Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2015

What I did on my summer vacation...and the past year...

A summer afternoon

I have been traveling all around the mountains. Exploring all the riches that surround me. I am surprised on a daily basis how the mountains change from minute to minute. On one side of a mountain it can be sunny and peaceful , then you get to another side and it is dark and stormy. It is constantly changing. Every view is more breath taking than the last. There is a lot to learn and even more to see. 

Mountain Lake
The last year has really been a learning experience. I have been discovering all sorts of new things. Things about where I live and more important about myself. I have finally made a home for myself. After moving, the tragic loss of my father, the beautiful gifts of Gage, Avery, Fitz, Aubrey and Austin (we have another baby due in February), setting up my household and various family things I can honestly say Whew! What a ride it has been. That is my only explanation for dropping out of the blogosphere.

Taking care of yourself is not something that comes natural for most women. We start off taking care of our baby dolls, babysitting our neighbors and siblings. Then, we become mother's and take care of our children and husbands. Always putting their needs first. It is a hard thing to do to learn to take care of yourself, to put you first. In the last year that is something I have been learning to do. Old habits are hard to break. It is a journey, not a race. All these expressions come in to play. I am stuck on the point that everyday I learn something new about my world, myself, and the ones I care about. That these things fill me up with joy. I catch myself humming or just laughing out loud. 

Mountain creek

Simple pleasures have become my Mantra. Getting up early to watch the mist swirl around the mountain peaks. Watching the stars before I go to bed each night. Reading a book under the covers during a mountain rain storm with the windows wide open. Going to Walmart and sitting in the parking lot admiring the million dollar view. Taking a late night drive up on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the windows down listening to the night sounds while discovering a mother bear and her cub crossing the road. Simple food, simple days & nights. A slow healing of my soul. That is where I have been. That is where I am. This is where I want to be.

The sun setting on the mountains


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Before the Storm...Digital Photographs


The Road to Tennessee


 




Here are a few shots I took late
Sunday afternoon looking toward
Tennessee. I am very close to the
Tennessee/North Carolina border.
You can see the swirling clouds.
Soon warm air is going to be touching
Arctic air. Lots of snow in the
higher elevations are expected.
One of my boys who lives closer
to the Eastern Continental Divide
is expecting a foot or more.

Hurricane Sandy is one of the
reasons I left the beach after ten
beautiful years. I just could not
face the destruction and the impacts
associated with these storms.
After living almost a lifetime of
watching them come by up close and
personal I decided no more. I do
understand that snowstorms can be
dangerous. However, with a little 
planning you can get through them
pretty unscathed. There is no
running from Mother Nature.
I guess it is a little like
picking your poison - earthquakes?
tornadoes? snow storms? hurricanes?
I chose snow!