December 30, 2012 N.C. Arboretum/Frog Jam

My friend, Catherine, and I drove up to Asheville and took a hike on one of the many trails at the Arboretum.  It is cold and snappy with a blustery wind in the clear blue sky. There is a dusting of snow here and there and on the tops of the distant mountains.

To get there from 26, take exit 33 and drive past the Biltmore Mall on your left, go past a big discount shoe store on your right, then 3 stop lights and turn right at the sign for the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Arboretum.  The parking fee is $8.00 per vehicle.  The trails are open 8 am to 9 pm in the summer and 8 am to 7 pm in the winter.  On the grounds are the Baker Exhibit Center where there are moving dinosaurs and prehistoric critters, and a gift shop, in another building is the Education Center and there is also a Bonsai Garden (of course in the cold weather, the bonsai trees are taken inside). There is also a coffee shop called The Savory Thyme Cafe and the National Native Azalea Collection.

We took the Bent Creek Road.  It is possible to see bears here, but not today as they should be hibernating.
When Eleanor and Ryan and the boys lived in Asheville, Ryan opened the kitchen door one night to put
chicken bones in the garbage container and found a large bear already there helping himself.  One day in the spring, Eleanor took Mathew into the backyard and was joined by a mother bear and her cub.
I also remember Mathew trying to put on his muddy boots left in the garage to find a snake was inside.

After our hike, we went into town and found the Early Girl Restaurant had an hour and ten minute wait.
Chai Pani (Indian Street Food and T-shirts that proclaim "namastee, y'all") had a 40 minute wait, so we went to Carmel, the restaurant with a corner location in the Grove Arcade. Catherine had a catfish rubin sandwich and I had scrambled eggs, grits, bacon and toast with FROG JAM.

Recipe for frog jam:
one part figs
one part raspberries
one part orange with zest
one part shredded fresh ginger.
Delicious.

December 29, 2012 Collards and Walking Sticks

Boofa and I pass Bull Hawg's Barbeque early on this damp cold morning.  The cooks are sitting at a window ledge eating their breakfasts and waving to us.
I can see young saplings in the now bare woods with vines encircling them, just right for cutting down and making spiral walking sticks or canes.
Men used to whittle objects from wood.  In my early childhood, I saw old men sitting and leaning their elbows on their knees whittling with a knife.  I have a candlestick my father made in school as a child.  He and his sisters went to the Quaker school in North Wales, PA.  My grandfather, Papa Welsh even made horns out of the horns of bulls.

An old man with a white beard comes past me pulling a light cart full of great bunches of collard greens.
"Got your collards yet?", he asks.

On the way home, I buy collards and cook them in chicken stock and season them with molasses, vinegar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes.  Eat them with black eyed peas.

December 26, 2012 Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

It has poured down rain all night.  My house feels empty after all the children and grandchildren departed yesterday.
In the distance I can see silver lights sparkling on the trail cedar.
Closer, I see that the heavy rain has washed the red from the  26 crystal balls and now they sparkle like
stars in the early morning overcast sky.

December 24, 2012 Christmas Eve in Berkdale

I spent the night last night in Hanah and Patrick's house and took Zipper for a long walk this morning in the cool damp air.  There were flamingos dressed like Santa Claus, Snow Men lights, the new- this -year lights in trees that look like snow falling, big red and green glass globes in the trees, light trimmed rooftops, bushes gleaming and twinkling.  We rounded the golf course on the cart trail and came back to sweet rolls and hot tea and the turkey in the oven.  Sergay is still asleep on the living room sofa and Liza helps me put out the traditional cookies to ice and decorate.

December 23, 2012 Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

I was out at 7:15 am on the rail trail decorating a cedar with 26 red glass balls.  Dawn was breaking. Finally it is cold.  Pink and blue clouds streak the sky.
Only a wild cat watched.

This is my memorial for the children and their teachers.

December 18, 2012 Guns and Mistletoe

Wet and warming up this morning on the trail with big white and gray clouds moving out, a brilliant blue blue sky breaking through.  It could be spring except the trees have lost their leaves.  Great clumps of mistletoe grace their branches (in the order Santalates, genus Viscum). Birds eat the white berries and wipe their beaks on a branch leaving the seed to germinate.  The Navaho called it "the basket on high".  To the ancient druids, it was sacred.  It was thought to be the Golden Bough of Aeneas.  It is part of the Christmas celebration for kissing under.

My uncles used to shoot the mistletoe out of the trees during the holidays.  A right and fitting use for guns.
They had guns for hunting and they had the old muskets found in the woods after either the Revolutionary or the Civil War.  They used to tie them to a tree to shoot them as the kickback was so strong.  They did not have assault rifles, like the ones used in mass killings in our country, most recently the 20 children and 6 adults who died in Newtown, CT.

"Our hearts are broken," said the president.

I realize the red and green balloons resting in the bushes along the trail have fallen from the sky after they were launched in a tribute to those lost in the tragedy. The funerals have begun.

Where are you Christmas?

December 8, 2012 Deer In The Headlights

I came upon a DNR truck parked on the grass along my walk with Boofa down a busy street in town.

The DNR agent and a man in an avocado green T-shirt walked out of the bushes.  "I am surprised to see DNR in town", I said.

"If there are deer issues", the agent said.

"My girlfriend hit a deer last night and we found him dead back there", said the avocado shirted man.

The beautiful White Tailed Deer (a member of the cervid family which includes elk, moose and mule deer) has been here for eight to twelve million years.  Native Americans used fire to create habitats suitable for them out of the hardwood forests.  Today there are 750,000 deer in South Carolina due to conservation programs and other factors (which includes storms like Hugo flattening the forests), even though in the 1950's there were almost no deer at all in the Piedmont and the mountains. The population of people in South Carolina is 4,679,234, making that one deer for every 6 people.

I have deer whistles under the front fender of my car.  The wind blows through them as you drive and creates a high whistle only the deer can hear.  Once last year, out in the country, I hit a dog who was running straight at me in the middle of the road.  He ran into the forest.  Simon, riding with me the next day said,

"I guess deer whistles don't work on dogs".

Today, the houses have their Christmas decorations out, gleaming in the bright warm weather, almost like spring.  Here and there, there are even pink crab apples and ornamental trees blooming in sheltered places,

confused by the warm weather.

Here is a recipe from the 1977 Jr. League of Jackson, MS cookbook, Southern Sideboards:

Barbecued Venison Steaks with MULE JAIL Barbecue Sauce:

Venison hindquarter
Lawry's unseasoned tenderizer (optional)
Pepper
MULE JAIL BARBECUE SAUCE:
1 pound butter
2 cups water
1  5 oz bottle of Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 6 lemons (reserve rinds of 3)
2 onions, quartered
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Slice hindquarter across the grain into steaks 1/2 in thick.  Trim all fat and gristle.  Tenderize and lightly pepper each side at this point, if desired.  Make MULE JAIL BARBECUE SAUCE by melting butter in saucepan.   Add remaining ingredients, including lemon rinds, and bring to a boil.  Turn off heat immediately. Cook steaks over charcoal grill, with hickory chips added, basting with sauce.  Steaks should be cooked medium to medium well in order to be juicy and tender.  Cooked well, done, they will be tough.  Sauce is also good spread on toasted bread.
attributed to:  Mrs. Lewis L. Culley, Jr.