Southwest Virginia Blogs

Actually the weather is almost springlike along much of the east coast.  Even my buddy in Halifax, Nova Scotia has temperatures above freezing.  The weather in Roanoke has been pretty nice and might even cause your mind to wander to the beach.

Actually the beach weather has been pretty good also with temperatures approaching seventy degrees Fahrenheit some days.  Still we all know in our heart of hearts that this cannot last and that we must have cold weather so the greedy oil barons ( I will leave coal out of this since I don't want to be lynched) can have their pound of flesh.

When we lived in Atlantic Canada, usually about this time of year, the temperature would start falling.  A huge dome of cold air would slip relentlessly south and east.  Each day would be shock to the senses.  Today's low temperature would end up being tomorrow's high.  Sometimes the cycle would continue for a whole week.  One of the worst episodes that I remember was in January 1982.  I actually looked up some weather records and found that on January 17, 1982  it dropped to one degree Fahrenheit in Augusta, Ga. and in Philadelphia.  In that particular episode of cold, seventy five cities in the eastern US set record lows for the day.

That day on our farm (now a B&B) twenty miles north of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and 1100 miles north and east of Roanoke,  the temperature bottomed out after a number of days of steady drops at minus forty degrees.  I actually remember the day well since our youngest daughter was born then.  It was so cold I actually hung blankets over the windows.  Though minus forty was very unusual, even more unusual was the snow and high winds which were said to have gusted to over 60 miles per hour.  Normally when it got that cold the winds became silent and there was no precipitation.  That day was different.  We had a near blizzard in arctic temperatures.  In fact the next day, something that rarely happened took place.  Schools were actually closed in our snow belt district. (The first year we lived there, we had three feet of snow) Officials were worried that students might touch power lines because in some places the snow piles had gotten within touching distance of the wires.

It's hard to say what kind of winter Roanoke will get this winter.  Mountain weather is a huge challenge.  USA Today had an article yesterday, "El Nino promises warmer, drier winter in north."

I haven't noticed if Kevin Myatt has issued his annual winter weather forecast for the Roanoke area, but I did notice he mentioned in his latest post, "Winter weather a matter of ups and downs," that Roanoke and Blacksburg were among the spots that did not have record lows late last week.  I picked up from the weather service that North Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, and a number of areas on NC's Crystal Coast recorded record lows in the seventeen to twenty one degrees Fahrenheit.

I am ready to put in my request for a winter weather Christmas present.  I would like one snow storm to come Christmas eve and be gone by Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.  That should do nicely.

If you are interested in deciphering the winter forecast for you area, here is a link to NOAA's final winter 2006-07 forecast.

The best I can tell Roanoke has an equal chance of being wetter or drier and cooler or warmer.  Just pick the weather you want and wish for it.  That will probably work as well as anything.

The North Carolina coast looks to have a fair chance of normal temperatures with the odds being favorable for a little more moisture. 

I guess we'll just have to see how all this plays out since there is no predicting it.

Actually the weather is almost springlike along much of the east coast.  Even my buddy in Halifax, Nova Scotia has temperatures above freezing.  The weather in Roanoke has been pretty nice and might even cause your mind to wander to the beach.

Actually the beach weather has been pretty good also with temperatures approaching seventy degrees Fahrenheit some days.  Still we all know in our heart of hearts that this cannot last and that we must have cold weather so the greedy oil barons ( I will leave coal out of this since I don't want to be lynched) can have their pound of flesh.

When we lived in Atlantic Canada, usually about this time of year, the temperature would start falling.  A huge dome of cold air would slip relentlessly south and east.  Each day would be shock to the senses.  Today's low temperature would end up being tomorrow's high.  Sometimes the cycle would continue for a whole week.  One of the worst episodes that I remember was in January 1982.  I actually looked up some weather records and found that on January 17, 1982  it dropped to one degree Fahrenheit in Augusta, Ga. and in Philadelphia.  In that particular episode of cold, seventy five cities in the eastern US set record lows for the day.

That day on our farm (now a B&B) twenty miles north of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and 1100 miles north and east of Roanoke,  the temperature bottomed out after a number of days of steady drops at minus forty degrees.  I actually remember the day well since our youngest daughter was born then.  It was so cold I actually hung blankets over the windows.  Though minus forty was very unusual, even more unusual was the snow and high winds which were said to have gusted to over 60 miles per hour.  Normally when it got that cold the winds became silent and there was no precipitation.  That day was different.  We had a near blizzard in arctic temperatures.  In fact the next day, something that rarely happened took place.  Schools were actually closed in our snow belt district. (The first year we lived there, we had three feet of snow) Officials were worried that students might touch power lines because in some places the snow piles had gotten within touching distance of the wires.

