Keepin' Up with the Joneses Baldwins
It's been a long time since a newsletter hit the presses for Angel Mountain Cabin and/or Mountain View Lodge, so cross your fingers, toes, and eyeballs that I can get back into whatever groove it took to do them before. I do remember a bit of insanity and serious lack of time were involved; in that case, it should be easy.
First, BIG thanks to my brother, Paul, for setting up this site in the first place several years ago. I made a feeble attempt to work on it in 2007 during a wild-hair moment of competency; it was almost fun to fiddle with, but with the frustration level soon raised to Code Orange, it was much easier to just let Paul do it... especially since he always has loads of spare time for tackling the relatives' problems. Although the birth certificate says he's my younger brother, his brain is unquestionably much older and wiser than mine, and for that I'm seriously thankful. I imagine he's seriously thankful himself that he has only one sibling (and one sibling-in-law!) requiring heavy-duty tutoring on anything remotely related to technology. At least that's a step up from doing it all himself. Maybe. At any rate, I am truly fascinated with hot links - which is why there are just a few scattered around on the site - and am learning how to make corrections until numbness of my fingers, brain, and other regions sets in. I also inadvertently discovered that if I simply pretend to be busy during a question I don't understand (like, every other one), the Mac elves take over and do the right thing, seemingly knowing what they're working with here. Thankfully, they don't complain much.
Thanks also go to our daughter, Katie, for taking most of the pictures included on this site (the few she didn't take were provided by Paul). Trying to decide on which were the BEST was a challenge, and since Paul suggested a scrapbook for the 'leftovers,' I just may attempt to get one started. I don't throw anything out, so it would be nice to be an organized packrat for once!
Much has happened since the last newsletter went out, whenever that was, but don't worry - I can't remember most of it. There are some highlights, though, and in an effort to catch you up to snuff, I'll try to hit on most of them.
~ 2006 ~
My folks, JoAnn and Elton Derden (former owners/innkeepers of Mountain View Lodge), sold the lodge to some terrific folks (Jerry and Sue), who did a humdinger of a job with the lodge until Jerry realized, 'Hey! I thought I was supposed to be retired!' The lodge was sold again, and while we haven't met the new owners yet (and, according to them, may never!), we wish them luck.
But I digress....
My folks were able to move into their new house - just down the road from us! - on the day of our son Matthew's final football game of the season in mid-November 2005. Randy and I passed their house on our way to the game and knew it would be an memorable day when we spied the tortilla-truck-turned-moving van in their yard. With the move completed, they kicked up their heels (well, okay, they propped up their feet) and collapsed, ready to enjoy retirement for the first time.
It didn't last long. Dad provided a bit of excitement less than 3 months later when he thought he might be having heart 'stuff' going on. His heart turned out to be fine (we knew that already), but there was other 'stuff' going on in the form of masses. Without skipping a beat, the decision was made to take the journey down an alternative medicine path, and for the next few months, what a path it was. Prayers were constant and heartfelt for both Dad and the rest of us, who were blessed not only for having him in our lives (and being in his!), but also for being with him when his earthly time ended on June 29, 2006. The following day, Paul's pilot son, Jonathan, took us up for plane rides all over Ashe County and surely into heaven. It was an absolutely breathtaking experience and divine reminder that in the grand scheme of things... well, that there IS a grand scheme of things, and it's pretty incredible.
In lieu of a funeral, we opted for a 'Papa party' in June of 2007 and spent the year recuperating, regrouping, and reminding ourselves how blessed we were - and are - in many ways.
Our favorite sign of angel intervention (besides the landing-related ELT ON on the plane's dash!) remains, of all things, a tomato - planted for 'Papa' at his urgent request mere days before his death. The tomatoes did great in the garden, but they stubbornly refused to ripen and were picked green in anticipation of the first frost.
They were all delicious, but what a mindboggling treat to cut into this very special Papa tomato.
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Other memorable 2006 moments: we got a new roof but lost our frog-finding furball, Nellie
~ 2007 ~
2007 was a big birthday year - Matthew turned 21, Katie turned 18, and 'angel' Jeffrey turned 10... which also meant we celebrated his 10th angel anniversary. It doesn't seem possible, but neither does the number of gray hairs I'm sporting.
We also ended our entertaining stint as a goose family. Tootsie (left) was apparently the victim of a predator while sitting on her nest, leaving sweet HonkyTonk (right) in dire need of someone else with feathers. Their former humans came to get him and placed him on a wonderful local farm with lots of feathered buddies and even more pampering.
The Papa party was a success and great opportunity to get together with some old friends and long-lost kinfolk! We know the guest of honor was pleased, even though the much-anticipated 'Papa pond' wasn't quite full for the dedication.
Surely more happened in 2007, but until my memory is sparked back into action, you're in luck.
~ 2008 ~
And here we are in 2008. Matthew's now a senior in college and has racked up impressive awards for his feats (feets) on the football field and in the classroom, where he's a business management major set to graduate in December after his final football season. Then Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work he goes!
Katie, who graduated early from high school, is now an RA (resident assistant)... mostly because she has a private room and shares a bathroom with one girl instead of an entire hall. She continues to wow us with her pictures and her quest for independence (translation: her name is on more than a few of my gray hairs).
Randy is learning how to edit football tapes as he learns how to maneuver around a Mac, thanks to Paul and Jaymie and their 'puter donation. It's been interesting for all, but Paul's phone tutoring has certainly eased the pain. Randy's pain, anyway.
Emma's most recent prized possession was a flattened, frozen rabbit she snagged from a few smug crows at the Roadkill Cafe. She didn't dare attempt to sneak it inside, as her last 'gift' - a flattened squirrel she proudly deposited for me outside the bathroom door - was not fully appreciated (being quick learners, we managed to keep her outside during the entire deer head incident). Sami, on the other hand, is content to either leave her prizes in the front yard for others to find or indulge herself and regurgitate her treasures later. Inside, of course.
Mom is working on all kinds of music projects, and the Papa pond is filling up.
I am waddling around, trying to catch up in some areas, keep up in others, and get started in even more and will surely see some glimmer of accomplishment before long. I'd better unfold the treadmill while I'm at it. Turning it on - with me on it - would be an accomplishment.
Recent (or fairly recent) cabin news which past cabineers will appreciate - a human-size water heater - finally! There is now a nifty new storage space in the kitchen. Also a TV with a VCR/DVD player and even more buttons on the remote. Yippee.
This surely provides more than enough of a peek inside our nutshell for a while, but as my brain dust thaws out (optimism abounds), there will be updates. Actually, I'll be looking for any excuse to work on those hot links. Until next time...
~ 2008 - May update ~
Well, our nutshell has become a bit more stuffed with the addition of Kali, a sweet, energetic canine furball who found her way into our family at the time of Nellie's birthday (May 1). She reminds us all of Nellie in many ways, although she has also provided us with plenty of antics new even to this zoo. Kali discovered the pond on her second day here and - as a true R-E-T-R-I-E-V-E-R - has yet to either dry out or tire of playing fetch. She is finally agreeable to call it a day when it's too dark to see the pond, and for that we're grateful. We're also grateful she hasn't felt compelled to retrieve any fish... yet. Emma and - gasp - even Sami have adapted quite well to sharing space with their new sis. The rest of us will be sporting impressive right biceps before long....
A recent cabineer asked if we had black bears 'around here,' and it took us a while to realize he meant around HERE. If we hadn't seen for ourselves the tree that sparked his question, we would have thought he'd just caught a glimpse of our gal Emma.
Happy summer!
~ Helen
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