To Sell Signs or Not to Sell Signs, that is the question

Well hello there!  How’s it goin’?  Things are A-OK here.  It’s been awhile (again) since my last post, so let me bring everyone up to speed.  I am most pleased to say that I’ve finally, just today, answered the question posed above.  What a relief.

Let’s see, I last wrote about Stone Mountain State Park and my arrival at Indian Springs Campground near Hickory, NC where I stayed and worked for about two weeks before coming back to Skyland Camp to work a nearby town for another week.

As you may remember, I have been up in the air about this sign job since the beginning -fretting over it coming and going.  Finally, I  had decided to give myself until Thanksgiving to determine once and for all whether or not I wanted to sell signs to support my travels in Dora for the next year or two or ten.  Well, I must say, selling signs door to door is quite a kick.  I am astounded that I can actually walk into a business where nobody knows anything about me or my company, tell them I’ve got some sign samples in my trunk, ask if I can show them, show them, procure a signed contract  for thousands of dollars, and extract a check (made out to me) for the deposit. With check in hand, I would go straight to their bank, cash the check and proceed to my bank to deposit it, which is how I was paid my commission.  Cool, huh?   The kind folks who trained me (thank you Paul, Sam, and Connie) said it works, and it does.  Amazing.  Unfortunately, I could not wrap my mind around spending my time in this manner on an ongoing basis.  You could say, it was not leading the life I imagine…at least not at present.  I have no idea what I’m going to do instead, but I’m sure that whatever it is, it will be wonderful and I can’t wait to see what it turns out to be.  In the meantime, I’ll tighten my financial belt and will look forward with eager anticipation….cue Carly Simon’s song of the same name.

So, my plans for the next few weeks include Thanksgiving in Raleigh with my sister, a “campout” in Dora with one of my favorite friends of all time, Rusty Roo Hunt, and a Dora show and tell as well as a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening with the Dunlap Clan.  I was going to stay and work the area for two weeks after that, but since I’m not working, I’m not sure what I’ll do during that time frame.  I’ll head to the beach, Beaufort,  to see a dear friend and her family for a while in mid December and then will drop a bit South to a different beach, Wilmington, to see my former sister-in-laws and their former husband, my brother, for the few days leading up to Christmas.  I can’t wait to see them all and the beach and to see Mosely at the beach.  He absolutely loves it and has since he was just a young pup.

Below, I’ve attached some photos from some of the hikes I’ve taken over that past several weekends here in Western North Carolina. I hope you enjoy them.  This first one is of High Shoals Falls in South Mountain State Park.  After hiking up to the Falls, I hiked another trail up to the top of a “knob”.  During that hike, I saw several deer, but also a band of wild turkey about two dozen strong.  Cool.  They wouldn’t stick around for a photo-op, so no pictures of them, I’m sorry to say.  Learn more, www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/somo/main.php

And here are some Ladybugs hanging out on a rock below the Falls.  Does anybody remember MistyMoo in her Ladybug Halloween costume?

Suzanne, Alan, and I went hiking at Deep Creek last weekend.  What fun.  Suzanne and I used to come here when we were campers at Skyland Camp and tube down the creek in enormous inner tubes.  The water was freezing and the creek none too deep, so our bums were often black and blue by the end of the day.  Watch out for Dead Man’s Curve!!!!!  Learn more, http://www.deepcreekcamping.com/tubing.html

Indian Creek Falls.

Here are some Falls flowing into Deep Creek.  Oops.  I have forgotten their name.  Thomas somebody or Tom’s something…

And here is a gorgeous shot Suzanne took.  Just lovely.  Thanks Hoover!

That’s it for now.  Tomorrow I’m heading in to Asheville to hear Peter Kingsley talk about his new book, A Story Waiting To Pierce You:  Mongolia, Tibet, and the Destiny of the Western World, which should be most interesting.  If you’d like, you can check it out at http://www.peterkingsley.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=60&category=2

Stay tuned.