It's hard to say what kind of winter Roanoke will get this winter.  Mountain weather is a huge challenge.  USA Today had an article yesterday, "El Nino promises warmer, drier winter in north."

I haven't noticed if Kevin Myatt has issued his annual winter weather forecast for the Roanoke area, but I did notice he mentioned in his latest post, "Winter weather a matter of ups and downs," that Roanoke and Blacksburg were among the spots that did not have record lows late last week.  I picked up from the weather service that North Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, and a number of areas on NC's Crystal Coast recorded record lows in the seventeen to twenty one degrees Fahrenheit.

I am ready to put in my request for a winter weather Christmas present.  I would like one snow storm to come Christmas eve and be gone by Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.  That should do nicely.

If you are interested in deciphering the winter forecast for you area, here is a link to NOAA's final winter 2006-07 forecast.

The best I can tell Roanoke has an equal chance of being wetter or drier and cooler or warmer.  Just pick the weather you want and wish for it.  That will probably work as well as anything.

The North Carolina coast looks to have a fair chance of normal temperatures with the odds being favorable for a little more moisture. 

I guess we'll just have to see how all this plays out since there is no predicting it.

Actually the weather is almost springlike along much of the east coast.  Even my buddy in Halifax, Nova Scotia has temperatures above freezing.  The weather in Roanoke has been pretty nice and might even cause your mind to wander to the beach.

Actually the beach weather has been pretty good also with temperatures approaching seventy degrees Fahrenheit some days.  Still we all know in our heart of hearts that this cannot last and that we must have cold weather so the greedy oil barons ( I will leave coal out of this since I don't want to be lynched) can have their pound of flesh.

When we lived in Atlantic Canada, usually about this time of year, the temperature would start falling.  A huge dome of cold air would slip relentlessly south and east.  Each day would be shock to the senses.  Today's low temperature would end up being tomorrow's high.  Sometimes the cycle would continue for a whole week.  One of the worst episodes that I remember was in January 1982.  I actually looked up some weather records and found that on January 17, 1982  it dropped to one degree Fahrenheit in Augusta, Ga. and in Philadelphia.  In that particular episode of cold, seventy five cities in the eastern US set record lows for the day.

That day on our farm (now a B&B) twenty miles north of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and 1100 miles north and east of Roanoke,  the temperature bottomed out after a number of days of steady drops at minus forty degrees.  I actually remember the day well since our youngest daughter was born then.  It was so cold I actually hung blankets over the windows.  Though minus forty was very unusual, even more unusual was the snow and high winds which were said to have gusted to over 60 miles per hour.  Normally when it got that cold the winds became silent and there was no precipitation.  That day was different.  We had a near blizzard in arctic temperatures.  In fact the next day, something that rarely happened took place.  Schools were actually closed in our snow belt district. (The first year we lived there, we had three feet of snow) Officials were worried that students might touch power lines because in some places the snow piles had gotten within touching distance of the wires.

It's hard to say what kind of winter Roanoke will get this winter.  Mountain weather is a huge challenge.  USA Today had an article yesterday, "El Nino promises warmer, drier winter in north."

I haven't noticed if Kevin Myatt has issued his annual winter weather forecast for the Roanoke area, but I did notice he mentioned in his latest post, "Winter weather a matter of ups and downs," that Roanoke and Blacksburg were among the spots that did not have record lows late last week.  I picked up from the weather service that North Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, and a number of areas on NC's Crystal Coast recorded record lows in the seventeen to twenty one degrees Fahrenheit.

I am ready to put in my request for a winter weather Christmas present.  I would like one snow storm to come Christmas eve and be gone by Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.  That should do nicely.

If you are interested in deciphering the winter forecast for you area, here is a link to NOAA's final winter 2006-07 forecast.

The best I can tell Roanoke has an equal chance of being wetter or drier and cooler or warmer.  Just pick the weather you want and wish for it.  That will probably work as well as anything.

The North Carolina coast looks to have a fair chance of normal temperatures with the odds being favorable for a little more moisture. 

I guess we'll just have to see how all this plays out since there is no predicting it.

