Remembering

I was working at the UNC New Bureau as the copy room man when Vice President Hubert Humphrey came to visit UNC.  I really wanted to see him, but had to work to get the story of his visit out to all the news outlets.  It was my job to type the mimeographs, make the right number of copies, fold and put them in envelopes and put the appropriate postage on each one then take them to the post office.  Imagining how it would be done today makes me laugh out loud!  It was a good job and one of several I had while in college.  Somehow I managed to work my way through school and finish in 4 years without owing anyone a penny.  It took several people a lot of convincing for me to understand what I had accomplished.  Even now, it was just the right thing to do.  Credit was not something I had ever known, so it was not in my realm of reality at that time. 

Thanks to my cousin, William (aka Bill) Propest for sending this to me.  Perhaps the letter is stored away in the cedar chest of my family history, but if not, here is the acknowledgement of it in cyberspace.

The Big Black Bus

Last Tuesday morning I was just getting out of bed when I heard a loud clash of thunder, or so I thought.  When I looked outside, I discovered a big tree limb had fallen and bounced off my roof before destroying my awning.  I was immediately grateful that it wasn't much worse.  Had it hit my roof point down, I'm sure the damage would have been severe.  As it is, I'm out for a new awning and the frame is still okay.  I am thankful!

Many of the street musicians in Asheville are entertaining, but this group always grabs my attention and I finally figured out why.  The female banjo player has always looked familiar and on this day, I realized she reminds me of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals!  She could be his twin sister!

This French Broad River overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a short hop from here and one I like to frequent.  But this time was an attention grabber for sure.  Hope the owner of this lost friend returned to find him. 

Chimney Rock has long been one of my most favorite places in the whole world.  So it was easy to jump on the Burg and head that way when the weather forecast was clear, sunny and warm.  The elevator was not working that day, so I climbed the 200+ steps to the top, thinking I had done it well.  Until I got out of bed the next morning and nearly fell on my face because my calf muscles were so sore and tight!  A few days before I had watched the new version of "Last of the Mohican's" which had many scenes filmed on the rock.  It was a great day and a great ride!

Today was a strange one.  After not getting a ticket to see the President at the airport today because I didn't want to stand in line for hours yesterday, I decided to ride the Burg to Boone/Blowing Rock to enjoy the warm weather and spectacular fall colors.  Little did I know that I would encounter the President's entourage along the way. 

I left Fletcher at 10:30, after having to move my trailer so the tree that dropped a limb on my trailer can be removed tomorrow.  I'm sad about that, being a longtime tree hugger.  She is older than I am and I sure hate to see her go.

The President was due to arrive here at 11:00, so I beat the traffic out of here and headed for the High Country.  I had decided to drive 221, as it is very pretty and curvy, but since I got a late start, I changed my mind and went 321 so I could get there at a decent hour and have lunch with Zoe, good friend and former wife number 2.  When I got on 321 at Lenoir, I called here and said let's meet in Blowing Rock for lunch since I was running late and it would save time.  She readily agreed and suggested Woodland's Barbecue which had catered both of our 50th birthdays. 

After talking with Zoe and heading up the highway, I saw a law enforcement officer at every intersection, driveway and cut across.  He was coming this way!  There was no doubt about it and it was exciting!

Zoe and I had a nice lunch at Woodland's in Blowing Rock, and as we started to leave, realized that we couldn't.  The road had been closed and all traffic was being diverted into an adjacent parking lot.  During lunch I had asked about a former neighbor and golf mate, Stacy Miller, wondering if he had pursued his dream of law enforcement instead of owning and operating a highly successful electrical contracting company.  As we stood beside the road, a police car sped up and came to a halt, and who should get out but....Stacy Miller!

We spoke briefly and it was so good to see him again.  A very good person following his dream!  Zoe needed a rest break, but was afraid to leave because she might miss the big event.  So I asked Stacy, "Does Zoe have time to go pee?"  He just smiled and said she might want to wait a few minutes.  Of course he was right and in a few minutes, here came the Big Black Bus with our Commander in Chief on board. 

