I had not planned to do a Mother's Day blog, and this one is obviously a day late. My day started with a walk on Owl Ridge trail at the NC Arboretum. This trail was the first I ever remember walking on at the Arboretum when I moved here 14 years ago from Atlanta. Since then, I have walked this 3.7 mile trail probably 100 times. I have memorized most parts of the trail: the rhododendron arbor by the creek, the native azaleas, and the mountain laurels that are now in bud and should be at their peak next weekend. I love so much about this trail, and have walked it with others, but have mostly done it solo. A while back, I decided to go very early on a Sunday morning to walk Owl Ridge, because I figured there would be very few people out then, and I would ideally have the whole trail to myself. I was doing my usual carefree stroll, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large black animal running through the woods about 30 feet away. At first I pretended not to notice, but then acknowledged to myself that it was a bear and, ignoring advice that says one should not panic or run when a black bear is seen, I ran the rest of the way down the trail! Talking with the gatekeeper as I was leaving, he said I had probably had seen the resident bear, known as "Old Bertha".
Yesterday was a great day to enjoy every part of Owl Ridge. Perhaps my favorite part of this trail is the "pine forest area", as I call it. The trail is wide, flat, and well maintained at this point, and each side is lined with pine trees. Walking through this gives me a wonderfully serene feeling - it is like the Asheville version of the peace I experience in a perfect Asian garden. Years ago, I stopped to enjoy the moment of being in the pine forest when a walker coming from the opposite direction stopped at the same time and remarked "Isn't this amazing?" As we walked by another beautiful part of the trail at Bent Creek yesterday, I said to my husband that I remembered Mother's Day weekend 3 years ago when my daughter and I had walked the trail and then had a picnic at that very spot, where large rocks overlooked the water. That was probably my favorite Mother's Day of all time. Allison had come from Portland on Mother's Day and we literally spent the whole day together. And we walked the trail the day afterwards.
Those of us with children living away are not always fortunate enough to spend Mother's Day with our children, so I invited some good friends over for dinner. I thought it might be a nice treat to include one of the pies from the
Four and Twenty Blackbirds cook book. This one is called Derby Pie, in honor of the Kentucky Derby. It is a chocolate pie, and as I thought about making the pie, I remembered my mother's always delicious chocolate pie.The secret ingredient for the Derby Pie is, appropriately, bourbon, as in Kentucky bourbon. It is a creamy, rich pie, with eggs, cream, bittersweet chocolate, peppermint extract and of course the bourbon. I think it is truly decadent, but it is not an overly sweet pie, which I appreciate. A dollop of whipped cream adds just the right amount of sweetness. And a small slice was just enough after a big meal. I have made this pie before, and we have always enjoyed it and devoured it in a short time.
When my daughter called, she asked me how I had spent my Mother's Day. I told her that we had earlier walked the Owl Ridge trail at the Arboretum. She replied, "Oh, remember when we had that neat picnic there on my Mother's Day weekend visit?" I smiled and realized that shared, cherished memories are one of the best Mother's Day gifts ever!
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