what i will miss

this view.

the buildings in front of the mountains are unc-a.

just past that is the french broad river. it's foggy in the morning.

just past that are some blue ridge mountains.

i can sit in a chair on the porch and watch weather roll in across the valley. here's a spring thunderstorm about 15 minutes away.

*****

what i will not miss:

the mudpit next door. 

there is no progress, there is no plan, it could be the greatest dog run of all time, but instead is a pit of mud. 

the construction vehicles grinding gears and beeping in reverse as dumptruck after dumptruck of dirt is delivered day after day. 

the clouds of mosquitoes from the standing water. 

*****

closing on a house friday. boxing has begun in earnest. movers come one week from today. excitement overload. 

sing alongs

the wood brothers put on a great show. 

gotta love when they call for an encore sing-a-long and the crowd is not too pretentious to oblige. 

orange peel on wednesday night such a thing happened. 

so damn heartwarming!

runnin' is useless, fightin' is foolish
you're not gonna win but still
you're the luckiest man
you're up against
too many horses
and mysterious forces
whatcha don't know is
you are the luckiest man

dropped strawberries

newest entry into the flickr "spilled food" group 

downtown asheville last night

squirrel banquet

newest nephew!

rilan wallace mctammany was born on monday. 3-12-12.

he joins his big bro willie who was born on 5-10-10. i like those numbers! 

here he is meeting my dad, big popi, for the first time. 

my brother says rilan looks just like his big bro with chubbier cheeks and a big red nose - called him "a little cherub drunkie!" 

welcome to the party little rilan!

how many times can a man turn his head

commandments

if i were god (or moses) two of my commandments would be 

1. thou shalt not buy old navy pants at the goodwill 

2. thou shalt not get high and tweeze thy eyebrows

queen of my soul

i found this at the value village in gastonia. 

i left this at the value village in gastonia. 

i would like to know:

1. how many of these were made? 
2. how many of these were sold? 
3. did anybody hang this in their house? 
4. where in their house would such a thing hang? 
5. do these people know each other?

the blow stops here

There are some guys who can return good for evil...Every brave man will think so. He will not want to live by passing on the wrath. A hit B? B hit C? -- we have not enough alphabet to cover the condition. A brave man will try to make the evil stop with him. He shall keep the blow. No man shall get it from him and that is a sublime ambition. 

- saul bellow 'henderson the rain king' 

sublime ambition indeed. keep the blow. return evil with good. don't pass on the wrath. is this humanly possible? even if it's not, it feels good to try. 

makeout not war

"A personality without a center throws up a wall and lives in a state of siege." - Tennessee Williams, "One Arm" 

you have a center. 

everybody has a center. 

it's easy to lose sight of it, but it's always there and you can close your eyes and be there in a second.

there the siege is over. 

there the voice is rational and full of love and the voice is your own. 

same as it ever was.

'the centering book' tells you to close your eyes and focus on a spot an inch or two below your belly button. send light there. send warmth there. it's yours.  

first sign

the more positive you are, the more positive you will be.

nacho vs. the guest pillows

could he possibly get more fur onto every single  pillow? 

no. 

at least he's comfy.

he had a traumatic experience with a dental cleaning recently, but things are looking up. i don't want to stir up trouble, but i'm interested in hearing from other people in asheville who have had awful experiences with getting their pets' teeth cleaned. maybe we were the only ones? 

if they say y

tell 'em that is human nature