Celebrate The Paths Taken
"A special reason is not needed to celebrate. Celebrate love, celebrate family, celebrate friendship, celebrate laughter, celebrate happiness, celebrate time, and celebrate moments. Just celebrate life.” – Anonymous
Hello Dear Friend,
Well, it’s another beautiful weekend here in the mountains and as I sit in bed writing I’m enjoying my coffee as I taste the notes of maple infused in the blend that I’ve brewed. The sun has been up for a couple of hours now and we're well into the morning. My oil diffusers send off a spicy mixture of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg with a hint of sweet orange into the air as the gentle autumn breeze comes softly through my windows. The sun is currently playing peek-a-boo with the cloud coverage as every now and then it breaks through for a bit and shines its glorious light on the fiery yellow and red-orange colored leaves that, for the moment, still cling to the trees.
My brother drifted into town earlier this week like he’d been carried in by the winds from the North. His stay was a short one. We all knew too well that before too long his car “Roxy” would send him away into the unknown lands that were calling him back out to the West. But as luck would have it, both my father and I managed to be able to take some time off of work to be able to visit with him and spend time together as a family.
Although a little on the warm side the weather also seemed to work in our favor as we ventured out in the early afternoon getting lost among the sea of leaf-lookers and vacationers as we stopped at various locations along the Blue Ridge Parkway so that we could capture some photos. In one direction we watched cars zip by on the viaduct that wrapped itself around the mountain terrain which was painted with the colors of autumn. Looking out in another direction was the blue landscape of rolling hazy mountains stretching out in the distance before us while the foreground shown a mixture of bare branches, dark green pines and scattered with red, orange and yellow hues as it all lay against bright blue skies.
As countless vehicles and people darted from every direction around us like a swarming wasps around a hive we were shown the Lords favor and were blessed to somehow have managed to score an actual parking space at Beacon Heights. Making our escape from my mom’s car we filed out. Feet already strapped into our hiking boots we grabbed hold of our poles, cameras, phones and keys. Doors closed, car locked and everyone ready, we ventured into the woods.
It’s a short but uphill hike to the 360 views that awaited us at the top of Beacon Heights. Although its the middle of the day we could hear crickets singing as we took our time on the short trail in the woods. As we reveled in nature and each other’s company we took our time noticing the big and small things that we found picture worthy and stopping here and there to snap photos before we made it up to the clearing at the top. We hung out there for a while soaking in the beautiful views, chatting, dodging ladybugs and taking snapshots. Even with his knee injury, my brother still managed to get a couple of family portraits by carefully positioning his phone against a rock and setting the 8 second timer before he hobbled his way into the photos making it just in time to pose and flash a smile.
After a while we’re all hungry and decide that it’s time to make our descent back to the parking lot with the sole goal to seek out a spot for a picnic where we can fire up the portable grill that we'd brought with us and cook some hotdogs. We discuss it over and it’s decided that we’ll head towards Julian Price Park for our supper. Piled back into the car and on the road that leads us to our chosen picnic spot the drive goes by fairly quick since it was spent taking family selfies. We pull into the park, which has cleared out quite considerably since we drove past it earlier in the day. We choose a pretty secluded, picturesque, picnic table area down by the creek. It will serve quite nicely as our squatting spot. In an attempt to rehydrate and replenish, we all enjoying a cool drink and snack on some cheese and some chips as we get to work unloading everything for our picnic and get the grill going. My brother and I throw the Frisbee around for a bit as my parents prepare the food. The dogs are cooking now as we take a couple of sibling selfies, engage in family conversations, reflecting on what we’ve already done together by flipping through photos on our various devices and check out the creek.
It was such a good day, the type you can remember having as a kid! It’s the type of day that your parents remember experiencing with you when you were younger. It’s the type of day that now that you’re all grown up, you all know it’s one to cherish even while you’re living in the middle of it. It’s a day were all the cares and worries that flood your head disappear for a while and you’re reminded of just how precious it is to be celebrating your life and the very fact that you exist. No cares. No worries. Just time spent as a family enjoying the simpler more beautiful things in life. It’s a day filled with memories in the making and with every passing moment you know that though you are living in the present you are also creating a day in history.
“The best things in life are the people you love, the places you’ve seen and the memories you’ve made along the way.” – Jill Conners
They say you can’t choose your family but you can choose your friends. You know what? I celebrate the fact that one day long ago, the roots of family ran deeper. Now, aside from just sharing blood, my family have become my closest friends. They are my allies, my confidants and my greatest cheerleaders. I celebrate the time we share together. I celebrate the days filled with laughter and all the memories we’ve created throughout the years. I celebrate the stories we make and the love we carry for each other. I celebrate our clan and the relationships we have. I celebrate knowing that whenever we are in need of each other for whatever the reason we’re only a phone call, a text, a face-time chat or a drive away.
With love,
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