I was headed for Zoe's after lunch to meet Lola, her new cat, and to see the house on Briarpatch Lane, where I lived for many good years.  Traffic was at a standstill, even on the back roads, and we finally got near Zoe's, when we were stopped trying to cross 421.  Then we saw all the flashing lights and there he was again in the big black bus.  The President was coming by, again, and we just happened to be there!  It was quite a thrill!

During lunch we talked about "what if he stopped there for barbecue".  I just heard on the news that he stopped at a barbecue place in Marion around noon.  We were on the right track, but off just a little bit. 

Matthew Fox at Jubilee! last Sunday was a very special treat, as it was his work as a theologian and as Howard Hanger's mentor that helped Jubilee! become a reality. 

Life is good!  Thanks for stopping by!

Remembering LaVerne: Happy Times

Since my loving wife passed away 3 years ago today after a 5 year battle with lung cancer, my prayer has been to remember the happy times more than the sad ones.  There were lots and lots of happy times, so today is a good day to share a few of them.

On one of our many cruises I wanted to do something special for L, so before departing the ship for a shore excursion, I ordered the Rose Petal special of the day.  It consisted of fresh rose petals spread throughout the room, a bottle of champagne, towels sculpted into a heart and kissing swans, and I think there may have been some chocolate there, too.  The preparations were complete by the time we returned and she was ecstatic when she entered the room and saw all of that!  It's the biggest grin I ever saw!  Plus the smell of roses filled the air and us.  It was a very special time.  She gathered all the petals and saved them in a champagne glass for a long time. 

That night we were at dinner with her sister Marianne and brother-in-law, Lou, she was telling them about the roses and enjoying it all again.  Then I asked, "Did you tell Marianne where you put the rose petals?"  To this day I'm not sure what Mar thought or heard, but she blushed bright red and started laughing like crazy.  "No, no!  She put them in the wine glass!''  I said quickly.  We all had a good laugh over that one.

On another cruise we decided to take a Segway tour for the first time, as it seemed to be a great way to get around without being too tiring for L.  That said, she was quite a trooper when it came to walking or climbing, thanks to to the pulmonary rehab program at Rex Hospital and the wonderful folks who work there.  Again it was the 4 of us, and after a short bus ride to the cricket field on the island, we had lessons to help us feel comfortable on this coolest of machines.  I caught on pretty quickly and got to start practicing on my own while our guide worked with each person individually.  LaVerne had a little trouble at first, but once she got it, there was that big grin again!  We climbed a hill to the top of an old fort, then off through a rain forest and even rode without hands at one point.  We all agreed it was one of the best times we'd ever had and hoped to do it again. 

Our last cruise was a 10 day trip to the Panama Canal and was one of the best for many reasons.  Our table mates were excellent, we learned magic tricks from the magician on board (which I still "wow" the grand kids with), we had a ball in a boat building contest and then there was the sloth refuge.  LaVerne later had her cousin, Miriam, paint a portrait of the 4 of us from the picture above and gave it to Marianne and Lou as a gift.  We also kept a copy. 

Every time I see this picture or the portrait, I have to laugh about finding the sequins from LaVerne's blouse in the darndest places the day after she wore it!   I mean they were EVERYWHERE, on me and her, and we had a great laugh whenever we found another one. 

There were many happy times for us and I'll share some more next year.  In the mean time, bon voyage, L!!!

With love,
Fred

Autumn Leaves

The fall weather has been spectacular here in western North Carolina, inviting long rides on the Burg like this one to Hooker's Falls in DuPont State Park near Brevard.  The air is so crisp and clean, each breath is like the first one - full of life!

