Cutting ruts

Walters Pine, the photo does not capture the tree's presence.

This last week has been quiet. I have begun to create routines. I no longer feel so alien when I walk into a store, or as I walk along the streets. There are still small things that are just a little strange, signs that I am in America and far from Cold Lake. Things like beer in drugstores and statues of confederate soldiers.

The days are not growing longer and longer either. They have appeared to achieve a stability, at least they do not seem to have grown longer since I have been here. 27 days now. I walked down to the Carrboro farmer's market yesterday with Carol. It is nearly 2 miles away, and the walk was pleasant. I have not lost any weight yet, but I am getting much more active.

The birds are still able to sound like teenagers having a huge party. The weather has been nice for me lately, almost made it to ninety yesterday, and likely today as well. It is not good news for the farmers who suffer through drought conditions.

The images on this page were taken from the Coker Arboretum. I will end my post today with the image of a Pond Cypress.

Southern Creek

The above image is from this morning's walk. The trees are really very interesting, and I wonder how they can survive during the floods that occur when it rains. My legs were resisting the walk this morning. I did not give them their say however. I walked down to Franklin Street and back twice today, a trip that is just under a mile round trip I would guess. The weather was nice for walking, low 80's and a nice breeze.

I received an email from a friend and a professor at the U of A this evening. They both congratulated me for winning a prize:

Ted and Charlotte Davenport Poetry Prize
Value: $300
Eligibility: Awarded annually to a student who has excelled in writing original poetry while at the University of Alberta. Undergraduate, graduating, or graduate students enrolled in one or more of the following courses are eligible: English 296, 394, 395, 494, 495, 584.
Application: There is no application form; eligible students will be considered automatically by the Department of English and Film Studies.

Hearing of this prize was a pleasant surprise.

Morning walks

I have been walking with Carol in the early mornings lately. Yesterday we walked through a park trail following a circular path that runs west and north of the house. We went the wrong way and had to climb a monster hill (renamed The Hill of Death or THOD for short). This morning we went the opposite direction and had a very pleasant stroll through woods and such like. The first image below is near the trails start. The second shows a street light set into the trees to make the trees feel less lonely at night. The third image shows the trails end, which is well groomed and receives more attention.



This last image shows what Kudzu can do to a tree:
The kudzu is a real problem in parts of this valley. There is one place where the bamboo has gone wild and created a very thick jungle-like place along the stream bank. The pictures don't really show it, but everything is very green here.

Today I work on making another step towards obtaining my residency. I am going down to the library this afternoon and applying for a library card. I received my rent deposit check yesterday (they gave me back my full deposit) so I need to cash it. To do that I need to open a bank account. To do that I need a NC drivers license or NC state ID. To do that I need proof of residency, which a library card can fulfill. If not, I will get a voter's registration form and get a card showing me as a registered voter in the area, and from that the rest will follow. But my first step today is to go check out the library.

Other than that it has been quiet here. I walked around the Coker Arboretum on Sunday for a bit. I will be returning with my camera and taking notes and photos. They have some amazing trees and shrubs on display, some of which are actually blooming and looking quite lush. http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/38/

Living with a cat

Daphne shows what she thinks of me quite clearly in the photo. I have been accused of photo-shopping the image, but it was just a lucky catch. Khadaphne, the absolute ruler of all who enter her domain, is not a horrid cat. She does puke at random times, but she is rather friendly and enjoys a good scritch behind the ears. She put herself between me and the keyboard this morning and would not allow me to do any writing until she had her fill of attention. She is not a big fan of being picked up, but she will come sit beside me at times and permit me to pet her a little. We have become friends. Her tendancy to barf can be irritating, but she makes up for that in cuteness.
Here she observes a squirrel who has the temerity to encroach upon her territory. As an indoor cat she can only sit and stare-down interlopers.

Daph is a rescue cat. She was feral early in her life, and she retains some of her paranoia. Here she is shown staring up through the sky light awaiting the return of some fireworks that had been exploding. She is afraid of thunder, and the fireworks were making her a little nervous.

Yesterday I went for another walk down to Harris Teeter for a lemon. It was a nice walk, the temperature around 80 with the humidity in the 60's. A nice thundershower romped through the area later in the afternoon lowering the temps into the high 60's and soaking some laundry that Carol had hung out to dry.

Today will likely be a quite and lazy day for me. I have nothing I need or want to do, other than a morning walk. A nice tromp round town seems to help make the day pleasant. Though I was greeted to a pukin cat this morning, so the day has to be perfect now, doesn't it?

