…and water falls

they are my best friend Carrie’s most favorite flower and time of year.

last year while blooming, she and I drove the Cherhola Hwy to the falls right outside of Indian Boundries.

The highway runs all through the Cherokee National Forest in TN and is a must for anyone on a motorcycle passing through,

{ the H-D store at the start of the line makes that clear right away }

A while back on the phone, I had a dear friend [let’s call her J] recollect tales of her youth at the Cherokee forest, and her frequent visits to Bald River Falls and camping at Indian Boundries.

A place I too frequented in my youth.

She spoke of how any chance she got, she would go.  J eventually purchased a camper, or as she put it her “gypsy wagon”, so as to be able to adventure more frequently with ease up in the Blue Ridge mountains.  She and a friend would go explore the off roads and park the wagon where it seemed fit.

“the laurel was in full bloom

flowers fell into the

flowing water where we

played”

-J

As she told me this, I realized how close I had been to such beauty, how I shamefully neglected it and how much I missed it.   I knew it was there, I saw it everyday and I did appreciate it.  In Knoxville you are surrounded by mountains, its like being held by mother nature.  This was a most comforting feeling.  But I have not experienced the raw and gritty true essence of those magical mountains near enough as I should to be as old as I am.

Now 2500 miles away, I too am surrounded by beauty.  A surreal landscape that at certain times of day in the right light can look like the surface of some unknown planet.  I am trying my best to document it.

although, I do miss my best friend and the mountains and trees in my old backyard.

these dogwoods are from my side yard.

happy father’s day, miss you dad.

happy solstice

🙂