The day started with a 6'ish roll out and after my usual routines of a few quiet moments to give thanks especially as I added another year and to lift up those I know and love as well as those in need of some special consideration. I just learned this week one of my female classmates has been diagnosed with lung cancer and while I haven't heard the prognosis as of yet that has to be devastating news to her and the family. We are in need of some rain and while the forecast was for storms overnight we remained dry and the biggest part of the day we stayed that way until late evening when it poured while we were in Sparta for supper. Actually the rain was a contributor to my leaving the head lights on and causing the battery on the truck to drain to where it wouldn't start. I will get to that scenario later in this ramble.
We took off on our daily hike before lunch and found no one around on top of the mountain so we did the hike in less than an hour. I checked on the yellow jackets bees that nearly got me the day before. I used a plastic bottle with a little gas and a strip of cloth to act as a wick and stuck this concoction into their hole after dark last evening. Needless to say that works every time as there were no survivors buzzing around. Those bees are nasty this time of the year as were the ones on the dormer trying their best to attack me; of course I was destroying their paper nest.
After a lite lunch of salad I headed up into the woods to clear out the over grown brush that crowed on the property line. We had walked for awhile in the woods on our way to the top of the mountain and noticed the line was getting over grown again. We noticed where deer had bed down in the leaves at night under some large pine trees and I spotted several more areas that have some lighter knot that I use in starting fires. I trimmed away the brush and used some yellow tape to mark the lines for the future. We got ready afterwards to head to Sparta to run some errands as well as try the gourmet pizza at Becca's around 5:30.
We made a stop at our "mountain moms" on the way to town then headed to the library to checkout some reading material. We were just a little early for the pizza debut so we visited with Chris the local artist on main street who is just a delight. She teaches art class in a couple schools as well as in her shop in town and she told us she and her husband decided to purchase their building in town which houses another business as well. They have renovated the building as well as the basements of both places and already have new tenants. She showed us around despite it being after closing time.
We headed back to Becca's and the place had filled up with only one small table available so we grabbed that and then met another couple who had tried this pizza night special last week and low and behold they were from St. Petersburg, Florida which is in the same area we are from. They are younger than us and still work but she is a teacher and spends the summers here in the area since 1986. We chatted all the while the pizza was baking and learned they have a place on Rt.18 just out of town. They have a 15 year old boy who worked during the summer at one of the camps and they to recognized some of the patrons who were at Becca's who attend church with us at Cornerstone. We invited them to church with us but they are leaving to go back as school starts soon in Flroida. We just love this small town atmosphere.
Well I must say the food was excellent and the best crust ever with two kinds of olives, mushrooms, onions and pineapples. Yeow was that ever delicious and the place was packed with others who found out about this Thursday night special. They normally close daily at 5:30. We saw lots of familiar faces and meeting this new family from our area was icing on the cake. We left there in the rain and stopped at Walgreen's just down the street.
I sat in the truck while Nancy picked up her prescriptions with the headlights on and the motor off which ran the battery down to where the truck wouldn't start. What was I thinking??? Yikes it was closing time for most all businesses in the area except for a few folks who offered to help us. I called several we knew but none was home so Carquest Auto Parts sent an employee down to jump us and then checked the battery which was showing a good charge despite having to be jumped off. I drove home with no trouble but will head back to Sparta for a new battery this morning before heading out to Virginia for the weekend.
Well it was an event filled day with good eating, meeting new folks and once again we fell more in love with the folks in this small town who went out of their way to help us when we were in need; especially in the pouring rain. I will be away from this keyboard for several days but will catch up when we get back from visiting with family and friends in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Many thanks again for all the birthday greetings and well wishes, LATER
