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

A mountain ridge is not flat along the sides

March 17 is St. Patrick's Day.

In the literal observation of a Saint from the Catholic church, even though he has some great stories attributed to him, most Protestants in Ireland would not be observing this holiday.

In fact they wear Orange.

As a protestant - or at least not Catholic, I tried that once. Got many pinched arms as result.

SO  - I go along with the flow. There are many times more Irish descendants in the USA than there are either Catholics or Protestants in Ireland. I kid you not. Thousands more!

A pretty dawn sky  before rain started last Friday.

When a low sun hits my ridge view, suddenly it's not just a silhouette, but has three dimensions. But you have to be fast to capture what that sun is telling you. Bear with me that looking at that ridge through the many branches of trees is really an enjoyable pursuit for me. It will soon be gone for about 6 months of having leaves outside on these trees.

Within minutes you can see all the slopes are crenelated, and not just a flat surface which the usual dark mountains against bright sky lead one to believe.

I love being able to imagine how roads travel up through the mountains. (Yes I posted this a few days ago...did you notice?)

The end of the day.

Vincent van Gogh painted the scene of The Starry Night, which would become one of his most famous works, a total of 21 times.

Today's quote:

One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul, and yet no one ever comes to sit by it. -Vincent van Gogh, painter (1853-1890)

Some old views in western North Carolina mountains

George Vanderbilt's summer hunting lodge on 1920s postcard. Built in 1897 this property was part of the Biltmore estate near Asheville, NC.

The other side of the economic coin, a holler takes you home. Many people lived up in the hollers in these mountains. They had everything to meet their needs, and some didn't even know they'd be considered poor.

Chimney Rock, 1935 in Rutherford County. It's still a big tourist attraction.

In 2013 I visited Chimney Rock with visitors from out of state.

Another postcard, of the railroad coming to black mountain. I love that there's a little train in the forebround, going over a waterway, and then losing itself into a huge rendering of Andrews Geyser. There really are many twists and turns and tunnels on this stretch of the way. These days only freight trains go through these loops.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week. There is some relation between the train and the bus, and there were many old cars in the parking lot too! 

Today's quote:

"The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in."  Northrop Frye,

 

Coming home repost

In 2012 I posted these photos as I returned from a Florida or Georgia visit.

So here's the important part of coming home.

It's hard to tell that this picture is in one part of the state or another, but for me it's the first glimpse of a mountain straight ahead.

Whow...look at those clouds over the pass.  Will I get smacked with another rain storm?  (I exited the highway at a Mt. Airy exit earlier, and got turned around getting onto I-40 west.  It just felt like I was going east for the first 5 miles)

Not a bad shower, but left windshield a bit wet as I went slowly around the switchbacks of Old Fort Gap.  Notice I'm driving over in the truck climbing lane...and there wasn't a single semi on it!

I hope Linda Starr sees the highway right here in Black Mountain that has the Blue Star title...in honor of American Ex-Prisoners of War.  I dare say half the people that live here have no idea that's the name bestowed upon our "State Street" or Hwy 70 as it comes into town. (I don't remember if this sign is still up on Hwy 70 in 2023.)

 

I turn past the primary school on Richardson and love the yellow flowers and yellow busses together, seen through the reflections in my car windshield.

And I'm so happy to see my little cottage is sitting here waiting for me, and my friend Tim has mowed while I was away.  What a sweet feeling!  Home sweet...you know.

2023 note: I lived in that one bedroom cottage on Beech St. until 2015 when I moved to Blue Ridge Apartments.

Today's quote:

It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die. -Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel laureate (1918-2013)

Cat sitting

A lovely drive up to the house where Miss Cat lives. Friends decided to go to FL to see her sister, so they asked me to drop by twice a day to feed Miss Ella Cat. I've done this before for them when they had 2 cats.

Anyway, here are some photos I snapped last night on the drive up the mountain in Swannanoa.

A lovely variety of Azalea - at first I thought Rhododendron because of the color...but the leaves are wrong.

Two views of a bit of a mansion, with lots of landscaping all around.

Next house up the slope is also well landscaped and architect designed.

View of same house through windshield as I left the next morning. That sounds like I spent the night, but I went up and down the mountain each time!

First view of my friends house...he is an architect so designed it himself.

Finally at my destination. 

Cat hasn't come out from under the covers on the bed yet. But yesterday she ate all her food. I'm thinking she must be nocturnal. We shall see tomorrow.

I did peek under these covers to make sure she was alright. She looked back at me. Eye contact made!

Today's quote:

The beauty of the mountains

When it finally got above freezing yesterday, and my cough had settled somewhat, I drove up to Montreat to the 25% sale at Ten Thousand Villages store. As I turned onto Montreat Rd. in the center of Black Mountain, this was what I saw.

No snow had fallen (that I saw) that morning. But on the peaks there sure was a nice coating showing off. Here you see the Fire Station behind the traffic, and the spire of the First Baptist Church. It faces Montreat Rd. which takes a swerve in that direction. I always think it's straight from this intersection, but it curves several times.

So I had to go to my favorite view of snowy mountains over the lake, at the "no parking" place where I parked and said a prayer and incantation that my 2 minutes to take a few photos would keep it invisible.

As you can see, I didn't even walk down the hill to the path around the lake. It was quite breezy and cold off the water, so I set a record getting back to the car.

Today's quote:

Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves.

 - Robert Neelly Bellah, sociologist and author (1927-2013)

Enjoying Mount Pisgah

Some shots to share a mountain joy - 19 days apart!

 The view to the south does point to beautiful mountains. First trip April 10, 2019

 There's a rather abrupt drop-off, so we stayed on the path! Hope nobody brings little kids here unattended!

The changes in 19 days are to turn all these mountains green soon.

April 29, 2019.

April 10...

April 29

The lookout platforms behind us.

There's the hotel/inn behind me.

We loved these rocking chairs below the hotel and restaurant!  I got sunburned a bit!