View from the Mountain

Shoes to fit a changing life style

I have done more than one posts on shoes.  It does seem that shoes have defined my life.

In one post, It's the footwear that defines you, that I wrote in the summer of 2005, I talked about the boots I wore hiking reminding me of days on the farm in Tay Creek.

Those days on the farm we just another step in forming the person that I am.  The shoes and boots were different than the ones I had at Harvard and at McCallie, the Presbyterian military school, that was my high school.

Since we are living on the coast my shoe choice has evolved once again.

In 2006 my feet got introduced to Crocs.  As you can see from the picture, I have taken to them like a duck to water.  I now have three pairs and have already worn out one pair of dress Crocs.

Sneakers and Birkenstocks have been constants in my life.  I didn't wear them much on the farm since there was always something trying to smash your toes, but I had some and probably wore them to town.

In the twenty years that we lived in Roanoke, I wore out a couple of pairs of hiking boots, several pairs of Birkenstocks, and lots of sneakers.  A few casual shoes got used up, but I still have some of my best dress shoes, and my favorite suit.

I wonder if I should get rid of the dress shoes and suit.  I would rather be dressed for eternity in LL Bean's cargo shorts than a suit with a tie.

On the coast my dress shores are a pair of Sperry Topsiders.  I would wear the dress Crocs to church, but my wife objects.  I like to take the position that being 59 years old makes me invisible except to people who are about my age.  Most of them care more about being comfortable than about fashion dictates.

I have taken to wearing nice polo shirts to church instead of a sports coat.  One of the members was joking with me about that the other Sunday, and I told him that I hoped church got out on time since I wanted to go home and get more casual for work.  He did a double take.

I explained to him that male Realtors® in our office consider shorts to be our summer uniform and sometimes our winter uniform if the temperatures cooperate.  This week he had on a short sleeved dress shirt.  I think he is getting with the program.

My white Crocs are my boating shoes.  They don't mark the boat, and they are great in the water.  My orange Crocs are my around the house shoes.  I even do some gardening in them.  Sometimes I ride my bike with them, but usually I take time to put on my sneakers.

My sneakers are my walking and shopping shoes.  Of course the Birkenstocks are my beach shoes.  I keep them in the back of the car for impromptu beach walks.

I actually have a pair of white rubber boots in the garage that I use once in a while when working in the mud behind the dock.  There is also an old pair of sneakers that I use to mow the yard.  I have given up on my requirement to wear steel toed boots while mowing.  There are no hills to slip on down here, and it is hot enough in sneakers.

While I wear all those shoes, my favorite footwear is nothing.  I love to go barefooted, and I do around the house and even outside.  It was part of growing up in North Carolina.  Whether in Lewisville or Mount Airy, I spent time running around barefooted.

Much of the summer we shunned shoes.  Certainly there is no better way to enjoy a beach or a nice green yard.

I am personally glad to have left the wingtips behind. They actually remind me far too much of those spit-shined black shoes in military school.  My Sperry Topsiders remind me of the soft loafers that I wore in college.  I was also glad to leave the farm boots behind when we moved to the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia from our farm in Tay Creek, New Brunswick.  Somehow I don't even miss hiking boots these days.

It will be interesting to see if my shoes continue to evolve or if I have finally gotten to a set that will do me for a while.

I'm not planning on changing careers or moving so maybe that will be the case.

The heat builds in the mountains

It is the south, and it is the summer, but why is Roanoke, Virginia hotter than some piedmont towns that are usually cooking in the summer?

The folks at Accuweather are proclaiming heat the winner this weekend. Many of the east coast cities are going to have their short cool springs end in a pool of steam.

Having grown up in the south, I don't get too excited about heat even with these dire warnings from Accuweather.

Humidity will add to the discomfort, leading to triple-digit RealFeel® temperatures. Heat advisories are in effect in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, including the greater Philadelphia area, and along the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia to the Carolinas.

I just follow the rules of the South.

