Thoughts on Mother's Day

Mother's Day

Mother's Day always brings mixed emotions. For me the day has always been about my mom, and later my mother-in-law. Even when I became a mom in 1985, I stilled viewed that day as being about the two most important women in my life. My mom died in a car accident in 1989, and my mother-in-law quietly and lovingly patched the hole in my heart. Since she is now gone as well, it is a bittersweet day.

Both of our children live pretty far away from us, so I did not see them on Sunday, except through FaceTime. God bless technology and the capabilities it brings to help us keep in touch. My husband made me breakfast, and then we later picked up lunch and ate it at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in their botanical garden. It was a beautiful day, and many people had the same idea as us.

UNCC Botanical Garden

Later Jim grilled steaks, and we enjoyed a nice dinner in our screened porch. We went outside after it got dark in an attempt to see the aurora borealis, but old aurora did not make an appearance. Apparently people in our neighborhood saw it on Friday night, but we missed it.

Dallas Park

Gaston County held a household hazardous waste collection on Saturday at Dallas Park. We have been collecting used batteries for awhile, and I thought it was a good opportunity to get them out of the house. It was beautiful Saturday morning, so we decided to take the 35 minute drive to the park and dispose of the batteries.

We were the only ones pulling into the drop off location at the time, so all the employees rushed to the car to get our materials. Several hustled to the back of our SUV, expecting me to pop open the back for them to unload items. I felt really bad just rolling down a window to hand them a plastic bag partially filled with batteries. I think they were quite surprised and disappointed.

After the drop off we drove through the park. What a surprise it turned out to be! It has three ponds you can fish in or walk around, a couple of playgrounds, a splash pad, ball fields and tennis courts, an equestrian center including a camping area, and numerous pavilions. Especially of interest to us were the numerous historic building located there. There was a history of each one listed, and a QR code you could scan to see photos of the inside of each building. 

The beauty of the park made it worth the drive to properly dispose of our batteries. I hope to be able to take my granddaughter there the next time they come for a visit.

Dallas Park

Charlotte Douglas International Airport Tour

On Wednesday thirty-six members of our community took a tour of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). As one of the top ten busiest airports in the United States, CLT always has some construction going on. Right now a new terminal is being finished up, and it will have seven gates for Delta Airlines and three gates for other airlines. Construction is also underway for a new public viewing area that will include a playground, picnic area and space for food trucks. The biggest project is a new runway, the fourth for Charlotte and the only new runway being built in the US right now.

Most of us on the tour thought we would be looking at the inside workings of the airport, but in fact that was not the case. They put us on two buses so we could see the massiveness of the airport holdings and get a closer look at the control tower and out buildings, including the original airport terminal building. We also parked by the runway and watched some planes take off and land.

The tour was interesting, and I hope we go back for the other tour which does include going inside the terminals. They are also getting ready to open the Sullenberger Aviation Museum in June. A Smithsonian affiliate, the museum will house artifacts of importance to North and South Carolina aviation history. Of special note is the "Miracle on the Hudson" collection, which will include the actual jet that landed on the Hudson River in 2009. The plane was headed to Charlotte on the day it made its emergency landing, which is why the local museum received the exhibit. That would be another fun field trip for us to go on.

Charlotte Airport