Love These Mountains

My husband and I moved to Western NC from Georgia in 1993, and we have never regretted the move. It is beautiful up here; and inspirational as well. My writing is really taking off and no small amount of credit goes to the wonderful scenery around me.

I have also made some great friends since we moved here. I've met some strong women who have become great role-models and helped me become a strong woman as well.



When I was a child, my mother and I moved around quite a bit. She was a restless soul and just couldn't seem to stay in one place for long. She used to say that if God had meant for us to stay in one place, he would have given us roots. This is the longest I've lived in one area. I think I have finally found my roots.

Early Morning Musings

WOW! It is way too early for this. But, I woke up at 1:30am and just plain wasn't able to get back to sleep. I decided to search around the net for a while, looking for a way to earn money doing what I absolutely love - writing. I did manage to find a company with jobs in writing, editing, research, etc; and even better, it's a work from home opportunity. So, I typed up a quick introduction email, attached my resume and sent it out. Wish me luck. This would be a dream job for me, plus with gas prices being what they are...well, working from home is looking even better than it ever has.

OK, time for some good news for a change. Patrick Swayze has been cleared by doctors to begin work on a new television series. It seems his pancreatic cancer isn't as bad as originally thought, and it looks like he is going to be all right. This is good news for a few reason: 1) I have always like Swayze...what child of the 80's doesn't?!? 2) It's a crime drama series, and as far as I'm concerned, we can never have too many of those. 3) Just goes to show you that when some doctor somewhere tells you there's no hope, they aren't necessarily right. There is always hope.

Way to go, Patrick!

Well, that's it for now from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Time to take advantage of the early morning hour and work on my novel.

Mother Nature Is Weird and Wonderful

OK, all my life I have heard cicadas...I thought. Today was different. I heard a sound coming from the mountains around me this morning that sounded like one of those spaceships in the old B movies. It was weird, creepy and fascinating. I am told that is the sound of all those cicadas that have come up for their 17 year trek above ground. I tried to record it, but there were way too many ambient sounds. So, I searched the internet and found a site with recordings of what I heard this morning. (http://abbot.si.edu/highlight/cicadas/audio.htm) If you have never heard this sound, check this site out. The "Nearby Brood Din" is a perfect match to what I heard. This afternoon, the sound had stopped, so I am assuming it's a morning thing.

As a kid, I used to love finding the shed skins of these little creatures on trees and such. Creepy as the "bugs" themselves may sound to me, I still watch for those skins. From the sounds in the mountains this morning, I may find quite a few this year.

Check out my favorite porch-view shot from a recent writing retreat weekend at Lake Logan. The weekend was sponsored by WNC Woman magazine and was absolutely wonderful. The workshops were great and the setting was beautiful. Even without the workshops, this setting inspires creativity on its own.