Sunday, September 8, 2013

Who Has Touched the Sky?

"Who has touched the sky?"

"Who has seen the clouds as they went singing by?" 

 "None but the few, the who knew the sun by its first name."  

(Go HERE to hear this in all its glory.  Courtesy of Rod McKuen and Anita Kerr and the San Sebastian Strings.)    

I've loved this since I was a teenager and have the three album set, The Earth, The Sea and The Sky.  

Happy Sunday.  Y'all take care. 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Home Again, Home Again

We're home after two months of escape from the heat, humidity and endless rain down here.    I have mixed emotions about it, though.  I love having so much space and all my "stuff", but its rough when you poke your nose out the door.  

We did not do all the normal tourist things in north Georgia or Asheville.  We've been to both locations before, so they weren't new to us.  We spent time exploring the local activities and places near Asheville.  We didn't hit I-26 a single time during the whole month there.  It was wonderful.   And, we went downtown only twice during the month. 

There is such a difference in the terrain that it make the whole atmosphere different.  I love, love, love those smoky colors over the layers of hills.  We were fortunate to stay at a farmhouse apartment out in the Cane Creek Valley and we have fallen in love with it all over again.   There were days when we definitely needed the A/C, but there were also days when the windows were open to catch the lovely breezes.  We spent a lot of time on those days either on the patio or up top on the deck.  
View from the back deck 
Now, if we could only win the lottery or something so we could easily buy something there.  It's not unusual at all to see homes ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars up to near ten million dollars with hundreds of acres.   

There were also produce farms nearby too.   We drove by a tomato field most every time we went in and out.  They were planting something else on the other side of the road and at first I thought it might be strawberries, but I'm really not sure.  It's just that they looked like the raised rows where strawberries are planted.  

We are not horse people at all, but there were beautiful equestrian estates just down the valley from us.   And long horn cattle!!!  I love those things.  I think they're just magnificent.  

A couple of days before leaving to come home, we packed a picnic lunch and took a drive northward on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was glorious.  There were wildflowers all along the road and on the mountainsides, even though I didn't get good pictures. 

When we got up to the visitor center at Craggy Gardens, the clouds were playing on the mountain tops and it was wonderful. 

When we left Asheville, it was about 84 degrees.  By the time we got up top, it was about 68 degrees and breezy.  The sun was in and out as the clouds scudded through. 

I promise I'll be back soon with a bit more of our trip.

Y'all take care.