Big Good-Damn Sisters Trip!

I went on a much needed, soul reviving, nature enjoying, ass-laughing-off, sister trip to GA with Brandi last weekend!
It was not unlike this blog post, chock full o stuff.

We got in the Chatooga river. The freezing water was absolutely delicious. The river is crystal clear rushing mountain water running through boulders and rock outcroppings and lined on the bottom with mica sand. It looks like glitter in the river! I just had to take off this bat necklace I made and photograph it in the mica sand...with our legs too.
Here I am next to some super gorgeous rock wall covered in the most yummy layers of varied lichen; that patina is the stuff dreams are made of.
We hopped all over the rocks on Friday and Sunday. I could never get enough of that.
When we drove in Friday afternoon, we walked down to the river and played by a class four or five rapids called Bull's Sleuce.
It was an easy decision to skinny dip up to our waists in the freezing water. It was a hard decision to not go all the way in. I made several very grown-up decisions regarding safety; I'm both proud of and disappointed in me for that.
We both used the time in such sacred ground wisely, recharging our souls with the abundant energy of the Great Spirit that surrounded us. It was truly Heavenly.
I prefer bushwhacking (shwacking) through the park over trail hiking. At times we could hardly make any "progress" through the mountain forest for all the photography stops along our way.
I love lichen and moss. Bran coined a new phrase for these species: Air Barnacles! I really do need to get to work on the Brandi Dictionary.
Saturday night we went out in search of a mountain cave. We went straight up through a gorge to an old logging trail but didn't find it...yet.
Here is a little vignette of totems collected on our trip. The crucifixes are from the antique market we went to on Saturday, more on that later.
You know I had to stop at this mountainside cemetery for pictures. I'm so lucky to have a perfect travel companion in my sister! We love all the same things.
We had many many many sister psychic connections, one of which is the thought that we want to live in a "people terrarium" with this stuff all over the floor. Can I have forest floor in my bedroom instead of carpet? I'd never have to vacuum or mop!
This made me decide to get a macro lens for my sweet, sweet Nikon. Isn't this crevasse beautiful?
We took so many pictures; as Brandi said "I'm my own paparazzi"!

Okay, here she is sort of asking my permission to climb right down next to the a fore mentioned deadly rapids to play. Once again, I was shockingly an adult buzz kill; "No Bran, if you slip and fall in there I'm too gimpy to carry you out of here & you'll die!"
Can't you just ear her saying "Don't you think we could just go right down there and get closer to that water?"
We took pictures of each other taking pictures of each other.
I sat still with my camera for about 10 minutes waiting fort this anole to come get his closeup. See his big damn money bag? He is tryin' to scare up a lady friend. I loved watching them do this around my Mimi's house in Mississippi as a child.
Fallen logs made for beautiful little landscapes.
This is a hole in a fallen log. It looks like the view from inside a cave!


There was just so much all around for us to take in. We were beside ourselves with delight the entire time!
Gorgeous, everywhere, all around.
It was a sad thing to leave, but knowing we'll be back soon makes it bearable.
I have so much to do, and so much more to tell. I hardly even know were to begin! And I'm still coming down from all that "Vitamin B" (another Brandi-ism). I feel like a total spaz, but I love it!
I will be collaborating with Bran through December 11, when we go back to sell our trumeaus and other pieces at Scott's Antique Market in ATL. I'm fixin' to find myself as busy as Santa's elves right now. Stuff to build, masterpieces to create, plans for world domination to be layed out! I will be a bit scarce, but not as much as these past several rather SLACK weeks on my part.
Wish me luck!

Rites of passage

Remember dying your hair unnatural colors as a teenager? Well neither do I since I'm a brunette and my hair was too dark to take any temporary color, but I do remember helping my blond friends do it. It's cheap, easy, fun & harmless.
Ellie will be 12 in just 4 days. Twelve!
She had already gotten permission her mother to put purple streaks in her hair for Halloween. Then while I was out with Ellie & "Mimi" yesterday Ellie found the purple hair stuff and couldn't get Mimi to buy it for her; my Mom wants no part of unnatural hair coloring! So as my Auntly duty I pleaded her case to Mom, then we came back to my house and applied the buble gum smelling dye.
Dee came by with her youngest Timi while our streaks were processing on the porch.
I was thrilled as usual to get to partake in this aunt/niece bonding moment. If I'd had an aunt put purple streaks in my hair at that age I would have felt like the coolest kid in town. Once again, being on the aunt end of things seems just as fun as if I were on the niece end!
Little Miss Ellie is so thrilled with her new "abnormal" look! It was so fun, and we were pressed for time but it still turned out pretty wicked if you ask me...
...or her!