Last week I helped a friend celebrate her birthday by going to Zambras, a Spanish tapas restaurant with excellent food and a bar like no other.  We had to try the Absinthe cocktail, seen above, just to experience the preparation if nothing else.  This device delivers drops of ice water onto a sugar cube at just the right speed.  The result is a 148 proof licorice like-libation that makes your brain smile and want "just one more sip".

Animal blessing day at Jubilee! is like a day at the zoo with all the animals loose!  I saw one mouse, 2 horses, 1 cat, 1 boa constrictor and lots of canines.  The noises and smells alone made it a very special occasion.  The biggest blessing was the horses not having to relieve themselves during the service!  I was thankful for that!  The musical prelude was "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".  I don't think I've ever seen so much diversity in one room before.  It was grand!

After attending the first of two memorial services this week, I found my way to Greenman Brewery to sample their suds.  More about that in a minute.  The first service was for George Carrel, a Stacy dorm mate at Carolina who I hadn't seen since '70 or so.  My friend Wayne Caldwell called to inform me of George's passing, the graveside service and said we could ride together.  George took his own life, which added to the shock of his passing.  His grave is in Green Hill Cemetery, where my parents and grandparents are interred.  Afterward I returned to Ambiance, where Wayne works, and we sat on the porch and rocked and talked for a while.  It was soul soothing to say the least.  On the way home, I stopped at Greenman Brewery to refill a growler and was entertained by all the stickers on the wall (above).  My favorite:  "Raising children is like being pecked to death by a chicken."  That one had me rolling for several minutes!  Another: "I'm so miserable without you it's like having you here."  They were also serving a pink beer in honor of breast cancer awareness, with proceeds going to a research fund.  The beer was called....Twin Peaks!  And it was very tasty!

A trip to the hearing aid place in Weaverville resulted in an impromptu trip to Hot Springs on a gorgeous day.  The pictographs on this cliff, Painted Rock,  are dated at 2500 BC.  It's hard for me to imagine the number of creatures that have visited here and gazed upon it.  I'm just one more visitor in the big circle.

The week also included a meeting of the Enka High School reunion planning group at the Country Club of Asheville.  Pictured above are Larry Gant and Mike Jones from the class of '65, my class.  The next reunion will also include the classes of '64 and '66, plus a golf outing on the day of the dinner-dance, August 11, 2012.  I volunteered to be point person for the golf, as I would love to play with my classmates in a game I never imagined I would play when I was in high school.  I was very pleasantly surprised when a classmate, Charles Glazener '66, said I had changed his life when I suggested he look into Air Force ROTC.  He did and became a pilot, retiring after 20 some years.  It was great to see everyone!

The second memorial service of the week was for the mother of a high school, college and ROTC classmate, Terry Furness.  She was Margaret Nash Furness, age 91, and from all accounts a very fine person.  I regret that I never met her, so I was glad to learn more about her as well as be present to honor her life.  It was good to see Terry and several other classmates, including Wayne Caldwell again. 

Reminders of life's brevity seem to be everywhere this week, from the falling leaves to the passing of people. On Monday, it will have been 3 years since the passing of LaVerne, my late wife.  My recent sad moments have been very intense, yet thankfully brief.  I'll honor LaVerne on October 10 by writing about her here and posting a pic or 2.

When grief pays a visit, sometimes I feel like this guy in the hay bale - all wrapped up in it and unable to breath.  Then I remember I'm never alone and a warm glow from my heart spreads to the rest of me.  Life is truly good!  Very good!

Via Negativa - Redux

It is a little bit hard to believe that a year ago, I attended Jubilee! for the first time and became aware of Via Negativa, the fall season that can, and usually does, bring dark things into our lives - like emptiness, loneliness, uncertainty, and grief.  Then it was explained as the ancient yin/yang symbol and made perfect sense to me, as I had experienced the joys of being married to LaVerne, then the deep pain of losing her to cancer.  This year Howard explains them as "unwelcome guests" who come barging in, move the furniture around and decide to stay for a while.  Not only are they unwelcome, they are unsolicited, unwanted, uninvited and just come in a takeover for while.  So how do we get rid of them?