The rules are get up early, do your outside work before the sun gets high in the sky.  This morning I watered some sod that I planted a couple of weeks ago, sprayed some of our palms for rust, watered my tomatoes, and washed my truck all before 7:30 am this morning.  It was plenty warm by the time I was done, but it was still a lot cooler than it is now.

Kevin Myatt of the Roanoke Times is expecting some Roanoke records to break.

Strong high pressure is building in, and this will give us several days of extreme heat for early June. We're talking mid to upper 90s in Roanoke now through at least the middle of next week. Record highs for each of those dates are, well, in the mid to upper 90s, all dating to the time period between 1914-1939. Blacksburg's daily records in the upper 80s and low 90s are likely in jeapordy as well.

100 degrees in Roanoke? It's not impossible we could scrape the century mark a day or two, and I thoroughly expect somewhere like Martinsville or Danville to have a 100-degree day before the middle of next week.

These temperatures from Weatherunderground show Roanoke hotter than Beaufort, SC. Now that's hot.

I saw a note that kids in Pulaski County are being dismissed two hours early because of the heat. 

I seem to remember that none of our schools were air conditioned back in the fifties and sixties.  I can still remember the first air conditioner that we got for our home.  It was a wonder.  It cooled only our living room.

Before we got that we relied on shade from trees, window awnings and screened windows.  A wading pool or a nearby creek was of critical importance to those of us who were younger.

We have become accustomed to our air conditioned cocoons, they will likely be mighty expensive this summer.  Last summer we set our thermostats on 78 degrees during the day and 77 during the night.  That worked pretty well, but we might have to inch them up this summer.

Since I am down on the Carolina coast more often than not, the water is the most effect way to cool down.  A few days ago I managed to do my first dip in the surf.  Since I hardly ever manage to get over to the beach until after 5 pm, the air and the water are a perfect complement to each other.  Those evening sea breezes don't hurt either.

I am thinking the swimming pools in Roanoke will be busy this next week.

It is hard to believe that Roanoke is hotter than Cornelius or Mount Airy.  Cornelius which isn't that far from Charlotte often cooks.  Pittsboro which is close Raleigh is often one of the hottest spots in North Carolina.

I suspect we all are going to see the heat over the next week.  Perhaps we can dodge the severe weather that often comes with it.

Maybe it is time to consider that long delayed trip to the Canadian Maritimes where it was a sweater day instead of a sweat filled one.

You can check out my Maritime Canada travel guide.  The rocky shores of Nova Scotia are a good place to hide from the heat.

A perverse interest in weather

Last night we went dashing up to Cannonsgate, a new subdivision on Bogue Sound.  We were chasing sunsets again.

The channel from their marina meets the sound at a great place to catch the evening sun this time of year.

It is always beautiful watching the sun slip into the waters of Bogue Sound.

Usually it is a pleasant experience, standing out there by the water as the sun drops down below the horizon.

Last evening was a little different.  It was cold and windy.  I was looking for a place to warm my hands when I got back to the car.

When I mentioned in an email last night that I was cold at 30 degrees Fahrenheit, someone from Memphis made fun of me because it was already 16 degrees there.

Most people will agree that cold is relative.

When we lived on the farm north of Fredericton, New Brunswick, I often worked outside without any gloves until the temperatures dropped below twenty degrees below zero Fahrenheit.  It was something you got used to doing.

Now I enjoy seeing what the temperatures are more than working in them.  I have a long list of weather spots that I check every morning.

Most of them are places where I have lived or traveled. Some are places where I wanted to live, like Deer Lake, Newfoundland, which I found to be a very charming spot in the early seventies, or Charlottetown, PEI, where I once opened a computer store for Datamaster when I was their sales manager.

Other spots, like Mount Airy or Halifax are places where I have lived. Reston, VA, is a former work spot where I stayed so much that I felt like a resident.

In the winter I even like to call some of  my former neighbors in Canada to find out how much snow they have on the ground.

I could just use this really neat snow cover map that I have found, but I also enjoy talking to old friends.

Speaking of old friends, one of my college roommates who moved to Pittsboro, NC from Halifax, Nova Scotia, took off on a trip yesterday to Florida.

