Native North Carolinian

I know it rarely gets shivery cold here. Well, it does to us, but I am sure most of my northern friends just giggle when I say that. Many folks here use fires to heat their home, either traditional fireplaces or ventless gas fireplaces. I like the idea of the ventless gas because they aren’t so messy. What can be tricky to find is fireplace surrounds that can be made to fit whichever fireplace you do end up getting. At Agee Woodworks you can get marble, granite, and slate fireplace facing kits that will let you upgrade the look of your wood or ventless gas fireplaces with the stone facings. And Agee is almost local, being located in Virginia.

My Papa lives quite a bit inland from my coastal area, and he keeps a fire burning all through the cool months. Notice I did not say cold, but only because I didn’t want you to laugh at me.

With summer here (boy, it sure snuck up fast, didn’t it??) it bears repeating to use sunscreen. We went to the park for just an hour or so Sunday, and I forgot to put any on us. Tomorrow, we’ll be out for a good part of the day, so I’m posting this to remind myself (and you) to protect your skin.

That’s how much rain we got here yesterday. I’m hoping we get more today. I’m also hoping that this rain will help the poor trees I transplanted in my yard. My peach tree lost all it’s old leaves, but it does have a few new green ones. My dogwood, is even worse. It has all it’s leaves, but they are mostly brown, except where they are actually black from scorching. I’d show you a picture, but it’s sad enough to make grown men cry.

It’s finally raining. One of the most pleasant things about living here is the regular afternoon thunderstorms. I love the sounds, the stillness of the air, and the rhythmic patter of the raindrops on the roof. Just one more reason I love calling North Carolina home!

We’re almost 10 inches under the average in this part of the state, and I hope it rains and rains and rains. Rain Gauges like the one on the left are too cute to be full of dust instead of water, aren’t they? I just love Noah’s Ark stuff, so that one really caught my eye, but there are lots to choose from at Online Discount Mart.

I know my friend Ang. would love this one! (Go ahead, Ang., it’s linked.)

I heard on the news last night that I man has found what is believed to be the tooth of a wooly mammoth on the beach on Topsail Island. Ha! He’s actually used the thing as a doorstop!! It’s undergoing inspection and testing now. I wish I could find an article on line to link you to for the full story, but I’m not having much luck. But, it’s true, I promise. If I track down a link, I’ll post it.

I blogged the other day about the cost of hurricanes, and you are liable to hear quite a bit more about hurricanes between now and the end of November. Living in this area can make finding good Homeowners insurance tricky. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to get such insurance at all if you are east of I-95. It seems the insurance like to categorize the entire area as a flood zone, whether or not your property is actually subject to flooding. For instance, my property never floods. The soil is sandy loam, and even after the storms a couple of years ago, we only had small puddles, and those were confined to the driveway. Nonetheless, I pay through the nose for insurance.

Another trick insurance companies pull here is to re-define words to suit themselves, and to add little caveats to your insurance policies. For instance, my policy covers damage from storms (including flood), but it doesn’t cover damage from standing water. So, essentially, if my house is dislodged by a massive wave of rushing water, I’m covered, but if the foundation weakens and crumbles from exposure to the saturated ground, I’m screwed. But since I am in a mobile home, east of I-95, that’s the best we could find.

So, I’ve said all that to say this: if you are looking for home insurance in North Carolina be sure to comparison shop. Make sure that you read and understand exactly what your policy does and does not cover. If your area is prone to flooding, make sure you get coverage for that. And whatever you get, be sure you have storm coverage.

June is rapidly approaching, and with it, the start of [tag]hurricane season[/tag]. The news cast last night was full of gloom and doom predictions. There will be several “hurricane fairs” over the next couple of weeks. For those not in the area normally effected by hurricanes, these are informational type things, with different companies offering hurricane preparedness advice and products. Hurricane tracking maps will be given out in abundance, and evacuation plans and lists will be in the forefront of people’s minds for a bit.

Now this stuff is all well and good, because one really should be prepared, but last night on the news there was a real short addendum to the story that made my jaw drop in amazement. One of the local towns has asked people to pick up their re-admission passes early, and not to wait until a [tag]hurricane[/tag] is upon us. This town can only be reached by bridge, and during a hurricane that bridge is closed. Once it re-opens, only residents will be allowed back in for awhile, and that pass is the only way to prove you have a right to get back in. So far, so good, that’s pretty standard in areas hit by hurricanes. Here’s the kicker–the passes are $45 a pop. Yep, you read that right–the town is charging you $45 bucks to be allowed the privilege of returning to your own home.

Asheville is a beautiful city in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For you non-natives, that’s the western portion of the state, near the Tennesse border. The world famous Asheville zoo is there, and I fondly remember visiting it as a child. It was quite a drive, but totally worth it.

The Asheville area, like most of North Carlina, is growing at a rapid pace, and that means the Asheville Real Estate market is booming. One of the development companies there is doing something a bit different, and it’s something I really like. Instead of working to eradicate natural obstacles to development, Red Wolf Run is working within the natural constraints to offer homesites in such a way as to preserve the environment. With 250 acres, they intend on offering only 70 homesites, and they are also supporting Red Wolf and Chestnut Tree proliferation.

When we lived in Colorado and Kansas, we would drive home to North Carolina, and my kids and dh would get so excited thinking we were “almost there” when we crossed the border near Asheville. In truth, we had another day’s drive ahead of us. The climate, therefore, is quite a bit different that what we have here on the coast, and there are ample opportunities for skiing and other winter sports. I hear tell they still have four actual seasons there as well, LOL!

Ya’ll know how every time we have a [tag]hurricane[/tag], some guy gets out there in it so he can report live from the scene. I have to tell you upfront that I laugh at those guys, and I would never do such a thing. I’ll live blog it from in da house, ya’ll. But that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t, right? So, if you have even thought about going outside during severe weather to gain your 15 minutes of fame, then you need to get right on it.

I present to you the [tag]Accuweather Video Challenge[/tag]. It’s a contest that started on April 4th, and runs through July 4th. These are the categories and judging criteria:

(1) Most Creative - 60% creativity, 10% professionalism, 10% originality, 10% overall technical quality, 10% humor
(2) Most Professional - 60% professionalism, 10% creativity, 10% originality, 10% overall technical quality, 10% humor
(3) Most Original - 60% originality, 10% creativity, 10 % professionalism, 10% overall technical quality, 10% humor
(4) Most Technically Adept - 60% overall technical quality, 10% creativity, 10% professionalism, 10% originality, 10% humor
(5) Funniest - 60% humor, 10% creativity, 10% professionalism, 10% originality, 10% overall technical quality
(6) Most Popular – highest rated video by visitors to Contest Website during the Contest Period

The winner gets $5,000 AND an opportunity to do an actual [tag]weather forecast[/tag] for [tag]AccuWeather[/tag].com. Now, if you want to enter the contest, get cracking! Only the first 3,000 entries will be accepted. Here are the rules. If you enter, let me know. I wanna see what you come up with!

I was listening to the news tonight, and heard the anchor say that “they” are predicting a heavy storm season this year. (He also said they predicted a light season last year, which is absolutely not true. Well, maybe it’s true, but he either lied then or he’s lying now, you decide.) Anyway, I went to CNN to get the rest of the details, and found the 2006 predictions. They had indeed said a heavy storm season was coming!

I tracked down the 2007 predictions on USAToday.com. For now, I am saying what most residents of coastal North Carolina say: “we’ll see”.[tags]hurricanes[/tags]