Wisdom from the Top

"Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprint of your ultimate achievements." ~ placard at Mountain Crossings

"Often, it's not the load that breaks you down...it's the way you carry it."~ placard at Mountain Crossings

After a rough week that culminated in a gawd-awful Saturday, Piedmont Writer suggested I spend some time in nature. It was just the shove I needed to get off the pity pot and out the door.

Twenty-five miles from my home, Mountain Crossings at Neel's Gap is housed in the historic Walasi-yi Center sitting directly on the Appalachian Trail at an elevation of 3,108 feet. The drive there is beautiful, lined with hardwoods and pines, rhododendron and mountain laurel, on a winding highway with curves and cutbacks, a motorcyclist's dream.

As I drove, my muse took the reins and connected some dots. Lee of tossing it out, had suggested I read Flannery O' Connor. Yesterday, I began. Aha. One dot connected. Zoe C. Courtman wrote today of tension and the power of "Please don't: ________". Another dot connected.

At Mountain Crossings, I bought two books, "Georgia Trivia" by Stephanie Watson and Lisa Wojna, and "A Treasure of Georgia Folklore" by Ronald G. Killion and Charles T. Waller. Nancy, at the counter, is now my new friend. We share the same Sabrina sunglasses and she was kind enough to suggest I leave my car and walk the trail. I took my Sabrinas and "Georgia Folklore" along with me.

Finding a rocky outcrop just off the trail, I sat and read excerpts from my new Treasure. And was transported back to a time when I spent hours in the woods: reading, playing make-believe or just be-ing. And, guess what? Another dot connected.

Driving back down the mountain, I stopped at Boggs Creek with a notebook and pen, my camera and my keys. I shed my sandals and sat on the rocks in the middle of a butterfly playground. Black swallowtails and tiger swallowtails and cabbage whites fluttered around me. With my feet in the creek, I listened to the melody of the water rushing over rocks and felt raindrops splash me lightly through the shelter of the trees.

Sweetly, in that serenity, my ravaged heart healed.

I see my path more clearly. I have a boundary to set. And I have a manuscript that is a living, breathing thing. It's full of life, and more, it's full of surprises. It may even turn out to be a literary 'thing', instead of a light summer read, as I had thought. We'll see.

To those friends who held my hand through this long, dark night: thank you. I am in your debt.

Pictures from top to bottom: Mountain Crossings, Walasi-yi Center, Neel's Gap; overlook at Neel's Gap; Swallowtail butterflies at Bogg's Creek; Bogg's Creek - and yes, those are my feet. :)