It was the regionality and subject matter but also the steel underneath the quiet tale that called it to mind when I spoke to Jennifer Greene, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association recently,

Heavy rain fell across parts of western North Carlina on Thursday for the first time since the devastating flooding event from Hurricane Helene and many continue to rebuild their homes.

The rain, floods and mudslides may have received much of the attention from Hurricane Helene, but there were still powerful winds from the devastating storm across western North Carolina. A large portion of the North Carolina mountains saw wind gusts of at least 70 mph from Hurricane Helene on