A Parks & Recreation Medley

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Another week has come and gone in a matter of no time it seems.
When you see Halloween candy in the Dollar General, you know the year is quickly waning.
Who wants to buy Halloween candy in July anyway??
But just in case you do, you can find some in our local DG!
~
So it's Wednesday and also time for another...

...with our friend from Florida, Terri.

Today it's all about...

WORLD RANGER DAY – July 31

On July 31st, World Ranger Day honors the dedication, and crucial work rangers do every day around the globe.  The day offers an opportunity to show support to rangers for the services they provide. Every day, their unwavering commitment protects our national parks, wildlife, and forested heritage.

Click on the link and head on over to the Medley to find out more about these special folks.

They certainly deserve a day of their own to be celebrated.

Just copy and paste her questions to your blog and plug in your answers.

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1.  Is there a National Park near where you live?

Well, that depends on how you define "near". We live smack dab in the middle of North Carolina...the mountains, including the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains, are only a few hours to the west of us...

One of the cool tunnels in the Smokies near Pigeon Forge, TN.

A scene from a Smoky Mountain overlook near Gatlinburg, TN.

...and the National Seashore, including the Wright Brothers Memorial and Cape Hatteras are a few hours to the east.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, NC

2.  How many National Parks and which ones have you visited?  Is there one you would really like to visit?

Over the years I've visited several National Parks that are included in the states of NC, TN, KY, VA...that's all I can remember at least. When we had our cabin in Virginia, we were only about three miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway and traveled it often...one of my favorite places. Visiting some of the national parks out west are definitely on my bucket list, specifically, Yellowstone.

Somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from Fancy Gap, VA.

3.  The Park Rangers are protectors of the environment, of the wildlife, and visitors in the parks.  Is there someone (human) in your life who you count on as a protector or are you someone's protector?

When I think of someone who is my protector, my first thought would be Jim, my hubby. But what could he really protect me from? A burglar or a thief? A hurricane or a tornado? Although he would try to do everything he could possibly do as a human, he may or may not succeed. As a mother, I went through most of my life playing the role of protector...I mean don't we all? There is that natural instinct that kicks in when we have our children...we become like that lioness protecting her cubs don't we? Even when our kids are grown, it's hard to let that go! That's why my answer would ultimately be, I have to rely on my Lord to be my protector in all of His supernatural power.

4.  Have you ever had an up-close-and-personal experience with a wild animal that you can tell us about?

So this just happened a couple of days ago. I was about to close the front door around dusk (thus the bad photo quality) and out the corner of my eye, I noticed something and at first just thought it was one of the feral cats we feed regularly. Well, this "kitty" was wearing a mask, and it was stealing...therefor, I shall call him or her Bandit...or Banditina. He/she was very nonchalant about the whole experience. 🐾🐾🐾  Here are some examples of my other close encounters with wildlife...

Sometimes they call me "The Bird Whisperer"...

...other times, "The Butterfly Whisper"...

...sneaking up on an armadillo in Adam's back yard

and turkeys in his front yard, on Thanksgiving Day no less...

 

...Momma and Poppa Goose and unborn goslings...

  

...and these two........oh wait.......how'd this picture get in here???

Well Terri, you did say "wild" and you also said "animals"...

...so they do fit the description. 😉

5.  It is certainly an honor to show value to this profession by giving them a day of remembrance.  What is another profession that you like to see honored by a "day" of their own?

Well, there probably already is a day to honor them since there seems to be a day to honor just about everyone or everything, but I think the Human Society and/or Animal Rescue organizations deserve a day of honor for doing all they can to save the lives of unwanted animals. Like I said, there is surely a day set aside for them already...at least I hope so.

6.  On this last day of July, please tell us something about your week so far.

Sunday was this guy's birthday and he had to work. This picture of him is from several years ago and he hasn't changed at all (well, not much).


He hasn't gotten his birthday pie yet because we only have one more bag of black raspberries left in the freezer....and we can't get them around here. Looks like we will be making a trip to VA and to the Amish store which usually sells them (frozen). He said to hold off on the pie, which has never happened in the 43 years we've been married! He said he'd settle for one of Aaron's homemade cherry cheesecakes. I guess I better break the news to Aaron!

Other than that, it's been pretty much business as usual this week...well, except for that raccoon incident. I do have appointments on Friday for a follow-up CT, labs (haven't they gotten enough blood yet??) and with the "Big Dog" doctor to discuss surgery plans. At this point I just want to get it over with and move forward with my life! Being in a holding pattern is not much fun...BUT I do know that the Lord's timing is perfect!

Enjoy the rest of your week, my friends!

