This perennial is new to our plots.  It is native and rather hardy. 

Purple* grows

on me

Each new day

My other columbine are more of a reddish-pink with early blossoms that are now fading for this season.

http://www.smokymountainnavigator.com/index.asp?mid=70&mid2=192

More photos from a drive on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.  The first photo is at the first overlook.  The second photo is of a spot along Roaring Fork, and the final photo is The Falls of One Thousand Drips.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Fork_(Great_Smoky_Mountains)

How Much Do You Love Me?

One can measure love

All you have to do is count

Stars on a clear night

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66542489@N00/

Walked by water dripping from a river bluff.  Click above for 16 sec. of contemplation. 

Contemplation comes

Whenever nature shows forth

With an abrupt slap 

My son, who accompanied me on a hike is looking up at a bluff along Blackburn Fork Creek,

Cummins Falls State Park, TN

Cummins Falls, view from the overlook.  According to the web site Cummins Falls is the eighth largest waterfall in Tennessee (volume of water) and was named one of the top 10 best swimming holes in the United States by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Away from the falls where most ford the river to get to the bottom of the falls for a swim or magnificent view.  

This spot is serene and has a beauty of a different kind.  http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/CumminsFalls/

Deer feeding at Cades Cove.

Fifteen Random Thoughts about ME!

I was tagged to do this by Tempguestbrief  and @Foodhog 

1. I have corrected vision — mono vision (I use my left eye for reading or near vision and the right eye for distance) 

2. My corrected vision was done with RK (Radial Keratotomy)

3. Unrelated to my vision is the fact that I have no working tear ducts in my left eye so I tear down my cheek.  (So I will automatically cry at a chick flick and impress people, mostly females, with my fake sensitivity.)

4. I am in my second marriage and have celebrated 36 years in that relationship.

5. My first marriage lasted 12 years. 

6. I have four children, two from each marriage (boy, girl, boy girl)

7. I graduated from a small high school in South Dakota that had 24 graduates.

8. I was once named “fielder of the week” while playing baseball for an amateur team.

9. I played one summer of amateur baseball with a team of predominantly Sioux Indians.  They teasingly referred to me as the Albino. 

10. I grew up on a working diversified farm meaning we raised grain, hogs and cattle.

11. Our farm had no electric power until the REA (rural electric) was installed when I was about 12. 

12. I have a history of owning small cars and have driven Fiats, VWs, Renaults.  I currently drive a Honda Fit.

13. I made more income my first year in graduate school as a teaching assistant than I earned as a teacher the previous year.   (That amount was $5k)

14. I practice centering prayer (a form of meditation)

15. I attend a support group each week for a two hour meeting.  We are not an AA group or any variation of a 12 step program but a gathering of people who share their life experience with each other and provide support to each other.  We are not religious in that we do not open with a prayer or close with a prayer.  This group has been together for years and currently has eight members. 

And your bonus random fact — I published a book of poetry consisting of poems by members of Xanga.  A few people who wrote for the work are still members here but I have lost contact with many of them. The book was entitled Honey & Darkness and much of the content is available for your read here. http://books.google.com/books/about/Honey_and_Darkness.html?id=osh1j7LM9NcC

http://www.cadescove.net/auto_tour.html

Yesterday Yvonne and I drove to Cades Cove and did the auto tour loop, an eleven mile one-way trip.  While a bit cloudy we did see turkey, deer and a fascinating pair of woodpecker that entertained us for a while.  If you are ever in the area take the drive.  

On a totally different topic — I was most impressed with this article and at the same time disgusted by the incident.  Eliminating prejudice is more than “being tolerant” as is so well expressed in this article by Seema Jilani http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seema-jilani/racism-white-house-correspondents-dinner_b_3231561.html 

http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Polygonatum%20biflorum

click above for information about the smooth solomon’s seal wildflower.  These were getting ready to bloom and become a white flower similar to a bleeding heart.  

A perennial herb with a pretty bloom that comes in March, April and May.  

More information  http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=IRCR

The Walk

Nature’s contributions cascade along the steep trail.

Numerous white patches and yellow splotches

set on a blanket of green 

amid immense coverings

so blue that it seems parts of the sky have fallen.  

Pinks protrude like boulders in a creek

while reds try to hide around rocks and crevasses.

Faded petals,

past announcements of spring

now reside alongside signs of birth,

buds seeking an identity.

Arrays of mature blossoms parade full and ripe

along a path of short lives and long lives.

Fallen relics, grey, mossy and dying

display across the emerald carpet,

a memory of another time.