bodner044

The pursuit of perfection has been a ‘hobby’ of mine for as long as I can remember.   Former work colleagues will acknowledge this with a knowing smile; my work ethic and high standards were well-known.   Family and friends will also recognize this trait, as applied to topics as various as gardening, Halloween costumes, board games, cross-stitch projects and cooking. With Number One Son (#1S), this characteristic evolved into a family joke that came to be called “Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.”     During his high school years, I was looking for a way to spend time with him, and we agreed that we would cook one meal together each week.   We used the Web to choose a recipe , and then engaged Spousal Unit to buy the necessary ingredients.   As many of you know, bay leaves are a common ingredient in numerous dishes.   Inevitably, the recipe will instruct you to remove the bay leaves after the dish is cooked.*** This led to quite some discussion – do the bay ...

Well, folks, time for another re-wind!   Back in April, as part of our Nashville, Asheville, Charlotte, Virginia road trip, we visited a nephew in Lynchburg.   A fellow hiking enthusiast, he served up one for the memory banks – McAfee Knob. The Knob, which falls along the Appalachian Trail (A.T.), is a quartzite and sandstone formation jutting horizontally from the ridge.   It has an almost 270-degree panorama of the Catawba Valley and North Mountain to the West, Tinker Cliffs to the North and the Roanoke Valley to the East.   Red-roofed farmhouses, dilapidated barns and winding country lanes are visible from the elevation of 3,197 feet atop Catawba Mountain.   The Knob is named after James McAfee, a Scotch-Irish immigrant who settled in the Catawba Valley in the late 1730s.   Spring flowers were out in abundance on the trail, and I was fairly trigger happy, as you can see in the collages below.   A shout out to fellow blogger Beth from ...

In the last few days, I have taken great pleasure in the simplest things.   First, flowers from the Spousal Unit.   He was doing the normal shop at the grocery store, and stopped by the flower section.   Here’s the story as he told it to me: Spousal Unit: I would like some flowers for my wife. Store employee: Is there a special occasion?   Maybe Mother’s Day? Spousal Unit: yes, it’s Thursday. Second, weeding in the yard. Front flower bed - in progress Front flower bed - finished Back flower bed - in progress Back flower bed - finished Doesn't it look so much better? Third, our new (used) lawnmower.   Our lawn here is small; we will only be here for a few lawn-mowing months; our next house will not have a lawn – for all these reasons, we didn’t want to invest in a new machine.   Spousal Unit called on a few ads for used mowers, but to no avail.    Then, he had the brainstorm to visit the ReStore.   As a result, we are now the proud owners of t...

Forgive me if I re-wind the calendar almost one month, to April 8.   I have had so much other content for the blog recently that there was no room for our trip to the Biltmore.  In 1895, George W. Vanderbilt opened Biltmore as an escape from everyday life for family and friends.   Since 1930, it has been open to the public, and what a boon for tourism and employment in the area!   It currently employs over 2,000 people to tend the house, gardens and Antler Village and Winery.   While we enjoyed the house, the gardens were the true highlight.   First, the outdoor beds with spectacular tulips.   The gardener on-site that day told us they plant 100,000 tulip bulbs every fall.   And then they PULL THEM UP AND THROW THEM AWAY after their prime.   Apparently, they are so hybridized that they only flower well once.   From the showy colors that we witnessed, it is as though the tulips know they only have this one chance!   Note the pictu...

I know you all have been waiting (with bated breath) for the Day 7 segment.   Sorry to keep you in such suspense!   We arrived on time mid-afternoon on Wednesday, and the remainder of the day was quickly consumed with logistics.   So, it wasn’t until Thursday morning that Spousal Unit was able to engage in negotiation with the cable company for service (I could do a whole segment on the joys of dealing with these folks, but no one wants to hear the whining).   And just now, we have service and I have been able to post! As you can see from the picture at left, the drive from Cut Bank, Montana to Whitefish, Montana is stunning, especially at this time of year.   With the snow on the mountains, they stand out in sharp contrast with the prairie.   At times, the white peaks fan out 180 degrees in front of you.   At least with my current photography skills, there is not a way to capture the beauty with justice. As I previously mentioned, Lewis and Clark ...

Twenty minutes after leaving Buffalo Gap, we entered Montana. WE MADE IT!  And then, for the next four hours, we had open roads. Spousal Unit took advantage of this opportunity to put the Audi TTS through its paces - 125 mph at one point.  I would love to know what his co-pilot (Tom the parakeet) was thinking as they sped through the vast farms and ranches. At points, rain clouds could be seen in the distance, with the trailing dark arms that indicated precipitation.  I was grateful for the occasional rain shower to rinse off some of the dust from the ranch roads. In one field, I saw a group of pronghorn grazing with the cattle.  Pronghorn are one of the only remaining large mammals to roam the Great Plains.  Running at speeds of upwards of 60 miles per hour, they are North America's fastest land mammal.  Pheasant seem to have an obsession with the road - in addition to several that ran across the highway in front of me, there were an equal n...

Today was a wonderful respite after four days on the road.   Leaving the cats and the bird comfortably ensconced in Number 13 at the Buffalo Gap Guest Ranch we went to explore this stunning slice of North Dakota.   We chose this area as a stopping point due to its proximity to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and what a wise move!   From the moment we entered the park, we encountered a wide variety of wildlife and vistas that evoked “Wow” at every curve.   At some point, you just have to stop taking pictures!   Here are a few highlights: Prairie dog towns dot the landscape, and we were lucky to capture this curious fellow close to the road.  At one town, a hawk flew nearby and they all scattered.  We have all heard the story of the decimation of the bison, and the subsequent miracle of their recovery.  This is but one example of the contribution of Teddy Roosevelt.  In the 1880s, Roosevelt witnessed overhunting, overgrazing and other th...