There are woods to walk in, chapels to pray in, food and drink to gather us, and blues singers and reggae bands who invite us to sing and dance.  And perhaps the uninvited guest will leave us a gift: a reminder that  love is still real, forgiveness happens and compassion is always an option.  Thanks for these good words, Howard. 

My post-Jubilee! stroll through down town Asheville was pretty quiet last Sunday.  Then I saw this big dog as driver with a big dog as passenger and had to stop and smile!  Then as I turned to go up Patton Avenue, this is what I saw. 

After lunch at my favorite pub, Jack of the Woods, where I had a Scotch egg and a Greenman ESB beer (excellent! my new favorite!), I finished my stroll by going through the Grove Arcade.  As a kid I remember is being a dull office building.  Not anymore!  It is very beautiful and full of fine shops.

It is good to be home again, no matter what Thomas Wolfe said!

Lordy, Lordy My Youngest is 40!

Derick & a sole sandwich

What a wonder filled week this has been, beginning last Sunday with Jubilee!  After months of looking forward to being there again and seeing and hearing Howard, my heart sank when I looked at the program and saw that he wasn't there.  Then I realized there might be a lesson in that for me, so I opened my heart and mind and thoroughly enjoyed a very different service.  It was conducted by Howard's sister and niece.  They did a marvelous job! The niece did a humorous skit reminiscent of Lily Tomlin's switch board operator, except the niece was a special assistant to God.  It was hilarious, entertaining and insightful. 

After Jubilee! I met my high school buddy and his wife, David and Madeline Rickman, for lunch at Apollo Flame Bistro and we told more than a few stories.  It is always good to see them and David and I pick up where we left off last time.  Old friends are like that.  We're more like brothers than just friends and have known each other for over 45 years now.  We lost touch for a while so it is especially sweet to be reconnected again.  We're already talking about golfing at next year's high school reunion. 

On Monday I went to Blowing Rock to do a half day meeting management workshop for the Corning Cable folks from Hickory, thanks to my brother-by-choice, Hugh Huntington.  Some of them had been in my previous workshop with them 10 years ago and they had requested a refresher.  I had a ball!  It felt so good to do that work again, as I can't even remember the last time I had done one.  My rust showed a time or two, and that was okay. 

Tuesday found me on the road to Raleigh to inspect my rental house and get my tenant to sign a new lease, as I'm going to manage it myself for a while.  I found the place in pretty good shape and enjoyed talking with the tenant.  As we were finishing up, he said his roommate had left a few questions for me and that they were a little unusual in nature.  I said go ahead, I would do my best to answer them.  He began by explaining that his roommate had seen and heard some unusual things in the middle of the night.  "Has anyone died in this house?", he asked.  I said yes, my wife had passed away in the living room almost 3 years ago, and I had not experienced her presence in the house since then.  I offered to talk with his roommate if that would help, and he said he would pass that along.  I suppose I'll always think of September as Hospice month now, as that was when LaVerne called them.  I've had some sad moments lately, but they are fewer than in past years.

John & Derick at Keith Hills

On Wednesday I met Derick for breakfast then we went to Keith Hills Country Club at Campbell University in Buies Creek for a round of golf.  His long time friend John Lack was there and we had a very good time.  Derick was hitting the ball beautifully with his long, graceful swing, in spite of a hurting back and a flip-flopping sole on his golf shoe.  He parred the first and last holes and hit lots of good shots in between.  He wants to make this a tradition, which is just fine with me!  He's a fine man and a good father and I'm very proud of him! 

After shopping for a new trailer since April, I finally placed the order for a new one this week and I'm very happy about that.  I figured since it will be my primary residence for as long as I'm able, I wanted more space and comfort.  So, I ordered a 2012 Jayco Eagle, 37 feet long with 3 slide outs, queen sized bed, 32" TV, fireplace, entertainment center, outside shower, electric awning, 2 rocker/recliners and a couch.  It's a model 330 RLTS if you want to see what it looks like, or here's a link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgiljfolTI&feature=related.  So HOWHEE is for sale and I sure will miss him.  We've traveled many miles together in a short time and he's loaded with good memories. 

