Our Little Blacksmith!

Let's first indulge in my personal image of blacksmithing. Gorgeous ripped fellow working over an anvil doing super huge movements hammering something metal like with a large fire in the background ... yes. Either that or an elf re-forging Narsil into Anduril. That's a good scene too. Therefore, you can imagine how I may have set myself for some disappointment when the Blacksmith Festival was discovered in Spruce Pine, NC. Despite the fact that the real blacksmiths really don't look any different than anybody else, I was completely enamoured with seeing the real tools and all the demonstrations. It was like stepping back in time a bit, possibly Old American West visions. Being next to a train track that had actual train traffic added to that motif.

I suppose the real confusion for me was that I anticipated the crowd would be people like me .... aware of forges only as a result of movie watching. However, in reality, they were all local farmers coming into town for tips from master forgers. Demonstrations had farmers in their bibbed overalls watching closely and asking questions. Do these people have forges in their barns or something??? However, it does seem reasonable for the small farmer, which Western North Carolina is well known to have in abundance. Years of avoiding "back of the truck options" because one would assume drugs are being sold (city raising) were replaced with a variety of steel and iron rods being hocked.

While trying to deal with my cross section of incorrect assumptions and reality, Ellie found her opportunity to enter her own world of blacksmithing. Deciding that she was already an expertise in Minecraft blacksmithing, she felt that she would simply rock out real blacksmithing.

Getting ready! Was really cuted out by the kid sized work gloves and hammer :)

The end product!

Tea Time

There is a pretty consistent ritual in our home on "normal" days ... tea time! This is possibly Ellie's favourite moment and she is greatly annoyed if it must be skipped. Other sources of annoyance to her in regards to Tea Time is if it's not formally served, and if everybody's not present / engaged. She will accept excuses if she deems them valid, but don't even waste time with an excuse of work related tasks. It simply won't fly.

Additionally, it must be at 5 o'clock on the dot. Granted, "tea time" rarely has the presence of actual tea, and it tends to be more of one's favourite drink that shall remain undefined. Food selection varies greatly but must also fit the category of "smackeral", as clearly defined by Elle.

This particular day was especially fine as it was moved to the back porch on a very nice sunny afternoon that wasn't too hot and wasn't too cold. As MOOGfest has distracted the other occupants of the home, we cherished a rare Girl's Only evening that involved more food than we could possibly eat, rambling around the house puttering with meaningless tasks, singing at the top of our lungs, banging on the piano, and reading fun books with unabashed shamelessness.

... you know, all the things we would never do publicly because then we would not be the all-efficient female species ensuring that the globe takes another spin on its axis successfully.

....

(archived post never to be published)

Chasing Waterfalls

If you talk to anybody except my daughter, who will inform you that the Asheville waterfalls are much more impressive, Niagara Falls is a pretty stunning piece of nature. Don't get me wrong, Asheville is the centerpiece for 301 official waterfalls, and only a zillion more small cascades that make you want to stop the car a lot. However, standing next to something as grandeous and powerful as  Niagara Falls leaves me with a longer moment in time; lost in the fog with a glimpse of the water and feeling the crash underneath me.

After a wonderful trip to Iceland and visiting Gulfoss Falls in 2011, which were incredible for me, I realised just how much I had accidentally taken Niagara Falls for granted. While I still have every intention and hunting down every single and assumedly gorgeous Icelandic waterfalls, I also returned to Niagara Falls with a renewed focus to enjoy it's beauty. While this may appear to be just a waterfall fettish, really it's just a dawning on my fast-paced brain that these lovely scenes that have outlived the ages deserve more respect than the obligatory photo posted on [insert preferred social media here].

Visiting Niagara Falls now, I am looking out my hotel window at the scene above, and grateful, which is too rare of an emotion for me to feel.

Meanwhile, this recent new self-awareness that I've been experiencing recently has been in direct conflict with my 7 year old daughter's digital saturation, who had questions before she felt it would be worth her valuable time to go with us.....

1. Will there be wireless there?
2. The wireless will work, right?
3. There won't be any problems with the wireless?

My explanations of the amazing waterfall, gorgeous aviary, and relaxing butterfly conservatory was greeted with an anxious....

1. ...and there's a pool at the hotel, right?

Lovely.

New Perspectives

I mentioned previously some mindset shifts that I have been experiencing ... specifically mindsets towards nature, contentment, and an almost alarming lack of competition. Actually, there is a certain presence of competition, but only directed to myself as the requirement for me to learn new abilities and to increase my own strength of body.

Eventual goals like Tiger Nest Monastery are on my bucket list, with so many more besides. But why? Frankly, life is a beautiful thing for me. I get most things I want within reason, but I have found that working several hours to find a thing of true beauty is an incredible sensation and provides a space of peace that I haven't otherwise found. God only knows what I could possibly experience with discoveries as amazing as Bhutan, Bali, Patagonia, Alaska, Iceland, and my own backyard, the western North Carolinian Blue Ridge.

