I almost made it through the month of September with a blog post each night, but last night I was too tired to formulate a coherent sentence, let along a few paragraphs. It had been an active day in a busy weekend: Friday night with Ed Sheeran, Saturday at the bluegrass festival, and then Sunday for soccer, hot sauce, and more live music.
On my way to the regular pick-up soccer game (we’re playing in Chapel Hill for a few months while our usual Durham pitch, which had deteriorated to unsafe conditions, finally gets renovated), I listened to the Planet Money segment The billion dollar war behind U.S. rum about the ‘rum wars’ in the USVI and Puerto Rico. Given my regular visit to the Cruzan Rum distillery whenever we visit St. Croix, I was interested in this.
Back home, I made another batch of homemade hot sauce in the garage. The final step is to fill the canning jars. I did this in the kitchen, but Erin and I agreed I should find a way do the canning step in the garage as well since even a few minutes fills the house with the vinegary fumes.
After the kitchen was cleaned and I’d watched the Tottenham-ManU match, Erin dropped me in town for the Carrboro Music Festival. For a few hours I walked from stage to stage, enjoying the bands and short conversations with few co-workers I came upon. We had beautiful weather.
Later, when I sat down to check the news, even more photos and videos documented the devastation in Asheville and Boone and the NC mountains. I felt happy from the weekend’s activities but sobered by the destruction. One of my best NC memories (and possibly the best photo I’ve ever taken) is the week Erin and the girls and I spent in West Jefferson, NC, where we attended the Ola Belle Reed Festival.
Now Ashe County is reeling from the rains of Helene. Soon as it is safe to visit western NC again, I hope I can get there to help in one way or another.
© Anton Zuiker