Some of you may wonder what the weather is like here in the foothills. Since I've only been here for two months, I can't speak of the whole year, but I'm getting some idea of what summer is like.
Let me preface this by saying that every year is different - in 2007 and 2008 it didn't rain at all, and Western North Carolina (WNC) along with the Southeast had a serious drought. This year is more typical.
Since Hendersonville is about 2200 feet above sea level, the temperature averages about eight degrees below what it would be at, say, Myrtle Beach, S. C. Therefore it rarely gets to be above 90 degrees - the typical high is 85 degrees.
My initial impression that it isn't humid wasn't correct - but it isn't humid all the time. More like half the time. July was drier, August is pretty humid.
Some mornings it is foggy and/or cloudy, but it always burns off, and the sun comes out. In fact, I can only remember one rainy morning in two months. As the day progresses, puffy clouds build in, and showers and thunderstorms develop. Whether or not it rains is a hit-or-miss proposition, but it seems safe to say that it rains somewhere in WNC every afternoon or early evening. Usually those are thunderstorms, though not severe, and no tornadoes - it has something to do with the mountains. You can see these showers develop on radar in the pm, and move to the northwest as their coverage increases. After sunset they die down, and it rarely rains after midnight, like it does in Iowa.
Lately we have had a lot of rain, and things are soggy right now. Last night's storm knocked out all the pumps at the filling station at the corner - either through lightning or flooding. Flash flooding is a threat on some roads, as nearby creeks can rise rapidly in the typically heavy downpours. It doesn't increase my fondness of those mountain roads!
One thing everyone keeps an eye on this time of year is the forecast of hurricanes. As soon as a potential hurricane forms off the coast of Africa, the local station keeps us informed, because it could bring much rain and high winds to our area. So far Ana fizzelled, Claudette dissipated, and Bill veered to the north, and so I haven't had any direct experience with hurricanes. I did hear that a few years ago they had two of them back to back with a lot of rain, flooding and tree damage, as the trees toppled in the saturated soil.
But right now the sun is shining, as usual, though there is a chance of rain later on...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Living History Weekend in Hendersonville
Hendersonville, being a tourist town - though not as much as Asheville - has lots of things going on throughout summer and fall. There is live music and street dances every Friday and Monday night in the summer. 40 - 50 shops along Main Street, including several restaurants with outdoor seating. It is a thriving place, at least right now.
This weekend is Living History Weekend. I didn't see the advertised moonshiners - kind of ironic anyway in a state that sells hard liquor only in state liquor stores (I think there are two in the county, but I could be wrong), and you have to be 21 to buy and drink a beer. No discussion about age 19 or 21 like in Iowa City! The effects of Prohibition are felt more keenly here in the Bible belt.
But I digress. We had lunch in a nice tea-room, reminiscent of Columns and Chocolates, except for their great selection of teas and the availability of "high tea." Then we moseyed down the street when we heard gun shots. We had just come by the square in front of the court house where the civil war enacters were camping out. Now they were shooting. Soon after that the Wild West gun fight began, and at the end the two "bad" guys were "dead." Wish it were always so clearcut in real life!
The Hendersonville History museum was nearby and open, so we walked through. They had an exhibit on different wars. As a newly naturalized citizen I felt a number of very contrasting emotions: pride to be part of this country, sadness about the futility of war, especially the 70 million civilians of WWII in which Germany was the enemy, embarrassment about the Cherokee nation being robbed of almost all of their land in forced cessations. Weirdest of all was to be among civil war re-enacters from the South. Now I don't consider myself a Yankee, certainly not by birth, but by philosophy I'm a Northerner. And these people represented a past that fought against that. It's like being in an enemy camp in disguise. I just didn't know what to make of it.
There is so much to learn about local history!
This weekend is Living History Weekend. I didn't see the advertised moonshiners - kind of ironic anyway in a state that sells hard liquor only in state liquor stores (I think there are two in the county, but I could be wrong), and you have to be 21 to buy and drink a beer. No discussion about age 19 or 21 like in Iowa City! The effects of Prohibition are felt more keenly here in the Bible belt.