I do not regularly use the same pictures on my internet posts.  I try to pick something unique for each site. This morning I ended up using the same shot on Coastalnc.org as I have used in this post.  The picture has such warm tones that it matches the weather, and I could not resist.

I was filling up with gas yesterday, and someone across the pump island asked me if I like this North Carolina winter?  It was pretty hard to respond with anything by a strong yes since I switched back to shorts as my standard clothing yesterday.

I know much of the country has enjoyed some warmer than normal temperatures.  When we have so many other problems to worry about, it is nice to take the weather off the list for a while.  I did notice that my friends in Halifax, Nova Scotia are seeing temperature just around thirty degrees Fahrenheit.   All I can say is that there are plenty of warmer places to flee to this time of year, and the Canadian dollar is strong, so they have no excuse.

It is so bright today that even with a filter on my digital camera, it is hard to get any blue sky.  That kind of problem is the right kind to have.

I do not regularly use the same pictures on my internet posts.  I try to pick something unique for each site. This morning I ended up using the same shot on Coastalnc.org as I have used in this post.  The picture has such warm tones that it matches the weather, and I could not resist.

I was filling up with gas yesterday, and someone across the pump island asked me if I like this North Carolina winter?  It was pretty hard to respond with anything by a strong yes since I switched back to shorts as my standard clothing yesterday.

I know much of the country has enjoyed some warmer than normal temperatures.  When we have so many other problems to worry about, it is nice to take the weather off the list for a while.  I did notice that my friends in Halifax, Nova Scotia are seeing temperature just around thirty degrees Fahrenheit.   All I can say is that there are plenty of warmer places to flee to this time of year, and the Canadian dollar is strong, so they have no excuse.

It is so bright today that even with a filter on my digital camera, it is hard to get any blue sky.  That kind of problem is the right kind to have.

The sun came up, and the rains moved to our west.  The skies are now very blue, and everything is starting to drain.

My normal route to the morning paper was blocked by closed road.  I had to take back way out which required fording some significant standing water.  We actually had a rainbow this morning so that's a good sign.

Fortunately our kids arrived safely last night, and the water is not any higher on our dock than it usually is after a heavy storm

I hope the areas to the east of us faired as well as we did.  Here on the western edge of Carteret County on the shores of the White Oak, we seem to be in good shape except for some minor flooding.

I hope the next Nor'easter has weather as warm as this associated with it, but that I suspect is a pipe dream.  You don't get many Nor'easters when the temperature is sixty degrees Fahrenheit.

It is hard to believe that the weather can change so quickly, but it does.  It was just last week that I was wearing shorts when I was cutting some weeds.

Today as I reported over at my Coastal NC site, we have rain and high winds.  Thanksgiving is going to be pretty damp in Carteret County.

When the sun comes up tomorrow morning, I will try to get some pictures of the water.  Late this afternoon, I drove over the bridge to Emerald Isle and took this picture of a couple of human bits of flotsam in the surf.

I think they were trying to surf.  Based on the driving rain and wind, I think I could find a nicer spot to play.   It will be interesting to see  how high the water level rises in the White Oak River  by tomorrow.

I guess if you can love a place in this weather, then you must have picked the right spot.  It is good thing I don't mind getting wet.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

About two years ago, I started blogging.  My first post, "My Welcome to Windows," was November 23, 2004. 

Since then, there aren't many topics that I haven't touched.  I have written about our family in posts like, "In honor of mom, the grand lady of Pine Street."  It's been a lot of fun doing restaurant reviews like, "Goobers, another backroads restaurant" and "Dining along the coast, Riverside Steak & Seafood."

I've also done some humorous pieces like the "The dangerous pillowfication of America,"  Then there have been serious pieces like "The Menhaden saga and limits to growth," and  "North Carolina, Competition or a Partner."

Certainly technology has been a big part of my writing.  Posts like "The Breezy Badger comes to the rescue," have been a staple of View from the mountain, while posts like "So what was the best part about being at Apple," have been the mainstay of Applepeels.

My business experience has led me to write some management posts like "Integrity In Management."  Some of my favorite posts have been recipes like "Time For Clam Chowder" or movie reviews such as "Cars- A great movie."  Once in a while someone has gotten under my skin and got a tough post like "High tech car, low tech dealer" or "Repudiating our founding ideas."

