Rich in History!

Visitors to North Carolina for the first time are not usually familiar with the rich history of the Piedmont Triad. Like me, you may have flown over or drove through the tarheel state enroute to a more glittering destination. But after living here for over 21 years, I have discovered that there is a long and significant history of this region. Not just the famous Revolutionary War battlefield or the important part it played in the Civil War, but history that affected millions across the country. People from the region who became household names and who made important contributions to our society. General Nathaniel Greene for whom the city is named; O'Henry the famous short story writer, spent his childhood in Greensboro; Dolly Madison first lady to President James Madison, was raised in NW Guilford County in the Friendship township near present day Guilford College; Burke Davis who wrote historical fiction was raised and educated in Greensboro. But there were others, who may not be as familiar, who touched our society as a whole.

Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond were freshmen at the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in Greensboro who made a significant change in history.

"On February 1, 1960, these four friends sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro. That may not sound like a legendary moment, but it was. The four people were African American, and they sat where African Americans weren’t allowed to sit. They did this to take a stand against segregation. The students wanted to protest segregation laws that prevented African Americans from entering certain public places. They agreed to stage a sit-in at Woolworth’s, a variety store that had an eating area. African Americans could shop in the store and eat at a stand-up snack bar, but they could not sit at the lunch counter. “We didn’t want to set the world on fire,” Khazan said.” We just wanted to eat.” Khazan and his friends would become known as the Greensboro Four ." from the NC Museum of History website.

You can become familiar with the county since it was formed in 1771 by checking out the Greensboro Historical Museum website. When you are here, go downtown to 120 Summit Avenue and enjoy the rich history that is Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad.

Riding the Rails on Christmas Day

On Christmas day I discovered the Greensboro, NC Amtrak station for the first time. It is an authentic restoration of a bygone relic and abandoned ways. Trains have been a part of Greensboro's history since the famous Govenor Motley Morehead convinced the rail companies to route through the piedmont region. The last Confederate cabinet of Jefferson Davis stayed in a railcar near this station in 1865 as the Confederacy  was disolving around them.

The current structure for Greensboro Station was originally built in 1927 as the Greensboro Southern Railway Depot. It was a replacement for an 1899 Southern Railway Depot that still exists today. During the Second World War, the station saw many a soldier arrive and depart after traing in the local army camps.The depot was donated to the city in 1978, a year before the Southern Railroad ended passenger service. Service to the old station wasn't reopened to the public until October 1, 2005 with the renewed interest for establishing rail service as an alternative form of transportation.

Designed by the New York architectural firm of Alfred Fellheimer & Steward Wagner, the 1927 Beaux-Arts facade features Ionic columns, a full entablature, and a three-story arched entry. Inside, the ticketing area features a vast mural displaying the service area of the Southern Railway system in the 1920s.

                               

My brother-in law decided to travel the rails home for Christmas because he likes to ride trains. As a young man, Michael traveled extensively throughout Europe on a EuroPass touring France, Italy, Germany,Belgium and the Scandinavian countries. As we waited for his train to arrive, he entertained me with stories of his travels in his youth. As I looked around the waiting benches, I realized that there were many stories and many travelers on this day. Some were buried in their smart phones, some laughing and joking with companions, and others sitting lonely and silent. Young couples, elderly grandparents, and single young persons of every nationality congregated here to travel on this joyous day of celebration. Were they leaving home, or were they returning home? Travelers all, not really so different from the original Christmas day. My brother-in-law throughly enjoyed his trip home on the Carolinian ,and he has decided to repeat the experience; like I said, he likes to ride trains.



Station statistics
Address	236 East Washington Street Greensboro, NC
Coordinates	36.0695°N 79.7871°W
Lines	Crescent   Carolinian and Piedmont
Connections	GTA, PART Greyhound
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Parking	Yes; free
Baggage check	Yes
Other information
Opened	1927
Closed	1978
Rebuilt	2005
Accessible
Code	GRO
Owned by	City of Greensboro

Traffic
Passengers (2012)	134,888[1]  8%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station High Point toward New Orleans Crescent Danville toward New York City High Point toward Charlotte Carolinian Burlington toward New York City Piedmont Burlington toward Raleigh

Falling leaves in Greensboro

I went to California to meet my newest grandson for the two prime weeks of color from mid to late October. The day I flew home, we were greeted by the fringe area winds of Hurricane Sandy gusting up to 60 mph. Opportunities for photos in the first half of November have been less than normal since many of the trees were defoliated by the storm. The trees in my front yard were decimated, but the back yard was saved, so I have been able to capture much less color than would be expected.

