Oh dear! Deer!

Have you guys noticed that the deer population is going crazy? As my husband and I have, between us, been involved in 4 accidents involving deer, we're very aware of them. In three of those accidents, the dang deer either jumped into the path of the car at the last minute or jumped INTO the car after we'd gone past them and were nearly out of range. In the fourth instance, the deer stood broadside just over the crest of a hill; there was no way to avoid the collision.

So we've concluded that deer aren't especially smart and that the best way to minimize the risk of a deer-versus-car wreck is to be hyper-alert.

And pray.

A lot.

Want proof that the deer population is rising? I went for an (approximately) 5 mile ride on Saturday, and here's a photo of just a few of the deer I saw:

Change of focus

I may be beginning to "get" the concept of depth of field.

Hot-rodder heaven

Not-so-wordless winery tour

Rose Hill, NC is the home of Duplin Winery, the first winery in North Carolina. We were fortunate to visit when we did - it was the first day for pressing the grapes this year. To the left of the man in blue, you can see the fruit as it begins its journey from grape to wine.

 

Duplin Winery uses primarily muscadine grapes, which only grow in the southeastern United States. Each of the containers pictured on the right contains somewhere between 4500 and 30,000 gallons of wine.

After the tour, be sure to stop by for a tasty meal at the restaurant, then browse at the shop where you can enjoy sampling some of their wines and, of course, pick up a few bottles to take home.

  

 

 

A walk back in history

I grew up in Pennsylvania, north of the Mason-Dixon line, where I learned about the Civil War. At times it was referred to as "the war between the states". Since moving to the Carolinas, however, I've learned that some call it "the war of Northern aggression", and that the Confederate dead are still honored, as you will see in these shots, taken at the Oakwood Cemetery in Wilmington, NC.

Approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers died in the American Civil War.

In all, historians estimate that about 620,000 Americans died in the Civil War. That’s almost as many as have died in all other U.S. wars combined. - http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-civilwar/4601

The Confederate section of Oakwood Cemetery is said to contain more than 2800 soldiers. http://www.censusdiggins.com/oakwood.cem.html