Below Beacon Heights

Welcome to another of our Saturday
morning car rides , friends. :)
Our selection for you, this time, was
a trip dropping down off the Blue Ridge
Parkway into the Appalachian Mountains
via a not-too-awfully-bad gravel road;
just a bit away from a wilderness area.
Bottom: A view on top of one the rocky
peaks of Grandfather Mountain. The
colors are primarily gray and orange
and evergreen-green against the deep
blue sky (Click all pics to enlarge for
your visit :)) Next up: Rock texture
amplified! This was just a very small
portion of a rock wall (the side of a
mountain opposite a great long view.)
I do *love* my rocks! How about you?
Next up: Awesome long view of some
mountain top (who knows?...not I)
with spiky little peaks that seems to
prick against the blue sky. Next Two:
A small waterfall deep within the forest
with the massive rock-boulders forming
a bed for the water above. Note the rather
large hole worn into the rock next to the
water. Second from top: Gorgeous long
view here. It was a clear day for these shots.
Fall presents itself in all of its glory! Top:
Massive white rocky outcropping deep in the
forest with tress growing seemingly out of
the rock itself on top. I also have a story to
tell about this journey that I will relay later.
:) :) :)

Short Story

They'd held hands along the way;
him entreating her to continue.
It wasn't easy not to look back, or down.
The trellis crossed a racing dull gray river.
In such water, surely, one would be swept away
and never heard from again. She kept thinking,
"Surely...we will see better days."

"We are in a land like Mars," she thought.
"A strange, foreign land. And this isn't me...
this isn't me."

It would be years later that she would look
back with any clarity on the events that had
brought them here.

"This present pain is more than I can bear;"
she would think...and then in the next breath
she would chide herself for indulging in despair;
for swimming in her hopelessness and her self-pity
as if it were a river.

"Things will look clearer in the morning, Babe.
Just take one more step."

The bridge trembled underfoot, but held.
She almost leapt off the last plank,
her relief palpable to be, at last, on solid ground.

Top of the Morning to you!

The sky as it looked, this morning :)
I seem to have caught a plane over the
mountains.
Have a truly great day friends.
(As always, click to enlarge.)

Fall Photos

Top:
The last of the roses for this season...here.
This one is currently bloomed out in the
front yard...I was surprised to see it! And
I do have another bush that has several blooms.
Pleasant surprise.
Next:
An interesting vertical rock stuck among
rocks over a waterfall; taken near Beech
Mountain last weekend. I am a rock person
(in more than one way.) :) Sheeze. I like rocks
on my hand, rocks in my pocket, rock walls,
rock formations and I suppose I even liked
the film "Rocky."
Leaf/Water Shot:
Beautiful color here; the water in a small
pond was so clear that you could see the
colored leaves all the way down to the bottom.
Bottom Two:
We managed to photograph a buck! He really
didn't desire to run; but we were slow and careful!
No fast movements for the shot taken from the car.

Beech Mountain Views

More beauty from this weekend past...
Bottom:
Wild turkeys on the run way up on
Beech Mountain. I imagine that they
have a 'private' home :)
Next:
Golden yellows against a beauteous
blue sky!
Next:
My favorite! A typical curvy road
in the mountains of North Carolina
(with misty mountains
peeking through around every
curve here.) Amazingly compelling;
a storybook world indeed.
Top:
Water rolling off a mossy rock
onto the browning fall leaves...
Enjoy friends :)
(hugs)
lg

Fall on Beech Mountain, N.C.

Our Sunday Drive for you...
Top:
Beautiful yellow flowers crammed
together outside of a local mercantile on
top of Beech Mountain, N.C; the highest
town in the eastern United States,
with an elevation of 5,506 feet.
Next:
Leaves floating on a clear pond
with a reflection...
Next:
Sunlight through the leaves way up
on the top of Beech Mountain! This was
in the smallest park I've ever been in
(donated to the village by a husband
and a wife noted on a small plaque.)
There was a mossy small knoll at this
tiny park's highest peak with a sheer
drop off all around.
Bottom:
The view of some of Beech
Mountain's best livin'. This is also a
winter resort town with great very
frosty skiing.
Come on along!
:)

Today

Leaves leaves everywhere!
Fall is on our heels...
nipping, nipping
with a
gentle tug.
Summer sun hiding~
work to be done.
...Icy chill
with wind that tickles;
racing up our hill.
We will embrace
these darker days
with clouds that hide the sun.
Leaves spark and tumble;
falling they rumble,
a carpet
a lattice
that covers the
hallowed, damp ground.
Down,
down they go~
spooking the dog
autumn.

Gallery...

Capturing Fall

Top: Last night's color.
Next: The road that winds down (and up)
on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Welcoming :)
Next Two: A hairy blooming plant that was beautiful.
Panoramic: The Blue Ridge as it stood, today.
Blue Sky: A view upward of incoming clouds
over the Blue Ridge and some light rays.
Last: The way home; a true one lane
road under a built rock overpass.
It was narrow!

Mellow Yellow

Glorious yellow lines the hill down~
A canopy of lime and butter cream all around.

Fall

Luscious...are the
fall colors on the
Blue Ridge
this weekend.
Enjoy! :)

Silly Me, More Trees, Gatlinburg and a Barn Thrown In

Bottom: Need I say more? :)
(A rare photo compliments of my husband;
yes, just as you have been thinking....it is I~
caught in the act of committing...
photography :))
Next Up: A shot with my camera of the fallen tree over a rippling brook...
Next Two: We recently took our daughter to Gatlinburg, Tenn. It was more fun than I thought it would be! There were shops and food and people galore! The place was packed. We meant to see the Great Smoky Mountains but never got to them; we could see them off in the distance though. They are indeed massive, with most towering at 5-6000 feet and over. Wow.
Top: A barn from the trip (thrown in.) :)

I Hit

2000 on the web counter!!!
Hip Hip Hooray!!!
Here is a Blue Ridge shot
to celebrate! What bliss.

October Pumpkins/Fall Views

We road out to West Jefferson,
N.C. this Saturday past...where at
the local Farmer's market that
we frequent the gourds and the
pumpkins were dirt cheap!
Check out the close-up
of the robin's egg blue pumpkin
(well, gourd!) Next up: Views of
the Blue Ridge mountains from a field;
I love the stripes of grass-trees-
mountains-then the velvety sky.
I am 'always' looking for
stripes of color and of texture
to photograph :)
These photos are mine.
The top waterfall pic
is with my NEW Olympus
camera :) (yes, today we
finally figured out how
to load the pics into
my husband's PC while
mine is in the hospital!)
Enjoy!