A Different Point Of View

I took a long hike into the mountains behind us today...part of the Nantahala National Forest...the only sounds were leaves crackling beneath my feet, a few birds that I could hear but rarely saw, and the wind.  I felt like I was on top of the world...

I hiked to this outcropping (about a 5 mile round trip or so) because I knew I'd seen the cabin from that vantage point when the trees were bare before...which can be seen from one of the roads near our cabin, I'll share a picture of that another time...

 ...and was surrounded by the majesty of the mountains all around me.  Sure enough, there was the cabin...it's just below center in the picture below, the tiny spot with a silver roof (you can click on the photo to enlarge it)...

 ...this is zoomed in to the cabin...

...it made me appreciate the fact that we live the midst of the impressive Southern Appalachian mountains.  Surrounded by beauty, feeling on top of the world and at the same time seeing just how small we are in comparison...not in a negative way, just reality.

There were many beautiful sights during this hike...

 ...but also something disturbing...there's an area that was logged last year, and even though I've seen it from a distance many times, seeing it up close made me feel sad...

...not quite clear cut, but certainly not what it used to be.  There's a lot of controversy about whether or not this action is actually good for the forests or not...

 ...but to come across a piles of lumber just tossed over the mountain's edge made me angry...if logging companies are going to cut the trees, then every single one should be used as intended and not discarded to rot.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, I'll share this quote of his..."It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”  The logging industry might want to think about this. 


Back to our cabin in the woods...this is the view from the cabin to where I was today...you can see it in the bottom left corner, the outcrop is behind the trees just to the left of the power pole near the top of the mountains and the logged area is on the top of the mountain just to the right of those same trees (click on the photo to make it larger)...

...perspective is everything.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise