midnight hole.

 

A sweet swimming spot, back with some old friends, made some new friends, all in the idyllic North Carolina mountains.

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childhood friends.

These two and I have been friends since the age where you put asparagus up your nose and think it's funny.  Actually I would still think that's funny, but you know.  The one on the right, Becca, and I sat next to each other in Mrs. Vallance's 3rd grade class - she stole my crayons and coloring ideas, but somewhere along the way we reconciled and spent all the following growing years together.  The one on the left and I became good friends the next year - so many sleepovers spent making funny lists in our colorful journals, exchanging mix cds, getting way too into embarrassing musicals, living the middle school dream.  These kids and I all lived within a few blocks of one another and our summers were spent riding through the nearby neighborhoods on each other's bike handlebars.  There are so many stories, this post could go on and on.

While I was in North Carolina they scooped me up and took me to mountains for a few days.  We did all the things I used to love from my time in Asheville - taking long drives to swimming holes, eating endless amounts of southern comfort food, and lazing around with the people who know you best.  

We were also pretty determined to fashion a mountainside slip n' slide, so Becca made one in true Becca style.  She bought 5 shower curtains, dish soap, and staked the shower curtains into the ground, pouring water and dish soap on top. It's probably the silliest slip n' slide event that's ever occurred and, as you can sort of see, it didn't really work, but we had so much fun trying to slide down the thing and watching it immediately fail, that it didn't matter.  I miss these kids.  I'm often longingly awaiting the day that everyone I love can just live in a little seaside village together and not worry about traveling or keeping in touch,  but for now I suppose the long trips and catching up sessions make me appreciate the time together all the more.

ps.  look at how cute that puppy is!!

water nymphs.

At the music festival we all found a hidden river and played around in the water for a while.  It seems I'm always near a body of water these days, and I'm not complaining.

festival of merle.

Saturday and Sunday featured a bluegrass festival in the hilly parts of North Carolina.  This meant frolicking around in fields with fiddles and and banjos as our soundtrack.  And, being friends with one of the performing musicians really made it all - it allowed us to have free tickets, vip passes to the artists' tents, and free meals for the whole weekend!  It also meant being able to stand 10 feet away from Allison Krauss & the Union Station while everyone else was watching in a chair far away (naha). It was so nice of Jubal's Kin to let us tag along with them - everyone go look at their music!