Flashbacks...

It's supposed to snow on Friday night here
(and on Saturday.)
I'm not sure~~how I feel about this.
Our last winter was the third harshest on record
here in North Carolina.
Doesn't that (alone) say it all??
Excuse me while I call my therapist.

Table Rock Views

Saturday and Sunday Road Trip in the Appalachians
Top: Greens and grays before the sunset;
taken near Blowing Rock at about 3600 feet.
Next Three Down: Views of a rocky outcropping called
Table Rock; a " 3,909-foot summit that appears to be
as flat as the tabletop its name implies. But in fact, it is slightly
tilted, and the surface, irregular rather than smooth,
is a melding of huge boulders. The sandy, dry soil produced
from quartzite erosion is not nutrient rich,
but the hardy plants that take root at the rock's top,
including Allegheny sand myrtle, mountain
laurel, blueberry, pine, and various sedges,
use it to brace themselves against the heavy
gusts of wind that are an everyday part of cliff-dwelling life."
(Sherpa Guides)
To arrive at Table Rock, one must traverse
7 miles up a steep, narrow gravel road from the
Blue Ridge Parkway. The last several miles
to the park consist of a paved, single lane
ultra steep road with turnouts and many switchbacks
to arrive at your destination. There is a one mile hike from the
park itself to near
the summit.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
:)

Your Guess

is as good as mine.
Bottom Photo: What do you think goes in and out of here?
This was a rather LARGE hole that was cave-like
inside along a gravel road deep in the Appalachians;
we did not 'have the guts' to go in and look.
:)
Next Three UP: Sunset series.
Taken from a very high vantage point that was a
real 'nail biter!' We even met a car that was going up
on this one lane precarious road that has 'the view' thus,
we had to stop and back up for them to pass! Ohhhh. Myyyy.
Top: Idyllic stream in the North Carolina woods
with sun light in the
background.
:)

October is Heaven

I took the liberty of zipping to the
Blue Ridge Parkway
to bring you some photographs
this morning
before 8:30A.M.
I saw deer and these gorgeous,
heady shots. The wind,
today was sustained at
blasts of up to 45 MPH.
My favorite: the wind sheering
off of the mountain top and
rolling the clouds up, just like carpets
and the top photo; the misty
'rolling hills'
at about 4300 feet
above sea level.
The Parkway,
where we are situated
consists of 469 miles of such
awe inspiring,
and protected natural beauty
and the best long views
that one can find.
I was glad to be
there
this morning!

Bald Mountain and a Story

Today (Wednesday) is a gray day!
It is blowing light to moderate rain
so that I dare not take out my camera.
Perhaps I will procure a gray shot later,
as the fog and the mist here masking
the mountains and drifting in and out
is amazingly fun and wonderful to study!
The mountains are always changing.
Here is a shot (however) of a rocky,
bald mountain peak through the trees
Saturday, last. Photos never really
do these things justice, as it is
a massive and a bold structure.
Click to enlarge (that may help get my
previous point across!) Honestly,
I am usually quite disappointed at
many of my photos, as they cannot
convey the size, mass and volume
of what 'goes on' here.
The Story (as previously promised...)
:)
...On Saturday,
I saw something that made me
scream out full volume! As I told
of previously, we took a car journey
deep into the Appalachians and off
the Blue Ridge Parkway on a gravel
road to procure the shots that started
the week here on "Whoa...at Home in the
High Country."
The Story: As we were standing near a one lane
bridge with a small waterfall~~photographing,
a convoy of 'bad boy' BIG 4X4 trucks....
(5 in total) came whipping up the gravel
road leaving a gray-white trail rising.
My husband urged me, "Honey, step
off the bridge, quickly!!" (as it was a
true one lane bridge in the boonies
without side rail and such.)
To my amazement, the convoy
never slowed down one iota!
But~~ that's not all, friends. On
the back of the middle truck, which had rails
and a large grated box with compartments
on it, laid draped ONE HUGE (very big;
startlingly BIG) hunter's catch; a very dead
(and I'm sorry here...)
BLACK BEAR.
He was massive in size...much larger than
I ever would have thought or dreamed that
a bear in the parkway could be. Honestly,
I'm no bear expert of any kind (obviously...)
but he looked to be the size of a grizzly.
He was the kind of bear that~~
if I did see this size creature anywhere
near me in the wild woods; I would be
very tempted to simply RUN off. I mean shag it.
He was so large that he scared me
(even in his most unfortunate condition...)
The trucks sped by, stealthily removing their
catch up and up the long and the winding gravel trail.
And they were scary too [I mean the people...
(...and who were they; were they poachers...red-neck
hunter-type people...were they normal people, I mean
???) with their blackened car windows up,
rifles and ammunition everywhere~~and the gravel flying...]
Needless to say, my husband and myself
decided to head up and OUT, at this point as
neither of us had a single clue that it was most likely
bear hunting season in the Blue Ridge.
So today, an ode to the Big Black Bear...
Alas, this one, will travel the Blue Ridge,
no more, no more.

Long Views Extraordinaire

Views Leaving Town
Bottom: Panoramic View of the
Appalachians; I 'hate' to
leave them. (Click to enlarge.)
Next Up: Blue skies and ridges.
Top: The view. This was taken
from a gravel road carved out
of the mountain side with a sheer
drop off. A lone tree is growing
up the side, making it looks as if
the tree is growing in the sky itself.
Have a great day my readers! :)
I will leave you with this:
"Seize the day, seize whatever
you can. Life slips away just
like hour-glass sand."

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...