Just a Hint and a Treat

We are just about to change seasons here and it is always a magic time for me.  People ask what my favorite season is and it must usually be the one we are in, unless it is very near the end of the current season and I am already anticipating the next one, which then becomes my favorite.

So, I am only now beginning to see hints of the beauty that is coming....this one right in my own yard.

This hint, and the covered dish dinner at church and the covered dish Arts Council meeting on Monday, got me thinking of fun fall treats.  No, I don't actually "cook" real food for these things.  I usually volunteer for the paper products or chips or drinks, you get the picture.  Real cooking for others is too stressful for me...and who needs that?  Besides, there is always WAY more food than is needed at these things, so I am going with treats!  Cute fall treats that I found on....say it with me...Pinterest!  Here we go:

Supplies assembled...

Step one.

Dark chocolate kisses and mini Nutter Butters...that's pretty healthy, right?

Step two.  Completed project.

How easy was that?

But, wait....what is it?

Who knows?

There.  Do you see the clue in the leaf bowl?

Oh, there it is again.

Cute little acorns....edible and healthy!

(and I don't know what happened to the color....sorry)

Now, only one problem.  What to do with the left over supplies...

Have you seen any hints of the season to come?  Have you made treats to share?

A Prayer for the Teacher

Dear Father,

It is the night before the 1st day of school...again.
Hours have been spent by each teacher, thinking and planning and arranging to make tomorrow memorable for each of the students that will sit before them.

They have organized and agonized.
They have prettied up the place and hidden what they could.
They have studied their class lists and written the names many times.

Bless them, Father, with the passion that brought them to teaching.
-the passion for learning even today and tomorrow
-the passion for loving the less lovable as well as the most lovable
-the passion for teaching and celebrating the growth

Bless them, Father, with the patience they will need each day.
-the patience for stories that need to be told
-the patience for encouragement that needs to be offered
-the patience for interruptions and paper work

Bless them, Father, with miracles big and small.
-the miracle of connections made with a smile and a pat
-the miracle of trust established through listening and honoring each one
-the miracle of futures changed and lives lighted up

It is the night before the 1st day of school....again.
Let the joy bubble up,
let the magic begin,
let Your love shine brightly.

In the name of your Son, a powerful teacher in His own right,
Amen.

Big Kids - Not Scary

I always taught little kids because big kids are scary to me...at least in the abstract, or in herds, or sitting in front of you with eye rolling and texting!  That is scary.

But, today, I got to hang out with some big kids who were charming and funny and polite and didn't even have a phone with them!  What?  Did you even know that 18 and 20 year olds could go out of the house without their phones?  I know, right?

I met these two at church on Sunday.  They are here visiting my friend Doris, who is their grandma, but she works, so I volunteered for my best friend, Stevie and I, to entertain them for a day...and they were good with hanging out with two old farts that they didn't know at all.  That should have alerted me that things would be fine....

So, off we went up the mountain to Blackwater Falls State Park and Siriani's Pizza.
They ooohed and aaaaahed at all the right scenic places on the drive.
They thought the pizza was yummy.
They thought the deer were adorable...the snake not so much!
I'm telling you, these two are keepers!

Here are a few pictures:

See?  Aren't they cute? 

Blackwater Falls....black water due to tannin in the stream.

Oh, cute kids and the falls!

Falls with nice big joe pie weed...I think.

POWER!

The gorge at the bottom of it all...

...from way up here on top where none of us really wanted to be for very long.

Cool stacked rock garden.

Really cool.   I want to build some.

Stevie and the kids being brave.

Kassaundra trying to hold up one of the windmills.  

Sorry.  I hope Kris's turned out better. :-)

I LOVE these windmills and the gentle swoosh they make.

It was kind of trying to storm a little bit, so Kris and Kassaundra ran 

up around the corner and Kris took this one.

With the little storminess, the mist began to rise from the valley.

So pretty.  Kassaundra took these out her window.

I had a great day with kids who are going to make a difference in their world...a difference for good.  Kassaundra wants to be a teacher and Kris wants to study criminal justice.  

Stevie and I can rest.

I feel better about the world just knowing they are coming along behind me.  

Thanks, Doris, for sharing them with us for the day.

Vacation Part 3: The Beach

So, here's the big news.  I don't really like the beach.  Well, specifically, I don't like the sand and there is a whole lot of that at the beach.  I do like the waves and the sounds and the sun, but the sand?  Not so much.

It sticks to you.  Ick.

Like I said earlier, we do this beach thing regularly and this beach usually.  So, we have seen most of the sights and done most of the 'stuff' so this week we really just hung out at the beach.
Amy LOVES the beach, even the sand, so she was down there longest of all enjoying herself.  Stevie would come and go.  I would come, sit awhile, walk awhile and go home.  I did learn to read my Kindle through a baggie so none of the dreadful sand got on it.  Yay!  Good idea, Amy.

I love walking on the beach...the constant breeze and the water rushing and playing.  The pelicans flying in formation and the shore birds running from the waves.  But, one day, a very sad thing happened.  As Stevie and I walked up, a large bird who was sitting flat on the sand at the water's edge, but facing the land, pushed himself up with his wings, turned himself toward the sea and let the next wave take him.  He was gone.  We waited for minutes, knowing that some birds dive to eat, but he never surfaced.  We could tell by his movements on the sand that he was somehow injured, couldn't fly or walk.
Seems to me he sat quietly making his peace and then turned to leave this life in the water that had been so much a part of his life.
I don't know what kind of bird he was.  Bigger than a gull, but not a pelican.
It really was a moment to remember for me....and I'm aware that I am reading more into it than was there, but it made me stop and think and wonder.  Those are all good things.

