This old building, like many of the remnants of farms around here, having trouble standing these days. 

High speed Internet?

It's just a dream for lots of us here, but since Balsam West installed the new broadband backbone around the tri-state area, there should soon be some relief, at least for some.

And now Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Coop (which provides dialup and some wireless service via BRMEMC.net) is soliciting information from members who may want high-speed service in the future. According to the press release (PDF), "Members will have access to reliable, high speed Internet connectivity and new options for data, voice and video. Bandwidth can be used to simultaneously provide high speed Internet access, phone service, video, and a host of other exciting features".

If you're interested, fill out the survey at http://www.brmemc.net/response/. They need to know where to start installing. I filled the form out a couple weeks ago in anticipation before the press release came out.
(Thanks to Lynne and Lisa for passing this on.)

On a clear day the view from the road to our house (in the woods in right of photo) is absolutely stunning. 

I haven't yet figured out the name of this distant mountain. We see it only on the clearest of days. Part of the Nantahalas? Or beyond? 

And, there are cows! 

Nothing more beautiful than a meadow in bloom, even with barbed wire. 

Full moon over the north Georgia mountains, after a night of music. 

Ducktown Station, with Lisa Jacobi singing. 

Playing in the courtroom in Blairsville, Georgia. 

At the beautiful old Union County Courthouse. 

It's now a historical museum. 

Pickin' at the Chamber of Commerce opening, Murphy: members of the Drastic Measures. 

Taking the cat for a walk. 

More ladyslippers. 

Saturday morning cat blogging: this is Gabrielle (Gaby), 17 years old and still a kitten sometimes (despite the cataracts).... 

Pinks by Lake Apalachia. 

A spectacular azalea. 

Spring Festival in downtown Murphy, NC. 

Lots of old cars. 

More photos of the cars on my Flickr site.

"Hoot" at the Henn.  (The Henn Theater was in the same family for 70 years and was closed for a short time after the owner's death; now still operating under a new owner.)

Memorabilia. 

Tennessee

Some lovely photos from Cades Cove and the surrounding area on Fletch's No Direction Home blog today.

In the middle of all this green (and pink from soon-to-flower laurels) there's... 

...a spectacular Iris. 

Talk about green.... 

Toccoa River, near Dial, Georgia. 

Bluets. I first said 'Blue-eyed grass', but this great site from the Connecticut Botanical Society set me straight and is a great way to identify flowers. Plants at this altitude of the South, and Connecticut, probably reflect a pretty similar habitat.

For more great wildflower identification links, here's a bunch of them from the Southern Appalachian Information Node.