March 2026

This is just a quick post about March. I mostly wanted to do a small photo dump. This past Ides of March found David and I celebrating our 30th anniversary of our first date.  We spent the night at a nice bed and breakfast in our city and went out to dinner at Tall John's.  We were happy to finally get a reservation for this restaurant and it was as delightful as we had heard. 

 

Baby Reid really fell in love with the cats in March.  Salem and Eve are very tolerant of him and I am always encouraging him to be gentle. 

Rebekah and I won tickets to Suffs the musical.  It was wonderful and we very much enjoyed the theme.

Dear husband and I continued to attend protests and make our voices known. 

One of my favorite pictures of Reid.  He is the sweetest little boy and I  love taking care of him.

Blessings, Dawn 

Rhode Island Trip Christmas 2025

 I am catching up my blog for 2026. This trip was the last week of 2025. Only David, Rebekah and I decided to go. We took the train to Providence, RI and then rented a car and drove to Newport, RI.  I have always wanted to see Newport and it being decked out for Christmas made it even better. It was bitter cold and a bit snowy.  I was completely in my happy place and my husband and daughter did their best not to complain or freeze to death...lol.

We stayed in a cute little inn that included breakfast.  It was quaint, old and imperfect. The staff was lovely and helpful. We enjoyed walking around the town and visiting several antique and thrift stores. We bought extra gloves and hats. I found an antique ceramic Christmas tree at one antique shop for my husband. The owner was very talkative and walked right out of his store with us. He walked us all the way up the block to a lunch spot he thought we would love.  The people of Newport are very friendly. 

My favorite morning was walking the cliff trail. The Newport mansions are on one side and the ocean is on the other side of the trail. Wherever you look their is beauty.  I loved the ocean so much. I am not a sandy ocean person, but an ocean with a rocky beach is my happy place...especially if it is a bit stormy. 

 

We went to two Newport mansions.  My favorite was the Marble house. It was owned by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont who was a fascinating woman from the gilded age. She fought for women's rights and did her part to champion for our right to vote.

 

We were able to get seats for afternoon tea in her tea house. It was lovely and a fun experience. The food and atmosphere was exceptional. 

 

It was a quick and lovely trip. We had several difficulties during the trip with reservations and weather. I can hardly remember them now, but I very much remember how much fun we had. It just goes to show that travel is worth the difficult moments. 


Blessings, Dawn

Helene 2 years After

I know I have not posted in a long time. I hope to write a few update posts from the last year. It has been very busy, with mostly positive events. However, first I will cover this important anniversary. 

This week marks two years since Helene tore through our city and all of WNC.  The devastation was vast and is still ongoing. Every picture in this post was taken within the last week. 

The present federal government hasn't kept its promise to help, and any money that has come to WNC in the last year has come as a result of lawsuits. I personally think the government should use our tax dollars to help its citizens...all of its citizens...not just the chosen few. To this date federal funding has covered 16% of the $60 billion in total damages from Helene in WNC, and the president told us that he won't give anymore if we don't vote as a region the way he wants us to. What an un-American statement. In comparison, federal aid covered 78% of damages from hurricane Sandy and 73% of damages from hurricane Katrina.  

All this to say our recovery is very slow. The scars seen and unseen run deep. There are towns that are still hard to access. PTSD is very prevalent among our citizens, especially the first responders. Yes, there are still people in campers and many homeless families. My husband and I recently traveled to the town of Chimney Rock. Getting there pre-Helene took us 30 minutes...now it is more than an hour's journey in which we traversed temporary bridges and roads (some dirt where once they were paved). We went through stretches where parts of houses were hanging off of cliffs and where there is still no power. The river is filled with giant boulders, and it has left its bed and made a new course in places. In fact, more than a dozen river systems and watersheds were permanently altered by Helene! I just can't express the vastness of the devastation. 

This first set of photos are from the recreation area below our nature center zoo. This is 1.5 miles from our home. It will be a long time before this section is worked on. There is a temporary one lane bridge with a temporary solar traffic light giving access to this area (which includes our city's zoo and 40+ homes). The water rushed through here with power that is comparable to the flow rate of Niagara Falls. At one dam in our area the flash flood came at 1.2 billion gallons per second.  In comparison, Niagara Falls flow peaks at 700,000 gallons per second, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is understandable that bridges, roads and buildings the water met are gone or destroyed.

Layers of asphalt moved by the rushing water

This was our city's largest community pool. It is now filled with dirt.

This was the bridge into the community. 

The road is gone.

There are many abandoned buildings or blank areas where once there were buildings. These pictures are 2 miles from my home in the opposite direction. 

 

My children used to have a doctor in this building. 

The next set of pictures were taken on the road to Chimney Rock. 

The force of the water split this boulder.

This is all that is left of a small historic amusement park. 

New road and a lost bridge. You can sort of see how the river moved its course in this picture. 

So many houses are still hanging off cliffs.

That is all the words I have today. We are broken...but we are strong and resilient. The people of Appalachia will rise and our communities are still close-knit.

Blessings, Dawn