INTERESTING READING, NON-HOA

 Waking up to 36 degrees was a wonderful gift.  My driveway is okay, and I'm pretty sure our roads are safe for travel, with no black ice.  From here on out for a while we have nice, warming temps.  I'll take it.

Some of you know that I make wooden Native American style flutes, and have for 22 years.  If you live close by you've heard 'em.  :-)  I work mainly online anymore, but the one store I worked with, for almost 20 years, was "Featherheads".  When I add that the store was in Chimney Rock, you can imagine the devastation that hit Featherheads hard.

With Helene's year anniversary now behind that fateful devastation, you might like to read about an incredibly unusual situation I got to be a part of.  What happens to flutes buried in flood water muds for weeks?  I'll leave it at that...I have a special dedicated page to those flutes salvaged from the store on my website, so if you want to read about a truly one of a kind situation, click HERE.

Bob

BRRRRR.....

The ACA Facebook page is the go-to for real time information on road conditions, etc. (Thanks, David, et tal!).

 I have yet to even attack my driveway after 2+" of snow.  Salt truck has already been on site, and the sun still has a high enough angle to help out naturally, too.  I got down to 11 degrees this morning, now 22 in the shade.  The gradual warm up will continue this week, so just be careful and watch for re-freeze tonight.

HERE is an interactive link to storm reports made to the NWS from this storm.  Kudos for the overworked, unpaid, and understaffed NWS employees for keeping up these services, with the help of automated systems.

Bob

MONDAY AM UPDATE

 No change to my prior post...my driveway has turned white, it's 21 degrees, and intermittent snow showers will continue through midnight or so. Only about 0.25" here at the moment.

No idea about Apple Creek Road, but I'm assuming it is okay for now.  Your best bet for any updates/comments is to click HERE for the ACA Facebook page.  It's very difficult for me to post from the DMV.

Ah, the first snow...

Bob

WINTER WEATHER WALLOP INCOMING

 'Tis the season, and this change is riding in on a freight train.  From Friday night's storms and erosion-causing deluge after days of pleasantly mild days, we have the actual cold front moving through today with winds and, tonight, crashing temps well down into the 20s by Monday morning.  To change out air masses that completely takes very windy conditions.

Along with that will be our first coating of snow as a strong NW flow sets up shop with bands of snow showers into early Tuesday morning.  A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY has been posted for Haywood County, with accumulating snow forecast. Per our typical storms, the advisory is more for elevations above 3500', which is the blue roof house on AC and up.  

Technically, the advisory starts at 7pm today, but the main attraction of crystallized water won't begin until much later in ACA. The advisory runs until 7am Tuesday. I fear the strong winds may make for power outages, so keep that in mind, as well.

Down low, a solid dusting to 1/2" is likely, with 1" being a longer shot.  Higher up, 1-2" should suffice when all is said and done, keeping in mind that winds will blow snow around, obscuring totals.  Too, many of us will stay in the 20s all day, so whatever sticks stays.  

The heavier snow amounts will occur the closer you get to the TN border...and the Smokies will bring home the bacon with 8-12" of snow closer to the 6,000' elevations.

The week sees a gradual warm-up; Monday is the "one-day wonder" this go-round.  I'll update early tomorrow morning before I head down to the salt mines.

Bob

"FALSE FALL", HOA ANNUAL MEETING, AND...(?)

 

Male Appalachian Azure on leftover Bergamot flower

Buckeyes turning color early, as always

Last week's dawn, lots of texture

RARE sunset view to the NE, 8:15p just last Thursday

Well, had to start with photos as they are hard to move around once I drop 'em in.  Too, I canNOT get the first and last pics to enlarge. Click to enlarge any pic, if it will...😒

  My title "False Fall" (second pic) refers to the yellow-orange color you saw splashed around the mountain as you drove in and up (now most of it gone).  In the spring, leading the pack by a huge margin in the 'sprouting leaves' category, the good ol' Buckeye tree goes on full display.  Alas, first to come, first to go, Buckeye's start changing and dropping so that when the other trees are in their glory later in October, the Buckeyes are naked as a jaybird.  It just lets you know fall is not far away, and lordy knows these recent cool temps have been a delight!.

Lot owners should have received notice of the upcoming ACHOA annual meeting which will be:

Saturday, September 27th

Waynesville Public Library, lower lot/level

10am - 12noon

We know some are not here, so if you aren't planning to be there in person, PLEASE take notice of the stamped envelope and proxy sheet you can mail in ASAP.  We need an official quorum to proceed, and if you can be there in person, you'll get to meet a lot of really neat people. 

The "AND...?" from the title?  I'm a DMV License Examiner in the Clyde office and will be there to answer any and all questions you might have about the DMV world. 👍 And I'm on the proposed board for next year, so you can put a face with the name on this blog. 

 Too, most of you know I craft Native American style flutes, and I'll unveil an unusual new one I made out of Corkscrew Willow, from a tree by the creek at the former Waynesville Dog Park.  

All for now, saddle pals.  Be well.

Bob

A SERIOUS HOA ISSUE LOOMS...

Inspiration Point by Lambuth Inn
(our HOA is on part of that mountain)
(click to enlarge)

I sounded this alarm last year, and we're ever closer to a tough decision we as an HOA must address.  No, not from Helene, though that did a whammy in parts of ACA, having us up our dues to $500 per lot this past assessment.  Rather, it's whether we can assemble a board to take over the reins from the current board that has served multiple years running, and they need a break.  They have bent over backwards dealing with our typical issues as well as emergency issues as they arose, and while the board asks every year for volunteers to step forward, it hasn't happened.

Be it president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, etc., the board is calling earnestly for volunteers to help out.  'Payment', per se, is one lot pro bono from assessment.  Meetings heretofore are rather minimal, though phone calls roll back and forth with winter and other situations as they arise.  Even if you don't think you have enough knowledge of this HOA and what they do, there will be plenty of advice for the asking, I'm sure.

The alternative?  Privatizing the HOA and hiring a third party to take it over.  While that may seem like a viable option, the potential cost projections for annual lot assessments will be significantly higher.  Though I am not privy to any further details as the scope of what we would want such a group to actually handle, our very affordable $300 per lot could easily jump to $1,000 or more per lot. LOTS for us all to consider en route to our annual meeting that will be somewhere between late August and early September.

I'll even get the party started by throwing my hat into the ring for Secretary.  I'm swamped with my work at DMV, but I do like communicating and getting information out, and with my weather background I can help in anticipating travel-impacting events before and as they unfold, winter or otherwise.

Please give it some thought and mulling over.  This will not be an easy decision we make as an HOA, but we will need as much input as we can get as that time approaches.  I'll write more in a couple of weeks....just throwing it out there for now.

Bob

A BIT OF SNOW TONIGHT...

 A minor event, but a white covering nonetheless is expected tonight, ending in the wee hours of the morning Friday.  Any travel troubles would be momentary as highs Friday get well above freezing.  Too, the ground will still be warm to aid in lack of accumulation on the roads, but models are all running a trace/dusting down low to up to 1-inch in upper ACA.  A minor March Madness, to be sure.

Bob