Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Last weekend, I celebrated a very big birthday with two of my sisters who live "down South". After they left, I took a couple of days to shoot mountain scenics and say good-bye to the Smokies, a place I truly love. My family spent vacations here; my Mom is resting here. We have many happy memories of horseback riding, hiking, shopping, and spending happy family time here.

So I spent two days getting some beautiful shots of this favorite place. The weather wasn't perfect. Thunderstorms both evenings. Three inches of rain overnight. Wet mornings, sunny mid-days, cloudy afternoons. Somehow, the price of the airline ticket motivated me to keep on shooting. Shafts of sunlight passed over the landscape. Water drops glistened on wildflowers. At sunset, the light shone beneath the clouds, making stripes of fantastic orange and purple color.

It occurred to me to wonder why I don't work this way at home. The answer is that it's easier to go home when it's getting dark, to stay in when it's rainy, to sleep late when the ground is wet. I'm lazy. It's also a matter of short-term vs. long-term motivation. It's easier to work 14-hour days for a limited time period. And, of course, there is that airfare.

Looking at my shots from the Smokies, I feel renewed resolve to get up early and work late, to approach my trips around New England as if I had bought a plane ticket to get here. After all, I live in one of the most beautiful and diverse regions of the country. It deserves my best effort.