As usually happens with me, about midway through the month of August, I start getting an overwhelming feeling of being boxed in; and, as we approach the beginning of school, my box gets smaller and smaller .... almost to suffocation. I know this happens to me, because the free days of summer are rapidly coming to an end; and, the 180 days of lock down - which are the public school year - are rapidly approaching.
So, as the Labor Day holiday weekend loomed on the horizon, I determined to make an adventure explosion become a reality. My plan was to make one last day trip to the Eastern Shore, and then head over to the mountains for three days. I have an adventurer's spirit, so traveling like a mad woman was never a factor in getting it done. However ..... man, did I ever have to kick down some doors .... just to get the one day I actually got.
First ..... hurricane "My name is Earl" foiled the eastern Shore plans. Not because I was at pause over the storm, you understand, but because the island was closed for damage inspection.
Bugger!!!!
Second ..... and I pose this as a Q&A ..... who in the world seriously schedules a football scrimmage on a Holiday Weekend????? SCYFA!!!! That's who! Man, you want to talk about being ugly ugly!!! My plan was to bump out of here early Friday morning after I dropped the spousal unit off for his flight to upstate NY for his"manly man" weekend with his Marine Buds. NOT!!! A scrimmage at 0900!!!! And, when my boys are both on 1st Defense and two of the three down linemen ....
Bugger! Bugger!!
Anywho .... we eventually made it out of this house, out of this town, off on our adventure ... dog in tow! It was late when we got to Angie's, because we did a 4 mile loop hike to see Cascades Falls on the way down .... but the just of this story all happened on Sunday anyway.
We got up early-ish ... :) ... and headed out to conquer the day! Quick stop at Mickey D's for sustenance (sp?) and off we went to Jessee's Mill for our first photo stop. WHAT FUN! As the kids sat happily in the air conditioned vehicles, Angie, Keith and I were climbing through weeds, up and down hilly slopes, under branches, around trees and over barbed wire to get some really cool pictures of the Old Mill and the little water fall that sat behind her.
Next stop was scheduled just outside Dungannon to see the Upper Falls on Little Stony Creek. Happy little walk about 1/4 to 1/2 mile down the trail path to the bridge that walks you immediately over the top of these falls. WOW! WOW! and WOW!
We climbed around, down, behind, inside and covered every inch of this beautiful little waterfall. They haven't had much rain down there this summer, so it wasn't as full as some of the pics I saw on the web, but it was beautiful. (Photographers note .... I am in serious need of a circular polarizer, a neutral density filter and a hood for my camera) Sadly, we didn't all move forward to the next locations, because the working girl had to clock in at 4; so, Dad took her home ...... but the sisters and their sons headed onward and outward for more adventure. Little did we know what was just around the bend .....
Driving out from the Upper Falls parking lot, we noticed a little man made pullover ... big enough for three or four cars. Not being under a timeline now .... we decided, what the hey? Lets see what it is. So, we park, and, once again, the kids decide to rest in the luxury of the air conditioned vehicle and Angie and I set out to see what was at the end of the sandy little trail. Thinking it probably was an overlook of some sort, and we'd be able to see the falls in the distance. We were wrong! We walked and didn't see anything .... just a sandy little trail and some trees. The thought of turning back was quickly overcome by the fact that we both decided that whatever we were looking for out there was going to be just around the next turn, and, if we went back, we'd miss it. So onward we stayed.
Then we saw it. The little rock formation that jetted out the side of the mountain. That must be it we thought! We were wrong ... again!!! That little rock led us to the real treasure of the path. A HUGE rock formation that literally held us against the sky, atop everything, ~ 2500 feet elevation ... The towering trees that cover the face of this mountain were very much like paint daubs in shades of green, the hawks that soared were below our line of vision, the wonder of the falls we had just left was a pleasant memory in a photograph and the hustle and bustle of traffic and noise and work and life had no place in this moment in time. From our new vantage point we could see forever ... the view panned out across the Clinch River Valley Basin far into the blue silhouetted mountains that stood against the distant horizon. Incredible! Indescribable! And truly lain out by the hand of God! There is no way it can be anything other.
I had prayed for an opportunity to get out of this house this weekend. What I got was the opportunity to stand on the top of the world with my sister. To get any further away from the enclosing walls of life's 9-5, I would have had to sprout my wings and fly!!!!
Winging It,
Kalena Flying
No comments:
Post a Comment