the lingering season

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.
--John Boswell

Above: A snowy pastoral scene found near Unicoi, TN.

cabin sweet cabin

There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.
--Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French Historian and Political scientist.

Above: Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN.

snow day

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country.
--Steven Wright (b.1955) comedian.

Cross country skiers enjoy the snow at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton. The man in the bottom photo joked as he went by that he was training his dog to be a husky.

pushy

My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.
--Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American entrepreneur and inventor.

Above: Clearing snow in Unicoi, TN. In the background is Pinnacle Mountain.

dreams

Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken-winged bird
that cannot fly, 

Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams go,
Life is a barren field,
Frozen with snow.
--Langston Hughes (1902-1967) American Writer, Poet and Essayist.

Above: Barn near Watauga, TN.

mountain remedy

Accidents in the mountains are less common than in the lowlands, and these mountain mansions are decent, delightful, even divine, places to die in, compared with the doleful chambers of civilization. Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action. Even the sick should try these so-called dangerous passes, because for every unfortunate they kill, they cure a thousand.  
–John Muir (1838-1914) Naturalist and Conservationist.

Above: The view from Roan Mountain.

go forward

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal. 
--Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Author who was blind and deaf.

Above: A tree stretches out over the Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN.

winter cheer

In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends... 
--Henry David Thoreau, 1842.

Stopped by Wilbur Dam yesterday and found Little Laurel Branch Falls (left) nearly frozen over. The hills and trees are beautiful covered in snow. The road to Watauga Dam is gated in case anybody was wondering.

the highest fence

Fear is the highest fence.
--Dudley Nichols (1895-1960) American screenwriter.

Above: Fort Watauga at the Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN.

idle time

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
--Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer and humorist.

The Covered Bridge at the Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens in Unicoi, TN (taken last February).

time slips away

Time by minutes slips away,
First the hour, then the day,
Small the daily loss appears,
Yet soon it amounts to years. 
--Ronald Tierney (b.1944) author.

Time got away from me and I didn't get these photos posted until now of last week's "sneak peak" at winter.  Glad to have warmer weather this weekend! These scenes are of Unaka Mountain in Unicoi County, TN.

autumn snow

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
--Bill Morgan, Jr.

Above: Unaka Mountain covered in autumn snow. I'm glad winter hasn't decided to dig in its heels quite yet... There's still the beautiful late autumn colors to enjoy. But I have to admit, I love the contrast of seasons on display this weekend. :)

footprints

One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints.
--Proverb 

Above: Blue walking along the Appalachian Trail near Iron Mountain Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Much more snow up there than I anticipated finding! I thought we all agreed it was spring?

wedge issues

We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) US President.

a dream deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode? 
--Langston Hughes (1902-1967) American Writer, Poet and Essayist.

Above: A sagging barn containing one deferred dream in Unicoi County, TN.

To place this poem (entitled "Harlem") in its intended context, hear it read by actor Danny Glover with images of the Civil Rights struggle in the 1950s and 60s.

cover them with kindness

Kindness is like snow - it beautifies everything it covers. 
--author unknown. 

We ended up with about eight inches of snow in Unicoi, TN - more than enough to make most people hunker down yesterday. I did manage to get out and take some photos late in the day. This is of the covered bridge visible from Unicoi Drive between Johnson City and Unicoi.

the measure of life

Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life -- not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving -- not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness -- not by our seeming greatness.
--William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) American author, pastor and teacher.

look ahead

Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.
--Byrd Baggett

jump right in

To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can. 
--Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English Clergyman and Essayist. 

Not sure why I was surprised I had Round Bald in the Roan Highlands to myself yesterday in 15 degree windy weather. I actually expected to find more adventurers taking in the beautiful winter landscapes.

be not afraid

There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid. 
--Frederick W. Cropp  

Above: Seeger Chapel on the campus of Milligan College.