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My Heart: Tennessee ~
"I'm a West Virginia mountain mama,
but carry me back to
East Tennessee"
There are few places on this earth
that rival where I grew up, or even where I now live. Each of those two places
have their own merits to be counted, but the similarities are many - wide
spaces, farmland, acres and acres of woodlands: Country, plain and simple.
Though I would never have thunk it possible, there is actually a place on this Earth I would rather be than anywhere else- the mountains of east Tennessee, where my husband and his family is from.
Growing up in the foothills and mountains you take for granted the higher ground, steep passes, switchbacks, and the way everything is nestled into its own nook and cranny. Growing up in it, you give it little thought. From the first I laid eyes on the Tennessee mountains my heart has grown fonder and fonder, to the point at which I warn my husband each time we go, look out- one of these days you're going to get me over there and I'm going to refuse to go back to North Carolina.
Yes.
East Tennessee is where I want to be more than anywhere else in the world. Someone argued with me... 'no, Amy, you want to be where you grandchildren are...' and I agree, leaving children and grandchildren behind would be hard, but it isn't all that far from here to there, and who knows? Could be we might all just migrate a tinch west, a tad north, from where we now are.
I have dozens and dozens of photos but
won't bore you with the repetition- - - every mountainside pretty much looks
like the next one you encounter, at least from YOUR point of view, so I'll share
with you my best and favoritest-
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From
the Clinch Mountain Overlook: Cherokee Lake |
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Zooming in |
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And closer still |
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A pile of clouds, from Clinch Mountain Overlook |
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Zoom to the quarry- stripping away the side of the mountain |
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Hannah enjoying the sights, at 2 years old |
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Hannah and her Pe-pah |
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Loaded for bear and with two 4-wheelers to boot... What else do you do in the mountains? That's right- you fish, you hunt, and you ride 4-wheelers. |
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Walk a country mile... |
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From my mother-in-law's front yard |
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The mountain shrouded in clouds |
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Gravel... twisty-turny and full of switchbacks-(and lots of fun on a 4-wheeler!) |
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A 4-wheeler path going up the side of a mountain. Hard to see here, but there is a dark spot in the middle of the photo- that would be a 4-wheeler going up... |
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The mountainside from Aunt Wanda's front yard (another mountainside in its own right!) |
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Another view from Wanda's porch. The ribbon of drive at the bottom is her driveway coming up... |
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It's a burro! |
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Hannah and her Pe-Pah coming back from meeting the burro and calling for the cows; I think she got scared by the bull, who responded to their calling with some calling of his own! |