Foto Finish-Patriotic

American flag, The Lump milepost 264.4 Blue Ridge Parkway, NC April 5, 2007

When I saw this I was sooo excited!  The fourth of July is a huge day in our family!  Lots of flags, family and friends, fireworks, food, and patriotic expressions everywhere.  But the first picture that came to mind was the one of the above flag.  I love to drive and hike the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC.  One of my favorite short hikes is called the Lump. 

 

Its is a round hill you hike straight up through a field and you get a 360 degree view of the mountains.  This was my first trip back to the parkway after having cancer.  About a year and a half later on April 5, a cold day-about 32F day .  I did a day trip driving from Fancy Gap entrance in Va to Boone in NC.  The air was crisp, cold, windy, and clear.  The water running down the rock faces was frozen.  When I got to the lump I bundled up, grabbed my day pack and camera and started up.  I felt rejuvenated after years of illness and recovery, I felt as if I had come home.  I walked between the high dead grass toward the low rocks I liked to sit on.  It was there I saw them. 

Two small flags stuck in the ground and blowing crisply in the wind.  It was so poignant a moment.  I took many pictures and even framed one.  Ive been back a few times since and every time I pack a small flag and leave it  stuck in the ground.  A tribute to our great country that makes such beautiful, natural places possible.

Keep Dreaming...Colleen



View from the top looking down on the parking.  See my jeep?