(click pics to enlarge)
Got a chance this past weekend to do one of my favorite things: slowly drive backroads. These pics happened to have come from a Forest Service road off the north flank of the Black Mountains, near Craggy Gardens. Being the weekend before July 4th, there were more than enough humanoids on the Blue Ridge Parkway...but you can almost always beat the crowds by having a good set of maps and a solid sense of direction.
The solitude is well worth it...and while it seems like everyone wants the million mile view, there are plenty of gorgeous, soothing sights right in front of you, especially in these deep woods.
While I had my camera with me, I only brought my little Canon S2 and did not intend to stop and take pictures all the time, if at all. Been to this area plenty through the years, and just wanted to get away from the "concrete jungle" many of us call home...
From the daisies to the fleabanes to the Goatsbeard (above), the color of the day went to the white flowers at this particular bend in the road. Elsewhere some of the rhododendron were blooming their pale blossoms as well, and large leaves reached out into the filtered sunlight to do their thing...
And what would a stop be without access to a little bit of fresh, cold mountain water for Mercy to dabble in? The little blur of her slinging that good tasting water says it all. It was in the low 80s even there, but luckily a nice veil of clouds had formed making the woods even deeper and darker. I chose to handhold the shots and not use a flash...au naturale seemed to fit the bill well enough.
Must go back and stay longer...'letting the world go by' is quite salubrious.
-------------------------------------------------
A note of passage...
Beverly Sills passed away Monday evening after losing her battle with inoperable lung cancer. Coming from a family steeped in operatic training and performance (Mom!), I grew up with Beverly Sills as one of those household names mentioned at times...just a wonderful soprano overflowing with personality. In tribute, below I have a link to a YouTube video of her singing at the ripe age of 7. You'll think it's Shirley Temple at first. Just 7, barely in elementary school...
You GO, Girl!
Peace.
Got a chance this past weekend to do one of my favorite things: slowly drive backroads. These pics happened to have come from a Forest Service road off the north flank of the Black Mountains, near Craggy Gardens. Being the weekend before July 4th, there were more than enough humanoids on the Blue Ridge Parkway...but you can almost always beat the crowds by having a good set of maps and a solid sense of direction.
The solitude is well worth it...and while it seems like everyone wants the million mile view, there are plenty of gorgeous, soothing sights right in front of you, especially in these deep woods. 
While I had my camera with me, I only brought my little Canon S2 and did not intend to stop and take pictures all the time, if at all. Been to this area plenty through the years, and just wanted to get away from the "concrete jungle" many of us call home...
From the daisies to the fleabanes to the Goatsbeard (above), the color of the day went to the white flowers at this particular bend in the road. Elsewhere some of the rhododendron were blooming their pale blossoms as well, and large leaves reached out into the filtered sunlight to do their thing...
And what would a stop be without access to a little bit of fresh, cold mountain water for Mercy to dabble in? The little blur of her slinging that good tasting water says it all. It was in the low 80s even there, but luckily a nice veil of clouds had formed making the woods even deeper and darker. I chose to handhold the shots and not use a flash...au naturale seemed to fit the bill well enough.
Must go back and stay longer...'letting the world go by' is quite salubrious.-------------------------------------------------
A note of passage...
Beverly Sills passed away Monday evening after losing her battle with inoperable lung cancer. Coming from a family steeped in operatic training and performance (Mom!), I grew up with Beverly Sills as one of those household names mentioned at times...just a wonderful soprano overflowing with personality. In tribute, below I have a link to a YouTube video of her singing at the ripe age of 7. You'll think it's Shirley Temple at first. Just 7, barely in elementary school...
You GO, Girl!
Peace.
3 comments:
Bob, looking at your beautifully serene pics, and knowing all about escaping the concrete-jungle myself, I immediately remembered one of my favorite poems, “Where The Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein:
“There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.”
And I also remembered my favorite line from the poem entitled “I think continually of those who were truly great” by Sir Stephen Spender --- the line:
“Never allow gradually the traffic to smother with noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.”
Amen!
Suzy :)
All the pictures were beautiful, but the first two and last one were my favorites. I could almost feel like I was there in the cool shade under the trees. And, of course, seeing Mercy enjoying the water made me smile. Lori
Thanks, y'all! Silverstein is simply one of the greats, no doubt. Backroads are good medicine, and cool mountain water is to Mercy!
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