Sunday evening in Western Carolina. We relax at home and will probably check to see if Fox or NC Public TV (the only channels we get) have anything worth watching later. If not, we will read. Now, in the early evening, we digest our dinner engaged in light chores with some gracious bluegrass music on the radio.

The house is cool, the day was spring-like, and no fire was started. This afternoon Chuck emptied the stove of ash and built a fire of news print, seasoned oak twigs, split poplar and one or two pieces of oak. We’ll see how many days we can delay lighting this fire. This warmth in the East will be bad for oil futures. We’re glad we have been able to heat with home grown fuel this fall.

We will spend only three more Sundays in Sylva. Today we shared the late morning and much of the afternoon with the Unitarian Fellowship in Franklin. A potluck dinner after the service provided union and an opportunity to celebrate the new church hall that had previously been an open porch. Chuck provided significant labor on this project. At this stage in life we can provide more time and less cash than previously.

Conversations ranged from the service, the wonderful weather, the new room, holiday plans, and our departure. One of our new church friends listened intently to our living arrangement. She hadn’t heard about it before. She and her husband still own two houses, one in Atlanta and one here. Our giving up all houses was almost shocking to her, but she moaned about how little time they have been back to Atlanta since retirement, and how many burdens the house puts on them.

After church we visited briefly with our host’s daughter-in-law and new baby. Her husband is off to Charlotte to enjoy a football game with his brother who is taking a break from medical school after taking his boards. We offered gifts and thanked them for caring for the critters when we took a few nights away. They will be picking up our hosts at the Charlotte airport on the 8th as we slip away to make room for a family reunion. The returning grandparents will see for the first time their first grandson!

Arriving home the horses eyed us from the pasture, hoping for an extra feeding. That did not happen. The dogs welcomed us and hoped for a walk up the cove, but it was already too late. Instead we threw a stick a few times. It is still too soon to start mentioning their masters’ names. We will do that a few days before our departure and finally as we leave. They will know we’re going, and they and we will share some sorrow.

We regret that we will miss the appearance later in that day of George and Mary Anne. Their reincarnation will result in an enormity of barking, tail-wagging, and jumping about.

Anne works at Cherokee another two weeks and will remain on call until our departure. We have lots to do before that. Chuck carried a load of belongings to our storage locker last weekend . There are still some more things to bring with us in January. We have to clean up and rearrange a bit around the house, and we have to gently revive our motor home that has had slim exercise since our arrival here. It mostly needs a thorough cleaning and reloading for departure. We’ll have it ready to go at the beginning of January, but it will sit for a month before our return from hiking in Tennessee and visiting in the Northeast and Florida.

We plan to walk from U.S. Route 19-E to Damascus, Virginia from January 9 to 16 if the weather is decent. That means no colder than about 20 degrees. If it is indecent we will borrow our hosts beach house for a few days and then work our way up the coast instead of camping. If we complete the hike, we will have finished all of the A.T. south of Virginia.

Meanwhile we continue to enjoy our fine time here. The peaks of Carolina, blue, gray, and sometimes white in this season, shine like great ships through the bare forests. The normally black forest interior is now open and bathed in yellow light. This is not the most lovely time of year here, but it is the time to see the land through the vegetation.

We give thanks for the opportunity to have lived among the great mountains, the dark Cherokee, the stout Baptists, and the clear fast-flowing rivers.