The greatest issue, as always, is blowing and raking the thousands of leaves that fall in the yard each year. If you blow them to curbside, the city will come by in huge trucks with a large vacuum hose and suck them right out of your yard. More than 13,089 tons of leaves were collected during the 2011-12 program.
My street is lined with piles of leaves awaiting to be picked up. I was able to blow the front yard up to the curb, but the backyard remains in six large leaf piles that must be transported to the curb, or in large clear bags for pickup every two weeks. My back yard typically yields over a hundred 45 gallon leaf bags per year and the front takes 50-80 bags if I don't get them to curbside. The beauty of the colorful Fall usually compensates for the hard work in cleaning up the yard. Unfortunately, I virtually missed it this year, so I am grumbling more than normal.

 Beautiful red maple in my back yard.

 Ducks on pond

 Backyard view

 Still left to fall in the yard!

 Corner pair oak and maple

View from the deck 

Close up on a leaf pile. The red maple is my favorite. It starts golden then orange and finally red. 

Here are five of the six leaf piles in the back yard. 

 And these are still to fall!

Golf pond was already leafless on Novembere 1st 

Awaiting curbside pickup. I add to it every day.

Why I went to California-





Fall in the Piedmont of North Carolina

I love autumn in the piedmont region of North Carolina. I spent my early years in west Texas where cactus and yucca plants are surrounded by fifteen foot tall mesquite trees. In the fall, the skinny leaves of the mesquite turn yellow and drop uncermoniously to the ground. The grass turned from green to brown after about thirty minutes in the blazing summer sun. My next years were in north central Texas where scrub oaks grew to a scant 15-20 feet high. They turned quickly from green to brown before defoliating.

I have spent the past twenty-one years in the piedmont region of North Carolina and I look forward to each new fall season. Decidious hardwoods growing in the forest here grow to 50-70 feet tall. Indiginous species include red and golden maples, white oaks, red oaks, blackjack oaks, walnuts, sweet gums, tulip poplars, ironwood and many other varieties. They explode in a wondrous blaze of gold, orange and red that warm the heart as the cooler season starts.

Here are a few images of this colorful spectacle that I await with great anticipation each year. The leaves have only just begun to change this year, so I will post a curent season gallery at the end of the month.

 Mirror like reflection on a beautiful pond

 Pond on the golf course at the Carlson Dairy Farm course

Leaves that fell on my deck table from walnut, oak, maple and birch trees

 My back yard in the fall last year

 Katie's red maple near the Cardinal Golf course

Did I say red maple? Make that a red-orange maple 

Maybe red,orange and golden maple 

 Lake Higgins on a bright autumn day

Lake Hamilton where the geese never completely leave 

That's the furriest squirrel I've ever seen 

Old gas station site up in northern Guilford county 

View from my back deck in late October last year

View from the Cone Mansion on the Blueridge Parkway 

From the railing at the Cone Mansion in 2009

 From the trail to the Cone Mansion on the Blueridge Parkway

Yes, I love my North Carolina Fall, it's the best season of the year!

We have a Sister!

When Kevin Costner (Robin Hood) discovers that Will Scarlett is his brother, he delivers the classic line, "I have a brother?" It is a question and a statement combined, as he never knew that he had a brother, but now that he knows, he declares it for the world to know. I kind of felt that way yesterday when I discovered that we have a sister, and I want you to know it.

My next door neighbors are from Belarus, a former Soviet Union country in eastern europe. They are a quiet family and keep to themselves and we occasionally speak greetings when we see each other. I was working in the front yard yesterday when the wife drove in from work. Her mother is a quiet little lady who loves to grow flowers in the beds around the house. Her mom has been back in europe for the entire summer, so when she spoke, I inquired how her mom was doing.
"Oh, she will be back in November," she said.
We then talked about her work, and I discovered that I knew a lady who worked with her.
I asked how her mother was enjoying Belarus and she explained that her mother was in Moldova which is in between Ukraine and Romania and close to Belarus. She was born in Belarus, raised in Siberia and then settled in Moldova before immigrating to the USA..
"Wow", I said, "I have friends who adopted a child from Moldova."
"Yes," she said, "That has been a common thing since the capital city of Moldova became the sister city to Greensboro "
"I didn't know that," I said.
We chatted a bit more and when I went back home, I searched to learn more about our sister city. I discovered that the city of Greensboro became an official "sister city" to the district of Buiucani in the city of Chisineau, Moldova in June of 2000.
According to the official website for Moldova, "The capital of Moldova is considered to be one of the greenest cities in Europe. There are many parks in the city and the trees grow on almost every street."
Sounds like someone made a good choice in selecting a sister city for Greensboro.

