Saturday night, at 7:45 and kind of on a whim, I took a trip to the top of Richland Balsam, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway to read and watch the sunset. When I got there, I set up my “soccer” chair, got out my phone, my book and cracked open up a bottle of Hi Wire Brewery’s “Aerialist” and settled in for my front row view of the sun setting from atop the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I immediately took in the grandness, the beauty, the peace and the serenity of this place; a place i’d been before, just not for a sunset. At this time of day, there are few cars on the parkway and it is so quite and peaceful. There are birds chirping all around. The sun is creeping lower and lower, gently hanging over the mountains of Tennessee.
I find it amazing that the atmosphere shields so much of the brightness of the sun and you can look at it without harming your eyes when the sun is that far down on the horizon. The sun appears as a perfect circle, almost like there is a hole in the atmosphere, slowing moving down with a bright light just peering through.
When I arrived at the “overlook” the sky was as “Tarheel” or “Carolina” blue as it could get, the sun still bright in the sky, but slowly descending on the day. There were some wispy clouds in the sky and some thicker cumulus clouds off to the south to frame my view. As the sun crept closer to the horizon, the sky started to turn from blue to orange. Pink tints began to flow out from below the orange glow of the sun and then a stroke of purple lined tops of the distant mountains, which were now deep shades of blues and grays.
The sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains with nothing more than beautiful sun rays left glowing in all colors from below the horizon. The sun had set on another day here, but is rising on another day somewhere else in the world.
I had no real reason to go up there on Saturday, but the thought crossed my mind after I ate dinner and I thought, as I have a lot lately, “why not?” I decided to go up, watch the sun set, relax, read, and just to enjoy some time alone to think about my life, my children and all of the many blessings I have, blessings that I never want to take for granted.
I’m so glad I made the short drive up to The Parkway on Saturday. It was so refreshing and good for my soul. I’ll be back up there soon!
Are you missing out, or taking something for granted that is right in “your backyard” like I was? If so, grab your loved ones, a blanket and just go! Why not?
As John Muir said, “The mountains are calling and I must go.”
Have a great week everyone!
Over the past six months with training and a new healthy diet, I have seen incredible changes in my physical well-being, my strength and even my physique. This is very motivating to me because I finally started noticing more muscle tone and was beginning to feel that increased strength I had gained during runs and swims. Of course, like many others, I wanted those immediate results when I first started to train, but it didn’t happen very quickly. However, with continued work and effort, I did start to notice the changes in my strength and began seeing evidence that there is a “something”-pack in my abs. I had to buy new clothes because my “old” ones were all baggy, bunched and cinched. Then on Thursday, it really hit me when I wrote down 192.6 lbs on my gym card. That was down from 224.4 lbs since December 31st. My goal was not to lose 30 lbs, but I must say, I feel as good physically as I have ever felt, I am motivated to get better and I am having so much fun training for these races!
So I’m starting to get a little anxious about this upcoming week. This past week has been amazing and we have had such a good time. I took off work and have enjoyed every single minute with the kids at the lake, but I know that Tuesday looms when they are going out west with Amanda and won’t be back for two weeks. The anxiety of knowing I won’t see them for that long is so tough on me. Since Amanda and I have been separated, the anxiousness of having to tell the kids goodbye for any length of time has been hard on both of us, but two weeks seems unbearable. Skype and Facetime just aren’t the same as having them here with me and seeing them daily. I will say though, it has gotten a little easier for the weekly visits, but I have had to learn to get busy and stay busy when they leave. The silence without them here is deafening and can really get me down if I don’t find something to do. I have found myself going to the lake to run, going to the gym, or even going to browse the grocery store aisles just to buy my protein mix. I’ve also found some consistency with my guitar and something that I’ve gotten really addicted to is writing. Getting my thoughts out on paper can be so refreshing and healthy for me.
Humbled Dad, Humbled Man 