For The Beauty of The Earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies

Lord of all
To thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise

For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth and friends above
For all gentle thoughts and mild

Lord of all
To thee we praise

These words today were glorified as I journeyed to the mountains for some time away from the home place and my sanctuary. Here in East Tennessee we have been blessed with a very mild winter thus far, but rumor has it change is coming soon. When I woke up this morning I felt the urge to go an adventure and explore new vista's.

When I want to go towards Sevierville I usually drive Chapman Highway and I followed the same route today. I timed my arriving at Paula Deen's for an early lunch at 11:00, in my opinion it is the easiest time to get right in, enjoy the delicious freshly prepared food and get out of there. My plan today was to drive Wears Valley over to the new section of Foothills Parkway. The middle two weeks in January are the quietest time to head for the hills without the craziness of too many tourists, today was absolutely perfection, the weather was cool, the sky was clear and sunny, and the few people I saw were locals like myself finally getting to take a gander at this long awaited 'missing link' of this part of the Parkway.

The Missing Link of the Foothills Parkway opened on Nov. 10, 2018. It is connected by a series of 9 bridges, and it is the first time the public can drive all 16 miles of the road since construction of the project started in 1966. The Foothills Parkway now has 2 finished sections at each end of the 72-mile corridor. It goes on for 33 continuous miles from Chilhowee to Wears Valley on the western side. On the eastern side, it extends 6 miles from Cosby to I-40, offering views of Mt. Cammerer.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to experience this beautiful byway today. The vista's were so lovely and with the leaves off of the tree's it made the actual mountain views so appealing to my eyes. We do not give enough credit to the  folks who were foresighted and fought to preserve our forests, mountains and rivers all over this beautiful land called America, for future generations to enjoy! I remember how unique and lovely Sevierville. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and Wears Valley use to be before "Progress" and prosperity descended upon these small mountain communities and ruined the simplicity and delight of a trip to the mountains. I know the pioneers who discovered this lovely place would be in disbelief. 

The beauty and the peacefulness of the drive today restored my soul. As I was descending my ears popped just as they had on my way up and it made me laugh with joy. God is so amazing in the way he created us down to the last minutest detail, we have a built in pressure regulator...he thought of everything...thank you LORD for making us so perfectly.

While I was heading down the parkway towards Walland a memory tugged on my heartstrings of the three summers during college that our daughter Amy worked as a camp counselor at Wesley Woods. Those summer's spent in he mountains grew her up. She was in her element working with those kids and teaching them to enjoy rustic outdoor life. When she would come home for a visit, Curt and I could not wait to hear her tales and experiences. I remember the first time she said "Mom will you save me the dryer lint?" I said "sure but why?" "Oh well it helps to get the campfire going." The story of 'mystery meat' made her a vegetarian for quite a few years.
The story I thought of today was when she came home and said "Oh my gosh, I just wish you guys could see the stars just hanging in the sky, when we hike up from Wesley Woods and you lay on the unfinished parkway road in the quite and dark and you feel like you can reach up and touch the sky! We call it God's beauty." Today dearest daughter I got to catch a glimmer of what you saw and it was undoubtedly God's beauty!

Today was a wonderful day made by our amazing God and I am thankful that I was able to enjoy each and every minute surround by the beauty of the earth.