Pittsboro, NC

Today is the first day of early voting....so we decided to get it done!  The line was pretty long - took about 1 hour to get inside.
 

It won't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me how I voted for the presidential candidates.....my vote is cast for the only one on the card that is a rational, intelligent, caring human being. How anyone can vote the other way mystifies, baffles and saddens me, but I certainly respect everyone's right to their opinion as an American. 

(FYI, this is a photo of my sample ballot since taking a photo of your actual ballot is unlawful apparently).

Got my sticker!!!

By the time we exited the building, the line had grown very long....I think I would just come back another day if I was at the end of this line...but it is a beautiful day.

Pittsboro, NC

 

So I heard the chainsaw running again this morning.....Duane has been wanting to cut this half-dead pin oak tree for some time now.  It's a pretty tree but needs to go since we don't want it falling on the house some day!

I just barely made it out of the house to capture the fall!

 Timmmmbbbbeeeerrrrrr.

Then we got to work trimming the branches and pulling all the brush away into the woods....

 

Brush mostly out of the way, Duane cut up most of the tree into manageable pieces.  Most of the centers of the logs were rotten or hollow.  Friends Tom and Janet are coming to pick up some other firewood so we hope they'll take some this oak as well.  (It's not perfect for firewood since the core is lightweight and won't burn very long or hot...but hey, it's free).

 

They arrived as planned with their log-splitter.  We helped them split some other wood over on our next door neighbor's lot first.

 

Fun process.  That splitter is the bomb!!!

 

Makes quick work of even the biggest logs.

 

After that, we went over to the house and lots of teamwork made quick work of the tree Duane felled this morning.

 

All loaded up and they'll come back for some other wood later.  Fun process - wouldn't want to do it every day - but fun for a change.

 

s

Pittsboro, NC

 At Mom's house they have a lot of white squirrels - we looked them up - not albino - just a mutation of genetics for a regular grey squirrel.  Fun to watch as they are very visible.

A quick pose with Mom before we headed back east.

Back to Pittsboro....it's turned off chilly here.  BRRRRR.  Wearing long pants.

Hendersonville, Asheville, Swannanoa, NC

 My mom asked me to drive her to her hometown of Swannanoa - about 27 miles away.  Swannanoa was one of the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Helene.  Never fear - we did not obstruct any cleanup crews or first responders.  Traffic was actually flowing pretty well and we didn't stop the car to take any of these photos either.

I'm just going to upload a few dozen photos without much comment.  They speak for themselves about the power of nature.  We started in the Biltmore area and drove to Swannanoa.  Most roads were open but there were several that had cops or rescue personnel monitoring traffic.  We did not go down any of those streets.  If you see a car in a photo, it was likely completely underwater during the storm.  I'm sure there are worse areas but this is pretty bad!  

This is the Biltmore area of Asheville near the entrance to the Biltmore House.

 

We drove by where my mom grew up - formerly my Grandmother's house in Swannanoa.  It is on high ground so was not apparently harmed.

Then we drove out on some side roads in the Buckeye community where she know a lot of folks growing up.  Fall just starting to turn the leaves.....little damage here except fallen trees in places and washed-out creeks.

The rest of the photos are from Swannanoa proper.

Hendersonville, NC

 Back up a day since we were too busy yesterday for me to put up a post!  The Craigslist ad for free firewood worked like a charm.  A couple answered and hauled 2 pickup loads away.  They use wood as their sole heat source so we were happy that they answered.

Then we packed up all of Granny's stuff and got ready to head back to the moutains.  Power/water/internet/cell service is all restored at her house in Hendersonville now.

On I-40 heading west.  A good bit of traffic but this part of I-40 was not harmed.  We did, of course, see lots of trees down and muddy washout areas beside the interstate highway.

Lots of road signs warning of Limited Resources....

 

She's all settled back in at home now.  Beautiful Carolina sky.

Pittsboro, NC

 Started the day early - it was "free mulch day" at the Chatham county recycle center.  Duane borrowed the nice dump-bed trailer from our neighbor.

 

First of four loads.

That project took up most of the morning as the pickup point is about 15 minutes away.

Spreading out the mulch will be a project for a different day.  I heard the chainsaw going at the front of the house.  There is a beautiful pin-oak there that is part of the "sidewalk issue".  The root from the oak is pushing up part of the sidewalk....even though it's a beautiful tree that was just a sapling when we moved in 30 yrs ago....if you look close you can see Duane in the blue shirt cutting the notches to make sure it doesn't fall towards the house.

Here's a zoomed-in view.

Lots of brush to drag away....

A couple of hours later....

We'll offer this wood up free on Craigslist for someone to come pick up...Busy day!