Homer'sWorld

They moved graves from the old cemetery here in the 1910s and there are several unidentified soldiers from the Grand Army of the Republic plot.

I saw tombstones in English, Spanish, Russian, Georgian, Chinese (possibly Japanese too), Arabic, and Greek. Some of the old stones have little enameled photographs, long gone people peering out at you. Some of the new stones now have engraved images, in one case a woman with her dog.

There was a ceremony going on, but for whatever reason I was feeling sad so I came on home instead. I'm going to work on my latest project- compiling biographies of the 380 or so Civil War soldiers buried in the local cemetery back in Traverse City. Never a dull moment at my place.

We only got slightly lost on the way to Forrest and Jason's abode. We drove into the driveway and there was Karl, visiting from Montana. It was nice to see him.

After a while, Forrest came home from work and it was just like old times.

I ended up conking out early, probably because of the several beers I drank. There was music played and some Bocci after I fell asleep.

Forrest and Jason went off to their careers, but Forrest first drew elaborate directions to go see things. We promptly got lost, but that was alright because I got to see up close some of the dense fields of flowers planted along North Carolina highways.

We got lost but winding our ways through the dense, lush, green vegetation, we eventually found some place near Lake James called Wolfpit and climbed part of the way up the mountain.

That afternoon we met Forrest and Jason for supper at Judge's. I had salad bar. The banana pudding was disgusting. In contrast, the fried foods were delicious.

That night, Evan and Forrest played music. They had a good time doing so.

Saturday.

The next morning, Chas and his charming beau David arrived and we went to Morgantown, where I insisted on posing in front of the memorial. Seven of my direct ancestors were Union soldiers during the Civil War.

We had an excellent lunch at Yanni's. I recommend their eggplant sub.

Back home, Travis showed up and it was great to see him. We said farewell to Chas and David, and then prepared to go camping in the woods. The drive was long and windy, I was glad to get out for a few minutes.

Jason brought along his doggy, who enjoyed herself.

After we found a camping spot, we had some trouble getting the fire started, but at last it caught.

We were way up in the mountains, and all I could hear was some crickets and a frog or two.

Sunday.

The next morning, I was slightly sore from sleeping on a root.

We went to Ashville and ate at a vegetarian restaurant. Evan's food was better than mine.

Evan, Travis, and I went to Table Rock, way and ways up in the mountains. I admired greatly the flowers.

The trail was nice, not too scary, and if you fell over the edge you'd eventually catch on a tree or something instead of falling thousands of feet.

At the top there was nice scenery.

I wish Forrest and Travis could come live half the year in Tucson.

I saw many small lizards and even some yellow blooming cacti. This little feller surprised me on the way down the trail.

Below is my favorite picture that I took. Click on it to make it bigger, I order you to do so.

That night we played Glow-In-The-Dark Bocci and I was dismal at first.

Tuesday.

On Tuesday we drove west to Waynesville to see Chas. and the four of us drove up into the mountains and hiked up to the top of Max-Something-or-Other and admired the beautiful views. It was very Sound of Music-like.

We ate at the new Thai place and the food was great. That night Chas and Evan discovered that they had much of the same taste in music. It was awesome to spend quality time with Chas, he is a good guy.

Wednesday.

After leaving Chas' abode, we drove back to Nebo and hung out with Travis for a few hours. He took us to Bruce's in Marion and we had sandwiches and then cheesecake. I asked to go to cemeteries to look at tombstones. I liked this homemade one a lot.

The letter N is backwards.

We arrived safely back in Tucson, where is it now hot, but the swamp cooler is working really well. It was an awesome week away, but hard to say good bye to people I wished were closer. I was happy to introduce Evan to people, and happy that he and Forrest got to play a lot of music together. Many great memories were made.

Sarah DeEtte Pierce was born in December 1851 in Jefferson County, New York, the oldest daughter of Robert and Julia. As a teenager, she moved to Wisconsin, living near her father's family in Sheboygan County while he went off to serve in the Civil War. Afterward, the Pierce family moved to Grand Traverse County and settled on a farm.

DeEtte met handsome David Chandler and they were married in February 1872. I'm guessing the first two tintypes were taken shortly after the marriage. She is almost certainly posed with some contraption holding her head in place so that she couldn't move and blur the images.

DeEtte's whole life- 4 pictures, a few words, and a Bible.

I am older than she was when she died.

They were awesome, and despite the drunk, dancing hipster jumping around in front of us, we had a good time.

Fleet Foxes.


Tom Goss.

Tonight Tom Goss was in town and he sang songs in someone's backyard. It was lovely, a suddenly cool night, a smokey fire to keep people warm, and Tom singing. Again, a good time.

Tom Goss.

At the last minute I read the invitation and discovered it was a potluck. So I brought along a jar of watermelon rind pickles and was surprised that Tom knew what they were- he really liked them!

Last night we tried to make strawberry jam but it didn't set right so now I have jars of strawberry sauce.

This morning we headed way over east to Reddington Pass and hiked.

There was water trickling down among the weathered rocks and in one large pond a bunch of minnows were swimming around.

Evan had never been to a place like this, complete with the occasional naked hiker.

I managed to get slightly sunburnt on my shoulders. After a nap, I made Evan a strawberry cake with fluffy strawberry frosting.

And now we are going to the Fleet Foxes concert. This has been a very good weekend. I talked to Mummy today and she is feeling much better, although her healing bones give her a burning sensation in her foot at night. In a week or so she will be allowed to go to my sister's house to finish recuperating.

Puff is sitting next to me because Evan helped me put in the window-mounted AC unit and he loves the cool air that comes out of the magical human box.

On the wall across from me is my favorite painting, which I paid $5.00 for at a junk store. It is calming.

As I type this Evan is playing his new tenor banjo.

I remember her when she was 34 and just learning to drive a car. So strange that my memories go back so far.

Mummy spent two years at Michigan State, and purposely flunked her fencing class because she was so embarrassed by it.

She wore this olive green dress to weddings and funerals in the 1960s and early 1970s.

I bought a digital picture frame and loaded it with 160 family photos- I think she will enjoy that for a birthday present.

I made delicious chocolate brownies while listening to the news. I had some with lunch and I am completely, utterly buzzing from the sugar.

So glad I don't seat seafood. I hope whatever fish or clams or squid chew on Osama bin Douchebag don't get a tummy ache.