Organic Versus Artificial

Whether you live in the city or in the country the term organic is thrown about in marketing, conversations and of course by description. We are familiar with it defining food, how it is grown and what is and is not used in the process. I was thumbing through a local publication whose sole purpose is to promote Asheville and the surrounding area. This monthly publication can help you plan out your itinerary for festivals, fairs and concerts. It introduces you to artists that create in the area. Since the economy has returned to a robust state around here, the magazine has more than in the past advertisements for planned communities in the mountains or on the rivers. They all have amenities of community get togethers, private hiking trails, swimming pool, playgrounds and the like. Most of these communities are gated. When we first started our search for a home here, similar communities were in the running, but then I remembered we don't play golf or bridge or 42. I also had a feeling that the community would have that gossipy feel like I experienced while playing tennis at a club. Exclusive doesn't have a lock on gossip but it seems to thrive more so in that kind of environment.

Really, everything being offered exclusive since there are limited amounts of lots, country feel, community feel, hiking trails, landscaping and of course a HOA to keep the artificial look and feel in line is all artificial to the area. You can experience Asheville and all the trendy places and return home to your trendy artificial mountain home where you are the same person as when you arrived. This would not be an organic experience, it seems to be mostly a manufactured experience. Nothing wrong with that because that's what many want. Not me. Living here in a rural area without a nearby fast food stop but just gas station pizza if you are craving fast food is just fine for this I don't really cook often girl. The pace is slower. The important things of life are just that, important. Don't think I am being all Pollyanna about this because there is staggering poverty here and drugs and alcohol play into that many times. Our serving at church is more hands on and personal or at least it has seemed that way. I have a jaded view of sorts though. Today, a tractor slowed down traffic and I wasn't disappointed at all. Since I usually drive, I don't always get to take a long look at the beauty of freshly baled hay, fields waiting to be baled, cows gathering in the shade, horses spirited in play and farmers working their crops. I was behind a trailer this morning filled with huge, HUGE pumpkins and gourds. It is that time of year. It won't be too long until the little flowers in the fields turn into brightly colored pumpkins. Yesterday, I stopped at the peach orchard in SC to see if any peaches looked good. Yes, found a bag that I am quite happy with but sad that this will be the last week of the season for them to be open. They are bringing in the last of the crop. Today, at Barber's Orchard, they still had good looking honey crisps but the bin where all the corn has been was empty. Tis the end of the season. I look forward to produce stand season and feel sad when they begin to close down and wait out winter then revive again with the arrival of spring, which is later here than in Texas. Yep, you can experience all that even if you're living in an artificial setting but you might not appreciate it as much. Weaverville has apartments being built but the article I read in the newspaper gave us great hope that our area will not become overdeveloped like south Asheville. The western slope makes building any large infrastructure difficult because running water and sewer lines out this way would take a whole lot of money.

I went back to an antique store in Waynesville to buy the biscuit cutter I saw...only it was gone. I know better than to leave something behind if I am really wanting it. I did find another one though in a different booth and I found a wonderful find, a German ricer. They are stronger than American ricers and can make some interesting things. I also stopped at Belk's because the socks that I bought Roy were a hit with him and he is interested in having a few more pairs. Funny, I found a lot of other things too. I tried to stop at Mast General Store but the parking was worse than usual. So, I headed over to have lunch at The Blue Rooster. Delicious as always and with that I headed back toward home and hoped the roofers had made a little more progress. They had. I love our red roof!

My friend Brenda has gone to Atlanta to take care of a cousin who had surgery today. Both the cousin and her husband are not in the best health. She had told me about a couple of stores in Waynesville that I hadn't been to before and she was right, I enjoyed walking through them.

It is good settling back into routine. I will be working on the Mildred and Gertrude script for our October date and I picked up a few things that we need for that at Target yesterday. Well, I had better check the bird feeders and restock them for the birds.