Old (pre-blog) Photographs

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In the wake of Hurricane Frances (September 8), Ivan was forecast. The River (Swannanoa) had risen 18' behind our house during Frances and Ivan looked like doom on the radar, so down to the River I went to set up some sacrificial rockstacks. This was a personal favorite.

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Another sacrificial stack awaiting Ivan's fury.

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This one I thought was so cool I saved it as "coolest ever." Still like it, but then again, I never met a rockstack I didn't like.

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The day Hurricane Ivan blew through, the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) dumped the equivalent of Georgia's Stone Mountain all crushed up into a huge hole down in the "Great Curve" area, a.k.a. "Brower-Williams Rockpile" after my generous landlords. I'd begun playing with dependent balances, where Rock B won't sit on Rock A without the weight of Rock C. At one point, I counted 70 of these in that field. This was a fave of that era.

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Another fave. Geez ... sounds like I love 'em all. But no, there were 68 more poor souls there who are not in these photos. I rebuilt this one over and over in different ways until its space was taken by another. Each rock in this stack was top shelf. I didn't put the leaf there.

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Okay, this one is not necessarily a fave. It's just a good example of a dependent balance; the biggest one I had built to that point. A version of this guy is still erect. If ever there is a World Championship of Rockstacking, Viagra should be offered sponsorship ... think "Viagra Fields."

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Hurricane Frances flooded much of WNC. Folks upstream from us were hit hard. This was my back yard on Sept. 8, 2004.

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The Flower Lady stood in front of my herb garden this past summer and fall. She is on vacation in the sideyard until flowers bloom again. She's "old and in the way" without fresh flowers, but don't tell her I said that.