When my daughter said that her class is going on a field trip to Hanging Rock, I wondered to myself whey they are going so late. The fall foliage will be on their way out by then, I thought. I was wrong though, thanks to rising carbon levels that is apparently causing the late appearance of autumn colors. Yeah, global warming is not at fault for this phenomena this time, it’s them darn carbon levels this time!

Well, what ever caused the trees to turn colors so late, yesterday was a great time to go to the mountains. The colors were spectacular!

The teachers should have anticipated that the kids will want to preserve the beautiful scenery. Next time we go to something like this, I’ll have to remember to stop at the dollar store for some disposable cameras. I can’t believe some of the kids actually spent $6 of their pocket money for a disposable camera! Some of them who didn’t bring any money were so disappointed that they couldn’t take photos. So I promised them I will print out photos for them from my camera.
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North Carolina, like much of the Southeastern U.S., has been under severe drought conditions since the summer. By this time of the year, we are usually seeing rains everyday. But not this year. Our last rain fall was at least two weeks ago. While it was nice that we had a temperate night of trick or treating and it looks like we’ll have more of the same for Thanksgiving, many of us who garden have been holding our breath as to when the next rain will come. I went to pull some green onions in the garden the other day, and I nearly broke my little trowel.

The drought was really evident last week when we drove up to Creedmore for some Sonic burgers and saw how low the waters were at Falls Lake. It looked like someone had drained it. It was pretty scary.

Durham County, where we are, is now under mandatory water restrictions. This means:

• NO watering or sprinkling of any lawn or grass.
• NO watering of trees, ornamental shrubs or vegetable gardens except by hand-held container or drip irrigation system on Saturdays, between the hours of 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Do NOT wash down outside areas such as sidewalks, patios, driveways, or for other similar purposes.
• Do NOT add water to any decorative fountain, pool or pond except where the water is recycled.
• Do NOT serve water in a restaurant or similar establishment except upon request.
• Do NOT use water for any unnecessary purpose or intentionally waste water.
• Do NOT wash the exterior of a motor vehicle unless a private well system is used, or unless 50% or more of the water is recycled or it can be demonstrated that 30 gallons of water or less are used to wash the vehicle.

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One of the best resources for college bound students in North Carolina is CFNC.org. CFNC’s tag line is “helping you plan, apply and pay for college” and they do just that. Students can register for an account by their freshman year in high school and they can track and keep their records organized, get notified of scholarships and grants they are eligible for; when it comes time to apply for colleges, they only need to complete their personal information once and the site will keep their ‘master’ application that they can then send to universities.

Anyone who has a college bound student knows how expensive it can get to apply for college. This is just to apply mind you, not the cost of attending college. There are tests that you have to pay for, and believe it or not, you have to pay to apply. The whole process can get quite expensive.

Thanks to NC Governor Easley, some North Carolina families can breath a little easier this holiday season. The press release below declares this week College Application Week. That means that between November 12-16, 2007, students can apply to most NC Colleges and Universities for FREE!
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