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“A CELESTIAL SURPRISE”
As readers of the blog are probably aware, Brigette likes all things space-related. Especially pleasing is the fact that since we’re two miles into the forest, we don’t have city lights affecting our view of the night sky. We’ve seen the band of the Milky Way and the sky filled with multitudes of stars almost every night this week, and we’ve also been watching the Holmes Comet as it explodes.
FOLIAGE WATCH: REPORT 7
We really shouldn’t be able to provide reports on fall foliage this late in the season…but here we are. What a wonderful Autumn we’ve been having! Several trees are still ablaze with color. Although a brief wind storm earlier this week led to a serious increase in bare branches, we’ve seen some really brilliant explosions of bright colors on the remaining leafy trees at our elevation due to some cool mountain nights.
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY – SECTION CLOSED
News concerning the Blue Ridge Parkway from our friends at the McDowell Tourism Development Authority:
FALL HIKE
WELCOME TO PETEY
There are two fish who live in the little pond inside the solarium. Two weeks ago, we brought them a friend. His name is Petey. Petey is about 1/10 the size of the other fish, and he pretty much hangs out in one corner of the fishpond where there’s a nice plant for him to hide in. Well, he thinks he’s hiding anyway. This is Petey “hiding” from us. He’s so cute.
FOLIAGE WATCH: REPORT 6
FIRST FROST
Yesterday, weather forecasters issued a frost warning for the mountains, but we didn’t see any when we woke up. However, today, we awoke to a bright, crisp clear morning and a little bit of frost on the ground. What was really eye-catching was the mist slowly rising off the lake with the autumn trees in the background. What a nice view for breakfast from the dining solarium!
AUTUMN AT CHIMNEY ROCK
Our good friends at Chimney Rock Park gave us a great fall foliage report this week. What a pretty place, and what a great place for hiking. We loved our trip there in April of last year. Here’s Dave standing on top of the “chimney” with Lake Lure in the backround. Pretty nice scenery behind him, huh? Brigette has a fear of falling, so she was huddled partially behind a rock, gripping onto it while taking Dave’s picture. The rest of the day was spent hiking up to the top of the falls and back. Very spectacular views!
