The Native North Carolinian

Well, it’s definitely spring here in Carolina! I was driving the other day, and admiring the pretty purple and green trees. Purple? Yep, the wisteria is really showing itself this year. Too bad it kills whatever it grows on, so that in a few years those pretty purple and green trees will be only purple.

I was looking at my front flower beds this afternoon, too. I remarked to DD that the weeds were taking over, and she reminded me that we had scattered wildflowers in that bed a couple years ago, and that the “weeds” were only in that one bed. Oops. Yeah, she’s right. The recent rain has made those flowers spring up even though they didn’t come up last year. Wild.

My azaleas on the other hand may not ever recover, and the one unknown tree we transplanted (I’m almost sure I showed you a picture) doesn’t have any buds on it at all, BUT there are new saplings coming up around the base of it. We may have lost teh tree, but the root lived, so that’s good. I’m afraid the dogwood is toast. ha–dry weather= toast for trees

Anyway, people are plowing and planting everywhere, and there will soon be fresh vegetables again. You know that’s why we need fewer colon cleansers than our Yankee Friends, right?

So, for all the times I whined about it still being warm, and how fall would never, ever, arrive, I am finally pleased to announce that last night, in the middle of the night, I smelled the fine fine smell of dust burning off the heating coils of the furnace. Unlike previous years, we did not set off the fire alarm. This is a good thing.

And now I have another whine: my bedroom is cold, and my bathroom is icy. The blower is just not getting the air pushed to that corner of the house. Dh will check the duct work again tomorrow, as he does every season change, and he’ll assure me that it’s all together, we’ll have brief visions of fire glass, and then we’ll continue to freeze. Except, maybe things will be different this year. I’m not currently expecting, nor is there a baby in my bed, so I think this year, I will get myself an electric blanket. Because cold?? It should totally be an outside treat.

Does the smell of the air change where you live according to the season? Do you notice it? I walked outside the other night, and it just smelled…different. Nothing I could name, just different, and so fine. Of course, we’ll be using more energy lighting and heating our homes now, but that smell is almost worth it, isn’t it? Maybe especially so if you have attractive lights, ykwim? Maybe something like this quoizel lighting for inside and luminaries for outside?? It would look like a party all the time. Or at least until we spring forward, LOL!

Well, the other day I posted about how warm weather meant good vegetables and about real estate. I’m happy to report that in the intervening days, fall has arrived in coastal Carolina. We have actually turned the heat on, though I’m not sure it’s actually fired off yet. I got chilly outside for the first time tonight at our cheer party, and it was awesome! The being chilled part. The party was ok, but it was nice to not sweat at cheer leading for once.

Here’s another way we tell it’s fall here: we move it inside. Since March, anything that could be done outside has been, with the exception of August when we tried not to go out at all. Now, plans are being made to move those activities are being moved indoors, especially the ones that carry on after the time change. It’s crazy to even imagine that soon we’ll be leaving for cheer leading practice in the dark, ykwim?

Squuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It’s finally going to get below 50 tonight. I’ll be putting another blanket on the bed this afternoon. I am so excited!! It’s the middle of October and we finally need more than the cotton one that’s on year round. Can you tell I am ready for fall?

Interestingly enough, many of the tress have already lost their leaves. All my life, I have thought the colder weather was the signal to the trees, but I guess that’s not the case.

It hit over 85 here yesterday. Eighty-stinkin’-five, people. On October 8th. Crazy! And still fairly grey, thanks for asking.

The calendar page has flipped, and right on schedule the weather has changed. It’s not that the it’s cooler, really, but it’s grey. Grey in the morning when I get up, grey in the early evening. Grey. A weary and depressing grey, made worse by the fact that I know it will last until the end of November. Only it will begin to rain in a week or so, instead of just looking like it will rain. Happy Fall, ya’ll!

On the bright side: the worst six weeks of the year will soon be behind us.

Here in North Carolina, it’s hurricane season. If you are on the coast, I imagine you already have some sort of plan set up, but it’s always a good idea to look things over and make sure you’ve accounted for everything. You might consider using an online disaster planning tool like Axcesspoints. The service is free for the first 30 days, an just $9.95 per month after that.

AxcessPoints can help you keep track of your personal, medical, and financial records, because you can access the site from anywhere you have an internet connection, even if you are temporarily displaced! You can also enter information about your family, and they will generate a list of supplies you need to have on hand in case of emergency. This would be a big help to me, because I am always afraid I am forgetting something.