In praise of Barbara Hootman, other Letters to Editor

Black Mountain is lucky to have Barbara Hootman

We in Black Mountain are so fortunate to have Barbara Hootman as our nature writer in this paper. Her poetic descriptions of the panorama of the changes of seasons are a joy to read. I would place her in the ranks of such other great naturalist writers as John Burroughs, Loren Eiseley and Wendell Berry.

So thank you, Barbara, for preserving in all of us that childlike wonder of the beauty we are privileged to witness every day in our mountains, and keeping us in awe of the whisper of wings.

Harry Petrequin

Black Mountain

One small step for man, one giant leap for EMS

On Feb. 14 around 6 p.m., I tripped on a computer cord and ended up breaking my right femur.

My wife was hysterical but managed to do what was necessary.

One of those was call 911.

The person on the other end tried to get her to calm down, an excellent attempt.

The EMS came in around 15 to 20 minutes.

To me, it seemed incredibly fast, but I also have to say I was in shock.

When they came, what I remember was five of them with a short woman named Terri.

She was a “giant” from my point of view. She immediately took charge and delegated to every person stuff to do.

They all worked as a team.

She immediately made contact with me and never broke that until we were in the ER.

So I just would like to make a commendation for her and her team, due to their excellent work to get me as quickly as possible to the hospital, which included delegation of duties, her and her fellow workers working as a team, maintaining contact with the client and explaining what was happening, which helped calm the patient (me) in the moment.

Bill Webster

Black Mountain