The weather has bounced back cold – it’s 30 on the porch – and there’s been a chilly wind. Wednesday, we had a fairly strong thunderstorm that left us with a welcome 1-3/4″ of rain. The rainfall totals for the past month or so have been close to normal in the Tennessee Valley, but the story is that runoff has been significantly less than usual, presumably because the rain is replenishing the water table rather than running off.
The Blue Ridge Business Association claims that 5,000 – 6,000 people visited the Fire & Ice Festival last month. I can’t vouch for that, because we couldn’t make it, but it’s impressive, given the cold, rainy weather.
The next big whoop in Blue Ridge is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Blue Ridge, sponsored by the Boro Inn Irish Pub. That’s on Saturday, March 18th, starting at noon.
For you fans of southern rock and Texas blues, ZZ Top is playing the Anderson Music Hall at the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee on March 7th.