Greening of the mountains

 I've reveled in seeing the slow (sometimes overnight!) movement of trees' turning green up the slopes from the valleys this spring.

So a few days ago (not on a weekend) I drove up on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see what there was on higher slopes.

Haw Creek Valley overlook from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Most greenery was evident on south facing slopes, or where the roadway had allowed more sun to hit the trees.

I continued to the next, my favorite, overlook.

A panorama shows the little curb of the extension of the overlook, which is designed for disabled access. I saw a jet plane off in the distanced higher than those clouds. And then suddenly the distant sound hit me, somehow carried over many miles, and it was gone again before the plane was out of sight.  A few minutes later I looked straight up and another plane was going overhead quite tiny to see, and I had it's sound just for a brief moment.

Somewhere in that distance is Black Mountain, but it's behind a ridge I think.  I consider this my backyard. I'll take my little chair up here and enjoy the changes through the seasons a few times this year. Once I brought a book. Nope, don't want to look at anything except this immensity of trees, and earth and rocks thrown up into mountains. It's about as far to drive from my home as it is to a doctor's office in Asheville. Guess which one I like to do most!

There are wonderful breezes that come and go on an afternoon. I thought I should have brought sunblock, though the sun was mostly behind me at around 3 pm.

This is my temporary header photo. Since I change the header all the time, I want to keep it here in a post.

I was glad to see a bit of dogwood in bloom. It was hard to get a photo of it, because you can't exactly pull over along the parkway. There are specific pull-out places where people park to go hiking, so those were the only choices besides the overlooks.

Slowing down and taking this through the windshield left a lot to be desired.

Today's quote:

Our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion.

BRYAN STEVENSON

The other dogwood tree

 A Japanese Dogwood.

The pointed petals give it away!

This tree was just starting blooming for this springtime.

Today's quote:

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (1928-2016)

What's going on at home...

 

A gorgeous pink dogwood in front of the Town Offices Building. This one has the blossoms that start pink and turn white, like a fellow blogger mentioned in a comment a few days ago.

My simple 3 ingredient salad...lettuce, tomato and a huge avocado. Dressed liberally with raspberry vinaigrette.

I used to start avocado trees all the time from the seeds. But I'm afraid they have been given some "anti-growth" chemicals so this is the first one I've tried in a long while. It's such a big seed, and not the Haas variety, so my fingers are crossed that it will sprout.

Five days later, moved to a warmer brighter spot. The flesh is quite damp feeling, but no roots yet. I keep peeling off the hard dry shell. Oh well, give it another week.

My kitchen window...and this is the view to the outside.

Today's quote:

One day work is hard, and another day it is easy; but if I had waited for inspiration I am afraid I should have done nothing. The miner does not sit at the top of the shaft waiting for the coal to come bubbling up to the surface. One must go deep down, and work out every vein carefully. -Arthur Sullivan, composer (1842-1900)

Finally a dogwood - and a gloomy day at the lake

There's one blooming across the parking lot from the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. (more below)

I was willing to walk around the lake, and had the time, but some tightness in my chest said no, not today. (I have no heart problems, but at my age, I'm careful.) So after lunch I took this photo, with the early green buds highlighted by the purple mountains.

 Yesterday was sunny, so I walked closer to the dogwood by the parking lot.

It is much more abundant than the ones around my apartment.

Spring blooms

graceful dogwood

The marigold graces the edibles in this pot...from the back forward is broccoli, spinach, marigold, spinach and basil.  Though they were covered with an individual upturned empty flower pot over each one, then a sheet over the whole container on the ground, weighted down carefully, the basil did sustain some frozen leaves on top...as well as the spinach on the outer edges...during one of the 2 nights of freeze last week.  (just in case you wondered!)

 Thought for the day:

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

Ikkyu - Zen-monk poet, 1394-1481

Delicate white blossoms

Quote for the Day:
 
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.  George Washington Carver