The Mountain Thymes

 Thirteen years of dedicated service................... Dutch called Cliff about 5 o'clock last evening and told him his Kia battery went dead again and he needed his help.  Cliff and Dutch are "brothers."  Cliff got up off the couch, put his sneakers on, and asked me to go with him.  The past couple of days all he has done is sleep, barely eat anything, and I've had to make him drink fluids.   When we arrived Dutch told him he lied. The batter wasn't dead and he needed to go into the community center.  Cliff still was in a fog.  When he figured out his friends were there for him he became overwhelmed and filled with emotion.  I was holding back my tears. Freddie, his Chief,is to the far right.  Our neighbor, Bill, is second body on the left and Jamie in the blue shirt.  Jamie loves Cliff and is the one who organized this celebration.   Meatloaf, chicken casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, Cliff's favorite mac 'n cheese, coleslaw. But nothing appealed

 Yesterday I was hoping to arrive in town before the Capitol Tree did so I could watch the huge truck maneuver  into place but it arrived early and the crowd was already in motion. It was warm and muggy.  Clouds looked like the would rain any minute but never did.  On the right is the truck carrying Ruby the Spruce tree.  The red section with six windows is the top of the tree decorated with colorful cardboard faux decorations.   Cardboard figures of the U.S. Forest Service personnel on this tour.  Three of them were from Murphy and happy to be there talking to people.   Under this tent was the story of Ruby . From these pine cones.......... come these seeds. These baby spruce are 6-8 months old. This is a piece of Ruby showing how old she was when harvested. Each ring was labeled in the year of growth.  1950 was the first label.   Guests were invited to sign the plastic covering the tree.  I wish I had taken a picture of my signing so Cliff could see it. Even the Grinch was there.....

 The Almanac says we're in for a cold, wet, slushy winter. Judging by the number of acorns dropped on the porch and in the driveway, I can believe it's going to be a challenging winter.  The deer have eaten everything in sight.  Many a morning their movements trigger the front porch flood light so I can watch the four-point buck, the doe and their two fawns slowly wandering from parsley to lettuce, still blooming flowers nibbling plants down the soil.  They even eat plants that they don't like.  So far the sage, lemon balm,and rosemary still exists.  I placed a wire cage over the lettuce, Swiss chard, and kale.  This is the first year I didn't plant garlic in October.  I really have been giving up some of the adventures I get myself into so I have more time to do what's necessary here.  Once the consistently freezing nights arrive, anything that can't survive the winter will die and no covering with plastic for protection.  More letting go.  Last week I received