So here I am again, the first cold snap before autumn really begins and my heart starts to wander;  “..all who wander are not lost”.  I always seem to wind up in the same places; Mitchell, Avery and Yancey Counies, North Carolina.

I have affectionately called this my second home for 20 plus years and I still cannot wait to make it my real home.

It is the true community I miss the most.  Autumn is my favorite time of the year and the folks of this wonderful mountain paradise have a way of creating every country bumpkin wanna be fantasy with everyday life.

The kind words and welcome from the folks at Thomas’ country store in Glenn Ayre to the Baptist church lady’s group traditional apple butter bazar.  Every little shop in downtown Spruce Pine decorated for the season at hand and not rushing me to Christmas before Thanksgiving.

Time doesn’t stand still here but it isn’t in a rush to meet the next hour.  The warm sunshine and the smell of wet spruce needles as the last of the morning dew evaporates.  The air so fresh and clean you wish you could hang it from your rearview mirror.

The leaves in all their colorful glory…and let’s not forget the trout!  Brook and Brown trout in their fall spawning dress sipping tiny dryflies in skinny water.

Yup, I’ve succeeded in depressing myself but hopefully for the last time….

 

As the Dawn Sun Breaks…