I also haven't been shy about dispensing advice in posts like "Some Advice To My Kids."  I have had posts that have been controversial like many of the ones at Applepeels.  The pressure at Applepeels has not stopped me from creating feel good ones such as "The freedom to be interdependent."  There have fortunately been only a couple posts that interested few people other than me  and a number which have been read by thousands of people around the world.

I enjoyed more than anything else writing the travel articles like, "Swansboro, NC Travel Guide" and "A Summer Excursion Through New Brunswick, PEI, & Nova Scotia."  Now if I could just figure out how to get paid for doing that.

I have no fixed list of topics as I plan what to write for the next posts.  As usual I will write about what interests me and hope that it finds a receptive audience.  A love of writing as a craft is what keeps me going.  I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

Yet with nine hundred ninety posts at View from the Mountain and Applepeels, I'm looking forward to passing the one thousand post milestone before November.   Actually if I wanted to get technical about it, I'm already over one thousand posts if you count the ones that I have done at Radio, Blogger, Bubbler, Dot Mac, and Live Journal where I've explored other blogging software.

Later today I hope to do a couple more posts, so let the countdown to one thousand begin.  After doing 990 posts, the next ten should be very easy.

About two years ago, I started blogging.  My first post, "My Welcome to Windows," was November 23, 2004. 

Since then, there aren't many topics that I haven't touched.  I have written about our family in posts like, "In honor of mom, the grand lady of Pine Street."  It's been a lot of fun doing restaurant reviews like, "Goobers, another backroads restaurant" and "Dining along the coast, Riverside Steak & Seafood."

I've also done some humorous pieces like the "The dangerous pillowfication of America,"  Then there have been serious pieces like "The Menhaden saga and limits to growth," and  "North Carolina, Competition or a Partner."

Certainly technology has been a big part of my writing.  Posts like "The Breezy Badger comes to the rescue," have been a staple of View from the mountain, while posts like "So what was the best part about being at Apple," have been the mainstay of Applepeels.

My business experience has led me to write some management posts like "Integrity In Management."  Some of my favorite posts have been recipes like "Time For Clam Chowder" or movie reviews such as "Cars- A great movie."  Once in a while someone has gotten under my skin and got a tough post like "High tech car, low tech dealer" or "Repudiating our founding ideas."

I also haven't been shy about dispensing advice in posts like "Some Advice To My Kids."  I have had posts that have been controversial like many of the ones at Applepeels.  The pressure at Applepeels has not stopped me from creating feel good ones such as "The freedom to be interdependent."  There have fortunately been only a couple posts that interested few people other than me  and a number which have been read by thousands of people around the world.

I enjoyed more than anything else writing the travel articles like, "Swansboro, NC Travel Guide" and "A Summer Excursion Through New Brunswick, PEI, & Nova Scotia."  Now if I could just figure out how to get paid for doing that.

I have no fixed list of topics as I plan what to write for the next posts.  As usual I will write about what interests me and hope that it finds a receptive audience.  A love of writing as a craft is what keeps me going.  I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

Yet with nine hundred ninety posts at View from the Mountain and Applepeels, I'm looking forward to passing the one thousand post milestone before November.   Actually if I wanted to get technical about it, I'm already over one thousand posts if you count the ones that I have done at Radio, Blogger, Bubbler, Dot Mac, and Live Journal where I've explored other blogging software.

Later today I hope to do a couple more posts, so let the countdown to one thousand begin.  After doing 990 posts, the next ten should be very easy.

About two years ago, I started blogging.  My first post, "My Welcome to Windows," was November 23, 2004. 

Since then, there aren't many topics that I haven't touched.  I have written about our family in posts like, "In honor of mom, the grand lady of Pine Street."  It's been a lot of fun doing restaurant reviews like, "Goobers, another backroads restaurant" and "Dining along the coast, Riverside Steak & Seafood."

I've also done some humorous pieces like the "The dangerous pillowfication of America,"  Then there have been serious pieces like "The Menhaden saga and limits to growth," and  "North Carolina, Competition or a Partner."

Certainly technology has been a big part of my writing.  Posts like "The Breezy Badger comes to the rescue," have been a staple of View from the mountain, while posts like "So what was the best part about being at Apple," have been the mainstay of Applepeels.

My business experience has led me to write some management posts like "Integrity In Management."  Some of my favorite posts have been recipes like "Time For Clam Chowder" or movie reviews such as "Cars- A great movie."  Once in a while someone has gotten under my skin and got a tough post like "High tech car, low tech dealer" or "Repudiating our founding ideas."

