Elephant Pipe

 We have owned 12 acres on the side of a mountain (a very small mountain) in North Carolina since our 25th wedding anniversary. Traditional 25th Wedding Anniversary gifts are usually something in silver....generally not land! 

At the time we bought the property our intent was to use it as a camp. We had an old camper hauled up to a beautiful spot on the hillside, and spent many weekends there as well as time in the summer. We had no electricity (other than the 12 volt lights in the camper), we had no running water, no TV, no Internet, no cell phone coverage. It was a very peaceful place. 

As I was approaching retirement we found a floor plan for a retirement cottage that would be perfect on our property.  The plans were from Canada and had to be redrawn by a US architect. We met with one, shared some changes we'd like,  and were ready to sign a contract with him to prepare the plans. But first, we had to take our younger son to Colorado to visit two colleges.  We all fell in love with Colorado. Our son picked the Colorado School of Mines to pursue his mechanical engineering degree, and we decided to find a home there where we could have horses, and become residents so our son's tuition would be reduced to 'in-state' charges. The NC retirement cottage did not happen.

Our property sat for over 15 years. We would visit it occasionally, working on the ditches on either side of the drive, and cutting down emerging trees, to preserve the roadway, and reminiscing about the enjoyment we derived on the property in the past.  Two years ago we were heading across country in our motorhome and stopped in the area to talk with a realtor. We had decided it was time to put the property on the market.  The Mister arranged for the driveway to be cleared and we were able to, once again, drive to the former camp location. It was love all over again. Everything that attracted us to the property when we were young, still made the property special. We couldn't sell it. So instead, that summer we worked on clearing and sprucing up the land. We hired a logger to remove the large trees in the immediate area of the camping spot. 

Then Hurricane Helene hit. We were no longer able to get back and forth easily. 

Then winter came. Camping in the mountains was not something we cared to do. 

Then we bought a house in Florida with 6 acres, and a long list of improvements we wanted to make. Any improvements we had planned for NC were put on the back burner.

So...now we are back in NC, and faced with our property and so much new growth due to removing its canopy provided by the hardwoods. We have begun clearing...a bit. When faced with what seems like an immovable obstacle I often think of the saying, "How do you eat an elephant?" with the answer, "one bite at a time!" So...as I cut a few saplings, and rake some leaves, and clear one tiny area....I keep thinking of taking one small bite at a time. And I think, where there's a will...there's a way. But a little voice in the very back of my mind, sometimes pipes up suggesting that perhaps all of this is a pipe dream? 

In the Jungle

We are going green....

Our grass is green. 

The pasture is green. 

The trees are green. 

I live in an area that isn't normally very green, and it is amazing to see how things look after almost a week of rain, on top of a rainy/snowy spring. Mr. Dreamy's new weather station indicates that we have had 2.5 inches of rain in May (all of 11 days), and 4.5 inches since it was installed some time after April 1. That's a lot of water for an area that normally gets 15.24 inches of precipitation a year!

Our grass is growing, and with the wet ground and water/snow falling from the sky we haven't been able to mow. It's a jungle out there!

Elephant exits grass jungle to cross glacial snow

left over from Mother's Day storm. 

Notice the sad day lilies in the background.

Their height was somewhat compromised by our  9" of wet snow!

Things are growing so well that one community issued citations and threatened fines for not mowing lawns! The story is available on 9news.com: http://on9news.tv/1Pq0eYb.

Crazy weather...

Perhaps this week we will be able to take care of our own little jungle!

When Elephants Fly

Strike that.

It should read

when elephants "swim"!

Groucho "swimming" at the Denver Zoo.
Friday, August 30

Groucho is a 43 year old Asian Elephant. He is Denver's largest elephant, standing over 10' tall and weighing a mere 12,400 pounds. Groucho came from the Ft. Worth Zoo when Denver opened its new "Elephant Passage" exhibit last year. About 10" of the ends of his tusks were sawed sawn* off in preparation for travel as there was concern that the tusks might get caught up in the bars of the crate he was shipped in, or, that he might jab himself, since the ends were close to his trunk. 

So, Mr. Postmaster, I have a package I'd like to ship.... 

We were told that Groucho is very independent-minded. He will enter the swimming pool if he feels like it, otherwise, he will turn and go back into a quieter area of the exhibit. Groucho is also a jokester. He decided to spray a young girl who was standing up by the glass fence. He also turned, while in the pool, and farted passed gas! He may not have thought it was amusing, but those of us who were still watching were tickled by the bubbles rising behind him!

Animals at the zoo are trained for husbandry purposes, not for entertainment. Each 'trick' prepares the animals to allow the keepers to examine, clean or take care of the animals' medical needs. 

* sawed off? sawn off? 
Google says 'sawn' is proper because it is an irregular verb, however, creating the past tense by adding "-ed" has taken precedence and 'sawn' is losing ground to 'sawed' - also, 'my dictionary resource indicates that sawn' is how the Brits would make the past participle and Americans would use 'sawed'.