Hat trick

A Van Gogh painting + a Longfellow poem + a reference to eagles = :)

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, post-impressionism): Sower with Setting Sun, 1888 

The day is done, and the darkness
 Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
  From an Eagle in his flight.
                           - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Eaglet report

At 3 weeks old, the eaglets are growing so rapidly you can see them changing from one day to the next.  Their darker secondary down growth has come in, and they are at the stage where they look like they are wearing barrister wigs.  Their beaks and feet grow at a disproportionate rate that makes them look downright comical, waddling around on their huge clown feet.

I've thought for the last couple of days that maybe I ought to stop watching them.  They keep getting way too close to the edge, and I have more to worry about than eaglets falling out of their nest.

Northern pike for supper

Nick Saban's lake cottage, Part 2

Way back on October 18, 2008, I posted a blog about Saban's "cottage" on Lake Burton, along with this picture I took, so I was especially interested to read today that it has been listed for sale for a modest $10.9 million. Roll Tide!

Cinco De Mayo

I don't think the date had any significance in Caroline's choice of attire today, but she was so darned cute I could hardly stand it.  I smiled every time I looked at her.

If her eyes look funny, it's eye shadow  

Hats and horse racing

The Kentucky Derby excites even the horse-race ignorant, non-gambling sort of viewer, such as I am.  " The Kentucky Derby's about to start!" Jimmy called from the living room, so I ambled in, clueless about any of the horses, jockeys, trainers...anything.

"And they're OFF!'' They thundered out of the gate, hooves pounding and slinging mud over the rain-sodden track, the leaders streaking ahead of the pack of laggards. One of the laggards was Orb, the favorite, who hung back, maybe not dead last for the first half of the race, but close to it.

Then he made his move: one by one, he began gaining ground on the other horses, and right at the end, he surged ahead to win.

 It does get your adrenaline going. 

Edgar Degas, French, Racehorses at Longchamp, 1873

But I REALLY enjoy looking at all the hats. :)

Henri Matisse, French, Woman in a Hat, 1905

Just zipping along

Last fall, George and Karen Powell, with Mac as a partner, opened a zip line adventure course in Scaly Mountain NC, a few miles outside

of Highlands, and I got to "zip" for the first time. I loved it.  It took about 2 1/2 hours to do the whole course, and I never felt afraid or nervous or uncomfortable: just exhilarated and eager to try it again.

That's me coming in for a landing

My niece Mary Catherine took this picture of Mac and me in our zipping gear

I'm not sure of my numbers, but I believe the longest course is about 1500 feet long and the highest maybe 20 stories in the air.  You zip over valleys and gorges with beautiful mountain views, and under dense canopies of  trees.  I went during "leaf season" and everything was all crimson and gold and chartreuse, with leaves fluttering through the air like kaleidoscopes of yellow butterflies.

...or is it "Pickled Oprah?"

The first of May already, and fresh vegetable time grows nigh: good tomatoes, Silver Queen corn, Vidalia onions, boiled peanuts, and my brother William's famous "Okra Winfrey."