But I digress. We had lunch in a nice tea-room, reminiscent of Columns and Chocolates, except for their great selection of teas and the availability of "high tea." Then we moseyed down the street when we heard gun shots. We had just come by the square in front of the court house where the civil war enacters were camping out. Now they were shooting. Soon after that the Wild West gun fight began, and at the end the two "bad" guys were "dead." Wish it were always so clearcut in real life!
The Hendersonville History museum was nearby and open, so we walked through. They had an exhibit on different wars. As a newly naturalized citizen I felt a number of very contrasting emotions: pride to be part of this country, sadness about the futility of war, especially the 70 million civilians of WWII in which Germany was the enemy, embarrassment about the Cherokee nation being robbed of almost all of their land in forced cessations. Weirdest of all was to be among civil war re-enacters from the South. Now I don't consider myself a Yankee, certainly not by birth, but by philosophy I'm a Northerner. And these people represented a past that fought against that. It's like being in an enemy camp in disguise. I just didn't know what to make of it.
There is so much to learn about local history!
Friday, August 7, 2009
So what do you do with all your free time?
A friend of mine recently posed this question in an e-mail.
"What free time?" I thought. "I don't even get around to doing all I want to do, let alone being bored."
Now that we've unpacked all the boxes and put stuff away - which only took a week or two - what are we doing? Sightseeing? Loafing? Hardly.
On a typical day I spend the morning behind my computer, wrestling with financial matters or working on a translation, whereas Dwight works around the house. You'd think in a condo there is no outside work. Wrong!! It's a free-standing condo, i. e. it is a house. Though we don't have to paint it or mow the grass - there's not much of it anyway - there seems to be enough outdoor work to keep Dwight busy the rest of the summer. He's busy planting, pruning, washing windows, scrubbing the patio, and a hundred other projects.
After lunch it's more of the same, except we may go swimming at the Condo Association pool - after all, we pay the fees - or we go shopping. Of course we eat out occasionally, but so far we've only gone to Asheville once, and that to apply for driver's licence there on the rumor that it wouldn't take so long - a rumor that turned out false.
Sometimes we are involved in getting to know the neighbors in the condo association. This can be informal, just stopping and chatting, or even visiting with a neighbor. Everybody is very friendly and remembers us by our address - "Oh, you live in Susannah Pierce's house!" - even though she moved out in 2007. And , of course, we are the newcomers. Then there are the more formal meetings. Next week there are two business meetings, one Arts and Crafts Fair I signed up for to display some cross-stitch at, and a Ladies Tea. Yesterday we went to our first ever Bingo night and won $7 between the two of us. I feel like a real Senior Citizen now!
Summers are lovely by and large. It doesn't get humid too often, which means it is cool at night - in the fifties - and warm during the day (eighties). We don't even turn on the AC unless it's really humid. All the rooms have ceiling fans, which is usually enough. I don't even close the windows, because there is a large overhang, and the sun doesn't shine inside.
On other days it starts out sunny, but then thunderstorms move through in the afternoon.
Well, dinner is cooking, so've got to run.
"What free time?" I thought. "I don't even get around to doing all I want to do, let alone being bored."
Now that we've unpacked all the boxes and put stuff away - which only took a week or two - what are we doing? Sightseeing? Loafing? Hardly.
On a typical day I spend the morning behind my computer, wrestling with financial matters or working on a translation, whereas Dwight works around the house. You'd think in a condo there is no outside work. Wrong!! It's a free-standing condo, i. e. it is a house. Though we don't have to paint it or mow the grass - there's not much of it anyway - there seems to be enough outdoor work to keep Dwight busy the rest of the summer. He's busy planting, pruning, washing windows, scrubbing the patio, and a hundred other projects.
After lunch it's more of the same, except we may go swimming at the Condo Association pool - after all, we pay the fees - or we go shopping. Of course we eat out occasionally, but so far we've only gone to Asheville once, and that to apply for driver's licence there on the rumor that it wouldn't take so long - a rumor that turned out false.
Sometimes we are involved in getting to know the neighbors in the condo association. This can be informal, just stopping and chatting, or even visiting with a neighbor. Everybody is very friendly and remembers us by our address - "Oh, you live in Susannah Pierce's house!" - even though she moved out in 2007. And , of course, we are the newcomers. Then there are the more formal meetings. Next week there are two business meetings, one Arts and Crafts Fair I signed up for to display some cross-stitch at, and a Ladies Tea. Yesterday we went to our first ever Bingo night and won $7 between the two of us. I feel like a real Senior Citizen now!
