work on the road

Fall is so beautiful! I love the fall in North Carolina. It comes on so slowly, just a nip in the air in the evenings and then suddenly the crisp, clear days come on with gorgeous color, and still it's warm enough to run around in a T-shirt in the afternoons.

On Thursday I took a work trip out to the northeastern corner of the state, a beautiful and somewhat forgotten (by the rest of the state) area full of wetlands, historic homes and old fishing and farming communities. Northeastern NC certainly isn't without its problems (part of why I was going out there), but it sure is purty, 'specially right now. Here's a photo I took at Edenton Bay on Thursday. It was about 70 degrees outside.



It was a fun trip. A colleague and I met with a bunch of community folks, gave a presentation on Thursday night and then spent the night at the home of one of my board members, MJ, who lives in the big 1920's country home she grew up in, with her family and all their hilarious pets. They have a big sweet cuddly boxer and his new best friend, a 6 month-old kitten who turned up in their driveway in the middle of a rainstorm last spring as a teeny baby, and she's now the queen of the estate. She loves to hide behind corners and ambush the dog as he comes around the corner, box his ears a few times and then dash off like a madwoman. The dog hardly seems to notice. There are a mess of cats outside too, and another kitten who just showed up, that they're trying to find a home for. (Free kitten! Cute! Email me!)

I like traveling for work, basically because I like traveling and this way work foots the bill. It's not like I get to go to Hawaii or anything (later this month I get to go to Buffalo - ooh mama!), but it's always a thrill for me to see something new, like Edenton Bay.

One of the things that I like best, though, is working from public libraries. I love to drag my laptop into the public library and plug in and work away quietly all day with no distractions other than what is usually very high-quality people-watching.

So let me put in this plug for the Pasquotank-Camden Library. I really liked the warm, small-town feel of the facility and the very helpful staff, and the fact that they let non-cardholders use the computers (for a whole hour!). I stuck a comment in the suggestion box requesting that they provide wireless internet access, but I'd probably have to join the Friends of the Library to get something like that done. Also, props to Muddy Waters Coffee and the wine shop/deli where I had a lovely vegetarian sandwich for lunch. Mmmwah! Kisses from the middle of the state, Northeastern NC! Now let's see what we can do to stop those landfills...