WTF - Summer on the Mountain

Being a mile high, summer sometimes takes its sweet time paying a visit. We've all learned the hard way to be patient waiting until June or so before planting or putting out plants or even finally retiring the thermal underwear.

Hey, two weeks ago we got two inches of SNOW!

But now you can tell summer is inching me by:

Most of the establishments move into full time summer hours, meaning there's more to do on the mountain!

Beech Alpen starts is Sunday summertime music series, concerts every Sunday at 6p mountain time (meaning or so) this is the local place for local summer. entertainment.  Sit on the lawn, drink a pitcher of beer, enjoy the 20 or so deer, the 2 bears and listen to music. Food and pizza from Bullwinkles are also available.


The smell of pee - there is a plant up here that smells like pee, no shit, I mean no pee it really does. Research tells me it is a boxwood, but I am not sure. I just know we've hit summertime when I'm on a hike and stop and wonder, "Damn, did I just pee myself?"

The Dog - now that the snow has melted and the grass is growing, all the dead animals from winter are out for the picking. My dog loves bringing trophies home for me, a deer foot, some unrecognizable limb, all smelling worse than the plant that smells like pee.

Butterflies - the are many species of butterflies on the mountain. Some say that a butterfly in your path means a departed loved one is thinking of you.  So can they please not pass in front of my car while I'm driving and go splat on my windshield. Did I just kill a loved one's memory?


Bird feeder Stealers - the animals have all woken from their winter slumber and first thing on their mind is, "Where are the bird feeders?" My favorite story was the raccoon that decided it would just camp on my deck each day then take off with the feeder each night. A friend asked if I wanted him to get rid of it, I asked how? watching him pick it up and pitch it off the deck. Well, that's one way to get rid of a raccoon.

Mowing Beech Mountain Style - my kids are now old enough to mow the lawn, so I am paying them to do this chore. Of course mowing at our house entails 2 hours with a weed wacker because there's no way a lawn mower is going up and down the hills. I think they'll keep their limbs better with a weed wacker than a mower anyway.

The errant nudist. Now that the weather is warmer, many locals used to thermals, ski pants, goggles, hats, etc come out of the winter slumber, peeling off the layers exposing that vampire flesh that hasn't seen the sunlight in over nine months. The first two weeks of the pool opening are the most blinding weeks of the season. I take care of this sunbathing naked on the deck, it also helps scare the squirrels away from the bird feeders.

Mountain Rush Hour - Yes the Florida tourists are back, but they don't cause these, it's the deer and the turkeys crossing the road, and don't forget the groundhog hanging out in the middle of the road looking at you like, "What?"

Carpooling Mountain Style - the line of cars riding either up or down the mountain is long and there is a Florida license plated car at the front of the line. Or worst yet, you smell brakes burning as you travel down that line of cars with the Florida License plate in the front.

More Carpooling - you get stuck in a long line of cars traveling up the mountain and this time it is not a Florida tourist, but a bicyclist looking like they are having a heart attack pedaling UP Beech Mountain.

The best part of warmer weather is watching everything come alive, remember if you are stuck in that line traveling up and down the mountain be grateful, it gives you time for the beautiful views!

How do you know warmer weather has hit where you are?