Barbeque and Amethysts

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting @katrina-ariel in-person, my first real-life meeting of someone from the Steem blockchain! It took over a year-and-seven-months of being here to meet someone because I live in a rather rural area and have not done much traveling lately for several reasons. However, @katrina-ariel was driving through Tennessee and the Carolinas, and was passing only an hour from where I currently live, so we made plans to meet.

Much of my driving to the destination was on two-lane country roads. Katrina, however, was traveling by Interstate highways and her trip was interrupted by a one-hour delay creeping through construction traffic. 😬 So, I arrived a whole hour ahead of her and decided to tour the tiny little town of Saluda, NC, (population: 706) where we were meeting.

^{VINTAGE PHOTO OF SALUDA, NC, HANGING IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA
(Notice the old automobiles in the shot!)}

I had never been to this town before, although I passed nearby countless times. A couple of miles east of the tiny town is a winding, two-lane country road that climbs a rather steep slope referred to as "Saluda Grade." I clearly remember during the early 1970s before North Carolina completed the section of Interstate-26 near the state line, travelers had to exit the highway and climb Saluda Grade on the two-lane for several miles, then resume the Interstate on the other side. It wasn't too bad as long as one didn't get behind tractor-trailers which lumbered slowly to climb the steep slope. I-26 was finally completed in the Saluda Grade area in 1976 and I clearly remember the exhilaration the first time I dove down it!

Six miles west of Saluda is US Highway 25, which I have also frequently traveled between the two Carolinas. So, with that route, plus years of traveling Interstate-26, I have passed west, north, and east of Saluda, countless times, without actually going into the town. Strange how that works, eh?

So I drove through the tiny town, out to Interstate-26, then back to town. Along the way, I saw a pretty horse sculpture across from Saluda Elementary School, and paused to make a photo of it because I know Katrina loves horses!

Here is a map of the town, showing the location of various things I talk about in the post, for anyone who wishes to visit this little village:

^{SCREENSHOT FROM BING MAPS}

I parked in the downtown area and walked the sidewalk outside the store-fronts. Two of the stores were very old,

, established in 1890, which is the oldest grocery store in the state of North Carolina, and which was established in 1899. There were a couple of small bistros, and a place called which appeared to be a shop specializing in specimens of rocks and minerals. I so wanted to go in there, but they were closed, since it was Sunday afternoon.

There was a little Zen Garden in a flower-box outside one of the shops, with a fascinating pattern of smooth pebbles in sand, accented by an old piece of wood:

After an hour of looking around the town, I headed to the restaurant where Katrina wanted to meet —

 — and sat in the car for 15 minutes or so, listening to music on the radio while waiting for a text or phone call from Katrina. I finally stepped out of the car to stretch my legs and grab a smoke and happened to see the back of Katrina's head at one of the picnic tables outside the restaurant. I can't believe I recognized the back of her head, never having met her in-person, but I did, and the presence of two small children, one on each side of her confirmed who she was! I went over to her and got my first hug! 🤗 She had been at the restaurant about the same amount of time as me, and had texted me when she arrived, but the cellular service in the small town prevented the message from arriving at my phone until much later.

In-person, Katrina is just as awesome as I expected — the lady is genuine, with the same personality online as offline. She radiates peace and positivity, and has a fabulous smile! Her children are precious and quite well-behaved, the product of gentle and careful upbringing.

Our food was served astonishingly quickly, and we were able to have a leisurely conversation over a delicious Southern BBQ dinner. Other than fond mentions of a few friends on the blockchain, we didn't discuss crypto or blogging at all, but stayed on topics such as friends, family, partners, parents, children, and life in general. It was delightful, relaxing, and fun.

There were several good teaching moments with her children, too, which I found charming and reminded me of when I was in the same situation, teaching little ones in my care. When Katrina told me, for instance, about what a "good impression" someone had made on her, one of the children immediately asked what that meant. I thought it was lovely that he was inquisitive enough to ask, wanted to learn, and that his sweet mother was happy to answer him in terms that he could understand, and did not begrudge his question in the slightest. Witnessing that was priceless.

I gave Katrina a silver coin I'd ordered especially for her, a tiny rainbow-quartz point, and a quartz rock that came from the highest mountain nearby. Her children got coloring books and crayons, and a ball that lights up when caught. 😁 Katrina brought me a copy of one of her books, and a couple of small crystals in an amethyst-colored bag. Thank you, sweetie! 💖

I'm not sure if Katrina realized it or not, but the quartz crystal she gave me is twinned — two crystals that fused together as they were forming! My eyes are getting so bad as I age that I did not even notice this at the restaurant, but only discovered it once I returned home and zoomed-in with my camera lens to make these photos.

Twinned crystals are not incredibly rare, but they are not so common, either. Crystals that are nearly the same size, growing together but with separate points such as these, and growing in parallel as well, are referred to as "Tantric Twins" in the world of crystal lore. Tantric Twin crystals are definitely more rare than most other types of twinned crystals.

The other crystal she gave me was a beautiful little amethyst! I erroneously told her at the time that I did not have an amethyst point, but remembered that I do have one that is heavily-laden with cacoxenite inclusions (which I still have yet to post about), but this is, indeed, my only pure-amethyst point now, and I love it! There are also pretty rainbows in it! 😊

And it is also a twinned crystal... did you notice that, too, Katrina...?

So, it was a wonderful time, visiting with the amazing @katrina-ariel and letting her take my "first-Steem-meetup cherry" 🍒

And, lastly, in honor of @enginewitty, this is to confirm that Katrina and I did a boob-smashing hug, just for you! 😁