The Road Grows Ever Greener

TN, living up to its reputation of “Greenest state in the land of the free”, made the green of TX look pale in comparison.  Wow, the rainstorm the night before that pummeled my little Motel 6 room, left grass that seemed to have grown an extra 6” by the roadside.  The trees got ever taller, fuller and the world seemed to be swimming in chlorophyll.  However, the “green” of my wallet was pretty diminished after the car’s latest surgical procedures.  The tax alone seemed to be about what I would have expected the total cost of replacing an alternator to be.  But then, when my husband and I do these things, we use rebuilt parts and pay in sweat and tears, not currency.  Ah well, this 11 yr old car now has a platinum alternator I guess.  Either way, I was back on the road and that’s a good thing.

Hustling to get to my daughters, I didn’t stop to hike anywhere but the hills rose on both sides of the road and it was a lovely drive, one of those “4-wheeled”, walk in the woods.  Once in TN there were children to play with, more things to be packed and a house to clean from top to bottom.  The good thing of having the dog with me is that even with everything else going on, I was up early walking him, and doing so a few times a day, meant I could enjoy the sounds of so many familiar birds. A constant “drink your tea” of the Towhees could be heard and the scolding and territorial calls of the Carolina Wrens too.  People’s gardens, both floral and vegetable, looked far more like the cover of Miracle Grow than ours in TX.  It has stormed here almost daily so plants look deliriously happy.

Next lap of the journey continued through the mountains, with the Smokies on my right and later Appalachian’s and Blue Ridge bracketing either side of the road.  The breathtaking part of this day’s journey was the combination of rain clouds wreathing the hills, fog rolling down hillsides and filling valleys and a sun that wasn’t so much as rising but just slowly illuminating the scene, to reveal cows in hillside pastures with grass up to their waist, horses frisking along fence lines and the occasional deer, also melting in and out of the woods edge and the fog.  Gorgeous!  And, amazingly, I came across an obscure College radio station playing Celtic music that fit the scene like a sound track.  These are the sorts of things I thank God for!  The announcer had the heaviest Scottish accent and played almost exclusively Scotch tunes.  When I think that is who settled these hills it seemed nothing less than magical.

Later, I would chose to go off the expedient path, to take a hike along the Blue Ridge itself but through mistakes only I, possibly a true descendent of “Wrong Way Corrigan” could make, I spent 45 min heading AWAY from the Blue Ridge rather than towards it! In my defense, with mountains before you and behind you and curvy roads that all look pretty much alike and no real towns or street names, it is easy to get turned around.  Stubbornly though, and because the dog is now standing in anticipation for he senses a walk coming, I backtrack over all the wrong miles, get to where I meant to be, only to find the trails that have you walking the ridge are so socked in with fog that I could be walking in Hoboken NJ for all I know.  Later, through more wrong turns, I ended up down the mountain with all trails leading straight up it again!  Stink!  But there was a trail along a stream and picnic area that would have to do and in fact turned up wonderful mushrooms, and dew lined spider webs, so, I was happy.  A perfect cup and saucer web was so etched in dew that it came out pretty clearly in the picture.

Presently I am in Baltimore, with my daughter, and early morning walks to Harbor side are our delight.  A young Night Crown heron is stalking the trash collected at this little side canal and a Great Blue heron is perched on the edge of a dock looking out at the harbor like any other morning tourist.  And Swifts fly overhead at night making Little Italy pretty much like the real thing.  Another day here, seeing a dear old friend from Boston Science Museum days and then on to CAPE COD!!  Yeah!