It is grad weekend for UNC. That makes me think about my own grad ceremony which is a month away. It would have been nice to attend, but I am just happy to have completed the undergrad portion of my education.

Raleigh

I went to Raleigh for the first time this morning. For now here are a few images. I will write more in the am.

It is now tomorrow, though strangely enough it has also become today.

I left home in a rush yesterday morning, so rushed in fact that I forgot to take an umbrella and to put the garbage out at the curb. My rush worked out however. I caught the 8 am express to Raleigh, and I arrived in front of State's library at 8:50. Not bad for a 30 mile bus ride. I am still having trouble telling my directions, much of the way to Raleigh I was sure we were heading west. I began to anticipate seeing signs saying Greensboro one mile. The campus is very large, there is construction going on everywhere, and it was impossible for me to go in a straight line anywhere. I felt like I was back at the U of A. The first two pictures below were taken much later in the afternoon after I had tramped over most of South Raleigh within a mile of campus. It is a peaceful (all the students are at home or going home I saw a few people loading trucks and uhauls from residences) little square called the Mary Yarbrough square. She was the first woman to graduate from State with a Masters degree in Chemistry in 1927. For more information about her and her fellow women graduates that year go here:http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/exhibits/women/1920.htm

The image below was taken from an old wooden bench that looks towards Hillsborough street, or North. Hillsborough Street is the main street that passes the university heading down town. It has a bit of the feel of Whyte Ave without all the pubs and trendy stuff. I saw a real cool looking used book store just west of campus but did not stop in. I would not have left with my money.

I had three reasons for going to Raleigh. The first was to drop off some medical forms with student health. The second was to get familiar with the area, and the third was to examine the state of apartments in the area. I dropped off my forms in the afternoon, when I found the Student Health building stuck way down on the far south end of campus. I hope I don't have to go there very often, it is a long ways from where I will be hanging out. I did gain some familiarity with the area, mostly by getting lost. I would head south trying to get down to Gorman Street, and find myself coming out to the east where Hillsborough curves. It was not a total waste of time and energy, for I did walk through a nice park that offers theater in the park, though I don't know when or where. I suppose I could look it up on line... While wandering around totally lost I came across this real cool house. I think it is condemned though you cannot tell from this view. The balcony on the second floor is collapsing, and the stairs that lead up to it from the outside are twisted and about to collapse. I still think it is a cool looking house and if it were fixed up, if it could be fixed up and restored, it would be a nice place to live.

Half an hour into my lost wanderings, about the time I saw the cool house above, it started to rain. I walked west on H street, and stopped in at a coffee shop. While there I considered returning to Chapel Hill and trying again another day. While pondering, sipping coffee, and writing, the rain stopped and looked almost inviting. I decided I would make the attempt too look at some of the places I had on my pad after all. This was at 10:30. The next time I sat down was at the little square that I mentioned at the start. It was almost one when I did that, and my feet where not too happy with me. I was satisfied though, I managed to find the places I was looking for with only a few false turns and twists.

From my wanderings through the city I found that it is much more city-like than Chapel Hill though it too has some big trees and heavy bush. Raleigh is not as hilly, but it does have enough hills that there is some aches and pains from climbing the big hills.

My trip home was a little longer as I had to take two different buses, and they wandered around more of the country than the morning bus. Still, it was fun and interesting to get to see more of the state. I was home shortly after four, and my sense of direction is getting a little better, though I am still easily confused.

Here are the rest of the photos I took yesterday

Raleigh houses

The View

This is the view from the front window looking south. I know it is south because I have to walk in that direction to get to Franklin Street, and on all the maps Franklin Street and UNC Chapel Hill are south of me. It feels like I am looking north, and I am hoping in a week or two to become acclimated enough to accept the directions really are what they say they are. It may not be too clear in this image but their is a great deal of bamboo around this place. It is almost like a jungle. The outside of the duplex looks like shit. The place has asbestos siding that has had no maintenance since it was put up. The inside is quite nice though. All hard wood floors and wood walls. It feels very dark with all the trees. In an attempt to lighten the place a sky light was placed in the living room (not a very professional job) and it does brighten the place.

I went for a nice walk with Carol today. She is off to a EBLIB conference for the next 6 days. (Keg arrived only 10 minutes after she left. The party begins in fifteen minutes.). I was facing south on North Columbia when I pulled the trigger. With scenes like this it is easy to walk early in the morning. Here are a few more images from my stroll.



If anyone knows what this plant is I would love to know.

And finally the magnolias are in bloom.

Rain

It is raining here in the south. A gentle rain falls from cold gray skies. Current temperature is 54 F.

