings, all interconnected by grassy areas but each surrounded by woods. The neighboring plateaus were visible above the trees because we had climbed up so high, too. Best of all, there was a herd of about 25 huge elk lounging around on the grass practically beneath our feet!

We sat on our wooden bench seats and watched the herd's behavior for a couple of hours, starting just before sunset and staying until full dark. We were hoping the see the dominant bull (with a huge antler rack) bugling, but were disappointed. He meandered around among his cows and calves, keeping tabs on them all as the other adult males (not so impressive) hung out in small groups or by themselves. They stayed near enough to the herd for safety (and probably for a chance to sneak in to the cows when the big one wasn't looking) but far enough away to avoid the big bull's wrath. The younger ones did a bit of jousting with each other, which we could hear even after it was too dark to see clearly.

Just as it grew really dark, the reason for the lack of bugling (at least we think it was a good reason) became apparent: we heard several coyotes barking and calling to each other. Eerie sounding, especially when we stopped to realize that we still had a long walk on an uneven, meandering trail in the dark through trees and shrubbery before we would again be inside the van and able to close the door!

The stones on the path were white and/or light gray, so we could see where to put our feet. The bad news was, the stones rattled when we stepped on them, which made it difficult for us to keep quiet to listen for the no-doubt-skulking coyotes...

All in all, a grand adventure, and we will go again next fall. I had been under the impression that all the reintroduced elk were on the NC side of the Appalachians; I was thrilled to read in the newspaper that there was a successful herd within 2 or 3 hours of our house.

By the way, the females almost "mew" instead of bugle. They sound more like birds than huge mammals. Just an interesting but little known fact ....

Friends

Sunday was another breathtakingly beautiful warm, sunny day. We persuaded our friends Dave and Phyllis to go on a "road trip" with us to the Cherohalla Skyway. We, of course, started the trip with a wonderful gourmet lunch at the Bistro by the River in Tellico Plains.

A short walk

We couldn't resist getting out of the car and taking a stroll on the paved (!) trail. Actually, it is handicapped accessible, which explains the asphalt.

Not much color up here, but a beautiful crisp day nonetheless.

It was 20 degrees cooler up here than at our house.

Brilliant Colors

Yes, the drive was well worth it. We went from our own elevation, where the colors are just starting to show, up through the mid-level, where we were rewarded with this display, and then on up to the mountain top (around 5000 feet) where most of the leaves had fallen already. Then back down through the glorious display again!

Moss Fish

You may remember the full sized Moss Moose that was on this blog a year or two ago. This is by the same artist in Tellico Plains, TN.

It is much larger than life size,though!

First Hard Freeze of the season

Yesterday morning we woke up to find the water in the bird bath had frozen solid. It looked rather like a fine piece of etched glass with a beveled edge.

Alas, the beauty was fleeting!

Habitat House - Women Build

This is the latest Habitat House I've been working on. Primarily all women workers.
I worked on the roof and the Tyvek wrapping and any number of miscellaneous stuff.

Tyvek

We wrapped the whole house in Tyvek plastic. I also learned how to put the scaffolding together.