 

However, it takes time and work ... swimming is a requirement, I found out, for most rough and long distance trails. Rock climbing is equally common. Both of these are challenging to me as there is a certain level of fear I have with each .... but I suppose that the accomplishments of learning them and then applying them will make the victory all the sweeter.

Really, it's an investment of time that adds value and a sense of accomplishment. Not just a mental investment, but one of your whole body. The strength that has finally been returning to me since my martial art days now that I've hired a personal trainer has stirred dusty memories, and reminded me that no, it's not really that cool to sit in front of a computer for hours and days on end. Careers are good, and a sense of balance of mental, emotional, and physical is even better.

For those who know me, I realise there is plenty of eye rubbing and re-reading because I'm more of the belief that the extent of camping is using organic soap overlooking a gorgeous desert in a five star resort. Don't worry, that appreciation of living isn't gone, but I'm very interested in expanding that perspective into new paradigms of living.

So, hiking, climbing, and swimming....that's shocking enough.... However, there's more! After reading the Wall Street Journal article on fly fishing, I made it nearly to the end before I had ordered the book it was presenting (kudos to that journalist!). 

 

Regardless if I ever end up being a fly fishing guru, I was captured by the author's words when he said "we are unwilling, or unable, to put in the 10,000 hours needed to become a master fisher, hunter, or mountain climber. Instead of, we load up with all the latest stuff and hire guides to do everything for us...." (p. 9). He then went to cite Sheridan Anderson from The Curtis Creek Manifesto (on my reading list after this book) who said "The higher purpose of practicing a sport such as fly fishing, hunting, or mountain climbing is to affect a spiritual and physical gain. But is the process is compromised, there is no transformation" (Chouinard, Mathews, & Mazzo, 2014, p. 9).

This completely captured my soul. Being a doctoral student in methodologies for empowering personal transformation within adult learners, it struck me. There is no short cut. Our culture is so good about acceleration and aids to allow us to skip the steps performed in ages past. Don't worry, I'm not suggesting that our fast paced world is bad, or even wrong...but we will get different results. I do believe that we can't, as individuals, forget the value of slowing down to become true experts in something that requires practice. It is a personal responsibility to take the time necessary to figure out who you are ... not in the land of the woo woo, but just so you know what drives you, what heals you, what hurts you, what thrills you, and what satisfies you.

The Not-So-Fast Paced AVL Airport

Regional airports have always terrified me. I presumed large equated to being managed well, although in reflecting in my angst and annoyance with airports, they were the large ones. Given that travel escalated greatly during the time that DEN and PHX were our bases, it was more than a little weird to us to see that AVL was not only regional, but a really small regional. Like six gates regional. Like the TSA folks know our names regional. Like the routes are simple and predictable at a painful level regional.

Anyway, one gets used to it, as well as the perks of at least not being treated like a terrorist because it’s just another local with a clear pattern of travel. Terrifyingly, I have watched myself slow down as well. The classic Marian Act at any airport is to be hyper aware of my zone, scope out the enemies that may try and get the jump on my line, and carefully, subtly, wield my way into the attack position for boarding. All the while, I am providing the ever so brilliant disguise of bored apathy numbly engaging with my smart phone.

Life has changed, and that has become crystal clear in my true apathy in boarding today.

*watching Netflix on my phone with my earbuds firmly buried in ears*

VERY LOUD MICROPHONE ANNOUNCEMENT. Something about boarding.

*increases the volume of my show*

Nobody is moving.

I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ALL THOSE WITH *massive list of ways you can be special* STATUS.

Nobody is moving.

I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ZONES 1 AND 2.

A couple shuffle around, but I’m not noticing much movement, and I increase my volume again. I have found it’s easiest to get on last anyway since all my luggage for any trip these days fits under a seat. Unless I’m in, by some miracle, First Class, because there the free drinks start immediately. However, there is NEVER a true First Class EVER going to leave AVL.

I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ALL REMAINING ZONES.

Maybe some more shuffling? Not sure.

LET’S GET MOVING PEOPLE!

*a few grins as a few of us raise our heads and realize it would be wise to unplug*

WOULD ANYBODY LIKE TO ACTUALLY GO TO CHARLOTTE?

Finally. Movement. We queue with no acknowledgement of status or zones and have light conversation with other travelers, many of them joking with the poor lady who just wants to get our asses on the plane.

That, my friend, is AVL. A culture that was massively weird to me previously has somehow injected me with its virus of recognizing that it really, shockingly, doesn’t matter who gets on the plane first. We all get to the destination together.