October Color
99'
This Site is following a short October Vacation in the mountains of North
Carolina and Tennessee. Check back here often to see updates during
the week of October 17 th. These pictures are all shot with an Olympus D600-L digital camera and are being uploaded each night. Forgive the poorer resolution of the copies that are saved here. The resolution and size have been reduced dramatically so that the images will load fast. The originals in the Computer are much better.
Morning
Tennessee Dressed Up For Fall... I have been around this country quite a bit and nowhere else I have visited goes quite as far as this part of Tennessee, when it comes to "dressing up for the tourists." Virtually every commercial property, as well as many private homes (even trailers, as it may be) has outside of it a scarecrow or pumpkins in a pyrimad, with bales of hay and various other "Oh Wow, It's Fall" type of decorations. One hotel in Pigeon Forge even had a spray of pine, with BIG orange bows affixed to the balcony of every room on every floor. Jack took these two shots to give an idea of what we are seeing Everywhere.
On the way to Cades Cove, in Wears Valley, we came upon this example of what happens to ignorant city folk when they mess with country folk.
Afternoon - Cades Cove This is a beautiful park that is devoted to preserving a sense of what the area was like in the late 1800's and early 1900's. There are homesteads to explore - none lived in, but all with the history of their builders/occupants during the time mentioned. As you stand at the threshold of each of them, you are awed by the beauty of the view and the good sense and good fortune of the men and women who lived here in simpler times.
Fortunately for us, we have been to this place before, one spring morning, when we felt virtually alone during our drive and walks here. Unfortunately for us, we are now driving through the park at what appears to be the busiest time of the year. The steady stream of cars came to an abrupt halt at one point. Fine with us - we love it here. Not so fine for the people who decided to start blowing their horns - just in case that magically decided to work, for the first time in their lives.
We learned the reason for the traffic jam as we eventually drove through the site. There were two mama bears in two separate trees with two baby bears (shades of fairy tales?). These bears were trying to take a nap. Hard to do with about 60 people gathered around the base of your chosen nap site, gawking and pointing and making whirring noises with their cameras. The poor things!
Further on, we came to a place we could pull off the road and really enjoy the view. Even in a heavy haze, as you can tell from the photographs, the feeling of the richness of this place comes through. The beautiful colors, which were more visible when it was sunny, are just a temporary costume, in any case. This area of the world feels very real. Only a few miles away from the honky-tonk places like Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, there are places where you can really hear your heart beat - there is nothing out there to create any static. It feels like every breath you take is refocusing your energy in ways that restore and delight you. Can you tell I really like this place?? (No, Lynn, not more than Eire. My heart sings there; but, here I can smile - alot. By the way - not far away from where Fraser's Ridge would have been.)
The Two of us in Cades Cove
A Stream in Sugarland Valley.
Along some roads in the area, there are small signs pointing toward "Quiet Walks". There are small parking areas near the entrance to each of these walks. We stopped at one of them this afternoon, just as it was beginning to drizzle. It was great; it followed a nice size stream and meandered through a peaceful forest. We hope to go back in better weather.
