Winter 2010

Living in Virginia is something I would love to do. When Cles graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, I attended graduation.

It was fantastic. The weather, although in December, was like what we have in late September or early October in Idaho. Cles and Leslie took me to Monticello, and the weather--even in the early evening--was still nice. Only bare trees told me it was winter.

But this year was different. Two storms--each one dumping two feet of snow in a single night--happened in an area that seldom has snow stay for more than a few days. For the first time, Cles talked about buying a snow removal attachment for his John Deere mower. The backyard, shown in this picture, has huge drifts.

I was there in August. It was hot and humid. The nights were clear, and the sounds of cicada dominated everything. It was beautiful, but this snow is only something to be appreciated if you've never experienced it before.

When Cles graduated, I flew out to see everything. Ann and I had been there in North Carolina a couple of times, but this visit was the icing on the cake.

It was fun to see Cles finish his degree, but it was even more incredible to see a Tar Heel game the year they won a national championship.

I always marveled at the fire engines, typically deep red, appearing in the same North Carolina blue you see graduates wearing. However, even more fun was to see the blue Santa hats.

I have one of those now.

I wish I could remember the team UNC played that day. It was a North Carolina team that usually acts as a spoiler during the NCAA season, although they rarely appear in a tournament at the end of the year. It was fun to watch and to feel the "vibes." Our family became instant fans.

Before I returned home, Cles and Leslie took me to Charlottesville to see Jefferson's Monticello. Even at night, the weather was spectacular, even in December. There was no need for a coat. It was like nice fall weather.

Seeing Monticello was a dream of mine. Ann and I had been to DC on a number of visits, but getting to Charlottesville was not easy.

The weather was beautiful, and the only way a person could tell it was December is by looking at bare trees.

I wish I had a copy of Cles and Leslie. I took a couple of photographs, but in the process of losing two IBM computers to virus problems in the last few years, I lost that picture.

But I will never forget the beauty of that day, especially the Tar Heel blue sky.

How would I have ever know that day that this would be where Cles and Leslie would make their home.