Well, starch my collar! It's Auntie Julia's birthday . . .

. . . and just in time for a couple of Throwback Thursday family pictures!

When Mike and his sister--my Auntie Julia--were little kids, they liked to spend summer vacations in the mountains of North Carolina. Here's a nice picture of them with Grandma Grace. M says he thinks it dates to the early 1950s and that Grandpa George was probably the one taking the picture:

A few years later--1956 to be more precise--they found themselves again in North Carolina, this time at Chimney Rock Park, named for this strange outcropping:

That is one big rock. As you can see, it has a set of stairs you can use to climb up on top of it, assuming you're crazy. But one of the spookier features they saw in the park is a rock formation called the Devil's Head. In this photo, Auntie Julia doesn't seem too fazed by it, but I think it looks downright Halloween-y:

Speaking of things Halloween-y, since that holiday is just around the corner, I'm going to close by putting on my traditional costume to deliver . . .

Be safe on your trick-or-treat rounds, everybody. And to Auntie Julia, I hope this birthday is the happiest one ever!

                                                        Love,
                                                        Buddy