Well, if you're looking in Mecklenburg county, look at Matthews. There you have the Little League,the Farmers Market,local businesses,access to I485,strong town leadership,a town green where they hold spring/summer/fall concerts/arts and crafts shows/childrens carnival. Matthews is very independent of Charlotte. They even repave their own roads. Taxes are cheaper than Charlotte and the town has plenty of corporate and manufacturing tax support. Good banks..BB@T is the strongest most solid bank in North Carolina (no TARP funds needed). Local theater for plays. Lots of church variety to choose from. One church has its own K-12 school (Covanent). Matthews School (elementary) is still excellent. There are actually multiple elementary schools,middle school and high school although assignment is determined by your location and schools are part of Mecklenburg County public school system. Big, new, town library. Presbyterian/Matthews Hospital. Marios Pizza, Carrabas and tons of other good eateries. Siskey YMCA (huge indoor outdoor facilities) The weather is a micro climate in most parts of Matthews. It can be a touch cooler/colder than Charlotte and Pineville but in 20 years and one hurricane (Hugo) I found the worst of the weather skips west of Matthews. Water quality is good, better than what we have in Union County (different source). Of the Mecklenburg towns, including Charlotte, I'd say Matthews has best adapted itself to accommadating northern transplants while retaining the Southern flavor and hospitality.

On Saturday I went to the public library booksale, and got 7 books, $1 apiece, among them: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers, An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor and The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine. Cece, Did you finish The September Society? Did you like it? I read recently the first book by this author, A Beautiful Blue Death, and liked it. Lemonhead, I read Moon Tiger years ago. I didn't like it. I'd be interested in hearing how you feel about it. Kren, They did a movie of The French Lieutenant's Woman years ago, with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. I haven't read the book, but the movie was pretty good. Kath, I'm with Vee, you have to tell us about your trip when you reach to your final destination. It would be interesting if you add which books you read in each leg of the trip.

Absolutely Skybird! The connection is something that has always been there. I think it is probably something we are all born with, but I think "modern society" often makes it difficult to truly grasp. We live in a culture that has us so far removed from the land, that we feel that it is something we are no longer part of. We have been led to believe that it is something we are mere "observers" of. That nature happens "out there" and we get to go "look at" it on the weekend or watch a T.V. show about it. This detachment is not only wrong, but unhealthy for us and the land. "but when anyone would insist that the only way to “go to church” or “worship” was to do it “in a building,” my thought was always that “being out in the woods” was a better way to “do it!” [No! I never said that to a teacher or preacher!] “Traditional religion” just never “connected” with me!" Yes Skybird! YES! The land is my "temple" my "church." I'm probably more agnostic than anything, but if there is some divine creator out there, where better to commune with that creator than within their creation!?! This is actually a belief expressed by John Muir, and one great example I can find is his (failed) attempt to prevent the damming, and flooding, of California's Hetch-Hetchy Valley. "Dam Hetch Hetchy!" wrote Muir, "As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." More than that, I believe that through "oneness" (I LOVE that term) it's not simply communing with "God," it's communion with EVERYTHING. As I mentioned, I believe that there is powerful medicine in the land, and that comes from the energies ("spirits" even) of everything around us. From trees to wind to birds to water. Getting in touch with that is extremely "nourishing." Despite our best efforts to remove ourselves from it and simply become the casual observers of it's goings on, it is impossible. "We asked each other what “religion” we thought we were “closest to,” and I had told her that I didn’t know enough to know if I was right or not, but I thought I was “closest to Native American..." Like you, I don't "know enough" to know for certain. Historically, my understanding is that the Native American's have guarded their beliefs from outsiders, and given the way we have treated them and their culture, rightfully so. But regardless, it is not "my culture" and for me to try and inject myself into that and claim it as part of my own doesn't feel right to me. But that idea of "oneness" is so incredible and it does feel right and it is something I believe was well known and understood to "ancient" peoples across the globe. Until "modern" society and even "organized" religion did away with it. Leopold calls it the "Abrahamic view" of the land. The idea that God created the earth and everything on it simply to be used by man. I'm not Biblical scholar, but I am familiar with the "western society" to which I belong and I have to say I agree. This concept that land is here for us to use and abuse as we see fit is an endemic, and chronic, problem in our society. And it's not only killing the land, it's going to end up killing us. P.s. Theres a lot of days my wife would probably be just fine with letting you take me off her hands haha.

I was sending emails to one of the originators of the music threads here to give her suggestions for new topics, and she told me to just post the topics myself. For a while, we alternated starting these threads, and then she decided not to post here anymore, which left me as pretty much the main person initiating the threads. She had kept a list or topics, including proposed ones, and emailed that to me when she decided to stop participating. EltonJohnDenver also started quite a few, and then she seemed to stop posting here as well, although I have no idea why. As I said earlier, this all started on Hot Topics, and the threads were always started early Friday evening by whoever happened to have an idea for a new theme. There were a lot of disparate people posting on that forum before it got banned (for contentiousness), and a larger percentage of them were men, compared to KT. I started posting FNM earlier in the day so that people would have more time to post videos while it was still Friday, but since the threads usually lasted through Saturday and Sunday, I started calling it Weekend Music instead but kept the acronym for archival purposes. A couple of times I did not post anything on Friday, and some people seemed disappointed, and so I decided to keep it up. I don't in any way own this topic, and so anyone is free to take it over. Carol, no one has posted those songs before, although I had thought that someone had posted the Kinks song, as it was one that I had also thought up - but neglected to post. I guess I will start Part III now - I did not expect this to get this far.