The rest of the week was much less dramatic but record breaking hot and stormy!
Here are some pictures.

Stormy over there on the way onto the Outer Banks...Saturday.

Sunday, from the top deck on our cottage, looking north.

Monday, looking south.  I think this was the night 

that the house shook!

Tuesday, looking east.  The ocean is just over there.  

Loving the colors in this one.

Good news - the storms were in the evening or the early morning

so beach time was not compromised.

Surface of the moon?  No.  Sand on Jockey's Ridge.

Lots of sand, but it wasn't at the beach and I 

wasn't wet so it wasn't AS sticky.

These tiny little frogs lives up there in the sand.

Amazing, right?

Sand blowing continually.  This is with my shoes sitting

only for a couple of minutes.  They would have been 

buried in no time.

Can you see what's going on down there?  

Let me see if I can help you out.

Three guys working diligently to make some lucky girls dream come true.  Letters were about 5 feet tall and a foot deep.  Isn't that sweet?

The ocean with sea oats.  I have this picture in some

form from each trip.

Waves coming in...

and going out.  

Or vice versa.

Love the old beach fences, too.

Found this PEACE leaf on one of our walks.

You can find peace lots of places.  You just have to look.

So, that's it.  Didn't take many pictures.  Didn't buy any souvenirs, except for a magnet to add to the collection.  Didn't eat any seafood.

Here's one thing I learned about myself on this trip.  I am a simple person.

We went out to eat at a fancy place one night and I didn't really enjoy it at all like I should have.  I keep trying and hoping it will seem like it was worth that much money for that experience, but it just isn't for me.  And I'm OK with that.  Just need to start saying go ahead without me!

Oh, and I love finding a small church filled with 'family' who are happy to see me!  And they gave me a loaf of bread when I left.  That was good food all around.

Happy that Amy and Stevie include me and we still love each other when we get home.

Vacation Part 2: Higher Learning

Our next stop was in Raleigh.  Toddy's son, Kevin, teaches at UNC-Chapel Hill, so we got to tour around Duke and UNC.  He took us to Duke first and told us that after people see Duke, they aren't too impressed with UNC and you might think that is true for me as well because all the pictures are from Duke, but the fact is UNC was spectacular in its own way, but much more tightly packed, so hard to take pictures of and it was HOT and I was tired and sweaty and just didn't get the camera out...yes, it was that hot and HUMID.
OK.  Done whining.
Here are a few Duke pictures.

Pretty.  There were giant big koi in there, too.

Duke Chapel. 

 Really?  Chapel????  

But, Kevin, explained it can't be called a cathedral 

unless it is the home church of a bishop....

at least I think that is what he explained.

It is right next to the Duke Divinity School.

Most of the buildings on campus were made of 

this stone.  It did have a very European look and feel.

Soaring vaulted ceilings and stained glass.

To the very front left of this picture

(you can't see it at all)

is a prayer chapel where the founding

fathers are buried.

You aren't allowed in there unless you are praying.

I went in and was walking by each crypt saying a 

prayer of thanksgiving for men of vision when the

caretaker came to tell me I had to leave if I wasn't

praying.  I explained that I was walking and praying, but 

he still ushered me out.  He also told Toddy she didn't

need to pay to light a candle because they weren't 

Catholics, but had just taken their candle idea.

As we were leaving he closed the gate and took my arm.

He said, "Sometimes I pray while I am walking, too."

He was doing his job gently.

Duke was beautiful.  UNC was also beautiful in a red brick, grow as you need to, but don't cut down the big old trees kind of way.

Next, we three muskateers were on our way to the beach at Nags Head.  Vacation Part 3.

Vacation Part 1: The Biltmore

Every other summer I travel with Stevie and Amy to the beach...usually the same beach and the same house.  If Amy will hurry up and turn 40, for a few years we will be 3 decades traveling together - 40s 50s 60s!  We have learned how to travel well together and everyone knows their jobs and we have fun.

This year, we added a stop in Asheville on the way down.  I wanted to see the Biltmore - America's Castle.  It was beautiful.  It was hot.  I couldn't take pictures inside and all in all, I think I like Monticello better.  But here are a few pictures from out and about.

Pretty impressive first view, right?

Look at the detail.  It all got even more impressive

 when we got to see some of the construction photos...amazing.

My little husband told me that Mr. Vanderbilt could stand at the top of his house and all that he could see was his.  My little husband knows lots of useful stuff like that.

Regardless, the views were spectacular.

OLD wisteria vines that formed a shady arbor to walk under on the way to the gardens and it was HOT, so the shade was welcome.  

That fishy fountain above was on the wall side of this arbor.

The gardens.

This hibiscus bloom was the size of a dinner plate!

Another vista...can you see the rain off in the distance?

It never got to us.

Toddy, on the left, joined us for this part of our trip and 

she added the 70s decade.  Stevie is the 60s.  Not bad for a

couple of old farts, huh?

From here we drove to Raleigh to stay with Toddy for a couple of days.  Vacation Part 2.