Jump Off Rock

Located in Laurel Park, NC, Jump Off Rock is a gorgeous overlook, with a view of the Pisgah and Blue Ridge Mountain Ranges. 

Jump Off Rock is named for a legend that says that a young Cherokee Indian woman jumped to her death upon learning that her lover had been killed in battle.  Some people claim you can see her ghost at night.  I don’t believe the ghost stories, but it’s a beautiful place to visit. 

It’s a great place to take pictures of some absolutely beautiful mountain views.  We don’t get to go quite as much as we’d like to, but we did make it out there once last summer, and I was able to get some fairly good pictures.

The drive to Jump Off Rock is very curvy, so if you’re prone to motion sickness, I highly recommend taking something.  It’s a Dramamine trip for me, but well worth it. 

Have you visited Jump Off Rock?  

Juggling Letters

For those of you participating, you know the A to Z Challenge is in full swing. For those not participating, the A to Z Challenge is a challenge for the month of April that involves blogging every day except Sunday and following the alphabet (A on the 1^st, B on the 2^nd, and so on). Some letters are easy, and you’re forced to choose between a few, even several, really good topics. Some letters are not so easy. And some letters are just plain hard.

There seems to be a lot of general agreement that letters toward the end of the alphabet are hard. Vowels also seem to be somewhat troublesome overall. Other than that it seems to be based on the individual blogger and possibly their theme (if they have one) as to which letters are hard. Here’s looking at you I, N, R, and U.

I found myself doing a lot of juggling letters around when I was planning posts (they’re not all written yet, so I’ll just say planning) and trying to find ways to make different posts work for different letters. It was helpful to write everything out and think of different titles and different angles for approaching the same subject.

I managed to juggle it around and turn what was going to be my B post into my U post and what was going to be my F post into my K post.

So what about you? Are you participating in the A to Z Challenge? Which letters were hard for you? Did you juggle anything around to suit a different letter?

June Is Adopt A Cat Month

Howard

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a crazy cat lady.  I feel no shame, and actually proudly proclaim my title.  I love cats.  Always have.  Always will.  We currently have four cats (Howard, Milo, Frankie, and Tara) which seems to be our limit for the moment.  All four of them are rescues, and I like to think that we’re giving them all a pretty good life. 

Frankie

Unfortunately, not all cats who wind up in shelters are as fortunate as our quirky quartet. 2012 statistics show that 70% of cats in shelters are euthanized.  That number is really high, and really scary, especially when you think about the fact that so many of those cats are perfectly healthy, adoptable cats.  There just wasn’t a place for them. 

Milo

Fortunately, June is Adopt A Cat Month!   A month all about adopting your very own feline companion or two!  Shelters are full of cats and kittens of all ages, colors, and personalities just waiting for their very own homes. 

Marta - a cat we fostered

In honor of June being Adopt A Cat Month, I am planning to give my blog over to cats for the entire month of June, and I’m hoping for your help and participation.  I’m also offering a prize to encourage participation and further help the kitties.  I want to feature rescues and shelters, and maybe some stories of rescued cats, and I’m looking for guest posts to do this.  Is there a cat in your local shelter who has been there too long?  Is your shelter trying to raise money to build/expand/improve their cat area?  Are you a rescue looking for volunteers for transports, foster homes, etc.?  Are you trying to place a special needs cat?  Does your area have a spay/neuter program in place for cats?  Are you a rescuer who has found an effective way to make the shelter/adoption process less stressful for cats?  I’d love to have your blog post on it.

Here are the rules:

1.       Absolutely NO cats and/or kittens for sale, NOTHING from breeders.  I am a FIRM believer in “adopt don’t shop”!

2.       You must send a link for the shelter or rescue the cat is from or that the story is about.  The link will be included in the post.

3.       Please include a link to Sweet Tea Reads on your regular blog, (you’re not required to have a blog to participate) if you have one, on the day that your post is scheduled to appear. 

4.       All posts and pictures must be received by Friday, May 23, 2014.  Please send them to dlzecher@gmail.com.  Once I get them all scheduled I will email you with the date that your post will appear.  I cannot guarantee the acceptance of all posts, but I will respond to all entries, and post updates as to the number of spaces left, etc. 

5.  Please keep an eye on your guest post to respond to comments and any questions about your cat, shelter, etc.  You're in a better position to answer specific questions than I am.  

Let’s use the power of Blogger for the good of cats during the month of June.  Maybe, with a little luck, we can get the right cat (cats) seen by the right person (people).  Crazy cat people unite! 

Tara

Now, on to the prize.  Every rescue or shelter (must be a non-profit organization) featured in a post will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 donation from me.  Multiple posts featuring the same place will result in multiple entries.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. 

Please be patient with me, as this will be my first experience with guest posts.  If something isn’t clear or just doesn’t make sense, please ask in the comments, and I’ll do my best to improve things.  Let’s keep this fun and in the spirit of helping cats.