Scarowinds!

Today I took Miss Cassie to Scarowinds, the Haloween version of our local theme park which is called Carowinds. When I was a kid it was pretty much the biggest deal around. Now that I'm a "grownup" (shudder-gasp!) I'd almost rather take a beating than go there amongst all the unwashed masses, but as an Aunt it is my honor, duty and privilege to take my nieces (and nephew when he gets bigger) there.
Cassie was naturally excited to go see it all for herself, having heard all about it from other kids. They have the entire park decked out for Halloween, scary stuff everywhere.
Carowinds straddles the state line between North & South Carolina and it's a time honored tradition to stand with one foot on each state while you're there; kind of like a way gyppier version of Four Corners out West!
We took 81 pictures today! But look at how cute we are, can you blame us?
Cassie is a bit hesitant to ride the roller coasters but she jumped right in to all that game/gambling/money wasting fun stuff. I was tempted to explain to her what a colossal waste of money those things are, how you always wind up with something totally gyppy and way overpriced; that's a job for Mom or Dad but not for an Aunt so I didn't say a word.
You simply must get cotton candy whenever you have the chance; it's not something you can get from the 7-11. We enjoyed the fiberglass looking stuff with awful sticky gusto!
First she "dipped her toe in" by agreeing to the "Boo Blast", a ride that takes you into a dark building with scary things all over that you shoot with a little plastic gun. Fun!
I love all the tacky tacky useless crap they hock at places like this. Were else are you going to find a baseball hat with hair extensions?
Look at all the delightful confections! No joke here, I really love the sight of all the colorful gummy chemical-y candy.
Seriously, look at all that...
When I was a kid me & Brandon would always buy the candy cigarettes at Carowinds. Nothing makes me feel "older" than remembering back in the day when kids were actually marketed candy cigarettes. By God if you grew up in North Carolina any time during or before the 1980's you were damn well gonna have you some candy cigarettes at some point.
Now, sadly they've been replaced by harmless crickets. Yes, I said crickets and not the fake kind. Here Cassie holds a box of actual crusty crumbly dead crickets. Now that my friends is what you call a novelty item.
The carousel is another way to get geared up for an actual roller coaster.
Did you know American carousels always go counterclockwise and European ones go clockwise? We just like to do everything the opposite way from them I guess.
Here we are on a little Snoopy airplane ride. My plan here was to work her up to at least the Gold Rush, a kiddie roller coaster.
The ride consisted of 10 little two-seater airplanes that spin around by two cables. You have a front rudder you can control allowing you to go as high as you want. Cassie was at the helm and she held it in the road, it was still more scary than I'd expected!
There were cool props & scary little features all over the place. I really would have freaked out to go there when I was little. Halloween AND roller coasters? Come on!
Cassie wanted to take a picture of me too...
Here is a cool old steam engine thing outside of the entrance to the Gold Rush!
Here we are on it getting ready to scream our heads off.
View from atop the roller coaster...
We rode five rides; the Boo Blaster, the carousel, Snoopy airplane thing, the ride formerly known as the Scooby-Doo roller coaster (I refuse to call it by it's new name, something to do with Charlie Brown) and the Gold Rush.
And at the end of the day when they kicked us out we found the car!
Then we found dinner at Lupie's with Mom.
We had a fantastic day. What a delight it is to be an aunt and get to spend time with the kids as much as would have wanted to with my aunts when I was little. It is every bit as good as being a kid again. We're so lucky we only live 20 miles apart! It's much better than the 600 miles that separated me from my extended family growing up.
I find my mind turning to gratefulness very often lately. I am rich with all the things money can not buy; big wonderful loving family, close friends, talent, skill, my ability to take pleasure in little things, health and so much love coming from every direction.
(Just for the record, Scarowinds was expensive; it should be "$carowinds"! Thanks to Brandi & Mom for whipping enough bread on us to make today possible! We really got our $$$ worth!)