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17 articles in debscorner |
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A Walk With Ethan
August 26, 2010
A Walk With Ethan
If you come to visit us in Blowing Rock, and you want to see our historic village, with all its beauty, charm, freshness, and without the crowd, go for a walk in the early morning , around 6:30 or 7:00AM.
Last week, our grandchildren visited from Connecticut. Sadie is 28 months old, and Ethan is 13 months old. Now Sadie sleeps through the night and gets up at the reasonable hour of 7:00AM to 7:30AM. Ethan, the “Little Man”, gets going around 5:30 AM. He gets a different grown up every morning, Mom, Dad, Nana, or me, G-Daddy because he gets up so early.
Last week, I went for a walk around 6:30 with Ethan and his dad. We stopped at the Blowing Rock Market, bought a WSJ, and walked around town, through the park, and back to the Inn, where Ms. Sadie was just getting up. It was a nice walk, including an opportunity to catch up with Brett (Ethan’s Dad), and consume a cup of our excellent coffee.
Later in the week, when it was his Mom’s (our daughter Jennifer) turn, I came down and went out with Ethan alone, allowing his Mom to catch another few minutes of rest. We stopped at the market, filled up his bottle with milk, and strolled off down Main Street. Now both of my grandchildren have brown hair and the bluest eyes you have ever seen. They’re unforgettable and very striking. We get stopped a lot when we are out and get many compliments about their blue eyes. Of course, I am the proud G-Daddy and a little prejudiced.
We haven’t walked 25 yards and one of our local ladies peeks in on Ethan in his double wide stroller, googles over his eyes, while he flashes that boyish smile and bats his long eyelashes. This is the first of many during the day. We stroll on.
Now, I am noticing how beautiful the morning is, cool, refreshing, no rain, no fog, very nice. The flowers along the garden in front of the park are happy, even though it is near the end of summer. The streets are free of litter. There are very few cars on the street or in parking places, we have downtown to ourselves. I start to whistle, and we stroll on down the street. I push Ethan along all the paths in front of the shops, slowly, to take in the pretty arrangements of flowers that are everywhere. You can see the pride and care that went into the selection of plants, and the health of the plants, thanks to our climate. Downtown never looked so good, or was so relaxing.
We crossed over and walked down the other side of the street, near the Episcopal Church, back up Main Street. We crossed over to the park where we had it all to ourselves. Ethan likes to swing so, in the swing he went while I stretched a little. The sun was rising, the morning clouds were fluffy and soft, it was cool, fresh, and absolutely gorgeous. I was so happy to be out with Ethan, enjoying the start of a beautiful mountain day, relaxed.
After a while in the swing, Ethan and I went back on Main Street, around the corner, and back to the Inn. We walked past our Inn and cabins, down to the Azalea, where Henry was putting out coffee. We stopped and talked a while, as Henry confirmed that Ethan had killer blue eyes and would have no trouble with ladies when he was older. Then it was back to the Inn, our walk was over.
It is obvious that I am proud of my grandson. But I am also proud of our little town, the flowers that have been planted and cared for all over town. On many days, we have the best weather you could possibly imagine; it’s one of our great attractions. And if you are an early riser, and can get out for an early morning walk, you will enjoy the serenity, the beauty, and the unique atmosphere of our little town, the Historic Village of Blowing Rock, of which we are also, so proud.
There is another essay in our archives, entitled “A Walk With Sadie”. Have a read. Bass Lake is a beautiful spot for a walk also.
Jim McDowell
The Mountainaire Inn & Log Cabins |
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