Mountain Weather predictions

Our forecast for last night and this morning showed snow tapering off and done by 2:00 - and temperatures tomorrow in the 40's.  Accordingly, around 3:00, although it was still snowing, we decided we could scrape a little of the snow off the driveway to help the melting process tomorrow. (the photo has an interesting texture because I took it through the screen)

We measured around 4-4.5 inches on the driveway - which doesn't really say how much snow we really got, just how much we were pushing.

If you looked at the radar for this area any time today, you would not see any precipitation, and our forecast has been cloudy and dry all day.

But all the cleared areas of the driveway now have a new coating of white and the stuff is still falling at 5:30.

Winter Storm Jonas

Just before noon on Friday, so someplace in the middle of the dire predictions for record snowfall here in the mountains, and we're not very impressed.

Those are my foot prints, heading out to the edge of the driveway and back. We might have had 2.5 or 3 inches of snow over night and into the early daylight hours, but - and this is pretty much right as predicted - it switched to a "wintry mix" just before 9:00 and now it's simply raining.  Between the rain and the occasional weak bits of sunshine, our streets are clearing themselves.

Right now, the scariest thing is the weight of the wet snow on the evergreens, like the juniper in the middle foreground of this photo.  You can see the black asphalt ribbon of our street on the far right.

Norris spent a long day yesterday, his first as a part-time employee of the City of Asheville FD, in the midst of emergency management preparations.  We are wondering what our friends in other parts of the area are seeing.

Holiday in New Orleans, Part 2

On Tuesday morning, all the Chicago-based members of our vacation party got up early and went to the airport.  Norris and I decided to go out for the famous Cafe Du Monde beignets at the stand inside the outlet mall that was connected to our hotel.  It seems there's always a wait there - the mall was not even going to open for another couple of hours, and there's Norris waiting in line.  I'd already been there for probably 20 minutes before he showed up.

But we couldn't complain - we heard from Joyce their flight was delayed due to a computer malfunction.  So I took some photos while we waited and texted them to her.

We compared notes on these versus the ones we'd had the day before.  Cafe Du Monde makes a puffier beignet.  Joyce and her family seemed eager to hear about our experiences, so I kept sending pictures.  They didn't complain as far as I know.

 

From the Cafe Du Monde we headed out for a ride on the St. Charles Street streetcar to the historic Garden District.  We rode a few stops past where our driver said everyone gets off to stroll the neighborhood.  

 We went to see the historic architecture, but wound up being very impressed with how the old trees continued to grow in spite of the urban surroundings.

This is the view of St. Charles, heading back toward the city center.

We did notice the homes and also took photos of the decorations.

But to add interest to the story, we noticed an interesting trend in porch decorating that we have not seen elsewhere - 

 

 Every few houses, we spotted a different pair of nutcrackers flanking the door.

There was a lot of construction going on too.  This house was one with a lot of equipment set up to make repairs.

Meanwhile, we kept hearing from Joyce about further delays after a computer reboot didn't solve their plane's issues.  So I kept texting photos of what we were doing.

We stopped in at the famed Commander's Palace to see if we could get lunch.

Well, it was worth the walk to see the building, but the wait was going to be at least two hours.  So we headed across the street to the LaFayette Cemetery where there were at least 4 guided tours going on ....

... and not long afterward, we headed back toward the French Quarter on the streetcar to see about our lunch. We wound up being a little less disappointed about missing out on the Commander's Palace because by chance, we walked into SoBou, which is part of the Commander's Palace family of restaurants.  I took this picture for Joyce, since they'd been sitting at the airport for at least five or six hours by then.  This lighting is unusual. The front room of the restaurant was lined with shelves of beautiful small apothecary bottles in various shades of white.  (My photo was not as good as what the restaurant has put in their gallery.)

 

Norris had yet another bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo.  SoBou served theirs that day over mashed potatos instead of the traditional rice, and Norris liked that too.

We headed back to Jackson Square which we had walked by on the culinary tour on Sunday and heard some jazzier musicians than we'd found prior.  We listened to them quite a while.  They made most of their money by inviting passersby to sit down on the bench to have their picture taken with the band, all while continuing with the music.  We chose this recording because this was one of the rare numbers that had singing and - well, you'll just have to listen.

