My Mountains
I have mentioned before that I am a Virginian since birth. I grew up in a small town in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway. When I started driving, going up and down mountain roads became second nature to me. Now I live near Skyline Drive and the beautiful, ever-changing Shenandoah National Park. It thrills me to be there among the ridges and the wildflowers and now, in autumn, the colors and the falling leaves. Tonight I went up with a friend to photograph the sunset. It wasn’t a spectacular sunset, but it was peaceful there and the mountain ridges went on and on into the distance. We met a fellow at an overlook who explained to us in broken English that he was German, in the States visiting several locations. He mentioned that he will be going to Washington, D.C, Baltimore, Philadelphia and the Big Apple. But this smart young man put the Shenandoah National Park on his must-visit list. He was as impressed as a newcomer as I am as a native. He was all smiles as he drove away, proud to have conversed in English with us, which, as it turns out, wasn’t so broken after all. I managed to get a big grin from him when I bid him “Guttentag!”
Patricia Temples Photography 