Under-appreciated National Treasures: Balanced Rock

Today it is time to give a little shout out to Castleford, Idaho, home of the Balanced Rock.  I'm sick of all this blah blah blahing about the Grand Canyon and the Taj Mahal as if they are so great.  Anyone can go there and take the same picture as everyone else (Sam and I haven't yet, and maybe that is where this bitter attitude is coming from).  If you really want to be unique, you don't have to rediscover Vietnam, go to Castleford and see this...

Yes, I am not kidding you, that rock is really balancing there.  I know it looks a little small in this photo, but (warning: obvious statement ahead) the closer you get to it, the bigger it is.  This bad boy is (I quote the indisputable Visit Idaho website) "over 48 feet tall and 40 tons, the wind-carved rock balances precariously on a pedestal only 3 feet by 17 inches."  So yeah, you're going to want to see it.

Sam, slightly concerned at the largeness of the rock as he gets closer

As if its natural wonder-ness wasn't enough, you can really get a good workout climbing up there to check it out.  Sam and I were huffing and puffing and mumbling under our breath by the time we made it close enough to touch the rock itself.

A smile hides the pain of too many Christmas cookies + exercise

One thing I love about life is that as you get up into the ancient thirties, you really start to appreciate all the things that are right in your own backyard.  If the budget doesn't have room for a trip to Castleford today, there is probably something within 10 miles of you that other people would travel to see.  Have fun out there!

Big Hair Heroes

Lately, repetitively cleaning every inch of my house, filling out job applications (alas, my Ten Thousand Villages job was only for the holidays!) and drinking a lot of coffee has given me an opportunity to muse about important subjects like my hair and the state of the baseboards around here.   Like many of you, I have an 8x10" black and white photograph of Dolly Parton in a polyester jumpsuit gracing the counter in my bathroom.

I like to imagine I can understand what Dolly would say as I'm getting ready for the day.  More makeup, Dolly? You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.*  Is this too much jewelry for this outfit? I modeled my looks on the town tramp.*   Is my hair to big?  Dolly doesn't even dignify that with an answer.

During the summer, being a Southern lady for me was characterized by the humidity dictating that my hair would frizz out to troll doll proportions.  I often got the feeling that Dolly would consider that (with a little hairspray) as an advantage.  

Much as I have always loved my In Style magazines, lately I've been thinking that life is too short to fight the larger than life things one sometimes encounters when they look in the mirror.  Maybe they aren't problems. Maybe one is just comparing oneself with the wrong people.  In that spirit, I am dedicating my bathroom (I mean this to be an honor) to my personal big hair heroes.  Women who not only have hair far larger than what I myself might be able to achieve, but who have also done cool things with their lives.

So far I'm a little heavy on country singers and Wonder Woman, but I know that with time this will be an incredibly inspirational collection, and yet another reason to come visit us at the Chalkboard House.

*actual quotes from Dolly Parton

Storm Watch 2011

Those of you who are watching the weather channel today know that we are having an apocalyptic winter episode here in Georgia.  We thought our Christmas snow fall was a big deal, but this is HUGE.  Sam and I (after a long search for the ruler) have confirmed that there are five inches of snow on the chair outside our window, and the feared frozen drizzle has started making a sheet of ice over everything.

For many people watching coverage of this nightmare, the storm is just temperatures and maps and cars sliding around the freeways.  It occurred to me that in this time of unusual weather, Sam and I could put a face to the madness that is happening in our corner of the world.  This is my up to the minute coverage of real live people in the midst of it all.

8:23 a.m.
I wake up.

(reenactment, in which I look angrier than I was in reality when I woke up)

I look out the window.

8:25
I decide to stay in bed and watch the snow.

9:03
It is snowing lightly.  I get up to make coffee and am happy to find that my I Love Lucy "Slave to Fashion" mug is clean.

Sam sits in the comfy chair, reads the news, and is concerned about what is going on outside.  There will be no going anywhere today.

                               

9:10-9:47
It stops snowing.  We continue to sit around doing nothing.  Both our moms call and we talk about the snow.  Sam's mom reports 8 inches of snow at the farm in North Georgia.

9:48
Freezing drizzle begins.  Sam votes for breakfast and thinks sausage and eggs would be good.  I begin to consider the possibility.

10:15
Sam decides to make a bold move and goes outside to brush the snow off the porch and our cars.  As he works, a fine layer of ice instantly forms on everything his broom has touched.  He decides the mission is fruitless and returns to the apartment where breakfast is ready.

10:17
We eat our sausage and eggs.  The drizzle continues.  We watch out our window as a guy prepares to go to work, and I feel sorry for him.

11:01
I remember that we found the remote control for our converter box and decide to end four months of procrastination and hook it up.

11:13
The weather becomes a cross between freezing drizzle and freezing rain.  We find a soap opera in Spanish and watch it, making up our own story based on the words we understand.

11:39-present
We get sick of making up our own story and turn off the t.v.  Sam does the dishes.  I think about cleaning out the closet and go look at it. The state of the closet inpsires me to begin blogging.  We hear spinning tires outside and I go out to look, but I don't see anything.

STAY TUNED.  This is severe weather and things could change at any moment.  I'll be here with your coverage throughout the day!