The row of makeshift "booths" on the other side of band is mirrored behind us.  You can have your fortune told any number of ways by the vendors.  Jackson Square is also populated by other performing artists - this was one I managed to get a photo of in the act:  The "construction worker" was balancing his ladder and pole in the air, and absolutely not moving -- making him a very good subject.

There are also visual artists around the square.  All the art seems to be colorful and playful like this but I took my photo of these for the musical theme.

We were actually heading toward the French Market.  This market has been operating since 1791.  I took a few quick photos for my sister's family, who probably finally got off the ground about this time.  This one is for Bobby.  My photo does not include most of the goods - just the sign.  He might be inspired for his own decorating.

 

And this one is for the Blevins and Don

And this one is for any of the shoppers - I just picked a view that showed some of the variety of goods for sale - cheap jewelry to the front here with Mardi Gras masks just behind.

 

Norris and I were pretty worn out with our long day, but we managed to walk back to our hotel in time to think about where to have dinner - we thought about options, but wanting to get an early start on Wednesday morning, Norris opted to go back to the place where he thought he'd had the best gumbo.  And the winner was ....

 .... the nearby historic Cafe Ernst!  But no worries about gumbo withdrawal:  we have a New Orleans style restaurant back here in Asheville where he can try yet another version, and he's already made his first batch at home.

Holiday in New Orleans - Part 1

My sister Joyce invited us to join her family in New Orleans when they got off their cruise ship there, the weekend after Christmas - so we did!  We took a lot of pictures so I'm splitting them in two parts.

Our first activity was Sunday afternoon when we wandered around the French Quarter.  Among our photos I chose two that Norris took showing the seasonal decorations on the balconies in and around Bourbon Street.

This next photo shows some of Joyce's family leaving a souvenir shop. There's a little of Nathan on the left in the stripes, Don, Joyce, Nicole's blond hair, and Tanya in the dark sweatshirt and sun glasses.  Norris is looking on from the next door.

I included this next one because it's the only photo we got that shows Nate - (just to the left behind Don) and we want to remember he was there! Nathan has the big grin behind Don's other ear, and Bobby has white framed sunglasses on his head.

We were heading to our Culinary History tour, which we thought was great fun besides being a way to get into more famous restaurants than we could have during our short stay, if we'd even been able to get reservations at any of them.  I took some of these pictures that day, and some on Tuesday when Norris and I were out and about on our own.

Our first stop was the famous Antoine's, oldest restaurant in New Orleans, where we had a nice bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo. Pictured are Bobby, Don, and Norris in one of many elegant private dining rooms. Antoine's claims to be the oldest continuously family-owned restaurant in the country. This room is decorated with portraits of all the owners over the 175 years since it was established in 1840.

Just around the corner from them are Nicole, Joyce, and Nathan.  Norris, Tanya, and Nate were on the same side of the room as I was. 

This was a fortuitous stop because Norris, who always figured he would not like gumbo because of the okra, was surprised to find he really did!  Meanwhile, here's the impressive wine cellar inside the sprawling restaurant.  The photo does not really convey the impressive 165 feet of corridor - there is no mirror mid-way back, it just keeps on going,

 We stopped for a sampling of Pralines at Leah's, across the street from Antoine's, then headed to Arnaud's - not quite as old as Antoine's, but also full of history. We got to taste a nice little cup of shrimp in remoulade sauce at the bar there, and briefly left the food theme to tour the Mardi Gras museum on an upper floor of the restaurant. This photo was was taken of the entry foyer to show some of the Christmas decor.

Next stop was for gelato, muffaletta, and canoli, enjoyed at the outdoor seating area of  La Divina Gelato.

Then we took a short walk to New Orleans second oldest restaurant, Tu Jagues, for their famous brisket in horseradish sauce, also sampled at the bar. It was the only place we did not get to tour the actual restaurant dining area.