I also haven't been shy about dispensing advice in posts like "Some Advice To My Kids."  I have had posts that have been controversial like many of the ones at Applepeels.  The pressure at Applepeels has not stopped me from creating feel good ones such as "The freedom to be interdependent."  There have fortunately been only a couple posts that interested few people other than me  and a number which have been read by thousands of people around the world.

I enjoyed more than anything else writing the travel articles like, "Swansboro, NC Travel Guide" and "A Summer Excursion Through New Brunswick, PEI, & Nova Scotia."  Now if I could just figure out how to get paid for doing that.

I have no fixed list of topics as I plan what to write for the next posts.  As usual I will write about what interests me and hope that it finds a receptive audience.  A love of writing as a craft is what keeps me going.  I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

Yet with nine hundred ninety posts at View from the Mountain and Applepeels, I'm looking forward to passing the one thousand post milestone before November.   Actually if I wanted to get technical about it, I'm already over one thousand posts if you count the ones that I have done at Radio, Blogger, Bubbler, Dot Mac, and Live Journal where I've explored other blogging software.

Later today I hope to do a couple more posts, so let the countdown to one thousand begin.  After doing 990 posts, the next ten should be very easy.

About two years ago, I started blogging.  My first post, "My Welcome to Windows," was November 23, 2004. 

Since then, there aren't many topics that I haven't touched.  I have written about our family in posts like, "In honor of mom, the grand lady of Pine Street."  It's been a lot of fun doing restaurant reviews like, "Goobers, another backroads restaurant" and "Dining along the coast, Riverside Steak & Seafood."

I've also done some humorous pieces like the "The dangerous pillowfication of America,"  Then there have been serious pieces like "The Menhaden saga and limits to growth," and  "North Carolina, Competition or a Partner."

Certainly technology has been a big part of my writing.  Posts like "The Breezy Badger comes to the rescue," have been a staple of View from the mountain, while posts like "So what was the best part about being at Apple," have been the mainstay of Applepeels.

My business experience has led me to write some management posts like "Integrity In Management."  Some of my favorite posts have been recipes like "Time For Clam Chowder" or movie reviews such as "Cars- A great movie."  Once in a while someone has gotten under my skin and got a tough post like "High tech car, low tech dealer" or "Repudiating our founding ideas."

I also haven't been shy about dispensing advice in posts like "Some Advice To My Kids."  I have had posts that have been controversial like many of the ones at Applepeels.  The pressure at Applepeels has not stopped me from creating feel good ones such as "The freedom to be interdependent."  There have fortunately been only a couple posts that interested few people other than me  and a number which have been read by thousands of people around the world.

I enjoyed more than anything else writing the travel articles like, "Swansboro, NC Travel Guide" and "A Summer Excursion Through New Brunswick, PEI, & Nova Scotia."  Now if I could just figure out how to get paid for doing that.

I have no fixed list of topics as I plan what to write for the next posts.  As usual I will write about what interests me and hope that it finds a receptive audience.  A love of writing as a craft is what keeps me going.  I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

Yet with nine hundred ninety posts at View from the Mountain and Applepeels, I'm looking forward to passing the one thousand post milestone before November.   Actually if I wanted to get technical about it, I'm already over one thousand posts if you count the ones that I have done at Radio, Blogger, Bubbler, Dot Mac, and Live Journal where I've explored other blogging software.

Later today I hope to do a couple more posts, so let the countdown to one thousand begin.  After doing 990 posts, the next ten should be very easy.

About two years ago, I started blogging.  My first post, "My Welcome to Windows," was November 23, 2004. 

Since then, there aren't many topics that I haven't touched.  I have written about our family in posts like, "In honor of mom, the grand lady of Pine Street."  It's been a lot of fun doing restaurant reviews like, "Goobers, another backroads restaurant" and "Dining along the coast, Riverside Steak & Seafood."

I've also done some humorous pieces like the "The dangerous pillowfication of America,"  Then there have been serious pieces like "The Menhaden saga and limits to growth," and  "North Carolina, Competition or a Partner."

Certainly technology has been a big part of my writing.  Posts like "The Breezy Badger comes to the rescue," have been a staple of View from the mountain, while posts like "So what was the best part about being at Apple," have been the mainstay of Applepeels.

