Netflix shipped this movie to me a couple of weeks ago and I’ve only just had time to see it. I watched it on my laptop listening with head phones while working a couple of volunteer shifts in the family room.
What a great movie! The unlikely hero is a fat panda bear named Po who dreams of being a kung fu master but has no skill aside from making and eating noodle soup with his father, a crane.
It’s fun to watch the under qualified and overweight panda overcome the odds and become the dragon warrior.
Gift giving is becoming a lost art in today’s world of expansive glass and chrome malls filled with materialistic shoppers all clamoring for the latest hot item they saw advertised while watching American Idol on TV. Granted, it’s the thought that counts but what could someone give you that would truly move you? For me, it wouldn’t be anything sold at Nordstrom or Best Buy. My idea of a thoughtful gift might be a pound of my favorite coffee or a package of an especially high quality spice. Or perhaps a beautiful 100 year old box that once contained jars or packages of delicious Durham Superfine mustard…
Last Saturday, Janie and I visited Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor NC. The place is out of the way but easy to find and about 10 miles east of Durham off interstate 85. We had a wonderful time looking at the beautiful sculpture outside and the amazing pottery and art inside. Janie bought a beautiful plate for a potter friend. I had been looking for a teapot and found this little animal…
There was also an assortment of beautiful garden benches outside…
And birds…
Cedar Creek Gallery has been in business for 41 years and appears to be doing very well. It’s a wonderful place to visit and the perfect place to look for a one of a kind treasure. More pictures from Cedar Creek are available in the photos section…
For years I was an avid photographer and have always appreciated good photography. A picture truly is worth 1000 words. I sorta lost my enthusiam for photography around the time my first marriage went south and didn’t regain that enthusiam until years later when I bought my first digital camera; an Olympus FE 170. I really didn’t get terribly excited even then until I got a 2GB xD chip for the camera. Something about being able to take 1000 shots got me very interested so I started bringing the camera along on hiking trips and other outings and quickly got hooked again.
This week I upgraded the Olympus with a Nikon L100, a vastly superior camera featuring among other things 15x optical zoom and 10MP. This camera accepts SD memory and I bought an 8GB SD chip which can accomodate thousands of shots. Photography and writing are probably the only creative activities that I really enjoy so it’s just very nice to get back to a place where I so enjoy capturing a snapshot of time in a photograph…
North Korea’s attempt to launch a communications satellite failed horribly. Not only did the expensive satellite fail to reach orbit but it followed a ballistic trajectory to a splash down in the pacific where likely a Korean spy/fishing vessel observed the failure. That must have been very difficult for them to see and measure their country’s failure right there in front of them. Perhaps they can at least use this technology to deliver aid and good will to the needy thousands of miles away.
The Eno river is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited and I am lucky enough to be just a half hour drive from several trail heads leading to the river and winding along for miles. Dixie and I have visited the Eno during every season and she loves to swim year round. This past Sunday, Dixie, Janie and I hiked the Cox Mountain and Fanny’s Ford trails.
The Eno is beautiful year round but the spring is always special. There are wildflowers all over and everything is waking up for the coming growing season. Sunday’s weather was absolutely picture perfect; blue skies and temps in the upper 60s. We’d had some pretty heavy rains during the week before our sunday visit so the river was swollen with rain water and a little too dangerous for Dixie’s usual swim. She did get to play in a little brook so she was happy and she loves hiking even if there’s no swimming.
It’s hard to imagine a more relaxing place than beside the gently flowing waters of the Eno river. There is something very special about the Eno and you just have to go visit and hike the trails to understand and appreciate this river.
When’s the last time you visited the Zoo? I have so many fond memories of trips to the Birmingham Zoo with my kids when they were young. We *loved* visiting the Zoo and always took along a picnic lunch and made a day of the Zoo visit.
Last Sunday I visited the NC Zoo in Asheboro. I met my friend Janie there in the parking lot at 9am just as the Zoo opened and we stayed till they closed at 4pm(Winter hours). The NC Zoo is such a wonderful place to visit. There are lakes and picnic areas along with a few restaurants and shops and of course…the animals!
My favorite was a polar bear that Janie named Willie. He was just amazing. He had a really nice habitat including a large pool with an underwater viewing area and Willie spent all his time in the pool during our visit. He would dive under water and swim over to the people viewing underwater then pop up and do a back stroke back across the pool then repeat the whole thing. He had a ball and a tire in the water and he loved playing with both. He reminded me of a kid playing in the pool. He was so much fun to watch I forgot to take a picture of him.
Visiting the NC Zoo was the most fun I’ve had in I can’t remember when. If you’re visiting Charlotte, Raleigh or the surrounding areas consider a trip to the Zoo, you won’t be disappointed. Like the Simon and Garfunkel song says, It’s all happening at the Zoo!