Our last stop was at the Cookin' Cajun Cooking School where we got a demonstration of how to make roux, and a nice helping of red beans and rice, which Norris also decided he really likes. We stocked up on several of the specialty ingredients and treats we had sampled during the tour.  Cajun Cookin' is right on Jackson square - their sign is the red and white one in the middle of my photo.  

Some of the cruise-goers needed a nap so we all trouped back to our hotel on the river front, after which we headed out to the Ernst Cafe, not far from our hotel, where Norris decided to have a regular serving of chicken and sausage gumbo.  I took this picture on Monday when we passed it again.  The cafe dates to 1902 but the building goes back to the 1850's.

 

On Monday, we had a forgettable breakfast which wound up being rather later than expected (but enjoyed our beignets) then walked to the National WWII Museum.  This picture of Norris and Don as they waited in the line probably more than half an hour to buy our tickets serves as advice to anyone else intending to visit: you can buy your entry ahead of time on-line and you probably should. It's a great museum, but even the staff was surprised by the number of visitors and they didn't have an adequate number of ticket counters to handle the crowd.

 All of our group have parents or ancestors who served during the war.  Norris took this picture of a half-track that might have been like one his father would have used when he served as a radio operator with the 11th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

 I have one more photo of our New Orleans visit to include in this post - it was taken from near the French Market and shows the cluster of buildings where our hotel was on the Mississippi river.

We have no photos from our Dinner Monday night, which was at the Grand Isle restaurant around the corner from our hotel - chosen for the Oyster Bar.  The food was great and our waitress was a pro.  Norris had another helping of chicken and sausage gumbo.

Monday was the last night of vacation together for Joyce's family, so we headed to the French Quarter to see if we could find some jazz. Since one of our group was under 18, we could not be seated in any of the bars, but we did stop to listen to this group on a corner -

There was plenty of live music booming from the Bourbon Street establishments, but it was pretty much all old Rock and Roll. Too late, we learned we could have walked a little farther to Frenchmen Street for jazz.

A post about Moki

This is off-topic, but since we use our blog as a journal, I wanted to document what is going on with Moki, who has been getting laser acupuncture treatments every month since she had an initial treatment on July 28th.  In November, we had one treatment at 3 weeks - so the next was scheduled for 5 weeks instead of four.  About 10 days ago, I had commented that it was hard to know if she was getting any additional benefit from the sessions and perhaps we did not need to put her in the car and drive the 25 minutes for them.

For the week or so before her appointment yesterday, Moki stopped playing with us in the evening.  She will normally jump in the air to bring down flying string toys, or chase a laser light madly (on the well-padded carpet only - she does not play anywhere else.)  She seems rather OCD about everything, and for her to pass up on playtime is not a good sign. The day before her treatment, she would not even play Catch the Crunchy, where we toss a treat and she runs for it, athletically leaping over obstacles anywhere in the room and that is her favorite activity.  She had also been skipping her morning naps on my lap.

However, the night before her appointment I was sitting with her resting on the carpet.  Norris walked into the room and she suddenly went to the top of her cat tree, and started exhibiting this specific behavior which we decided to videotape her for the vet.  The video starts slow and uninteresting, but she was in the middle of an episode of what we're calling Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome that she had begun before we got the camera on her.  She exhibits the classic Hyperesthesia behaviors - frantic cleaning gestures, tail thrashing and skin rippling (not visible in the video) that builds to attacking herself.  At the 24-second mark, you hear an explosive sound. That is the sound of a cat spitting, which I had never noticed from any cat before Moki.

Moki was relatively agitated during our trip to the vet for her treatment yesterday morning, crying the whole way which she does not usually do, but was silent on the way home and calm all day,  She was more interested in playing last night, and although not yet up to running and jumping, she did trot after a couple of crunchy treats if they were thrown close enough to her. And this morning, when I sat down and put my legs up, she came right over and fell asleep on me.

The hyperesthesia symptoms we videotaped and posted here are not as bad as they had been before she started getting treatments. This makes it seem that Moki really needs the kind of help she's getting from acupuncture.  The sessions include photon treatments with a device that was new to Dr. Fochios when we first took Moki to her.  Dr. Fochios believes Moki is in some kind of pain when she does this, and since she doesn't understand it, thinks something else is attacking her.  That certainly explains the frightened look in her eyes and attempts to capture her tail.

Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome is a mysterious condition. The cat whose owners had to call 911 because they were trapped by him in the bedroom has been diagnosed with it and seems to have a more serious underlying problem than Moki does. Usually, it is treated with calming and/or anti-seizure drugs. We did not document her tail-chasing for the year that Moki was on the calming medications, but we believe she has been doing this, or some less extreme version of it, for years.  We simply didn't know it wasn't just the "cat-crazies."

Savannah - The Oldest City in Georgia

At this time last week, we were headed to Savannah for a couple of days to enjoy the historic setting.  Our B&B host gave us a map and excellent advice about what to see and where to eat.

On our first night, we walked through the historic district along the river. We noted a lot of construction all over the city.  And of course, the Spanish Moss hanging from the ever green Live Oak.

Norris spotted the fact that the many of the sidewalks were embedded with oyster shells. We learned that this concrete substitute is called Tabby, and was used as a building material due to the lack of limestone and other rock.  You can see it in the texture of the sidewalk in this photo of Norris.

This is one of several photos we took at the Historic District's 22 squares, one of the more charming aspects of the city.

 

Here are some random photos of the homes and streets we walked. 

 

 Savannah is a very tourist friendly, walk-able city - we put eight or nine miles on our shoes in two days.

The historic district homes reminded us of Charleston, but there were a lot fewer gardens.  Here's one of the more elaborate ones we did find.

This must be one of the largest houses in the city - it's now a law office.

On our second day, we took one of the trolley tours. It was interesting, but not as good as others we've been on - our guide was also the driver and seemed to be reading a script.  We expected to see a pirate come on board as we'd seen the night before, but we had different visitors.  This colorfully-dressed actress represented the Gullah population and culture.

After the tour, we visited the roundhouse at the old Central of Georgia railway....

... and the nearby Savannah Battlefield memorial park, with this recreated fort to represent the 1779 Siege of Savannah, or Second Battle of Savannah.

 

We toured the Green-Meldrim house, which is where General Sherman's headquarters was after the March to the Sea.

 

The home is owned by St. John's Episcopal Church,which operates the tours but also uses it at a parish house. We had lunch at a nearby tea room where we had this view.

We made a stop at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist.

 The interior was bright and lavishly decorated.

We had to stop at Big Duke, the city's Fire Alarm from 1872 to 1985.

 We also toured the Owens-Thomas house. This is a view of the back garden.

This is the front of the Owens-Thomas house, a fine example of English Regency architecture. The architect, one of the first in this country who was professionally trained, designed it with a system of running water for baths, sinks and water closets.  The elegant front porch has twin curved staircases.

 On our last day, we made a point of visiting the city Farmer's Market in Forsyth Park - we certainly don't see this much color at our markets in November.

 The Italian-made fountain at the Park was ordered from a catalog and is not unique in this country.

The park was bustling with people - these ballet students posing for a photographer just beyond was just one of the most interesting groups we saw.

Later Saturday morning, we headed to Fort Pulaski National Monument. We enjoyed the National Park Service demonstration of a cannon firing.  Two of the "Union Soldiers" are park rangers - the others are volunteers.

 Here's a shortened video showing the end of the firing sequence -

This is the view from the fort out past the mouth of the Savannah river to the ocean.

 We went on the guided tour of the fort. Typical of our National Park Service, the Ranger Guide was passionate about the subject, so we learned a lot about Civil War artillery, tactics and strategies.  The main lesson was that Pulaski, one of our Third System forts built after the War of 1812, was made obsolete by the rifled cannon.The engineers and generals thought these forts were invincible, but it was given up on by the Confederates on the second day of bombardment.

We spent more time at Fort Pulaski than we planned, so we did not climb the Tybee Lighthouse but did stop for a photo.

Our last stop at Tybee Island was a short look at the beach.  The wind and temperatures meant it was empty - but if you look very closely you might see evidence of a couple of kite-surfers out in the ocean.