Friday Musings

Greetings from the High Country of North Carolina. That's Boone, as in Daniel Boone, and Appalachian State University, two-time national champs in football in the "AA" and now the whatever they call it division. I've lived in and near these mountains for most of my 60 years (oops! guess the cat's out of the bag on age!), and I can't say I'm too enthused. My old bones just hate the cold, damp and wind in the winter and lately, with temperatures in the 90s in the summer, I feel as if I'm stuck in Texas in July. But, all in all, it is a pleasing place to live and work with tremendous beauty upon which to gaze.

I don't know how much longer I can afford to live in this area, though. It seems every day there's another gated playground for the "Rich and Famous" or is that infamous? opening in the area, and more of the oldtimers are forced to flee for cheaper abodes off the mountain. It might be we all have to move down the slope to Lenoir or Wilkesboro in hopes of finding some housing relief in terms of affordability. Though with the currrent lending crisis underway, all this overpriced property just might become affordable again, if you can find someone to lend you the money. I imagine there's a lot of owners who are finding their property to not be the investment they hoped.

Why you ask am I posting this blog? I teach journalism at ASU and advise the student newspaper. That is, I'm a student development professional and also teach as an adjunct instructor. So, I have my feet planted in two camps at the university: the student development side and the academic side. Frankly, I really hope this blog doesn't turn into something about my work. This old marine is interested in writing my observations about what's going on around me. Sometimes that might be politics, though I hope to keep that tampered down. Sometimes education. A lot about life in the High Country, though there are many others posting some wonderful stuff about our section of the country. And some postings about my particular journey as a husband, father, believer, and country store philosopher. I'll leave it up to you to decide how seriously you want to take it.