Surprise Visitor From Up the Mountain

We were enjoying the nice weather today and had the door from the living room to the screened-in porch open so the cats could enjoy some fresh air too. Around noon, we heard Little Lu go running at top speed from the porch into the back bedroom where he had apparently dived under the bed. Cheryl looked outside to see what had scared LL and found this medium size bear walking near our birdfeeders. He surprisingly didn't show any interest in the feeders and sauntered on past our garden to check out the weather station sensors.

He appears to be a well fed young bear, we're guessing a male due to lack of any accompanying cubs. He would be the right size for a 2yr old male.

After using our newly installed wooden steps to descend through our yard, he slowly made his way across our driveway.

As he approached our mailbox, he stopped to scratch his itchy head up against his front leg.

With the itch taken care of, he headed on towards our mailbox.

He gave the mailbox a sniff test and decided it held no food.

Having lost interest in the mail, he crossed the road to check the blackberries.
A cute shot of him sitting down to check out the snacks.

He seemed to be having a hard time finding enough ripe ones, as most of them are still red.

Had to take time out for another scratch.

Since the berries weren't that tasty apparently, he headed on down the road.

Bye-bye Mr. Bear.
We have seen bears in the neighborhood around dusk before (when the lighting isn't good for pictures), but this was a pretty rare visit at high noon. The entire trip across our yard only took about 3 minutes, so we were lucky to catch it. He certainly looked healthy enough and he clearly is getting enough to eat. We're happy to live in a place where humans can co-exist with such magnificent creatures.

Getting back to Little Lu, its now been almost two hours since the bear visit and he is still in hiding. After some searching around, Cheryl got this picture of him hiding under the guest room bed. We think this bear encounter made a pretty strong first impression on this kitty. Moki, on the other hand, seemed unimpressed by the whole thing and was still hanging around out on the porch when we spotted the bear.

Sad Day for Asheville and Buncombe County Firefighters

Readers of this blog might remember the photo below from a posting of June 29 of last year. Norris was taking a vehicle rescue course being taught by the City of Asheville Fire Dept and this was a photo of some of the crew of AFD Rescue 3 who were assisting in the practical exercises. The fire fighter in the blue T-shirt furthest to the left (with his back to the camera) is Capt Jeff Bowen.

This afternoon, Capt Bowen perished in a four-alarm fire in Asheville while searching for potential trapped victims in an extremely hot and smoky medical office building fire. Rest in peace Jeff Bowen.
One of Jeff's crew mates from Rescue 3 was also seriously burned and is in a burn center in Augusta Ga being treated for his burns and smoke inhalation.

For a news story with more details, click on this link

photography challenges

Since we are spending our days filling hummingbird feeders, we thought we'd try again to photograph them. Cheryl managed to capture seven in this photo - they were mostly staying away from the third feeder, closest to the camera.

(If you are only counting six, the seventh is on the opposite side of the farther feeder. Only the tail is visible.)

The telephoto did a little better with these two passive goldfinches in the late evening light -



But our real success was with Suki this morning. Her owners say they don't let her out - she's an escape artist.

We like her white toes and whiskers.


We're not sure if she reminds Lu of Bunny, but Moki doesn't seem interested in her at all.

Not so wild-life

We continue to have nearly daily visits by this small black and white cat and have tried to get a better photo of her since that one we posted back on June 26th. Cheryl was thinking we'd have to start feeding her, so we started asking around and learned that this is Suki, who belongs to our neighbors in the round house. Lu is particularly interested in her, running from window to window through the house to get a better view when she shows up.
Norris finally got this picture that doesn't have the screen in the way. Her people tell us she is a very sweet kitty cat who gets along nicely with their other four. She might like to meet Lu, but she's not interested in us.
But we'll keep trying to get her photo!

fluffy white family

Cheryl just got back from a short trip to the Washington DC area. While there she met up with Brother Carl and his family for a very good Thai dinner - something we don't have here in Asheville.



But she forgot to take the camera to the restaurant or to get a photo of the family, so to commemorate the trip, here's a photo of Beckham, who has a big bark - but is really just a sweetie.

Seeing Double

This evening, we took Norris' mother, sister Marla and great-niece Cailey to Luella's -


When she was growing up, Norris' mother was called Luella. Norris thinks Luella's has the best barbecued ribs in the area. We always think of his mother when we go there and it was about time we took her there to have dinner.

Early morning fog

Lu, Moki and Cheryl were up early this morning and went out on the screened in porch to see the foggy world.



Today would have been Cheryl's mother's 84th birthday.

Happy July 4th from Beech

Our attendance at the Beech parade was a little different this year. Norris' mother Ella is staying with us for the week. Norris had a job in the parade, so Ella and Cheryl went with some neighbors to watch. Norris has been posting photos on the RCFD website - he plans to upload more photos of the fire department's participation there. But as part of our tradition, we have quite a few photos to share here to celebrate our smaller-than-small-town holiday.

Last year, the organizers added a Veteran's float - it's the only actual "float" in the parade. Our landscaper Dave is carrying the huge flag behind the vets.

The decorated animals are always a feature - this year's standout -

The handler was good enough to turn her horse around so we could see the decorations on Side Two.

But as always, it seems the RCFD vehicles make up at least half the parade. Here's the 1969 engine that leads their part.


Norris drove the big Tanker this year -

He's smiling from a higher perch in this vehicle.

Cheryl's favorite photo of the crowd reaction is this one - she had noticed the elderly woman in the white sweater before the parade began, thinking how brave she was to come out in the heat when it wasn't even easy for her to walk around. But her enthusiasm for the Army National Guard towing vehicle that brought up the rear of the procession clearly demonstrates why she wanted to be there.

On the walk between our spot on the front lawn of the church to the Community Center, we passed these beautiful buntings, done by the homeowner (not visible in the photo.)


The RCFD vehicles lined up for the traditional display on the ball field.

The crowd mills about -


Norris and Ella are also waiting in anticipation -


for the dramatic appearance of the Mountain Area Medical Airlift team


....wrapping up the parade for another year.