Summers are lovely by and large. It doesn't get humid too often, which means it is cool at night - in the fifties - and warm during the day (eighties). We don't even turn on the AC unless it's really humid. All the rooms have ceiling fans, which is usually enough. I don't even close the windows, because there is a large overhang, and the sun doesn't shine inside.
On other days it starts out sunny, but then thunderstorms move through in the afternoon.
Well, dinner is cooking, so've got to run.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Who messed up the road?
One of the biggest differences between Iowa and NC are the roads. In Iowa they are straight (usually), in NC, at least in these parts, they are always crooked, even if there doesn't seem to be a need for it. It must have something to do with a crazy-quilt pattern of property lines arising from the old English property laws.
I mentioned before that people always seem to drive faster than Iowans on those roads - an average of 10 miles per hour. Add to that the constant curves and frequent ups and downs, and it's enough to make you queasy. In addition, the highways are very narrow and have no shoulders at all.
Even in the city, Hendersonville has mostly what I would call rural roads - curvy roads with long stretches of no houses. A road may start somewhere, go north a mile, then fork. If you continue straight, you get lost. Any given road may have any number of unexpected turns, name changes, and what have you. Many intersections have no signs at all.
Add to that the total darkness after the sun sets. You'd think they'd heard of streetlights, but they are nonexistent for the most part. Even the exits from the Interstates are dark. So are the tunnels in the mountains, which is scary when you just drove in sunlight. And of course all those curvy roads with the confusing missing street signs and turns are pitch dark. No wonder that sales of GPS units are booming. It shouldn't really be necessary for a town of 12,000 - but this North Carolina, not Iowa!
I mentioned before that people always seem to drive faster than Iowans on those roads - an average of 10 miles per hour. Add to that the constant curves and frequent ups and downs, and it's enough to make you queasy. In addition, the highways are very narrow and have no shoulders at all.
Even in the city, Hendersonville has mostly what I would call rural roads - curvy roads with long stretches of no houses. A road may start somewhere, go north a mile, then fork. If you continue straight, you get lost. Any given road may have any number of unexpected turns, name changes, and what have you. Many intersections have no signs at all.
Add to that the total darkness after the sun sets. You'd think they'd heard of streetlights, but they are nonexistent for the most part. Even the exits from the Interstates are dark. So are the tunnels in the mountains, which is scary when you just drove in sunlight. And of course all those curvy roads with the confusing missing street signs and turns are pitch dark. No wonder that sales of GPS units are booming. It shouldn't really be necessary for a town of 12,000 - but this North Carolina, not Iowa!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
So what's my church situation?
A number of you are probably wondering about my church situation - down here, not in Iowa City (that's a whole other topic on which I won't comment).
With this being the Bible belt, there are tons of Baptist churches around. You kind of lose the overview - is it 65 or 85? What's the difference between Ebenezer Baptist down the road and Iglesia Baptista next door? The big Baptist church is, of course, First Baptist Church in downtown Hendersonville right off Church street. It has about 1170 members. That's a tenth of the town, figuring that Hendersonville has about 12,000 people. It is THE church to attend and features many programs. Sunday mornings there are three services, one being contemporary, and two periods of Sunday School meetings. Dwight and I attended the contemporary meeting, which was quite tame. Nobody raised their hands, everybody was very proper in their attire.
I liked the minister, who is still quite young. My next-door neighbor, a senior citizen, refers to him as a "boy." But overall I came away with two impressions - one, that women play almost no role in ministry.All the ushers, the communion servers, the deacons who serve in emergencies are male. I couldn't see myself doing anything beyond baking cookies, which is not my particular gift. The other impression I got was that every sermon was essentially ending with the topic of being born again. While this is extremely important, it's only the beginning of our journey with God, and I didn't get the impression that I would be able to grow much beyond that if I stayed.
The following Sunday we went to the Family Christian Center, a pentecostal holiness church. It hadn't been easy to locate a charismatic church to begin with, so I was looking forward to it. Again, Dwight came with me. This was a very small church in a poor part of town. Dwight in particular didn't feel that he had anything in common with the lower-class people, but we did join the pastor and a few other people for lunch afterwards at a "soul-food" restaurant.