We were instant messaging this morning, and he told me it was 19F in Cedar Key, Florida.

If you want some reasonably priced orange juice, now would be a good time to run to the grocery store if it were not so cold.

The best news that I have heard, aside from West Virginia beating Oklahoma, is that the cold weather will be over by Saturday.

When temperatures, at least along the North Carolina coast get back into the sixties, I might get back into my kayak.

You can go home again

Well at least you can, if your home has become a Bed & Breakfast.

Our family home in Mount Airy, NC has become the Sobotta Manor Bed and Breakfast.

We still have relatives in the Mount Airy area so when we were invited to our nephew's wedding, we accepted a long standing invitation from Robin Hester, the new owner, to spend a couple of nights at 347 West Pine Street.

Robin and her husband, Thurman, have done a masterful job of restoring the glory to our former PIne Street home.  The rooms are beautifully redecorated while staying true to the character of the house.

While at first it might seem a little strange to go back to your former home, Robin is such a gracious host that we felt right at home. We even got to enjoy her wonderful companion and pet, Cher who welcomed us each time we came back to the house.

My mother was a wonderful cook and Robin has continued the tradition.

The first morning we were there we enjoyed wonderful french toast stuffed with cream cheese and accompanied by homemade sausage.

The picture to the left is the second day's breakfast which was a broccoli and ham quiche  served with some wonderful sweet potatoes.

Each breakfast also included a fruit dish and a warm pastry.

The meals were certainly in the tradition of the great ones that my mother had served in the same dining room.

Robin and Thurman have also brought back the lovely formal gardens that my mother dedicated so many years to creating.  The yard and gardens behind our former Pine Street home are a wonderful oasis of peace and green space.

My mother would be especially proud of Robin's driveway gardens which are producing an amazing harvest of tomatoes and other vegetables.

If you are looking for a relaxing day trip in North Carolina, give Robin a call at (336) 786-2777.   She even has a new iPhone to return your messages. 

Mount Airy has some interesting shops within walking distance of Sobotta Manor. 

There is also a great day trip for North Carolinians who haven't visited Chateau Morrisette on the Blue Ridge Parkway just north in the Virginia mountains.

I would have to give Sobotta Manor a five star rating.

Mayberry Christmas

The holiday season would not be complete for us without a trip to our home turf, Mount Airy, NC.  Our little home town was the inspiration for the popular Andy Griffith show.  My late mother who moved to Mount Airy in 1926 called the town home for most of 75 years.

Lots of towns have watched their downtowns disappear as strip malls and Walmarts have sucked the business off of main street.  This hasn't happened to Mount Airy.  Main Street Mount Airy launched itself with help from Andy, Barney, Aunt Bea, Snappy Lunch, and Floyd's Barber Shop.

Yet today, you can find every thing from the shiny white Apple computers at CyberGear to Vera Bradley bags at Specialty Gifts.  Along the way there are some really interesting spots even for us guys.

One of my favorite spots is Holcomb's Hardware and Locksmith.  The window shot to the left was taken today.  There is some amazing stuff in the window.  Many of the things are a little hard to find today unless you know a place like Holcomb's.  But it you need a gasket for your pressure cooker or a special key done, Holdcomb's is the place.

You can enjoy many other shops from a bakery or bookstore to an Army surplus story and everything in between.  We even saw a Christmas tree decorated with toy John Deere tractors.

Then there is food and drink.  There are several sandwich shops including Snappy Lunch and a restaurant or two.  There's even a candy store, a winery, and a downtown Cinema which operates on limited hours.

One of the things I like the most about Mount Airy is that there are always people on the main street.  You will see a wide variety of people.  Mount Airy is no cookie cutter city.  Every time that I see a thriving downtown, I have renewed hope for our country.  While sometimes I like the ready availability of chain store merchandise as much as anyone, I'll always try to find my goods in a local store first.

While part of that resolve might be a distaste for Walmart parking lots, the rest is a belief that local service and support will alway trump the impersonal nature of the big box stores.

For better views of the pictures, especially the John Deere Christmas tree, try clicking on them.