Is there a possibility of feeling serene and excited at the same time? If so, this is how I feel standing high atop a mountain, looking at the world below. This sense is particularly true when I can’t see the hand of man anywhere in the view.
Fire in the Smokies
I spent the week before Thanksgiving in Georgia, visiting family. I got up early on Monday and headed for my parents home. From London Kentucky on south, I drove through the smoke and haze created by the numerous forest fires raging though the Smokies. An hour away from my destination, I stopped in Tallulah to see the gorge. This is the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River and one of my favorite stops. My sister, Kelly lives just across the road, tucked up in the lee of a mountain.
As you can see, the smoke settled into the gorge, filling it with a burnt haze. The smell of it filled the air. And while, I normally enjoy the scent of a wood fire, I ‘d been sitting in the smell for hours and was done with it.
This scene was captured atop Black Rock Mountain just a few minutes before I arrived at Tallulah Gorge. You can see that the view is completely filled with the smoke of the fires burning near Tiger, GA.
The Smoky Mountains were definitely living up to their moniker.
Patience
Sarah watches every step of the sausage making process. She doesn’t try to get close. Instead she waits patiently. She knows that, at the end of the day, some of the sausage will end up in a skillet over the fire and that she will receive her share.
Light is Wonderful
There are times when the quality of light is a pure joy to me. On a recent visit to the farm, the sun and clouds combined in a way that seemed to defy the overcast sky.
Here is a second example. The scenery behind Jason and Charley almost looks as though it’s been painted on canvas. To me, the light feels surreal.
Do you ever experience light in a new or amazing way?
Blond in a Yellow Swimsuit
tim mcmurdo 