I’m visiting daughter #2 and her lovely teenage daughters. Their husband/father is traveling. He just left Kenya and is now on his way to India. Even though I’m delighted to be here with them, my heart is heavy because another relative and her family are facing serious difficulties which I will not write about in this space. The hardest part is that I can do nothing to make their road easier. I went for a walk to look for beauty and to try to give myself a change-of-scenery shock treatment. The first thing I noticed was this crocus, fooled into thinking it’s spring.
It’s a beautiful day in Chapel Hill and there are signs of early spring in all directions. Hard to believe that they’re expecting snow starting around noon tomorrow. Hopefully the temperature will not get cold enough to kill all the blossoms. I’ll head for home early in order to avoid bad roads. No snow predicted for my neighborhood.
If you’re a James Taylor fan you will recognize this street sign as the title of a JT song. Actually two North Carolina men–James Taylor and Reynolds Price combined their talent and wrote “Copperline.” You know the smooth voice of Mr. Taylor but you may not know Mr. Price. He was a professor at Duke University and writer extraordinaire. His novels have entertained me for many years. He was master of the written word and won awards for his writing. Click here to learn more about Reynolds Price.
Apparently this little university town is friendly to Obama. That makes me happy. I spotted a black Volvo wearing this sticker on its side. Obama took North Carolina in the last election. I’m hoping we’ll be a blue state again in 2012. Obviously the driver of this car hopes so too.
There’s a tiny park in the neighborhood with an old family cemetery. The cemetery is surrounded by a stacked stone wall and was the burial ground for the Purefoy family. The best I can tell the family was/is a prominent clan in this county. I loved ambling through and reading the headstones.
As I was strolling past the shops in the neighborhood I spotted this t-shirt. I must say that no one talks about this town without mentioning Carolina Tarheel basketball. This is Coach Roy Williams pictured on the front of the shirt. 
Since we’re in the Bible Belt, I find the message “Get Heeled” rather funny.
There were some humorous items inside the shop, too.
And the brilliant rooster.
I arrived home warmer than when I left and feeling a little less sad. Pictured on the left is a trellis on the side of my daughter’s house. Here it stands at attention waiting for a better day, a day of flowering transition. Our family could use such a transition. We’ll try to plant the seeds needed to accomplish a blossoming of better days. We can do it. We will do it.
Back On My Own 