I went for a tour of Chapel Hill yesterday. A short trip, I was gone for three hours and wandered about the city, took two busses and saw some more of the area. I saw the bell tower, and the other day I saw the Old Well at Chapel Hill. Apparently people get upset if you say it is only a fountain now.

On my way home I stopped in at a used book store. I wandered through the aisle and looked at all the options. I ended up with two books I have long desired and one I just decided to take home with me. The two desired books are a Domanski and a Pinsky. The other book is a field guide to North American trees. I thought it might be nice to have with all the different trees that are squeezing me out of the house.

I was sitting on the couch last night reading and thinking a little (occasional thoughts do magically appear in my mind) when I realized the apartment would feel a great deal like the old farm house if only we had gas lamps instead of these harsh and bright electric. It was a combination of the trees, the hardwood floors and wood walls, and the cat.

Today I have been mucking about. The weather looks like rain, and I am unwilling to go out and get wet. Others may enjoy a good soaking, but I am not a west-coaster.

My boxes have arrived at Greensboro. They are inching closer and closer. Not that I need anything from them, or at least not too much. I will have them come Monday for sure.

This photo is from my walk this morning.

News from Down South

This image is not from down south. This image is from up north. The cold and gray/brown north. It is how my truck looked as I pulled away Friday morning. Well, the rental truck. The mattress was not as hard to load as I had feared. I put both parts into a big king size mattress protector and they slid quite easily onto the truck. I had more difficulty with the big easy chair which sits in just ahead of the round table. The truck had no place to tie the load down with so I wrapped the rope around the load. Unfortunately, the wind picked up as the day went along, and I was afraid the whole truck load was going to blow out. I was lucky though, and lost nothing. The trip up to Cold Lake was boring. It is the ugly part of the season there. I placed my camera in the ashtray (those things still come in handy for things other than cigs), but saw nothing I wished to photograph. The few days I spent in Cold Lake were pleasant. I was able to see Audrey on Saturday and say goodbye. And on Sunday I saw Carol, and we had a great visit. I enjoyed my time with Barb, but she made me cry when I left. I will miss her and the rest of the family.

This next part is embarrassing. I left Carol's place at three and headed off to the city. Most of the trip was uneventful. The weather became miserable when I arrived at edmonton. I was headed off to Leduc for my room for the night, and, well, to be totally honest, you see, umm...there is all this new construction and my sign to turn was down and I ended up way south of edmonton. No, I was not lost, just not quite where I wanted to be, and with no sure path to where I wanted to arrive. I did arrive at my hotel finally. I flopped down and slept as soon as I checked in. I did not set my alarm quite right and nearly slept in the next morning. I did have time for a quick shower before heading off to the airport. Truck was dropped off on time, and I was entering the departures area at six.

My first stop was at a cash changing place. I was disappointed there though, all the woman had at that moment were fives, and I did not want or need a pocket full of small bills. I entered the line for NorthWest at 6:05. I was through customs and the preflight check (I was picked as a extra checked person) at 7:10. I had time for a quick coffee and a bagel and a bathroom break before the plane began pre-boarding.

The flight was quiet. There were a lot of storms as we came nearer to St. Paul, but other than a few small bumps, there were no problems. Of course, we docked on one side of the airport and my next flight was on the other side. But the walk was nice, a good leg stretch, time to change my dollars into dollars, and grab a fruit salad and a drink. The flight from Edmonton to St. Paul was half full. The flight from St. Paul to Raleigh was stuffed. We left on time and came in about ten minutes late due to the pilot slowing down every few miles. The flight was nice, from Greenbay south there were very few clouds, and I was able to sit and watch the country. Most of it was flat until we got down near Tennessee. Then there were a few knobbly hills which are most likely some kind of mountain.

What I most enjoyed about the flight was walking with my bags in the nice warmth (93 on arrival) to the taxi stand. The ride was fun, I enjoyed watching all the green go by. Green green green. Traffic was thick, but not crazy. Though I was not driving so maybe it was worse than it looked. But it was green, green, everywhere green. Carol had a great vegan meal ready for me when I arrived. I was stuffed and it was delicious. My bed is comfy, and my room is cute. When I no longer have a huge mess of stuff I will take a photo and share.

I had a good walk this morning, and those images are placed earlier in the blog. I would comment on all of them, but I think they speak for themselves. The only plant I can name is the azaleas. It is very beautiful here. And a bit strange as the houses are set into these small pockets of forest. Hundreds of trees everywhere, and some of them are huge.

I am going to have to buy myself a compass though. I have no idea which direction I am facing. Though I would think west, it makes no sense when applied to the roads I came in on.

So far it feels good to be here.

Images from Chapel Hill