My “word” for 2012 is wOw!           

wOw! is one of those fabulous words that fits positive, negative and neutral situations.  It’s a word we can use when no other will work.   Over this next year of Sundays, I’m going to share some wOw!moments from the previous week.  By December 31, 2012, I’ll have shared 2012 wOw! moments.   

I hope you’ll have spotted (and maybe even shared) close to that, too.

Here’s what made me say wOw! this week:

933.  seeing a clean Before I Die Wall (thanks to Saturday night’s rain);

934.  leaving on vacation with Tom;

935.  the ‘shredded-tire-on-the Interstate’ game;

936.  witnessing some young men do The Right Thing ~ even when they thought no one was watching;

937.  finding GREAT coffee at a gas station on I26;

938.  how comforting it is to wake up from a car nap to Tom singing ~ no really, it is;

939.  WNC Farmers Market;

940.  the dirt/gravel road leading to Brookside Cabin at Ivy Knob;

941.  Brookside Cabin at Ivy Knob;

942.  eating dinner over a mountain stream;

943.  two turkeys and a fawn meeting us on our way back down the mountain;

944.  the  9-mile Dillingham Road (did I mention VERY windy and gravel-y it was?) that we THOUGHT led to the Blue Ridge Parkway – that didn’t;

946.  the AHmazing waterfall we spotted on the Wrong Road;

945.  the 5-mile Stoney Ridge Rd – that did take us to Craggy Gardens;

946. the humble Iraq Vet we met in at Craggy Gardens;

947.  the view from Craggy Pinnacle;

948.  the peaceful man we met at the Pinnacle;

949.  that we could hear conversations going on in the parking lot from the top of the Pinnacle;

950.  the lovely lady in her housecoat, tending her garden;

951.  towels hanging almost vertically on a mountain clothesline;

952.  the adventure of staying in touch with Mom every day without cell service;

953.  heavy morning fog on the mountains;

954.  Tom tracking down the owner of a ’57 VW Beetle;

955.  finding a brand new Goodwill in Weaverville;

956.  a KFC sign that read:  Buffet with drink $7.99      Apply Inside;

957.  releasing my long-time quest to replace my Sigg bottle and buying a CamelBak instead;

958.  fabulous bluegrass musicians;

959.  the Hayward Community College class of 2012 Professional Craft Program Graduate show at the Folk Art Center;

960. how that first glimpse of the mountains in the morning never ceases to humble and amaze;

961.  meeting another vehicle on a one lane mountain road;

962.  Tom chatting with the owner of a ’55 Triumph TR2;

963.  a great hike through Mt Mitchel State Park;

964.  a picnic from the top of Mt Mitchell;

965.  hearing someone playing the bagpipes across the mountains;

966.  Tom’s great hike from Mt Mitchell to Mt Craig to Big Tom to the Park boundary and back again (Tom WANTS me to write that no human being has ever done this before, but I’m not);

967.  my setting up camp on Mt Mitchell during Tom’s hike;

968.  how many people stopped to ask me what I was doing there;

969.  the remarkable number of foreign languages I heard while at Mt Mitchell;

970.  the July issue of Our State magazine;

971.  the joy of waking-up with absolutely NO PLANS;

972.  after a few hours of nothingness, deciding to head put of who knows where;

973.  Mars Hill College;

974.  remembering the last time I visited Mars Hill, almost 40 years ago;

975.  lunch by the French Broad River;

976.  meeting Mr Moore, a 92-year-old lifetime resident of Madison County and hearing his stories;

977.  learning about the WWI German  Interment Camp in Hot Springs;

978.  Artisun Gallery in Hot Springs;

979.  almost breaking 100 in The Hills;

980.  seeing AT markers throughout Hot Springs;

981.  hearing about Mom’s partner Dick’s 89th birthday;

982.  learning why and when Warm Springs became Hot Springs;

983.  two sisters selling lemonade on the street;

984.  pas prices ranging from $3.17- $3.56 within five miles;

985.  how it seems there’s a church for every 20 homes in this are of the NC Hills;

986.  remembering how much I love stone homes;

987.  a field of gladiolas;

988.  an Amish Grocery store;

989.  bring in a forest of Mountain Laurel;

990.  spotting very unusual black and white moths;

991.  getting a holy (and very real) message from my sister;

992.  how Tom believes and honors even the craziest of stories I have for him;

993.  how bluegrass music sounds sweeter in The Hills;

994.  Tom’s awesome pork chop dinner;

995.  nighttime mountain sounds;

996.  a very peaceful last-day-of-vacation;

997. convincing Tom to drive 40 minutes to see something I just KNEW would wOw! him.  it didn’t;

998.  Shell Gas Station Scam (they posted gas price as $3.05.  when you’re at the pump, you see it’s actually $3.25 – unless you buy their car wash service. grrrrr…);

999.  the cool movie we saw at the BRP Visitor’s Center;

1000.  the Zebulon Vance Birthplace Museum;

1001.   sad news from Alicia;

1002.  happier news from Alicia;

1003.  seared scallops w/ pasta alfredo and fresh veggies ~ OMG;

1004.  Tom spotting a satellite at 9:55 every night we were in The Hills;

1005. a week without TV/Facebook/newspapers and very limited cell phone/e.mail;

1006. how a week in a home that’s ‘off the grid’ makes me sadly aware of how much energy, water and other resources I waste;

1007.  that I’ve made it to the half-way point on this wOw! adventure;

What made you say wOw! this week?