So, last night we went with a group of people to look for the Brown Mountain Lights that are a legend in this area! It was a gorgeous evening- clear and with a very comfortable temperature for being outdoors at twilight. The Brown Mountain ghost lights have been spotted since 1771, which was the year that the first known written record of the lights were mentioned. They have been investigated by the US Geological Survey in 1913 when it was concluded that they were caused by locomotive headlights but the story goes that in 1916 the lights appeared after a major flooding in the area when the train was not working... They have been investigated by several people from both camps- believers and non-believers and a google search brings up very interesting stories and reasonable explanations, including an article with scientific explanation written by Jim's dad and uncle when they were growing up in North Carolina! So, if you are wondering whether we saw the lights ourselves, have a look at our pictures! |
0 Comments
Ri and I just finished the final production of Annie Jr. with Parkway Playhouse Jr. I played the role of Grace Farrell, private secretary to the billionaire Oliver Warbucks. We did three shows in total and they all went super well! Grammy, Poppop, Aunt Elizabeth and even Max, Nina and Beth came as well as a lot of the Burnsville community. ~Aneka Aneka and I just finished Annie Jr., a show of Parkway Playhouse Jr. This was my first production for Parkway Playhouse Jr., and my first ever musical. I really liked it! I made a lot of friends, and I am planing to do more productions with Parkway Playhouse Jr. I played two roles in the play. The first one was a servant for the billionaire Oliver Warbucks. The other role I played was President Roosevelt's adviser/bodyguard, Louis Howe. I had a lot of fun and I hope to do more plays in the future. ~Rigel Aneka's Actor Spotlight: The character I play is Grace Farrell, private secretary to Olivier Warbucks. She is very proper, super organized and charged with the task of attending to Warbucks’s every need. She also shows a more maternal side when she’s with Annie. I really like kids and perhaps that’s one thing I have in common with Grace. I’m not sure how I would like her job though: having to be in charge of everybody and their jobs, seems like a huge pressure. Also, I don’t know if I could do everything Warbucks told me to without a question. This musical has been really fun and thanks to all our wonderful directors I have learned a lot! Parkway Playhouse has really taught me to be more confident in myself. Although learning new things may be intimidating, I think that it really helps boost my confidence. I’ve learned so much that I can put in my “toolbox” and the things I have learned have really helped me outside of theater as well. Rigel's Actor Spotlight: I really like being a part of the Annie Jr. cast because of all the great people I get to work with. It’s really fun getting know everyone. I like playing the warm up games; my favorite is probably Garden Statues. I’ve learned a lot from everyone too. One thing that really stuck with me was “go big or go home.” I think one of the biggest challenges for me right now is the fact that this is the first time I’ve been in a musical production and there is a lot to learn! One of our goals for this year was to learn how to identify the most common types of trees. We were told that this part of the Appalachian mountains has one of the biggest diversity of trees in the US, so it seemed like a good idea. Check out this link: http://www.carolinanature.com/trees/ Well, we have been trying to do just that since we arrived here last summer, but not with much success. It wasn't until Poppop visited and agreed to take us on a tree identification walk around the cabin that we began to see the leaves! (Aunt Elizabeth told us the story of when she was little and had a similar walk with poppop, who asked her to tell her the name of a tree. Since she didn't know,and didn't want to admit it, she said she couldn't see the leaves. That immediately got her a visit to the optometrist!). Poppop spent part of his childhood a little east from here and he knows a LOT about trees and shrubs. He pointed out some of the most common ones around here, like the tulip poplar, the dogwood, the black locust, the black walnut etc. While we walked around, we stapled names to the trees on paper so that we wouldn't forget their names. Then, later, we added a more lasting copper plaque which we made, with the popular name of the tree ad the latin genus. In just that short walk, Poppop identified at least 18 different variety of trees. We hope he'll come back soon, so we can learn some more! Soon after we came back to the cabin from Marion, we had another family visit, this time at our place. Grammy and Poppop came to spend a few days with us. Then, Aunt Elizabeth came to see the Annie Jr. production that Aneka and Rigel were in. As well as cousins Max and Nina with their mom, Beth. It was great to have family visit! Rigel and Aneka enjoyed showing everyone around and Grammy even joined us for a Spanish class, while Poppop gave Aneka an Algebra lesson! One afternoon, the deer who have recently been released on Green Mountain came by to visit, and join us for our picnic We spent a special weekend in Marion, VA, in honor of Mike, Aunt Elizabeth's husband, who passed away a couple of years ago. In his memory, his family has set up a foundation that provides a continuous scholarship to one young High School age student in Marion. Mike and Elizabeth were the 6th grade teachers in Marion for many years till they retired and are obviously well loved and respected by the local community. The goal of the weekend was to raise money for these scholarships. To this end, there were many fun activities planned- a party with a live band, silent auction of goods, services and theme baskets, and a golf tournament. (Mike was an avid golfer at the golf club where these events were held). We were very happy to be able to participate (our first time), enjoyed meeting everyone involved with the weekend and being together with family. We especially enjoyed staying at a gorgeous historical, Victorian style B&B . We had the best room- the attic- with all its beautiful nooks and crannies. We also spent one afternoon hiking at Hungry Mother State Park, where we noticed that the rhododendrons were starting to have buds and that there were even some baby hemlocks growing. The hemlocks have been recently plagued by a disease and have been dying, so this was a good sign! Mom had a special breakfast AND dinner for Mothers' Day! Not only was breakfast AND cleanup done by dad and the kiddos but the menus were gluten AND dairy free, as mom is on this health kick right now!
|
The Happer'sHi! This is Preeti, Jim, Rigel, Luna and I (Aneka). We have recently left our home in Shanghai, China to Somewhereinthemountains, North Carolina. Preeti and Jim are both international school teachers and Rigel, Luna and I are homeschooled. Categories
All
Archives
July 2015
|