Yesterday the sun finally broke through after a week of rain, so I jumped on the Burg and headed up Davidson River, then to the Blue Ride Parkway and Graveyard Fields.  The leaves have just started to change and the air is so crisp and clean smelling.  I stopped at Pisgah Inn on the way back for a brief rest, and in the gift shop, prominently displayed, was a copy of the novel "Cataloochee" written by my friend Wayne Caldwell.  It is such a good book and it's almost time for me to read it again.

Today I hope to watch the Tar Heels play football, and tomorrow it's back to Jubilee! and my weekly walks through downtown Asheville.  It sure is good to be home again!

Today's the Day!

After spending over 6 hours online back in June to get tickets, today was the day for Brewgrass 2011 in Asheville, and what a day it was!  And it reminded me of a story I heard long ago. 

A professor was conducting a class on human sexuality and decided to take a poll on how frequently the students in the class had sexual intercourse.  So he announced what he wanted to do, then asked "how many of you have intercourse every day?"  Only  a few hands went up out of the 30 or so students.  And they were all smiling.  "How about 2-3 times a week?" and a lot more hands were raised.  "And 3-5 times a month?" brought even more hands.  "And 2-5 times every 6 months?" saw just a few hands.  And finally, "How about once a year?" and a shy young man in back waved his hand excitedly and grinned from ear to ear.  "Why are you so excited about only having sex once a year?" asked the prof.  And the student replied..."Because today's the day!" he exclaimed!

And that's the way I felt when I woke up this morning knowing that today was the day for Brewgrass 2011 in Asheville!  And what a day it was!

I bought the tickets back in June after spending 6 hours online and enduring numerous server crashes.  It was truly an endurance contest.  All 3500 tickets sold out that day, so I was a little surprised to see a few people selling tickets outside the venue when I arrived. 

An on time arrival assured me of a good place next to the sound man in front of the stage, and the "outfield" was lined with over 40 beer brewers proudly serving their 120 different brews.  I enjoyed a red brew from Aviator Brewery in Fuquay Varina, where my son Derick lives and where we tipped a few last summer.  Craggie Brewery also had their Antebellum Ale, another favorite, and Asheville Brewing had the Highland Gaelic.   Toward the end of the day at Smokey Mountain Brewery I discovered Brown Trout Stout, which tasted just like Guinness, only fresher, and an ale called Thunder Road, which made me want to sing the song from the movie every time I took a sip.

The bands were as good as the beer and this one called themselves Bloodroot Barter.  They had a Cajun rhythm and were more than a little quirky, as you can see by their props and the guitarist laying on the stage.  Mountain Heart finished out the day and they were excellent. 

The people watching was unsurpassed and when I took this picture of the artichoke hat, the lady insisted that I wear it so she could take a picture.  I politely declined several times before she finally let me walk away.  As the long shadows show, by this time of day the hops were in charge and the mood was mellow for everyone.  Oh yeah!  It was a very fine day!

Tomorrow will be my first Jubilee! in 3 months, and on Monday I'll go to Blowing Rock to do a half day workshop for an old client on meeting management.  I can barely remember the last time I did such a workshop and I'm very excited and a little apprehensive about it.  It will be a good test of my hearing ability since my hearing loss, my memory and my ability to think on my feet.  It's a great challenge and I can't wait! 

September has brought a few sad moments, remembering Laverne's last month of life 3 years ago.  It's still shocking how sharp the pain can be, but thankfully it doesn't last very long now.  So much life has happened in such a short time...

Being back home again is such a pleasure that it's hard to describe.  I'm content, happy, and considering being a campground host at Lake Powhatan next year, a favorite place for many years now.  We'll see...