My neighbors have been in North Carolina since 2002, gone through the green card process, and are now citizens of the USA. They have been gainfully employed since arrival and they are a credit to the community. They have two fine sons who are in high school and preparing for college. When she spoke of growing up in Siberia, she told me that people were distrustful of one another and the city that she was raised in had a high crime rate. They are all so happy to be in America and they are grateful for the opportunity to raise their family here.They are good neighbors and they see the world through a different prism than those of us who have always known freedom in the land of the free. I wonder if she knows that Dolly Madison might have played in her yard over two hundred years ago.

Arts and Ballet Center in Chisineau

We have a Moldovan connection and it's all around us; that's pretty cool.
Well, like Kevin, you and I can now say, "We have a sister?"

The Piedmont Triad.........

What in the world is the Piedmont Triad? You hear it everywhere you go in north central North Carolina. Piedmont? Triad? Let's see, triad means three of something grouped together. The airport is called PTIA for Piedmont Triad International Airport, The state itself is a rough triangular shape.

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are known as the Research Triangle. Lots of triangles in North Carolina! The early colonist wore tri-corner hats; naw, that has nothing to do with it. If the research triangle is a collection of intellectual chattel that synergizes around three great universities then what in the world is the Piedmont Triad? A group of three cities clustered together on the Piedmont.
So, what is a piedmont? "A plain lying at or near the foot of a mountain", the latin root is pedimontium  meaning literally "foot of mountain".

The Appalachian Mountains are just west of three major cities that are clustered together in central North Carolina. So, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point and surrounding counties are the Piedmont Triad.  Obviously, the piedmont runs the length of the Appalachians, but this Mid-Atlantic trio of cities seized the claim of Piedmont Triad to describe a land of economic opportunity and growth and a highly desirable standard of living. Everything from education to the arts and from manufacturing to sales abounds in the Piedmont Triad. The quality of life is enhanced in every way.
What is the Piedmont Triad? A group of three major cities and the surrounding counties that synergize  opportunity, quality of life and growth. It is one of the most beautiful areas in the country and offers the highest levels of living and education at affordable prices.
Learn more about the Piedmont Triad Real Estate Market.

Well Hello Dolley!

There is a historical marker a half mile from my home which simply states "Dolley Madison's birthplace was near here".  As I putter through my wooded back yard,  I sometimes imagine that a little girl named Dolley may have played here in these once dense woods. I have 70-80 feet tall white oaks and blackjack oaks in my yard that have been here a long time. Who knows, maybe she did. I am near Guilford College which is a Quaker founded school in a county that was founded by Quakers. Her Episcopalian father married her Quaker mother in Virginia, converted to the Quaker faith and moved into North Carolina after their marriage. Dolley was born in Guilford County, North Carolina in 1768. After 15 years her family moved to Philadelphia and she enjoyed a more sofisticated lifestyle. She married an attorney named John Todd in Philadelphia at the age of 21. In 3 years he and their youngest son died on the same day, in a yellow fever epidemic. A vivacious 26 year old with black hair and blue eyes, she was introduced by the infamous Aaron Burr to congressman James Madison and they were married in 1794.
Dolley was a long way from Guilford County and she would never return. James Madison was named Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson and they moved to Washington. When the widowed Thomas Jefferson needed a hostess for a Presidential Ball, Dolley was asked to assume that position. She grew in grace and popularity as her husband grew toward the presidency. When Jefferson relinquished the presidency in 1808, James Madison began an 8 year tenure with his wife adding  much to his legacy.

She was the first president's wife to play an active role in the political process.
She was the first to associate her name and position with a charitable fund raiser when she helped to form a home for orphaned girls in Washington DC.
She initiated the first inaugrual ball to be held by a newly elected president.
Of course, everyone knows she saved valuable White House artifacts from burning in the 1812 invasion of Washington by the British.
Undocumented legends include her initiation of an egg rolling contest on the White House lawn, her persuasion of her husband to keep the capital in Washington after the fire, and her influence to her husband that allowed Francis Scott Key to board the fateful ship that sailed off Ft McHenry while he worded our "Star Spangled Banner".

At her eulogy in 1849, then President Zachary Taylor coined the phrase "First Lady" as he described her many contributions to this country. Dolley Madison set the standard against which all her successors would be held. As I gaze on my yard, I think "Wow" maybe she was right here playing hide and seek behind my trees, Well hello Dolley!