Well, not really mountains, but the foothills in Tryon, North Carolina. After so long feeling constrained by the threat of COVID19, it was with joy that I hit the road this weekend with two girlfriends to spend two nights in a country creekside cabin. The area had had a lot of rain over the preceding few days, so the creeks were torrents, and waterfalls cascaded exuberantly over the rocks, sending drenching spray into the spring air. What a refreshing for the soul, and what a blessing.
Every couple of years I like to take a road trip up to the Ridge Spring, Johnston, Monetta areas of South Carolina – huge peach growing country. As with crops everywhere, farmers hold their collective breaths as winter transitions into Spring, praying that a late frost won’t blast all the tender new buds and ruin the new crop. The best orchards are to be found in the backroads. The trees are not particularly attractive, but the blossoms are a sight to behold, and every so often a city girl has to inhale some country air.
A friend has a family cabin in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, deep in a hollow, alongside Naked Creek, encircled by woods and mountains. We made a girls weekend of it and traveled the 8+ hours there and back to spend some time completely unplugged. No TV, no internet, no cell service. It made me realize how much of our waking time is consumed with these technologies, and it was refreshing just to get away from it all – for real!
