Thursday, March 24, 2005

Changing Days

It's hard to describe how beautiful the Blue Ridge Mountains are in all their moods and changes of light. Yesterday evening I was on a high ridge looking out across the mountains as the clouds broke and the temperatures changed. Mist rose between the hills and the ridges were soft blue against gray skies. I drove through a wall of fog into a changed scene; a rainbow arched over the valley into the distance. The world was green in a watery muted sunset, with flashes of yellow daffodils and forsythia.

There's a subtle green haze across the fields here and the pond looks black in the early morning sunshine as it reflects a line of pine trees. There's a reminder of yesterday's weather in the dull gray of the clouds, but blue patches are spreading with the rising sun.

Had a lovely time with friend Kym in Mount Airy. We had dinner at the Japanese restaurant; VERY good. I had scallops and ate too much, as usual. Then we did the big store shopping for yogurt and other necessities. On the way home the moon was shining bright and the stars were studded in the sky. There's a difference in the way night skies look in warmer weather. On cold nights the stars seem to be to be brittle and distant. Last night there weren't many stars visible because of the moon and it seemed that I almost could have reached out and touched them as I crossed the high ridge toward home.

Interesting little discussion on Spin-list about the history of the angora rabbit. I did a Civil War reenactment at Gettysburg a couple of years ago and took wool to spin. I wasn't sure angora was correct for the period. According to, rabbits have been used as fiber animals since Roman times. Interesting. I think it would have been a luxury fiber and my ancestors would not have used it. Flax and wool would have been available to them. According to local history, there were lots of sheep in this area until the forties. No one had sheep here when I was a child and there still aren't many. My ancestor that came here from Germany in the mid 1700s listed his occupation as fuller. I don't know if he practiced this profession in America; he owned property in Pennsylvania and Maryland before moving to Floyd County with his children. His sons were in the iron industry, farmers and stone masons. I'm sure there were spinners in the family but women's occupations aren't listed often.

Time to get ready to tend bunnies. Yesterday Elwood, my blue buck, was flirting with the little doe that took the trip with me. They were nose to nose when I came in but forgot their conversation when I started putting carrots in!

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