Tag: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Nature Reflects Glory

Our family loves the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and I was thrilled to discover two new webcams in the park. This view is from Newfound Gap. The other new webcam is on Clingman’s Dome. Due to its elevation and road closure this one is shut down for the winter.

Here is the link for GSMNP webcams.

The site also has links to webcams in other National parks. Enjoy!

Finding Spring~Part 2

 As I’m sure many of you have experienced. The weather this spring has been wildly unpredictable and such was the case during my entire week in North Carolina. One night we had hail, another day it was overcast, but temperatures were mild, then the next day it was snowing. While it snowed for hours, nothing was sticking on our side of the mountain, so we went over to Cherokee to see what conditions were like there.

 

Check out the solar panels.

 

I don’t know if I will ever get used to the difference a few feet in elevation can make.  As we climbed the mountain, we started to see patches where snow was gathering and at the top there was a good inch or so covering the land. Snowplows were stationed in several strategic locations along the way, but the roads were still warm enough to keep the snow from collecting there.

For me, snow is still a novel thing so I am delighted anytime I see it. I was hoping to see some elk in the snow, but they were all hiding. I had to settle for the sheer beauty of trees covered in the fresh dusting. The ranger station and old farmstead at Oconaluftee is one of my favorite places to visit and just wander around. With the snow still coming down I had it all to myself. (Well, my mom walked out with me to take some pictures.)

 

Yes, it was cold!

 

And windy

I could almost smell the scent of a fire warming the homestead and picture myself curling up with a well-loved quilt to watch the snow outside the window.  I have to tell you, I felt like I was in a magical wonderland and couldn’t stop taking pictures. When a cardinal landed on a wood fence rail, right next to a blazing forsythia bush with tiny piles of snow on its yellow leaves, I knew I had to capture that moment.

 

 

Amazingly, the cardinal seemed to want his picture taken and he remained still for a couple of minutes as I inched ever closer. When we returned to the car, I remembered it was on this date more than ten years ago that my grandmother passed away. I felt a little closer to her at that moment and wondered if God may have sent that cardinal to bless me.

I’m seeing more blessings in the little things in life. This encounter with the cardinal, the beauty of my fresh cut flowers, a safe journey through the snow, a warm place to relax with my family. Every day I find things to be thankful for. In some ways I feel like my spirit is experiencing its own spring, awakening from a period of dormancy. I look forward to seeing what will blossom in this new season.

 

Every Writer Needs a Break

Every writer needs some time to get away from the daily grind and focus on their work. I took the first week of March to escape to the mountains of North Carolina. Having the chance to soak in a bit of cooler weather was a huge bonus. I arrived on Friday night and got right to work on Saturday, managing to knock out a little under 4,000 words on Virginia, the third novel in The Coastal Chronicles Series. I had set a goal of 4,000 words a day, so I thought I was off to a good start.

I kept my word goal low because I also wanted to take some time to recharge and spend some time with my family. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a little over an hour from the house and I try to make at least one trip into the Park during my visits. Since it had snowed the previous Thursday, my family and I drove into the Park hoping to find some snow still on the ground. We were not disappointed.

The snow started showing up in small patches, growing larger the higher we went, until the entire ground was covered on either side of the road. I had thought about walking a little ways on a trail at Newfound Gap, but it was windy and I didn’t have a warm enough coat on to venture too far. If I could have this view every day I think I would be much more productive.

View from Newfound Gap

A couple of years ago, elk were reintroduced to the Park and I’ve been wanting to see them ever since. I’ve had a few close encounters with elk during camping trips out west, but these are Smoky Mountain elk. On our way out of the Park I decided to stop at the Visitor Center gift shop. I’d hoped to find a wall calendar I could give to a photographer friend. I’ve been trying to convince him he needs to visit North Carolina with me to capture some great photos of his own. Unfortunately, there were no calendars for sale. Does no one use wall calendars anymore?

There is a wide porch outside the Visitor Center that overlooks a large field where the elk have been known to graze and perform their mating battles. It was getting close to sunset and I’d hoped we would see the elk, but it didn’t seem meant to be. I climbed back in the car and we started for home. God was smiling on me, though. Less than a minute out of the parking lot I spotted them; a herd of at least 30 elk grazing at the far end of a field. We stopped and I jumped out to take pictures. They seemed very calm and accustomed to people; I really wanted to pet one, but I was smart enough to keep my distance, just in case.

Elk outside Cherokee
For the rest of the week, I spent at least four hours each day working, with small trips into town. I spent additional time doing research. There is a lot of information to take into consideration for this book and I’ve struggled to find resources online. Thursday was supposed to be my last full day before flying home Friday. Snow had been in the forecast off and on, but when it started falling it was so tiny I didn’t expect it to stick. Thirty minutes later the flakes had grown in size and we had about half an inch on the ground.

It was magical watching it fall and I had a hard time focusing on my work. When I did drag myself away from the window, I ended up getting into a real groove with the story and had to be torn away from it when my brother and his family came over for dinner.

I was granted a some what mixed blessing on the final day of my visit. I was scheduled for an evening flight out of Asheville but the plane failed to arrive! Since it is a limited service route, I couldn’t catch another flight until Monday. My Spring break was extended an extra two days.   😀 

To celebrate Spring, books one and two of my Seasons of Faith series are on sale! Summer Storms is free and Winter’s End is only 99¢