Blogs from Waynesville, North Carolina, United States, North America

My husband’s family owns a darling little cabin in the woods near Lake Junaluska, NC. It’s one of those places that you wouldn’t even really know exists unless someone you know has been there before. Tucked away about 45 minutes from bustling and artsy Asheville, NC, Lake Junaluska is a quiet hum of a community. It’s where the United Methodist Church has its Western Conference every year and is a sort of sacred meeting ground for Methodists ministers and their families. As my father-in-law is a minister in Mocksville, NC, he has been coming up to the Lake almost his entire adult life for conferences, so back in the late 1980s he and his wife Susan decided to buy a little cottage to cut down on all the hotel stays they were accruing. Since then, the ... read more

We were riding to our morning story time at the library the other week, when my daughter piped up from her car seat. "Mama!" she exclaimed, "Let's go back to Lake Junaluska!" I quickly reminded her that the house was winterized and it wouldn't be available until the spring. You see, my husband's parents have a little wooden cabin in the woods up in the Maggie Valley/Waynesville part of western North Carolina, near the beautiful and sacred Lake Junaluska. He grew up playing around the lake, and even spent an entire summer there -- six whole weeks of bicycle rides, ice cream stops, and daily visits to the oversized cross that sits atop the ridge, overlooking the water below. I first visited when we were dating in high school. The family graciously gave me the spare ... read more

Adieu Florida – und damit Hitze, Schwüle und den kleinen Saugbiestern. Nein – nicht ganz. In Süd Carolina haben wir bei Columbia noch den Congaree Nationalpark als Joggingareal genutzt. Ein Feuchtgebiet mit schützenswerten alten Beständen von Laub- und Nadelhölzern. Eine 10 km-Runde, teilweise auf Holzstegen und über schmale Brücken, führte durch den Park. Wir hatten uns mit einem guten Repellent (Antimückenspray) vorher eingesprüht. Dennoch – ich sah, wie Hans einen ganzen Mückenschwarm hinter sich herzog. Ihhh…. Das ist bei mir bestimmt auch so! Also nichts wie Volldampf voraus. Pipi-Pause war nicht erlaubt – wäre eine schmerzvolle Erfahrung geworden. Unter ein bestimmtes Lauftempo durfte man auch nicht fallen, denn dann hockten sich die Saugviecher nieder und das bedeutete tausendfache Strafe. Es war eine schweißtreibende Angelegenheit. Danach testeten wir zum ersten Mal unsere neue S... read more