Last night I spent the night in Asheville, NC with one of the most wonderful families I've ever met. So wonderful that I might turn down the Pitt-Jolie nanny offer with the slim hope that one day the Wortley family will take me in. I was treated to a fashion show, a live music performance and a tap-dancing recital all in the comfort of their awesome home tucked in the Candler (like someone who makes candles) woods. My experiences in the last 24 hours have shown me just how important this trip is to my development as a human being (hence the title to this post.)
This morning I took a break from driving and went for a short 3 mile hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The scenery along the parkway is breathtaking, and the hike up Mt. Pisgah was beautiful. It was the kind of beautiful where I wanted to take pictures the entire way up, but knew my amateur photography skills would never do the images justice. Hiking alone is one of my favorite things to do, which is funny because I have such a hard time being alone. There are a few reasons why I enjoy hiking solo. Mainly it's because I don't have to chat with anyone while I huff and puff through the inclines. But it's also a time when I can zone out completely and focus mostly on putting one foot in front of the other, at my own pace. It's a different state of being alone than solo driving is. While I've been driving I've been jamming out to tunes from my lovely friends and concentrating on the road, so I always have to be on alert. [Sidenote: I've found that I'm like Goldilocks when it comes to highways; a two laner with trucks merging on and off is too small, a eight laner with seemingly the entire East coast aggressively weaving is too big, three lanes is JUST right.] But today when I was hiking I actually did some reflection and thinking, and it was cool. There are just so many beautiful, fascinating and inspiring people and places in this country and I feel profoundly lucky that I am able to take time to allow myself to see/find some of this.
I spent the rest of the day cruising through South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. I've found a bed in Greenville, AL and was greeted by an enormous "Palin" sign draped over the building, a sign that I'm certainly not in Cambridge/Jp anymore. I'm psyched to immerse myself in southern culture, even if that does mean tolerating/learning to understand Palin and Bachmann supporters, bring it on, I am, after all, in my loving receptive mode.
This is the soundtrack to my life:
I've been impressed by the musical selections of my friends thus far; mumford & sons and the avett bros are among the most popular, which I love. But Mike Snow's "animal" is far and away the people's choice. rock on. Sorry I missed a day shouting out to my inspirations, so here are two days worth:
Clark C., Linda C., Miss Gracie (gotta love JT), Jilly S, Jon G., Dom, Emily E., Anderson Godley P., Genardy C., Taji M. aka Dean of Dean and Ravo (check them out on iTunes!), Emily E., Colleen C.
Everyone's CDs have honestly kept me going, I promise I'm trying to re-gift all this love as I go along!
live
love
e
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