Elk Garden Gap

Cross country skiers enjoying our recent snowfalls at Elk Garden Gap in Southwest Virginia. Elk Garden is a beautiful meadow, or bald, found along Whitetop Mountain Road offering stunning views. The Appalachian Trail also crosses here -- leading to Whitetop Mountain to the west and Mt. Rogers and the Grayson Highlands to the east (map and description of this hike here). Two other trails are also found here: Elk Garden Trail and the VA Highlands Horse Trail.

Directions from Damascus, VA: Take Rt. 58 East 10.6 miles, continue straight onto County Road 603 (Konnarock Rd.) and drive 4.4 miles, turn right onto Route 600 (Whitetop Mountain Rd) and travel 3.3 miles to a well marked parking area on your right.

aim to lose

The aim of life is not to gain a place in the sun, nor to achieve fame or success, but to lose ourselves in the glory of God.
--Eulogy for St. Ignatius Loyola

The alter of the amazing Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, NC.

Grace Episcopal Church

Grace Episcopal Church, built in 1905, is located on a prominent hilltop on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville, NC. This distinctive stone church was designed by Richard Sharp Smith, an English architect who also supervised the construction of the Biltmore House following the death of Richard Morris Hunt. Smith made many other important contributions to Asheville architecture, more information here and here.

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Asheville, NC, built in 1919. This historically African American church was organized in 1880 -- during its long history Mt. Zion has been lead by only five pastors. The large red-brick church building is of late Victorian, Gothic design -- and has many distinctive features: a tin-shingled roof, large art glass windows, and three towers topped with decorative finials. I was given a tour a few years ago and the inside of the church is absolutely stunning with its mammoth pipe organ behind the alter and a beautiful wrap-around balcony. The church is located a couple blocks southeast of Pack Square at 47 Eagle St. More information here.

love lessons

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
--Morrie Schwartz (1916-1995) American educator and author

etched on stone

Love is not written on paper, for paper can be erased. Nor is it etched on stone, for stone can be broken. But it is inscribed on a heart and there it shall remain forever.
--author unknown

Gargoyles at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
Click here to see a unique perspective captured by my friend Earl Carter from atop the tower at Biltmore.

Freedom Fighters

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.
--Thomas Paine (1737-1809) author, revolutionary, and Founding Father

Overmountain Men Statue at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN, site of the 1780 militia muster prior to their march to defeat British loyalists at the Battle of King’s Mountain in South Carolina. The plaque at the base of the statue reads:

Dedicated to the Spirit of the Overmountain Men
Heroes of the American Revolution

A Project of the City of Elizabethton Bicentennial Commission
Dedicated September 25, 1999
Artist: Jon Mark Estep

be you

Be who you are and be that well.
--St. Francis de Sales

calling out

For bells are the voice of the church;
They have tones that touch and search
The hearts of young and old.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet

Bell at Buffalo Mountain Camp, Washington Co., TN

happiness

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
--Thomas Merton (1915-1968) Author and Monk

Stand Tall

The Founding Fathers established a nation under God, ruled not by arbitrary decrees of kings or the whims of entrenched elites but by the consent of the governed. Theirs was the vision of a striving, God-fearing, self-reliant people living in the sunlight of justice and breathing the bracing air of liberty.
--Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States, who would have been 99 years old today.

To see a similar shot that I took last year, click here.

gentle strength

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
--Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Bishop of Geneva and Roman Catholic saint

Another photo from beautiful Rock Creek Park in Erwin, TN.

Directions: From I-26 take the Erwin Main Street Exit (#36), at the end of the ramp turn east towards town and you will immediately arrive at a stop light. Turn right onto Rt. 107 and drive 1/2 mile, turn left at stop light onto Rock Creek Road (Rt. 395) -- continue on for 3.1 miles, turn left at entrance to Rock Creek Park.

two educations

There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.
--James Truslow Adams (1878-1949) American writer and historian

Above: Rock Creek in Unicoi County, TN.

the long road

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.
--Nelson Mandela (b.1918) South African anti-apartheid activist who was jailed for 27 years; Following his release, Mandela was elected President of South Africa. He relieved the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Above: Rock Creek Road outside of Erwin, TN.

Forward Looking

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

Stopped along an I-26 ramp to get this shot of Unaka Mountain this past weekend.