Just Local

10/12/2026

When I was a kid, before the internet 🤣, I'd go to the library... a lot.
If I was researching something, I'd always come home with books that weren't related to the subject... at all.

The reason was how sections were organized. I'd see book titles and subjects that inspired my curiosity, and I'd take them home.

I have similar feelings about Google before AI. A huge amount of my farming knowledge came from Googling questions and looking for Cooperative Extension or other vetted resources to solve crop and livestock mysteries.

I'd also start getting deeper into subjects just by following clicks down the rabbit hole (of real sources, mind you. not YouTube superstars).
Thoughtfully Googling was like going to a super cool library.

A.I. takes this journey of discovery away.
Technology, as a whole, is leading us away from so many parts of the human experience.

I literally would leave a library with 20 some pounds of books in my backpack, now your given a weird little breakdown, citing anything from magazine articles to a trending influencer as 'fact'

Bring your kid to the library.
Disable AI responses to your searches.
Stop using those darn cute photo manipulator apps.
Go be curious.
Read something random and pay attention to the sorce.
Use the most amazing human skills we have: imagination, ingenuity, curiosity, wonder, and the ability to be truly human.

Go, and be real about it.

10/10/2026

Who wants to see me get not one, but TWO pies to the face??
And if you register to be a volunteer, not only will I be grateful, but we'll get to connect again 💛
Miss y'all, so join in the fun!

🥧💥 MEGAN IS GOING TO OUT-PIE ME!!! 💥🥧

That’s right, folks. Megan is willing to take not ONE, but TWO PIES TO THE FACE! 🥧🥧🤣

BUT THERE’S A CATCH!

🐾 She NEEDS 20 VOLUNTEERS TO SIGN UP! 🐾

Here’s the deal: Sign up for whatever shift or job works for you, and when it asks for your work number, just write:

👉 “Megan gets a pie to the face!” 👈

We especially need help making Paws in the Park a success AND getting our Trail Buddies dogs out to enjoy the festivities!

And P.S. — if you’re bringing a Trail Buddy, YOUR DOG IS ENTERING THE PIE EATING CONTEST! 🐕🥧😂

20 VOLUNTEERS = 2 PIES IN MEGAN’S FACE.

It’s for the animals, people. She will do what she has to do. 🤣❤️

NOW THE REAL QUESTION IS…

🎯 WHO DO YOU WANT TO SEE GET PIED IN THE FACE NEXT?!

Tag your next victim below! 👇🤣

09/30/2026

*BBQ and Bluegrass Festival has been POSTPONED*

Do you miss me?
Do you love the smell of BBQ?
Do you care about all the great things Mitchell County Animal Rescue does in our community?

COME HANG OUT!

Your favorite new Community Outreach Coordinator (me) and MCAR's Fearless Leader (Katie Elkins) could use some help sharing the good news about new programs, foster opportunities, and all the great ways we can support our animals and our community.

If you can spare a few hours this Saturday, and wouldn't be sad to get into the BBQ and Bluegrass Festival in Spruce Pine for free...holler at your girl 😉

09/28/2026

Phew. Two years.
You'd think we'd feel better by now.
Progress is slow, which logic would insist makes sense.
But it's still surreal.

Hurricanes don't happen in the mountains.
We know tropical storm inspired flooding, but this...this was unprecedented.
So many have creeks to cross to get to their homes.
We live on mountain sides with ridges and waterways as our property lines.
The earth slid away.

Our lush forests were laid flat for swatches, going hundreds of miles.
Every waterway swelled to such limits that structures and lives went with it.
All the infrastructure was just gone.
That's almost impossible to comprehend in our modern times.

There was no more convenience.

No more power.

No more phones.

No "network" to rely upon.

Communities were inaccessible.
Folks couldn't leave their homes unless they were willing to hike terrain strewn with downed trees and acres of river mud.

Our road literally collapsed in one direction and was full of wash outs, destroyed power lines, and debris in the other.
It took three days to see what had happened outside of our holler.

And yet, here we still are.
A few things have been brought back to right, but the hum of generators was drowned out by the roar of community doing what they are designed to do.

Our elders were cared for.
Our differences were forgotten.
We did what was needed and didn't think twice about it.
I still hold onto that.

I'm never going to be the same, but some of that is for the better.
I may never enjoy the sound of wind in the trees, thunder or rain on a tin roof but I can only hope to retain the glory of a community that cares for all in the aftermath of a Hel-ish storm.

09/25/2026

My last day wearing a blue vest was today.
Of course, I'm relieved and excited, mostly to not have to walk 6 miles a day with an awkward cart full of online orders.
I'm too old to make my body do stupid things for an hourly wage.
That's what gardens are for 😉

But, I really was "Happy To Help."
First off, the good people of Mitchell County are (for the most part) adorably polite, like kiss that sweet Memaw of yours for me, polite.
And the fantasticly lost older gentlemen with a grocery list written in beautiful cursive and that glazed look of complete confusion, how could anyone resist?

I loved making eye contact with someone, smiling, and seeing a grumpy face change into an enthusiastic grin in return.
I've probably said, "Pardon me, dear," more in the past 4 months than my whole life multiplied a few times.
It did remind me how much 'leading with love' gives back (it's a ton, and I've soaked it up and used it to get through tough days).

I'll miss all the people who made up my work days, but I won't miss working a job that was polar opposite to where my heart lives.
My wisdom from this experience is to try to leave things better than you found them, even if it is the last place on earth you'd want to be.

09/22/2026

The last 2 weeks of September have a lot to honor by remembering in my life.

There have been things that shook my world and made me different than I was.

Some make my heart swell, and some make my tears well up.

Some celebrations have changed into completely different feelings.

It's complicated.

For one late September, we opened the store.

Another, my husband and I finally got married.

One year, we opened up the store kitchen, and I hobbled around on a broken ankle.

The same day I broke my ankle, I had my first clear check up from cancer threats.

Then there's the storm that changed everything.

Now, I can celebrate a career change that feels like a great way to care, to build community, and still be home by 5 o'clock.

We have many shared sorrows.

I strangely miss having those connection moments, be it talking cancer, bereavement, life, or family struggles.

We also have many shared joys.

Can we honor these few weeks by remembering our collective force and love for each other?

We were pretty flipping amazing in so many ways after the storm.

Do me a favor, savor that.
Live it again.
Never let it die.

Hugs for all.