Blue Ridge, Georgia

My husband Judson and I just returned from a honeymooniversary in a cabin in Blue Ridge. We stayed there for our honeymoon 6 years ago, so this was like another honeymoon. We didn't stay in the same cabin as before. We loved that cabin, Tranquility Ridge, but we were afraid things would have changed, that it would be a disappointment, that we were merely trying to recreate the past. Also, the price had gone up. :) So, we stayed in Running Bear Lodge instead.

I was pleased with our choice. It's a smaller cabin than Tranquility Ridge, but it had still plenty of space. I enjoyed writing at the rustic dining room table. And it had an awesome gas fireplace,  which we made use of the very first night, when we arrived amid a rain storm. Luckily the weather got better, and by the 3rd day it was toasty warm out. The hot tub was in a better location than Tranquility Ridge's--slightly less privacy, being right next to the road, but with a great view of the stars. We were able to float in our bubbly warm bath and watch the shooting stars without being disturbed by anyone.

Our hot tub and fire pit

The cabin is remote. Technically, it's in Cherry Log rather than Blue Ridge. Very few cars come by on the road. It was incredibly quiet, not within shooting distance of any civilization. From our deck, all we could see was mountains. The view was not quite as good as Tranquility Ridge, but that was only because sunset over the mountains was partially blocked by trees.

Our 'bad' view

The birds were excellent. I would wake in the morning to the Wood Thrush's song. I also heard Hooded Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Black-and-white Warblers, Ovenbirds, and oh so many Indigo Buntings. Judson was able to get some good shots of these:

Indigo Bunting

We also saw many Scarlet Tanagers, but these were less obliging. All of these birds I had already seen this year on Sharp's Ridge, but it's always nice to see them again. The only new year bird was a Wild Turkey, which we saw on the road up to the cabin.

This trip was also a writing retreat for me. I spent a fair bit of time sleeping, hanging out on the deck or in front of the fire, or soaking in the hot tub, but I also wrote for perhaps 12 hours while Judson read and watched a couple of TV shows. We also went into Blue Ridge for meals twice. I had one of the best meals I had in months at the Blue Ridge Brewery. We shopped a bit; I bought a rug and Judson bought a metal peacock at Rose's. We also bought the requisite fudge, without which no trip to Blue Ridge is complete.

The last time we were in Blue Ridge, we didn't make it out to Lake Blue Ridge. We corrected the mistake this time, and I was really glad we did. Morganton Point is gorgeous. Just sitting there, listening to the lake water lapping against the shore, watching the windfall light, and wondering at the stunning Red-headed Woodpeckers and Brown-headed Nuthatches right out in the open, well, it doesn't get much better.

The next time we go, I think we'll try another new cabin, just for variety. And we'll rent a boat at Lake Blue Ridge.

Red-headed Woodpecker

The Chick-Fil-A Boycott

I've gathered this information as a resource for myself and others who talk to people unaware of the 2012 boycott. I've drawn most of the information from Snopes, supplemented by articles from The Advocate, ThinkProgress.org, and EqualityMatters.org

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A (through WinShape Foundation, established by Mr. & Mrs. Cathy) donated $1.9 million to groups with anti-gay agendas like the Family Research Council (FRC), the Marriage and Family Foundation, and Exodus International (a promoter of conversion therapy). Peter Sprigg, of the FRC, is in favor of criminalizing sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex in the U.S.In 2010, the FRC spent $25,000 lobbying congress against H.R. 1064, a resolution condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which includes a death penalty for homosexuality. Why would anyone be opposed to condemning a law that says gay people should die?

In Fall 2012, after a summer of publicity and boycotts and being denied permits to open new stores in Chicago and Boston, rumors spread that Chick-Fil-A was changing its policies. WinShape stopped or decreased donations to some of the more contentious organizations, and Chick-Fil-A issued an internal memo that employees should “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender.” However, WinShape continues to hold fundraisers for anti-gay groups, and Chick-Fil-A still has no corporate anti-discrimination policy.

So, should you boycott Chick-Fil-A? Perhaps the amount of money is small, comparatively. Maybe this isn't enough to get into a twist over. But every time I think longingly of Chick-Fil-A, I realize that if I succumbed, I couldn't respect myself as much afterwards. I believe in what Martin Luther King, Jr., said, that the United States has a network of mutuality, in which injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Boycotting Chick-Fil-A is my own small stand against injustice. 

Feminist burlesque

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my first burlesque show. Two of my good friends took a burlesque class, and this was their graduation performance. The closest I had come in the past to burlesque was when I saw a production of Cabaret.

It wasn't what I expected. It was playful and fun, not very erotic at all. Yes, the ladies disrobed as they danced, but I wouldn't call it stripping. Most impressive of all to me was the attitude the ladies showed to their bodies.

