May 19, 2002 ~ Showing Off the Blue Ridge
My mother and stepfather had never seen this part of the country in the warmer months. Ironically, right when they got here, it got cold, but at least the vegetation and wildlife has returned for the season. I decided to take them up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. We went to the Folk Center and several viewpoints, but the first real stop was Craggy Gardens.
On the hike up to the top, this trillium posed for me:
And so did this tree:
My mom kept stopping to marvel at the flowers and plants that she had never seen before. It was a beautiful hike, in the dappled sunlight under the craggy rhododendrons and mountain laurels. We were lucky for such a clear day. We could see for miles.
At the top, a butterfly landed next to me:
I told my mother a story about another time that a butterfly had landed next to me, recently. I had looked down and it and had become incredibly nostalgic, and I wasn't sure why. After a moment, I realized that it was the same species of butterfly that my mother had had in a glass globe when I was a young child. I had spent hours staring at that delicate butterfly, and suddenly I had a live one right next to me to bring the memory back.
Next we headed to Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. There was ice on the trees. On the hike to the top, dead trees were everywhere. As the highest peak, it has the most exposure to our terrible air quality. Acid rain and really bad pollution have killed off half of the trees on the mountain:
The pollutants from all of the Tennessee coal-burning electric plants and Ohio factories is funneled right through this area. Something like 70% of our pollution comes from those two states. It's gross. And it's killing the trees (and raising cancer rates in the area).
The view from the top of the mountain, however, is wonderful:
It was a long and tiring day, and, as we came back into town, Dragon Chinese food sounded wonderful. Now we're back at home, fairly early, considering. And we've all agreed to sleep in tomorrow before we explore Black Mountain and catch a movie at the second run theater. They leave tomorrow night, plane back to Oregon.
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