My business experience has led me to write some management posts like "Integrity In Management."  Some of my favorite posts have been recipes like "Time For Clam Chowder" or movie reviews such as "Cars- A great movie."  Once in a while someone has gotten under my skin and got a tough post like "High tech car, low tech dealer" or "Repudiating our founding ideas."

I also haven't been shy about dispensing advice in posts like "Some Advice To My Kids."  I have had posts that have been controversial like many of the ones at Applepeels.  The pressure at Applepeels has not stopped me from creating feel good ones such as "The freedom to be interdependent."  There have fortunately been only a couple posts that interested few people other than me  and a number which have been read by thousands of people around the world.

I enjoyed more than anything else writing the travel articles like, "Swansboro, NC Travel Guide" and "A Summer Excursion Through New Brunswick, PEI, & Nova Scotia."  Now if I could just figure out how to get paid for doing that.

I have no fixed list of topics as I plan what to write for the next posts.  As usual I will write about what interests me and hope that it finds a receptive audience.  A love of writing as a craft is what keeps me going.  I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

Yet with nine hundred ninety posts at View from the Mountain and Applepeels, I'm looking forward to passing the one thousand post milestone before November.   Actually if I wanted to get technical about it, I'm already over one thousand posts if you count the ones that I have done at Radio, Blogger, Bubbler, Dot Mac, and Live Journal where I've explored other blogging software.

Later today I hope to do a couple more posts, so let the countdown to one thousand begin.  After doing 990 posts, the next ten should be very easy.

I know there are other people who thrive on getting out of bed and seeing the sunrise.  I just don't happen to know a whole lot of them.  Getting up confirms that I'm still breathing and have survived one more night, but it's a lot more than that.

First off it's a new day.  The sun is rising in a slightly different spot than it did yesterday.  Someone somewhere around the world has done something interesting that I've yet to learn. 

Some of the world best writers have had another night to craft some words that might either delight me, infuriate me, or even inspire me to write something of my own.  I might even meet someone new.

The weather in some of the places that I track has changed.  It might be the same where I'm at, but someplace there is something interesting happening as the weather keeps changing.

As I rode across the Highway 58 bridge this morning from Cape Carteret to Emerald Isle and snapped the above picture, the outside thermometer was reading thirty seven degrees Fahrenheit which is not far off the record low for the date of thirty six degrees.  That is a change well worth noting.

I might be tempted to credit the eleven years of farming for establishing a habit of getting up early, but I can remember many mornings not wanting to take that long hike to the barn to milk our Guernsey, Rosie before I started the regular chores involved in taking care of 200 head of beef cattle.  Taking a little hike at thirty below zero is not a very attractive option when you're in a warm bed.

Perhaps it's my newspaper addiction that provides that early morning energy.  I've always been hooked on reading the morning newspapers even when I was in elementary school.  Today I have fun sending a couple of my college roommates links to early morning news articles that I pluck from my favorite papers around the world.  It's pretty easy to stay connected these days, and re-establishing those connections every day is one of the reasons I can instantly hop out of bed.

For the last few years, there's been the morning emails which nearly everyone but the President seems to enjoy these days.  I like to hear from friends and see what's happening around.  Many of my friends have switched to instant messaging, but I still find that catching them early in the morning is easier than later in the day.

Actually I believe getting up early in the morning is directly tied to your happiness level.  If you're happy about your life and where it is headed, you don't want to miss a minute of it.  We have such a short time to enjoy life, that spending it in bed just isn't in my character. (Don't take that to be an anti-nap statement)  Whether it's getting up to catch a sunrise from our Roanoke house or driving across the bridge to see the sun rise over the sound,  I'll keep doing it as long as I can.

If I start staying in bed much past sunrise, you can start digging the grave.

The slightly inaccurate thermometer on our deck read thirty two degrees Fahrenheit this morning. I checked some weather sites which reported low temperatures near thirty six degrees in the area.  Whatever the exact temperature, it appears fall is upon us.  The leaves are starting to turn, and my curiosity on the progress of the leaves prompted me to do a Google search on "Virginia fall foliage."

That turned out to be an unfortunate detour to mostly broken links.  The first link took me to "Virginia is for Lovers fall foliage 2006."  Unfortunately that site wanted me to install the latest version of flash which wasn't at the top of my to do list for today.  The next link took me to the "Virginia State Climatology Office Fall Color Information."  Since what I really wanted was information on the Jefferson and George Washington National Forests, I clicked on that link.  What I got was this.

