Picture This: The North Carolina Museum of History
Picture This: Haywood Hall
Haywood Hall is located in Downtown Raleigh at  211 New Bern Place.
It was built in the very early 19th century and is the oldest house in the original Raleigh city limits that is still on its original foundation. Â To learn more, go to haywoodhall.org.
It’s Hot.
It’s really hot.
Yesterday the mercury finally hit 100 degrees. Last night it cooled down to a balmy 80. Today the temperature once again flirted with the century mark, but with even higher humidity than yesterday.
The heat is dominating the news and dominating conversations. “Hot enough for you?” “Stay cool!” It’s all heat, all the time.
But you know what? It’s August in North Carolina. It’s supposed to be hot. Days like these are why we have high ceilings, big rocking-chair front porches, and iced tea. Days like these also give us license to enjoy life at a slower pace.
Now, don’t get me wrong. We don’t want our weather this hot all the time. If that’s what we wanted, we’d live in, oh, Arizona maybe. But a few days here and there or even a solid week of relentless 100-degree heat in a North Carolina summer are a fair trade-off for the ease of a North Carolina winter.
So kick off your shoes, slow down, and grab a cold drink.
That’s Life in Raleigh.
Garden Woes
So today I pulled up most of my tomato plants. Well, I pulled all of them up except for the cherry tomatoes, even though it’s still the middle of summer here and my plants still looked great. My stress levels should drop now that I no longer have to worry about my tomato plants.
I planted an even dozen tomato plants in this year’s expanded backyard garden. For all of my efforts, we were rewarded with a grand total of two tomatoes on our plates from the garden this summer. Even those two tomatoes were not hole-free, thanks to the birds.
I have waged a backyard battle all summer long against the squirrels and the birds. I tried many things. When I put nets over the plants, the creatures went under the nets or just pecked and munched in spite of the nets. I hung aluminum pie plates in the garden, but that didn’t frighten anything away. I put up a plastic owl, but once again nothing was frightened away. I tried leaving the half-eaten tomatoes hanging on the vine so that the creatures could return to those and leave the others alone. All these efforts were in vain.
The squirrels in my yard have become quite talented at running with tomatoes in their mouths. They can climb trees while a tomato half their weight hangs from their jaws. Oftentimes, however, they are quite content to devour their loot at our picnic table! They seem to love tomatoes at any stage of ripeness. Green, red, it’s all good to the squirrels and the birds. I can’t forget the birds! They’re relentless in their pursuit of my tomatoes, too. Who knew that even robins prefer tomatoes to what they usually find on the ground?
So now we’ll have to be content with cherry tomatoes–(why don’t they like the little ones?!?!)–habanero! peppers, and some eggplant.
That’s Life in Raleigh.
Who Am I? And Why Am I Writing This Blog?
I am Richard Callahan and I live and work in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I live with my wife and three kids in Historic Oakwood in Downtown Raleigh. We have two kids at Enloe High School, one at Wake Tech, and one who’s a graduate of UNC-W and currently living in Connecticut. Rounding out our household is Roxie, a 5-pound spitfire Maltese dog, and Socks, our cat that actually rules our roost.
I have lived in Raleigh since I was a child. Although I was born in Long Island, New York, my parents moved to Greensboro, N.C., when I was very young, and then to Raleigh soon after. I attended Raleigh public schools, graduated from Broughton High School, and then attended Louisburg College. I worked at Surtronics, Inc., a Raleigh company, for twenty-nine years.
In 2004, I decided it was time to try a new career and went into real estate. I am now a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston. I am a Broker, an Accredited Buyer’s Agent, and Quality Service Certified Platinum. I really enjoy the challenges real estate provides and the flexibility it allows. I love meeting so many new people and helping my clients through what is an exciting and sometimes stressful time in their lives.
So that’s who I am.
That leaves the question of why am I writing this blog.
The reason for my blog is that I love the Raleigh, N.C., area and I want to promote Raleigh and all it has to offer. There are so many wonderful things to see and do around here, and we try to fit as many of them into our schedule as we possibly can. I’d like to share observations about and pictures of sights I see, share details of things I experience, make recommendations (or not) of places I go, review some restaurants I eat at, and just try to share what “Life in Raleigh” is really like.
So if you live in Raleigh, I hope my blog will give you some ideas of places to go and things to do and see, and maybe a fresh appreciation for this great city we share.
If you still live elsewhere, I hope my blog will give you an idea of what a great place this is and what it might be like to live in Raleigh, N.C.
Welcome to Life in Raleigh.
www.richardcallahan.net