Recently I had the pleasure of running away to the mountains of North Carolina for a six-day retreat. My daughter and I left very early on a Sunday morning, planning an extra hour into the commute so we could stop and take pictures along the way whenever the urge struck me. And, believe me, it struck quite often, but we arrived right on time.

First photo of the day: God’s beautiful sunrise over southern Alabama!

One of our favorite photos taken along the way to our destination. Was it in Georgia or South Carolina? I can’t remember. It was NOT 10:03. 🙂

After we got settled in, we backtracked a little to Caesar’s Head State Park in South Carolina. This is my daughter and me. I’m the one with the gimpy foot.

My daughter doing the “Titanic” thing. 🙂 The water off in the distance, below her right arm, is the Table Rock reservoir. We went there next.

Fishing at Table Rock Reservoir

Experimenting with settings on my camera

Kayaking on Table Rock Reservoir

Table Rock Reservoir

Table Rock Reservoir

Day 1 ended with my first view of the sunset from what would come to be my favorite “sittin’ spot” for this year’s mountain retreat.

On Monday morning I deposited my daughter at summer camp and returned to my solitary cabin for several days of quiet reflection. But on the way back to the cabin, I drove around and took pictures of several churches. You see, for a while now I’ve wanted to start a collection of photos of churches, particularly the old ones. Not all the churches I photographed were particularly old, but they were attractive, in my opinion. And most, though not all, were Baptist. But that’s just because I’m in the south. I didn’t choose them because they are Baptist, but because they were there in front of me. Here are a few of the ones I saw.

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My original plan for hiking, photography, and painting was modified a bit, thanks to the broken foot. But the cabin had a spacious covered porch with a lovely clearing that was visited daily by deer, birds, and insects of all kinds. So instead of carrying my canvasses and paints, I instead took my Bible, books, notebooks, and guitar. And, of course, my camera was always at the ready. In fact, I took somewhere between 800-1000 photos during the 6 days that I was away from home. (Only my sweet daughter has the patience for my aficionado.)

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About a half mile down the mountain from where I was staying, on the side of the road, was a bench surrounded by wildflowers. Beyond the bench was an overlook that had a glorious view of the distant mountains and the city below, and from there I could even hear a nearby waterfall. A trail passed by this point and led to the waterfall. After seeing several seniors go and come along the trail, I convinced myself that I too could visit the site, broken foot and all, and I determined to do so on Friday. But God, in His mercy, sent a thunderstorm, and I stayed put in the safety of the cabin, content to read my book and write another poem. To be honest, I really didn’t miss hiking as much as I thought I would. It was nice to sit back and relax, to watch the hummingbirds, to say hello to the does and the fawn who came to greet me, to gaze at the flames as they danced in the chiminea, to read from my Bible and some good books, to write a few poems and some lengthy journal entries, and to sleep every morning until the spirit moved.

The bench where I spent many hours taking pictures, writing poems, and reminiscing about days gone by.

The gorgeous view overlooking Brevard, NC

In the foreground of this photo is a farm, miniaturized by the mountains behind it. This may sound strange, but as I drive through the countryside, I am amazed at many farms I see. I mean, I know our dairy, meat, and produce come from somewhere, but wow! We are so rich in land and natural resources! As Americans we truly are blessed, and too often we take it all for granted. And we take for granted the men and women who work the land.

Day 4: The amazing thing about sunsets is that, though they may not all be spectacular, it is certain that no two look alike.

Day 5: Case in point. This evening turned out to be much more stunning than the one before, but I was somewhat disappointed that my camera would not cooperate with me and give me the nice starbursts that my old camera used to do. Some would consider that a detraction, but I like them.

The return trip was a bit out of the ordinary—or should I say, a bit old-fashioned. My electronic navigation did not like the mountains, so I had trusted my instincts the entire week, whenever I left the cabin for any reason. But now that it was time to go home, time to travel several hundred miles across five states, I didn’t particularly care to drive “by instinct.” Nor did I care to drive through Atlanta. I’ve driven through Atlanta four times in the last year, and I’ve had my fill of that city and its crowded highways. Anymore, I would as soon go an hour out of the way on state roads as sit an hour in city traffic, wondering how to get in the right lane.

After missing the turn to camp—twice—I prayed and asked the Lord to show me my mistake, and He did. I made my way up the mountain to the camp, retrieved my happy daughter, back down the mountain to take a few more photos of farm and church scenes in town, then started our journey home.

This is where we were.

At our earliest convenience, we topped off our gas and purchased a Rand McNally Road Atlas, and my daughter got a hands-on learning experience in navigation. As it turns out, she is an excellent navigator. I did keep the digital map open for convenience. The map itself would load, it just wouldn’t navigate. We had a very nice drive, with perfect weather.

The fawn had to run, and so must I.

If you have made it all the way to the end of my narrative, then I thank you. Most of my posts are written to inspire or to instruct. This one was written merely to share a bit of myself, as I have imagined you sitting by my side on the sofa as we turn the pages of the photo album and recall the memories of this latest excursion. I do love God’s creation, getting to see it firsthand, and observe His creativity at work. Truly, our God is an awesome God! If you don’t believe me, just open your eyes and look in the mirror.