Forest Fire

These days driving home can be a frustratingly beautiful experience. You see, everyone around here drives up to FairyLand to see the leaves this time of year. This means that when I am in a hurry to get home, there are a gazillion cars driving ridiculously slow admiring the amazing fireworks display of leaves. It is at these moments that I take a deep breath, remind myself that not everyone gets to live in the beauty of FairyLand, and take a good look around me and try and enjoy the ride a bit more myself.

Today after Church, I decided to finally make it up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We've lived here nearly two years and had yet to drive on the famous parkway. This little highway litterally straddles the mountaintops. By way of several bridges and tunnels, it affords the most stunning views of these mountains--even more stunning in full fall color. I wish I was a decent photographer. Instead I'll have to count on my writing skills to describe the overwhelming beauty of fall in Fairyland. I have taken a few pics over the past couple of weeks I'll attempt to post (but you know how good I am at that).

As we left the parkway and descended into the full splendor of what we'd been observing topside, I realized that I actually prefer the beauty from below. It's a bit like life I figure. Sure it's lovely to observe the color rolling in waves across the top of the mountains--it's very neat and almost orderly in it's beauty. But it's nothing like driving under those same trees. There is nothing orderly about that. You go from shadow to sun and back like a strobe light. One moment shrouded in dark greenery, the next awestruck by a bright red tree, then a yellow limb sprawled overhead. Then, the breeze picks up and I am showered with the colorful fallout. I like the nitty-gritty in life. I like it a little bit messy, a little bit earthy. But not too much. I don't want to roll around in the detritus or anything.

It reminds me of my mission. Italy is a bit like that. Florence is clean and well kept and beautiful. Rome is a bit more wild and messy. Naples is like burrowing under the leaf litter--you can find some really interesting stuff down there, but do you really want to spend much time crawling around in it? Let's go to Rome--or at least Pisgah Forest.