Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Wonders to behold

I have just returned from the trip we planned to celebrate my retirement. After lifting ourselves out of our grief about the loss of our grandchildren, my husband and I embarked on a drive along the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking 12 days to do it, hiking (usually) twice a day and doing it all in our Mazda Miata (with the top down as much as possible). When we stopped at the Natural Bridge in central Virginia before we even got on the Parkway, I was floored at its grandeur and decided  that this was going to be trip of wonders.

Wonders can be found everywhere actually; one only need LOOK for wondrous things. The grandeur of the mountains was certainly wondrous, especially Mount Mitchell and Indian Rocks and Thunder Ridge and Devil's Courthouse and Craggy Gardens and Richland Balsam and . . . But so was a caterpillar on the trail and the snake I spotted behind the tree (which after much debate we decided was a timber rattler) and the calmness of Abbot Lake (and the great blue heron we saw there) and the fog blowing across the mountains.

Equally wondrous was the fact that I made it back to the car on the day we hiked on the side of Grandfather Mountain. The trail led us through the boulder field which the Linn Cove Viaduct was built to protect. And what a boulder field it was! Most spectacular! But very difficult to walk through, especially for someone with balance challenges. We ended up cutting our hike short by a bit when John noticed what trouble I was having. But I made it back. What a wonder! I was able to turn this challenging time into a victory by seeing it as a wonder rather than as a defeat.

Look for wonders in your life and you'll find more than you ever dreamed were there.

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