SCRAP FROZEN ANYTHING...

 Thankfully, the surface temps not only didn't get as low as forecast, but the warm nose has moved in and temps are ever so slowly climbing.  I had no icy formations on the deck, exposed metal, places that typically freeze first. Well take rain, though!

Bob

"WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES...."

 Well, more like 8 days instead of one, but I just love Billie Holiday's version of the title I used.  :-)  The color has been quite wonderful this fall in particular, and while I don't have any ACA news to share, I figured I'd post a ton of pictures since I haven't done that in a while.  Click on any pic to enlarge it.

It was astonishing the difference in the color shift as seen from a pull-out above Maggie Valley heading up to Soco Gap:

Sunday October 9, 2022

Sunday October 16, 2022

And the 10-9-22 Hunter's Moon (aka Blood Moon) was gorgeous but hampered by clouds...but not for a 2-minute window where the moon was in the clear and big and orange before it went more white later in the night.  I set up near the pool area at Lake Junaluska and was not disappointed:

10-09-2022 Blood Moon

...and more pics from the area

...and Elk from Cataloochee Valley

Bull EH2

Bull EH2

Bull EH2

Young male

EH2 with tongue out

Bull from another harem (no ID)

Bull in repose

Yearling female

Bull EH2

Motherly duties

Bob

ANNUAL MEETING AND PROXIES

Barn Swallow near Lake Junaluska Dam

By now lot owners should have received their letter about the upcoming Annual HOA Meeting along with a proxy and a stamped return envelope.  It's critical that a quorum be present at the meeting so that official business can be conducted, a quorum reached with those in attendance plus received proxies (loosely consider them absentee ballots). It's just very important that the board receive proxies from those unable to attend.  Honestly, there is no excuse for not returning proxies, given the included stamped return envelope (just sayin'...).  Thanks in advance for everyone's cooperation in this matter.  :-)

Apple Creek Acres HOA Annual Meeting

August 20, 2022 (Saturday)

10am-12 noon

Waynesville Public Library Auditorium

Bob

"THANK YOU!", ANNUAL BOARD MEETING AND MORE...

The Board is giving a huge shoutout to Chris Martin and Brant Galimore for their hard work beautifying the entrance to Apple Creek Acres.  It was in need of goodly repair and replacement, and it is indeed beautiful.  THANK YOU BOTH!

Yes, it's not yet June, but the process of bringing to your attention the Annual Board Meeting of the Apple Creek Home Owners Association in early August has some legwork to be done well in advance.  

First, letters will be going out on July 1 concerning the specifics of the meeting.  Before that time, there is a Nominating Committee that needs to be formed to help in pulling together a list of potential Board candidates.  If you would be interested in helping on that, please contact a board member.

Or. if you or anyone is interested in serving on the Board (or has questions before saying they're interested!), please contact a board member.  Operators are standing by.  Or not...but they'd love to hear from you all the same.

Bob

TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 8PM

 I'm not in western NC today, so apologies for my slow posting about a topic most already know.  All of western NC and surrounding areas are under a tornado watch until 8pm tonight.

Lots of isolated, fast-moving cells will continue to approach from the SW, with some bow-echoes trying to form in east TN.  Tornadoes are rare in the mountai s due to terrain disruption of inflowing air currents, but they can occur.  

Stay tuned to some source you trust that can keep you best informed of any dangerous situations developing.  If I'm alerted to any, I'll do my best to update, but I'm doing lots of other things, as well.

Bob

PAVING MONDAY! I'LL EXPLAIN...

 Paving is a 'different' kind of business, at least here in western NC.  The asphalt plants shut down for the winter, and paving can only be done under certain weather conditions (of which ours has been screwy for some time).  There is a lot of complicated equipment and crews that have to be coordinated, as well.  Going from project to project has to be orchestrated so as to not waste time and money...anyone getting paving work done is in large part at the mercy of the paving companies, of which there are very few here.  

And so it is our HOA Board was notified Friday that, lo and behold, the paving company is shooting for this Monday, April 25.  No more advanced warning than that, and though I got an email later on Friday from the board, I've been on two very long charters until now as I type to write this.  So apologies for making a last-minute notice even more last-minute.  

Here's the kicker: in order for the paving to be the most successful, they need to pave the entire width of the road as they go, which means traffic on Apple Creek will be stopped for a good bit of Monday.  The conservative estimate is 830am until 430pm for Apple Creek Road above Altima lane to be fully closed.  In the graphic, Altima Lane has the red marker, so it's a large part of Apple Creek Acres affected.  The circled area is our double-hairpin curves where a lot of the work will be concentrated (and for good reason).  Click photo to enlarge.

Trust me, many of us will be affected in a discomforting way, but it's the nature of the beast.  I'll have to plan ahead and take things to work on away from home...our deck repair crew won't get in if they drag tail in getting here before it's shut down...with our weather delays, it's been a never ending maddening series of disruptive events, but it is for just one day, and the improvement will be quite noticeable.  There is no 'good' time to do this, ever....it's just that we've been afforded a time-frame that doesn't allow for adequate planning.  But that's what we were given.

In short, I could have just said road closed here and when and let it go.  But I wanted to give you a bit more insight as to how this all came about.  I'm one that thinks knowledge is a good thing. :-)  Too, in this situation, I'm just the piano player, as is the board.  If there is any additional information or changes, I'll post it as quickly as possible.

Bob

SNOW STUFF....

Saturday 7am update: ~1.5" here at the end of Staymon.  Driveway was clear and no icy spots, even with the 27-degree temperature.  Steps had a rough icy layer under the snow, but it's also grippy.  The snow, albeit light, made it into the valleys as I can see some white down toward Lake J.  Light snow showers will continue today, but any accumulations should be quite light.  The winds will pick up later today, making for a good wind chill.

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Insofar as my personal records, I've seen sleet at 54 degrees many years ago, and earlier today I saw it snow at 48 degrees.  It's simply indicative of how cold the air is aloft, and how close it is to the ground.

It's gotten colder of course, 35 degrees as I write at the end of Staymon right now.  Clearly, it will all melt...but late overnight tonight, it may open the door for some light accumulations, mostly in the upper half of ACA. My favored models go 1-2", but with temps above 32 and liquid mixing in at times, I really expect zero issues on the roads, and only light accumulations on the non-road surfaces due to melting, if that.

Ultimately, it warms mightily by Monday with highs in the 70s.  However, complicating things to some degree are the winds that will be picking up with the passing of our current cold front.  The Sheep Mountain fire was started by someone burning brush that should not have been doing so...luckily the recent rains quelled that blaze.

On the upswing, this is the 'explosion' time (my words) of wildflowers and greening of the mountain the next couple of weeks.  I'll be posting pics of this spring's wildflowers and such soon.

Bob