Valle Crucis News
by Callie and Ethel Foss

January 27, 2010

	Here are some icicle pictures that LC sent to us.

Wow! You never can tell about the weather. All the snow just before the holidays, then ice on Christmas. Now more rain, freezing rain, and snow and add in a few days with 50 degree temperatures. That certainly lends credence to the old saying, “If you don't like the weather, just hang around a minute or two. It'll change.” I'm glad that we've had some colder weather. It is certainly helping the ski slopes, which give folks something fun to do during the winter AND provides many jobs.

Even after all of the rain over the weekend, (just over an inch and a quarter), there’s still snow hanging around. You know what that means – it’s waiting on some more. Ray says it might come this weekend.

LC called us last Monday night all excited. We told him it had to be good, otherwise, why was he calling us after 9 p.m.?! He said that Boone, NC was mentioned on the Big Bang Theory, a show on CBS. Ethel and I both think that Boone is a great place, but we had to wonder what made the script writers choose to mention it along with Horn in the West. Nonetheless, we think it's pretty neato!

Speaking of neato, did you see the different colored icicles along Highway 194 between the Valle Crucis Elementary School and Clarks Creek? Some were blue; some were green; and some were yellow. Ethel and I got into a big argument about whether they were real or not. Of course, being the conspiracy theorist, I can come up with any number of wild ideas as to how they got that color. Someone driving by with Kool-Aid still in powder form made a great shot winging it out the window for one. Or many squirrels got a hold of some random Pixie Stix from the Candy Barrel and put them in their nests. With all of the rain, some of it washed out and formed the icicles. Or maybe it's aliens.

Ethel, on the other hand, said that there has to be a more believable explanation (mine aren't?). And LC had to break us up as it nearly became a food fight in the kitchen as we were making Sunday afternoon lunch for he and Weezie. He said he'd find out something. He is what he found out from a friend of his: According to geology professor Dr. Abbott at ASU, the content of some rocks can make icicles like this happen. Copper content can make blue and iron can cause a yellow/orange color. Perhaps a vein was exposed during some of the rain we’ve had to make the drips form these colors.

Have you visited ToddsCalendar.com? A friend of ours told us about it, so we went there. Its tagline is “Where the High Country Goes to Know.” And know you will. It has just about every conceivable thing to do that you can think of. One of its best features is you can sort out the events that you don't want to know about and can save your favorites, add them to a calendar (we just write ours down in long hand), print out information or share it with a friend. There are so many things to do in our area, and lots of times we don't know about them until they are over. I hope that by using this wonderful new tool, we'll be able to find out early enough to make plans.

Have you made a donation to help with disaster relief in Haiti? Ethel and I sent Sonny a check at the Watauga Chapter of the American Red Cross just a few days ago. There is such great need there. We are both hoping that the people can find comfort in the fact that so many across the world are trying to help. In a disaster of this magnitude, it takes so long to coordinate efforts. Even though some aid was dispatched almost immediately, there was such an infrastructure problem on the ground that it was delayed in getting to where it was need. In the coming years, we hope the country can right itself and become a strong democracy in the Caribbean.

You may see some nice t-shirts available in the High Country that will help with relief efforts. The Mast Store has one that has the saying “Many hands make the load light” and a graphic depicting the hands of those who are providing aid. These are $10 and proceeds from the sale will go to the Watauga Chapter of the American Red Cross for Haiti relief.

As promised, this week’s birthdays will include some from last week: Happy Birthday to Fay Binning on January 20, to Hattie Yates on January 24, to Polly Capps on January 30, to Catherine Morton and Erin Kirby on January 31, to Fred Martin and Babette McAuliffe on February 1, and to Megan Dean also on February 1. Happy Anniversary to Walter and Barbara Pitts on January 31. My best wishes to all of you for fine celebrations and lots of fun!

Ethel will be back writing for the month of February. Maybe you can send her some of your conspiracy theories for the colored icicles. Really! I hope you enjoy reading what she has to report as much as I do. Sometimes I have no idea how she finds out the stuff she reports on. One of the easiest ways is to let us know by  writing to us on e-mail at callieandethel@hotmail.com. If you need to send it by the postal service, mail it to:

Valle Crucis News
c/o Sandy Shook
Watauga Democrat
474 Industrial Park Drive
Boone, NC 28607

Here’s another great quote about the weather: Weather is a great metaphor for life – sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. Pepper Gardino. Have a wonderful week and stay warm!