Until next time....



More Fences from the "Gap"

...Fancy Gap, that is.
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You know, it's funny...

...last week I was away from internet access for a few days (because we were in Fancy Gap)
and it seemed like something was missing from my week since I wasn't able to link up
with Theresa for the Good Fences party!!

~

So, I'm going back through my old pics today looking for a few fences.

I think might just need to go out this weekend and do a fence photo shoot...

...as I seem to be running low!

 

These wild sweet peas grow wild all along the gravel road to the cabin.
They were just about to burst open, as you can see.

 

This is Buffalo Mountain, looking toward the Blue Ridge Parkway from the main road.  

You have to look closely, but there really is a fence in this pic.

See it??

 

 

I love the way the rising sun came filtering through the trees on this misty morning.

 

 

And nothing completes a picture of a fence better than a few cows grazing.
~

So until next week (I hope), happy fence finding, y'all!


 









Fences on the Blue Ridge

Hello fellow Good Fencers!
For anyone who has never checked out this interesting and fun linky,
you really should head on over to Theresa's at the Run*A*Round Ranch!
~
Today I am sharing some great split-rail fences from the beautiful
Blue Ridge Parkway.



If you have never had the pleasure of traveling the parkway, I highly recommend it!
It is 469 miles of quiet mountain majesty stretching between Shenandoah, VA and Cherokee, NC.

This is the Puckett cabin, only about ten miles from our cabin in Fancy Gap.
Orlean Puckett was the area midwife, delivering over one thousand babies in her lifetime.
She gave birth to twenty-four of her own children, all of which passed away in infancy.
Can you just imagine the heartache she must have endured?
Living to the ripe old age of ninety-five, she continued to deliver throughout her life.
~
You can read all about her in the book,
Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife, by Karen Cecil Smith.



These particular fences are some that surround the grounds of the Puckett cabin.

Everywhere you look, you see these wonderful fences...each one unique.

 

Just a little jaunt down the parkway is the Groundhog Mountain Overlook,

a great place to pull off, have a picnic and/or climb a few stairs up into the observation tower.

That is Buffalo Mountain you see in the distance.

 I just love this place.

I could actually pitch a tent and live here if they would let me...
..."they" being the National Parks & Recreation people.

This is the same place where we were invaded by the zombies last fall :)
(really...I swear)

The views just go on and on whether you are headed north to Shenandoah or south to Cherokee.

Fancy Gap is pretty much smack dab in the middle and are blessed to able to visit here often.

~

So...if you listen closely, you just might hear me singing...
..."Almost heaven, West Virginia...Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River..."

(sorry John, I changed up the song a bit!)

So until next time, may your life be happy and your fences be good ones!

Fog on the Mountain

This past weekend, we were blessed to spend time with all four of our grand children. Since the youngest two of them live in the Nashville area, it is not that often that this happens, with an eight hour drive separating us from one another. Our youngest son and his sweet family were able to meet us at our cabin for the weekend, which is only a few miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our older two grandsons, who live close by to us in NC, were also able to join in the fun! They didn't mind at all having to take a day off of school so they could go with us!

The mountain air was crisp and cool and the cousins had a wonderful time with each other. Saturday, we all headed out to the Parkway to take in some fall color. Just a few miles after we entered on to it, we noticed a pumpkin patch over on one of the other roads. PHOTO OP!! So we turned around and went back. The day was quite overcast, which can actually be great for taking photos so we rounded up all the kiddos and started snapping a few. In just a few minutes, we could actually see the fog moving in and by the time we were finished, it had gotten quite thick. It actually made our photo shoot all the better!

The fog became an awesome backdrop for this great old house that was sitting just off the road. 

More photo ops...everybody out! 

A few minutes later an older gentleman pulled up and warned us not to get on the porch...

...for fear of someone falling through.

Oops...too late. The good news is no one fell through (actually, it seemed to be quite sturdy). 

Oh well...off the porch and onto the wood pile, the fog creeping in all the while.

Back on the road again and the fog continues to envelope us.

By the time we made it to the roadside park overlooking Groundhog Mountain, 

a place where everyone likes to stop, we could barely see 20 feet in front of us.

That didn't keep anyone of them from having some fun!

I have never seen the Blue Ridge Parkway quite like this. 

Although the dense fog was blocking out the brilliance of the leaves, 

there was this haunting, eerie kind of beauty that had been created by it.

Then my daughter-in-law had this brilliant idea.

There...out of the fog...came the zombies! All that was missing were the tombstones.

I think my son, Adam, should win the award for the best zombie impression, don't you?

We had a blast making memories on that foggy day in the mountains :)