Nicholson Family 1939

 Wonderful photo of the Nicholson clan from 1939. Parents, Francis and Frances in front. Mike's father, David, center back. Next to him is Mary Webb. She was the first licensed woman pilot in NC.

 During World War II American women were barred from any type of combat duty, so Mary joined a group of women pilots who would ferry planes for the British Air Transport Auxiliary. In May of 1943 she was flying when her plane developed engine problems. She made an emergency landing in a farm field, but was unable to avoid hitting a farm building. Mary Nicholson was the only American woman in the ATA-RAF to die in World War II.

Frank Nicholson was one of the original Piedmont Airlines pilots and his son Tommy is also a commercial pilot. 

Piedmont was based in Winston-Salem. It was bought out by USAir in 1989. 

Art by James Arthur

I wanted to post this because it's hilarious and smart. James A. is such an inventive kid. He is very much like his father was at his age. 
 

Giving Thanks for Family

 My wonderful brother was driving back from Atlanta after spending Thanksgiving with Allanna. He, Arrianne and husband Kyle, along with Jon and his family all met together for lunch. We ate at Pho Happiness, an excellent Vietnamese joint. The food is great, although the menu is limited somewhat these days due to "supply chain issues." It was so nice to get together...we don't get to do that much. By the time the pandemic is under control, I'll be too old to do any traveling. I guess we just have to do the best we can in the meantime.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day 2021. Staying home this year. There's still too much covid in the air. Maybe next year we'll be over the worst of this crap. It's getting tiresome. ANYHOW...we had the Nicholson traditional holiday nachos. And later we're going to watch some old Godzilla movies. I have the next 11 days off from work. WooHoo!! I am SO looking forward to doing stuff that is not work related. 

DTCC doesn't pick back up until end of January...so I really do have time off from everything. 

I got some nice text messages from several friends and family members. I count them among my many, many blessings. 
 

Art of the Carolinas

 For the record: Pargie and I attended Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh this year. We each took a class. She took an oil portrait painting class and I took a journaling one. It was okay, but I won't be taking a workshop from this artist again. She has ADD and was SO scatter-brained. It was a little frustrating. But, AOC is always a blast. And Pargie is the most amazing human alive. It was really nice hanging out with her.

Looks like Fall and a UFO

 

It's definitely fall. The leaves have turned and are falling off the trees like rain. 

We found this odd structure during our walk. It is unidentified and it's an object, but I doubt if it did any flying. So, that makes it a USO, an unidentified stationary object, or maybe a UGO, an unidentified grounded object. The dogs took little interest in it. I'm sure it's something the hunters left behind, although there are "no hunting" signs posted everywhere. Of course, there are also "no trespassing" signs--which makes me equally guilty. 

Best Dog in the World

 

He's such a sweet old thing. We both enjoy our walks in the wooded areas out behind the house. Sophie usually runs off in search of rabbits. Early tends to stay near me and he will generally come back when called. Sophie...not so much. She runs through the underbrush, nose down, hot on the trail of something or other. If she does manage to find a rabbit, she goes tearing off after it, yapping like a maniac and then Early will chase after her. It's not good for his bad knee, but he can't help himself. 

They are messy and often stinky, sometimes expensive, but they are such good companions. I love them both. If people were more like dogs, I might like them more. As it is--I prefer the company of animals. And the older I get, the MORE I prefer animals.