The third Sunday we tried another small charismatic church which we both liked. It's called His People Community Church, and the pastor, Emile Wolfaardt, is from South Africa. Put succinctly, I liked both the worship and the preaching - which you can check out on the website, www.hispeople.ws. But there's something more to the church, the people, and the pastor. Call it authenticity, grace, the love of Christ, the anointing of God - some of the things Emile says get under my skin in a good way! Although I have really been burnt in the past in a small church, I'm cautiously wanting to move ahead, at least for now. This church seems different somehow. Yesterday Emile (he rejects any title for himself, saying he's just like us) spent two hours getting to know Dwight and me a little better, and he showed great, genuine interest in Dwight's scholarly work and even discussed church history with him. It reminded me of Paul saying, "To the Jews I became like a Jew... that by all means I might win some".
So that's where I'm at. I'm excited about God leading me to Hendersonville at such a time as this (particularly with the difficulties at my Iowa church). I sense an anticipation in my spirit that I may grow in different ways than I have been able before. By the way, the church believes in the spiritual gifts though they would be the first to admit that they don't always function because of blockages on our part (like sin or unbelief). Women ministering are ok as well. Their vision is very close to mine, though it's not always easy to implement a vision.
So that's where I'll be headed tomorrow - back to "His People".
With this being the Bible belt, there are tons of Baptist churches around. You kind of lose the overview - is it 65 or 85? What's the difference between Ebenezer Baptist down the road and Iglesia Baptista next door? The big Baptist church is, of course, First Baptist Church in downtown Hendersonville right off Church street. It has about 1170 members. That's a tenth of the town, figuring that Hendersonville has about 12,000 people. It is THE church to attend and features many programs. Sunday mornings there are three services, one being contemporary, and two periods of Sunday School meetings. Dwight and I attended the contemporary meeting, which was quite tame. Nobody raised their hands, everybody was very proper in their attire.
I liked the minister, who is still quite young. My next-door neighbor, a senior citizen, refers to him as a "boy." But overall I came away with two impressions - one, that women play almost no role in ministry.All the ushers, the communion servers, the deacons who serve in emergencies are male. I couldn't see myself doing anything beyond baking cookies, which is not my particular gift. The other impression I got was that every sermon was essentially ending with the topic of being born again. While this is extremely important, it's only the beginning of our journey with God, and I didn't get the impression that I would be able to grow much beyond that if I stayed.
The following Sunday we went to the Family Christian Center, a pentecostal holiness church. It hadn't been easy to locate a charismatic church to begin with, so I was looking forward to it. Again, Dwight came with me. This was a very small church in a poor part of town. Dwight in particular didn't feel that he had anything in common with the lower-class people, but we did join the pastor and a few other people for lunch afterwards at a "soul-food" restaurant.
The third Sunday we tried another small charismatic church which we both liked. It's called His People Community Church, and the pastor, Emile Wolfaardt, is from South Africa. Put succinctly, I liked both the worship and the preaching - which you can check out on the website, www.hispeople.ws. But there's something more to the church, the people, and the pastor. Call it authenticity, grace, the love of Christ, the anointing of God - some of the things Emile says get under my skin in a good way! Although I have really been burnt in the past in a small church, I'm cautiously wanting to move ahead, at least for now. This church seems different somehow. Yesterday Emile (he rejects any title for himself, saying he's just like us) spent two hours getting to know Dwight and me a little better, and he showed great, genuine interest in Dwight's scholarly work and even discussed church history with him. It reminded me of Paul saying, "To the Jews I became like a Jew... that by all means I might win some".
So that's where I'm at. I'm excited about God leading me to Hendersonville at such a time as this (particularly with the difficulties at my Iowa church). I sense an anticipation in my spirit that I may grow in different ways than I have been able before. By the way, the church believes in the spiritual gifts though they would be the first to admit that they don't always function because of blockages on our part (like sin or unbelief). Women ministering are ok as well. Their vision is very close to mine, though it's not always easy to implement a vision.
So that's where I'll be headed tomorrow - back to "His People".
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