The file you requested is not available.

The next link I tried was the Shenandoah National Park link.  A little wandering there took me to a very "helpful" page with the following information.

Question: When will the fall leaves in Shenandoah National Park be at peak color?

Answer: Usually, the peak season for fall colors is mid-late October. However, it is dependent on the weather. The fall colors start at the higher altitudes, and gradually move down the mountain to the lower elevations.

The page also offered a download of a Word file which was current as of October 6.  Just for kicks since this was turning into something of a battle of wills I downloaded the file (not something I like to do) which starts out with the following text.

"Fall is definitely upon us here in the mountains of Virginia, bringing with it shorter days and noticeably cooler temperatures. The colors and textures of autumn are changing daily. Although we’ve come close, we still haven’t had our first official frost this year, once that happens, we’ll see even more rapid changes in the foliage....."

"The bright red Virginia creeper vines are very showy right now as they wind their way up trees, along rocky outcrops, and even over the rock walls that line the Skyline Drive."

Since the picture of the Virginia Creeper which I took earlier this morning was the impetus to start thinking about fall foliage, I would have to rate my Internet fall foliage tour as a bust.

I did try clicking on the Blue Ridge Parkway link and ended up with a little better results.  I got a nice slider prediction of fall foliage in NC and a more up to date report.

Fall Foliage Report: Week 4, October 11, 2006

Red and yellow, purple and orange – as the mercury dips, people reach for sweaters and mugs of hot cocoa and the trees begin a full-fledged metamorphosis to brilliant color. With evening temperatures reaching the 30s in some areas, fall color reaches its peak in the higher elevations of the North Carolina Mountains this week. Even trees in lower elevations are blushing with color.

For Virginia I got a phone number that I could call, "1-800-424-LOVE."  Just to fair to Virginia, I went back and installed the latest version of flash and visited the Virginia Fall Colors site which had a nice little slider that basically showed the Roanoke Valley well past its peak by this time in October.  So much for accurate web information.

All this leads me to believe that most of the reliable information on leaf change in Virginia isn't going to come from our state managed web sites.  For those of you looking for fall foliage, I can offer this shot I took of the Roanoke Valley last November 5th.  Based on the weather I would guess the peak in Roanoke will be in the next ten to fourteen days.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but sometimes we get overwhelmed in it.  In the time that I spent wandering the web looking for information about fall foliage, I could have driven over towards Newcastle and gotten a much better idea of what things look like for this fall.  Fortunately the view from my kitchen table is better than most drives, but this would be an outstanding time to go visit the Homeplace over in Catawba,  just a few minutes from Roanoke.

Tonight we might see some frost which would be very early for this mountain, and it's pretty hard to believe since the grass in the front yard looks like spring green.

Jumping to another subject which will eventually lead back to fall foliage, if you are into Barbecue and Wine, and not necessarily at the same time, the NY Times had an interesting article about the North Carolina versions of both.

THE Piedmont in North Carolina is holy ground for barbecue connoisseurs: a place where pork shoulders are still pit-cooked over smoldering hardwood, and men with names like Snook and Boney live on through their smoky legacy.

The old-school barbecue joints they’ve left behind would alone warrant a road trip through this patchwork quilt of old farms, small towns and distant mountain views that sprawl south and west of Winston-Salem. But they’re not the only reason for food-minded tourists to visit here.

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the Yadkin Valley, a fledgling wine scene has taken root, one that doesn’t feature just the sweet native muscadine, but also pork-friendly Old World varietals like cabernet franc, sangiovese and even nebbiolo.

Glenda, my wife, and I actually had a very nice meal  a couple of years ago at the "The Wolf's Lair Restaurant" which is situated at the Black Wolf Vineyards near Dobson, NC.  If that's a little fancy, you're in the neighborhood of the Depot at Cody Creek a very popular area restaurant.

Actually it's a great time to visit that area of North Carolina, if you don't mind some traffic.  This weekend is the annual Mount Airy, NC Autumn Leaves Festival.  There looks to be plenty of good old time music on the program.  If you need a place to stay, check out the Sobotta Manor which is the lovely Bed and Breakfast now being run by our friends the Hesters out of the Sobotta family home place.  It's within walking distance of most of the Fall Festival exhibits. 

When you come back up Fancy Gap make a note of the foliage and send me an email.  I'm more likely to find out about the changing leaves that way than I am from the Virginia websites.