Time Speeds On

Moments of Fun ~ February was a month filled with performances in Greenville, South Carolina.  Rebekah performed several times, and we also got to attend a performance by Alvin Ailey dance. We also got to attend Hamilton. It was fantastic! We even had the opportunity to see a community theater play here in Asheville called The Play that Goes Wrong. It was hysterical! We needed a good laugh so bad, and it was wonderful to see our community thriving, despite all of the hardship it is still experiencing.  As February turned to March, we attended our city's Mardi Gras parade. As usual, it was funny and quirky. We also went on an overnight trip to Louisville, Kentucky to see two bands, Disturbed and Three Days Grace, in concert. Tim and Rebekah loved it! I loved being with them and seeing their joy (and having earplugs)! We also walked across the bridge from Louisville to Jeffersonville, Indiana! Elijah thought it was too far to go for an overnight and decided to stay home and take care of the cats. We enjoyed our 24 hours away. 

What a delicious breakfast we had in Louisville.

Elijah is really learning a lot from his college courses. He has made a clock and a ball peen hammer so far. I am so happy that we found him a good fit on the first try.

This week, Rebekah and I tried a tea shop in a neighboring town. We had a cream tea (tea and scones). It was delicious, and we plan to go back with my Mom around Mother's Day. Everything was book themed. I loved the Little Women tea.

We continued our annual pass to the Biltmore Estate this year.  I bought Dear Husband one for Valentine's Day. We visited the one-week-old goats and gardens last weekend. 

We finally found a licensed and insured tree company that had the time to come out and bring down our two dying elm trees. They also cleaned the back of our land of all of the overgrowth to reduce our risk of wildfires.  Everyone needs to do what they can to clean up from Helene.  There have already been a dozen small (less than a 100 acres) wildfires in WNC. There is so much debris that the risk of wildfires is much higher for us right now.

Next week marks six months since Helene hit our region.  Our area has worked very hard, but there is so much more to do. We still have no trains or Greyhound buses. Driving on I40 to Tennessee is still challenging.  The eastbound lanes of I40 are damaged or completely gone for about 5 miles. Changes in the last month are listed below. 

• The Nature Center opened back up this week.
• Goodwill opened back up this month.
• Several more buildings have been razed and the land cleared.
• A few more traffic lights are on permanent power instead of generators (a few are still on generators in the city limits).
• Another bridge was reopened. 
• Walmart reopened this month. 
• The Botanical Gardens reopened,  but they still have lots of trees down.
• They have completely cleared cars and trucks out of another few miles of the Swannanoa River.

The pictures below are from this past week.

Tim standing next to the root ball of a tree at the Botanical Gardens 

A pile of cars and trucks removed from the river.

Lastly,  the weather is warming up and our bears are waking up. This bear was a bit tipsy while waking up in our backyard.  He had hibernated this winter under our back shed. He is really big and offered us an hour of entertainment the other day.

Blessings,  Dawn