Christmas Tree harvesting

This area is covered with Christmas Tree farms. In fact, we can see one from our living room window. Last week they started harvesting the trees to send around the country. There were trailers and trailers of Christmas Trees just from the little farm by our house. It was an interesting process to watch. Who knows - maybe the tree you buy this season in your local parking lot could have come from here. It could happen. I bet you never wondered where that tree came from before...

Angola

I got bad news from the country of Angola this week. We have some HIV programming there and were looking at expanding it. Right now there is a testing center where community members can come to find out their status. This week a family arrived for testing. The dad was found positive. His wife, positive. His youngest child, also positive. This news was not well received. He pulled a gun on the counselor and threatened her life before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger. This is stuff that happens on TV, but instead it happened in real life to one of my colleagues.

I have spent the remainder of the week praying for the family that was left in the wake of this tradgedy and trying to decide where we go from here. That poor woman was told she has a deadly virus, her child has a deadly virus, and she became a widow all in a very short span of time. I have also been praying for the Dr. who witnessed this tragedy. She has not wanted to return to work since the event. Who can blame her? I pray she has comfort and finds hope, that she remembers why we do what we do and will regain strength and resolve in her calling (even if it isn't to continue to work with us).

These things happen around the world. This isn't a movie script. These are real people, living real lives and experiencing real problems.

Jesus, give me strength and wisdom in situations like this and so many other difficult situations that arise each day. Amen.

A moments notice...

I'm learning in my new job that life can change in a moment. Yesterday, I had some plans for Monday and Tuesday. I had some meetings scheduled and I had been invited to visit the Boone Service League meeting in the evening. My boss came to me and said, "what are you doing Tuesday?" I told her I had some meetings. She said, "can you move them?" Yeah, what's going on. "I need you in DC for a meeting that day." Bam! Just like that my schedule is rearranged and tickets are purchased. My plane leaves at 6:30am Tuesday and I return to NC at 9pm the same day. In that day I have three meetings one after another. The meeting I was originally flying in for is at the State House. Yup, I'm having a meeting at the statehouse with some big wigs in Congress. It was an invitation only meeting. Sounds impressive, huh? Mostly it was a major inconvenience for me but a necessary part of my new job.

The lesson I learned. Your schedule is not your own. Life can change on a moments notice...consider yourself warned.

Woolly Worm Festival

A couple of weekends ago, Kenyon and I attended a local community event worth writing about. I've been to art fairs here, it was nice, but small with a crowd of only a few hundred at best. We attended the Latino Festival in West Jefferson. That was teeny-tiny and not well attended. Then we went to the Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk. Driving there we actually experienced some traffic (a rarity in this part of the world). Police were directing cars from a few miles out of the city limits. There were parking lots set up charging fares to park. I'd never seen such hubbub.

We arrived and the festival was charging $5 a head for admission. What?! They are charging admission? There were at least 500 people in attendance at the time we arrived. I haven't seen so many people in one place since arriving here. There were rows and rows of booths featuring foods and crafts. What was all the excitement about? Just wait till I tell you...

All of these people came to see one thing. All of this traffic was related to one main event. This is the Woolly Worm Festival and it is aptly titled. We all came out to watch fuzzy worms race up a string. I use the term race loosely, because this is not a fast-paced event. People come from other states with the worm they believe to be a champion. There are 50+ races in one day and about 20 racers per race. The people line up in front of a string. Put their worm at the green line and hope theirs is the first to make it to the red line. If your worm makes it first you win $25 and a chance in the semi-finals. The semi-final racers win $50 and a chance in the final race. The winner of the final race wins $1,000. That piece of information made Kenyon want to bring a worm next year.

The rules of the race state, you can't touch your worm or the string once the race has begun (unless the worm falls off the string, then you can place them back on the green line). In order to encourage their worm to race people clap and blow near the worm. The funniest part to me was watching grown, burly men encourage their worm to move. I got a photo of a big, hunky, muscly man walking of stage delicately holding his worm. What irony!

Before I put this post I thought, no one's going to believe this! If you need to see such a thing with your own eyes. The annual Wolly Worm Festival is held the third weekend of October every year, come on out.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The winning worm is supposed to predict the winter weather. I don't really understand that part, but some people swear it is an accurate prediction. Really?

Boiled Peanuts, part dieu

After my last post about the boiled peanut. I got an email from a friend in Chicago. She told me she was reading an article and it said that a boiled peanut has the most nutrients of any form of peanut.

Though that is an interesting bit of trivia, it doesn't convince me to try another boiled peanut. I've had enough, thank you very much.