Hitting "reset"

Sometimes, when it feels like the floor is crumbling beneath your feet, it becomes necessary to temporarily get away.

No outfit or fashion to post today, though I do have some new finds that will be up shortly.

I've spent the past five days mulling some things over and searching for some new perspective.  It had been a very long time since I had made the pilgrimage north to my parents' house, and I had forgotten how beautiful the Appalachian Mountains are. The middle and lower Appalachians got a surprise snow storm while I was huddled by the fireplace up in Ohio, and the drive back gave me some spectacular and rare views.

For a while, it seemed like the further south I went, the more snow there was.  

 

One of the things that I find most inspiring about this region is the perseverance of the people. The landscape is unforgiving, the area is one of the poorest in the whole country, the weather is unpredictable (as you can see), but the people have such a strong spirit and pride in their roots.

Many Americans have mistaken ideas about the people here, and some don't even like to acknowledge the existence of the place. But I really think that there is so much beauty to be found here, and so many rich stories.

  

I spent a lot of time on these roads when I was younger. My grandfather lived out in rural Appalachia (even more rural than this pictures, if you can imagine that!) and we would often visit him on school breaks. My ancestors were among the first to live past the foothills in the 1700s, but I didn't really appreciate it until recently. They must have been made of stronger stuff than me. I was very grateful for the heater in my car as I zipped through! It's hard to imagine what it would have been like for those people, coming through on foot or horseback, with no roads or landmarks.

 

 

I can honestly say that I feel refreshed after this trip. Hopefully this will give me the energy I need to push through the next couple of months. A lot of changes will take place in my life before summer is here, and I'm trying to find a more zen way of approaching them. A "go with the flow" attitude and all that. But sometimes, you just have to step back from things to be able to think more clearly. It's like they say, "don't get mad, just get away."

Er, wait, maybe that's not quite right...