giant black bear on the loose in asheville

went up to the blue ridge parkway last night for a hike on the mountains-to-sea trail and we saw a GIANT black bear cross town mountain road in a fairly residential area of asheville.

it had to be between 500 - 700 pounds. it was six feet tall and very wide. it did not seem interested in the car, it climbed a hill and disappeared into the woods.

i didn't have my camera, and this is not the bear, but it looked like this size. at least. probably bigger.

here are some interesting facts about bears from the western north carolina nature center. http://www.wildwnc.org/education/animals/black-bear-ursus-americanus

Trevor Garrod - Nothing Changes

Beautiful song, beautiful singer. I am not a banjo fan but I make an exception.

"Nothing Changes"

Thunderstorm is coming
I see it through the door
If I get struck by lightning
My heart won’t beat any more
In other words…
Nothing will change

I went down to the river
The water is turning brown
If the levy breaks
Well I will surely drown
In other words…
Nothing will change

I’m drivin through the field
The field sowed with corn
I saw a dead fox lyin on the side of the road
My baby left me yesterday
She packed up all her clothes
She said that I would never change

This bottle’s almost empty
Yet I cannot catch a buzz
And the radio’s a tragedy of
Country songs and fuzz
In other words…
Nothing will change

The daylight always fails me
There’s no secret he can keep
The midnight will embrace me
But she will not let me sleep
In other words…
Nothing will change

Today there was a thunderstorm
It came in from a far
Lightning bolts came beating down
The earth was burned and scarred
My baby left me yesterday
She drove off in her car
And she said that I will never change

The kitchen clock is tickin
And the faucet’s got a leak
Like that water drippin
I’m on the path that resists the least
In other words…
Nothing changes

Yes I’m fallin to the bottom
The bottom of a hill
Where the rich men build their mansions
And they marry pretty girls
In other words…
Nothing changes

And if I had a little
Of what they got up there
Things would be different if
Life was only fair
My baby’d be beside me now
Together through this storm
There are some things that just cannot change
Some things you cannot change

The night is awfully quiet
There’s no friends I can call
I’m standin on a wooden chair
And if I should fall
Nothing will change
Nothing will change

Yes it’s that which hangs you up
That holds you down
Yes it’s that which hangs you up
That holds you down
Yes it’s that which hangs you up
That holds you down


Video by DGold.

kibble shoots

the highlight of nacho's day is when eli gets fed and nacho gets a dozen of eli's kibbles thrown into his face.

the highlight of my day during the first 8 years of my life was when i would go to bed and then get 'shoots' which involved one of my parents bringing in a dixie cup of water for me to drink and then they threw the leftover drops in my face.

reflected recycling

especially when i lived in a neighborhood subdivision for a few months, i noticed that the number of women's morning walking groups increases on recycling day, and i think it's so they can snoop around at what their neighbors are consuming.

jesus christ hair

across from mission hospital

JC
Jesus Christ & Company Hair Studio

(sign in the window says "MASSAGE CHAIR")

i thought JC was a carpenter not a barber

Dear Solid Gold,

Dear Solid Gold,
We want to have a rock group we already made up 3 songs, The name of our group is Heather + Carin and the rock + roll fevers. We have eight people. Carin and I are 7 three of them are nine 1 is 8 and one is eleven. We desided to start early and our teacher said our songs were EXCELLENT! Our costumes are jeans and sweaters but if you can please send us something more fancy our sizes our three sevens three 10's and one eleven. If some are to big or to small can we send them back?
Are addresses for the costumes are- 316 Crestwood Rd. and 132 Windermere Way Warwick, R.I.
Yours truly,
Heather McTammany & Carin STEGER & the rocketts

P.S. Were sending some extra for Marilen McCoo

[Koala bear sticker that says Heather + Carin]

[band aid stuck to the other side]

i can't believe i never mailed this, i feel sure they would have sent us some costumes that were more fancy.

solid gold california envelope

world cup static

we have been having major trouble with charter communications since a lightning storm last monday night fried the cable.

a tech guy finally came out thursday for over 2 hours and replaced the whole cable from the street, but it only made it worse. the internet cuts in and out for no apparent reason. the phone stops working. the cable stops working.

it was like stepping back in time 30 years watching the world cup yesterday. the static fuzz on the TV was kind of charming after all the HD lets me see every stitch in every shirt.

but i just can't bear this life without reliable internet so they're coming out again this afternoon to try to fix it for good.

long legged eli

eli is mostly a chocolate lab, but he's got some other stuff mixed in there, as evidenced by the bright white star on his chest that is hard to see unless he is on his back, which is very rare because he is extremely alert and dominant and doesn't like to be flipped over.

he misses out on belly rubs but he catches more bugs this way.

his back legs seem just a little bit too long, i think he might have some german shepherd in him.

if there is ever a flying stinging insect in a room that i would like removed, eli is happy to help.

he is an excellent swimmer and ball chaser.

he wears a bra when he goes for a walk and it has cut down the pulling by 99%.

marco's pizza spinach slice

this pizza rules.
http://marcos-pizzeria.com/index.shtml
the crust is not too thick and not too thin, and perfectly salty and crunchy and soft and fresh out the oven. the sauce is tangy and not too sweet and full of chunks of tomatoes.
the service is great.
they have good specials too - wednesdays and saturdays are half price bottle of wine day. tuesday is 3$ pint day.
highly recommend!

pig dog

nacho is now on twitter! he has a lot to share.

nachodoggy.

hopping nacho solstice

went for a solstice hike yesterday in pisgah national forest. nacho likes this kind of activity. we all like this kind of activity.

had a tough time finding a way to a good swimming hole after scrambling through rhododendrons for a couple hours, licking a centipede, and nacho almost falling over a waterfall, so we got back in the car and went to courthouse falls and jumped in the deep pool under the freezing waterfall there.