Purple mountain majesties

I spent this past weekend with two good friends, camping, hiking, and sightseeing in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gaitlinburg, Tennessee. Taking in the majesty of the mountains, the awe-invoking vistas, the peaceful meadows, the bright green tree-canopyed forests, the burbling brooks, the clear rushing streams, the graceful waterfalls and the tiny trail wildflowers, was refreshing to my soul, indeed!

Sunrise at the sea

My Memorial Day weekend included a trip to Daytona Beach, Florida, where some friends of mine got married at the Basilica of St. Paul.

What a wonderfully restful and rejuvenating weekend it was -- a wedding, a vacation, and a reunion with old friends all wrapped into one -- what a blessing!

Five other gals and I stayed at a hotel right on the beach. I just love the ocean, and the way that it allows me to contemplate the wonder, glory, and beauty of God. On the last morning at the beach a few of us got up early to see the sunrise. Glorious, indeed!

"He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them— he remains faithful forever."
~ Psalm 146:6

Springtime impressions

The honeysuckle are bursting forth in bloom here. The greenway on which I often walk is teaming with bushes of honeysuckle. During my evening walks, as the sun pours through bushes and branches, I drink in the sweet, tender aroma that permeates the path.

~~

The hillsides are bright green now, well-watered by all the rain we have gotten in the past few weeks. Since I moved here in the fall when the leaves had already started to change, this this my first experience of green Tennessee rolling hills. It's really a lovely landscape. Unlike the long, continuous hills of Pennsylvania, Tennessee's hills are truly "rolling", like large bunny hills, rising and falling across the horizons. One can also see the"ranges" of hills, each slightly higher than each other, in variations of green.

~~

There is an owl that lives in the trees above my house. I noticed this sound the first few nights that I moved in. Nearly every night, I hear the "whoo-ing" of the owl. It has become a comforting, rhythmic sound in the evening hours. It makes me feel cozy, like I live in a forest or something. I still haven't seen the owl, but I am on the lookout.

~~

This afternoon there was a violin concert under the magnolia trees in my neighborhood. It was in someone's front yard a few houses down from me. There were probably 100 people in lawn chairs watching the elementary school age violinists. Very quaint.

~~

One of the things I love about my neigborhood, besides the fact that the majority of houses are darlingly cute cottage-style 1930s houses, is the prevelance of delightful front porches. Long wooden swings and rocking chairs line these porches, and I can just imagine people sitting on them in the summertime, drinking their sweet tea. Perhaps some of them end up being mainly just decoration when the folks opt for the air-conditioned living rooms rather than sticky front porches. But simply the existance of front porches creates a warm, neighborly feel, methinks.

~~

Unfortunately, I am not one of those with a cute exterior house or a front porch. But I do have some flower pots. And a large magnolia tree which canopies my yard. At least a little quintessential southern flair graces my yard.

Words for today

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” ~ St. Augustine

Happy Spring!

I celebrated the first day of spring by visiting Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I will definitely be going back to catch the landscape in bloom throughout the spring and summer!

Flying home on a jet plane

flickr/by bcmom

I don't fly much. I can virtually count on one hand the round trip plane trips that I have taken in my life. I am actually rather scared of flying. But since I am now living 10 hours from my family, flying is something that I will be doing much more of.

I have discovered though, that after the shock of takeoff and the plane is coasting smoothly in the sky, I begin to suppress my anxieties and enjoy the experience. In many ways, flying is truly exhilarating. I remember a few months ago when I flew down to Nashville for my interview thinking about how one feels so alive when they are flying in an airplane, high above the clouds.

Yesterday I flew home to Pittsburgh from Nashville for Christmas. Once again, as the plane began gliding through the sky and I looked down at the sprawling landscapes and twinkling lights dotting the scene below, I experienced a similar sense of wonder.

In a way that is entirely unique to the thoughtful atmosphere that a solitary road trip provides, taking an airplane ride always seems to provoke a singular sense of reflection and introspection for me.

Last night I think I put my finger on why. Flying high above the houses and hills, trees and clouds, being able to see the earth beneath you for miles and miles gives you a superhuman perspective. Both literally and figuratively.

This is not a perspective that, unless you are a pilot or stewardess, you see on a daily basis. It is a perspective that evokes a sense of wonder and awe. In a mysterious way, it helps you to gain a more vivid sense of your place in the world. Seeing the expansive earth below me made me think about what a small part it is that I have in this universe; yet I have a totally singular part in this universe. Even more amazing, is the realization that amidst all of this vast and orchestrated creation, we were created by God to fulfill a specific role and to answer a specific call. It's marvelous.

In the midst of the metaphysical thoughts that looking out of your airplane window evokes, it also beckons one to put all of your current worries, problems, plans, and experiences in a larger perspective. In the perspective of the Eternal Creator.

Of course, it also makes you think of the heavens, feel closer to the heavens, and meditate on what heaven is like.

I think that also, it fills you with a sense of gratitude. About a half an hour before we landed in Pittsburgh, I reveled in the night scene outside my window. The billowy clouds beneath the plane looked like we were traveling above fluffy cotton candy. The sky above the clouds was hazy, and then turned into a light blue, which turned into a darker blue, leading the eye to gaze at the clear stars and the bright almost-full moon.

It looked like a scene from a storybook. But we were traveling in it. It was magnificant.

"The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:41

Wintry scenes

Monet's winter magpie