I don't often get to see women's naked (or mostly naked) bodies. When I'm at the gym, I politely turn away from other women who are changing. I watch women's clothed bodies, or more accurately how they look in their clothes--really, I'm looking at the clothes. But this was very different.

These bodies were all imperfect. They had squishy stomachs and breasts that weren't perky, but they were beautiful. Why? Because they owned their bodies. They took pleasure in flaunting them, in cavorting and teasing. It was an affirming, feminist act. In the end, I felt better about my own body and about the prospect of aging with style.

Aqua Zumba

I've decided that I need some variety in my exercise, and I'm still searching for exercise I can commit to. This week I tried Aqua Zumba.

It's a lot like regular Zumba, which I tried a couple of months ago, except that the movements are in the water and they're more limited. There are still vibrant music and an excited instructor doing all the movements with you. Cindy's directions for changing the motion were clear in almost every instance. Sometimes if we were facing away she would clap to let us know something was going to switch. I had to concentrate hard and I had to modify some of the movements, but I was able to keep up.

One disappointment is that it wasn't as cardio intense as I had hoped. It definitely was for Cindy--she was really sweating. My heart rate didn't get as high as I hoped and I was a little cold throughout. This would have been different, I'm sure, if I had been able to do as many of the jumps and put as much intensity into the movements.

My ankles are the real trouble here. They're too weak, and I keep injuring them. Yesterday I went to physical therapy and was put through quite a workout on my balance, ankle strength, and quads. I have hopes for improvement. It would be fun to feel strong at Aqua Zumba and really jump around.

Goodness and Virtue

I'm reading a literary study concerned with heroines in Victorian novels who, among other difficulties, are confused about the nature of goodness or virtue. This thesis made me stop to think: what is goodness? I think I am a good person, but what does it mean to be good?

Angelic Me

After thinking about it for a while, I decided it means to be kind. Not to tread on people or belittle them. To help them when I can.

And then I realized that my hypothetical people are those I consider equals or inferiors to myself. This type of kindness I don't consider when dealing with superiors. Kindness might be interpreted as weakness. Plus I reject authority. So what does virtue look like when I am interacting with my superiors, either at work or in culture? Something to think about.

Weight gain

Yesterday I filled out a wellness check-list for my health insurance, and I claimed that this year I plan to lose weight and exercise more.

My next thought was, how will I do this? By following Weight Watchers, of course. Weight Watchers is tried and true. It works. But can I commit to it?

In the midst of this thought, I realized that I know a LOT about weight loss and health. I have some relevant experience in that area, too. But I know little about weight gain, even though more of my experience has been in that area. Of course, I know that people gain weight when they consume more than they expend, but I don't know the little details of how those calories add up. I don't know how I gain weight. I suppose it's because, when I'm gaining, I'm not paying attention. I don't track when I'm gaining. This leads to some confusion on my part about how it happens.

Logically, the first step in my better health is to track. But this is exactly what I am resisting about Weight Watchers right now. I may have to try the Simply Filling (core) method--but that is difficult when I don't cook.

Source

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

Me at Wheeler Dam. Photo by Vickie Henderson.

This past weekend, I went on a birdwatching trip with 18 members of the Knoxville branch of the Tennessee Ornithological Society down to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Huntsville, Alabama. It was a good weekend, despite the rainy weather. It had been quite a while since I had gone on an overnight birding trip, and I was reminded of the wonderful camaraderie and also the exhausting pleasure of birding from dawn until dusk.

The rain wasn't nearly bad as predicted, which I was grateful for. The weather was unseasonably warm, setting record highs. The trouble with unseasonable weather is that the birds behave unpredictably. In this case, many of the ordinary waterfowl just weren't there, or weren't present in the numbers we had been promised. I had expected to see thousands of ducks in one place. Still, I can't complain too much-- I saw 86 species total and got 5 lifebirds: Greater White-fronted Goose, Lesser Scaup, American White Pelican, Lapland Longspur, and Rusty Blackbird.

One of my favorite sightings was at the lower level of Wheeler Dam, when two Great Scaup and one Lesser Scaup came in close enough for us to study the distinctions between these two very similar species. The lesser has a narrower bill with a smaller nail, and its head comes to more of a point. I improved my duck identification skills in general, especially since most of the birds were at a distance. I saw American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Redhead, about a thousand Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflead, Common Goldeneye, and Ruddy Duck, among others.

I only had my iPhone with me, so I didn't get any good pictures of the birds. I did get a shot of a gravel path we traveled between two lanes of I-65:

Under I-65, north of TN River

I greatly enjoyed the novelty of being in a such a place. Plus, there were ducks in the wetland on either side.