Picture This: 216 West Jones Street, Raleigh
The N.C. Governor’s Mansion Gardens in Autumn
On this glorious October day while walking through Downtown Raleigh between the Glenwood South Global Fare street fair and the Cooke Street Carnival, I stopped to admire the grounds of the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion. Â With our run of mild weather, the annuals and other summer plantings are quite large and still blooming and showing off their colors and the leaves on the trees haven’t yet started to turn.
But signs of the seasonal transitions are easy to spot. Â Many of the vines and trees have hanging seed pods. Â And while there are still bell peppers and other summer produce growing in the kitchen garden, the cool weather collards are off to a great start, too. Â The groundskeepers have begun planting pansies, that sweet flower that seems to be made for N.C. winters. Â And there are so many flats of fall plants and flowers lined up on the sidewalk inside the gates of the Mansion waiting to be put into the ground.
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 It sure would be nice if the governor’s gardening crew would come a few blocks east and give me a hand in my gardens!
That’s Life in Raleigh.
2012 North Carolina Main Street Fire Parade
While the skies may have been gray, the faces in the crowd watching the North Carolina Main Street Fire Parade Saturday in Downtown Raleigh were happy and excited.  Bagpipes, flashing lights, and sirens on all types of fire trucks, new and old, made their way down Fayetteville Street in a very short parade as part of the 2012 South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo.
That’s Life in Raleigh.
Raleigh’s Downtown Hawks
Not only is Downtown Raleigh a great place for families to live, it’s also a great place for red-tailed hawks to make their home. Â We learned about these feathered neighbors at the Downtown Lunch Break Hawk Walk sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
There’s a pair of hawks nesting near the steeple of the First Baptist Church on Salisbury Street, directly across from the Capitol. Â According to a bird expert from the museum, these hawks nested in the same spot in 2011 and raised twice the usual number of young. Â While the number of hatchlings in the nest this year is yet to be determined, the pair have adapted well to urban living and raised four in 2011. Â The food is plentiful and there’s no real competition for it. Â The grounds of the Capitol grounds seem to be a squirrel haven, plus the red-tail hawks also like to feed on pigeons, starlings, and rats.
So bring your binoculars and to get a good look at this particular pair of hawks and their nest. Â (And they’re not the only ones living in downtown.) Join in on one of the museum’s hawk walks this spring.
And definitely check out the amazing Raleigh Raptors Blog for updates, pictures, and information at http://opienc.wordpress.com/
I’m really hoping these hawks make a big dent in the squirrel population in Downtown Raleigh, thereby protecting my tomato crop from those crafty little pests.
That’s Life in Raleigh.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a Wolfpack Fan
Our N.C. State basketball team has made it into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.  It’s been a while since we’ve been here, and we’re very excited to be back.  So excited that it seemed appropriate to  dress Sir Walter Raleigh up in a Wolfpack jersey.
That’s Life in Raleigh….a/k/a Wolfpack Country.
Snow: Now You See It, Now You don’t
Aahh…..this is how we like it. Â Yesterday evening we enjoyed a beautiful snowfall. Â But now, the very next morning, the streets are just damp and there are only traces of white on surfaces and dotting the grass. Â Even better, our only snowfall this winter started falling on the eve of President’s Day, lessening the distress about the morning commute and the anxious speculation about whether schools would be open or closed.
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh that there’s a long list of schools and businesses  that are starting on a two-hour delay though there’s hardly a flake in sight.  Our workweek is forecast to end with three seventy-degree days.  It seems like we really have the best of both worlds this week:  The beauty of snow and the glory of open windows and a fresh breeze.
That’s Life in Raleigh.