North Carolina Week 4
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
That quotes’ meaning has changed for me over the years. I used to take it at face value thinking it related to living within one’s monetary means, but now where I am in life, to me it speaks to living within (and without) emotional and comfortable boundary “means”. And nods to pushing your own boundaries to live a fuller, scarier, inevitably more exciting life. Oddly, week 4 was my most packed and pinch me week! What a super surprising social turn of events it was.
Hikes to start… I started off the week revisiting two of my favorite places to hike, and adding one new one to the mix. One of them was my favorite waterfall walk closest to where I’ve been staying, but this time going just a bit further once I learned it went as far as one of the incredible overlooks I drive by every day. At the end (or the beginning depending on which way you enter) of this trail was another waterfall and an old bridge, and of course, the freaking stunning vista you see below. The second hike was the lake near one of the mountain hikes I did two weeks ago. It’s a very flat, easy, and beautiful short loop, and I just wanted some fresh air, movement, and a new perspective. Hike number three was my least favorite on this journey. While completely beautiful, I underestimated the drive time vs. the hike time. The drive was just a tad too long, with not much payoff. I guess I’ve gotten fussy about my vistas. Alas, we frolicked just the same.
Ok, now for the social part. What a week! This was a holiday week, and my host, Sandy, invited me upstairs to join her friend group for dinner. My contribution was a cheese and meat plate, but I wanted to do a bit more, so I painted tiny little watercolor labels for her to keep. Food prep isn’t my gift, so I wanted to do something that would put my personal spin on it and be from the heart. We were joined by four of her other friends, Janet, Dale, Marcie, and her bestie, Paula. I am about 20-40 years these folx junior, which made for the MOST rich and interesting day! I teamed up with Dale to play cornhole. We won one game, lost the next. We ate, drank wine, I asked them questions about themselves and listened to their stories. The conversation was free flowing and absolutely went both ways. I was so happy to learn how much I have in common with all of them and was able to truly be myself and share parts of my life that led me to their company. They are all so diverse, active, and full of life and history. Dale is a former pilot, World War II turned commercial in later years, Janet was and is an avid fencer, Paula drove from Maryland with her cat, Boopie, in her massive truck to Scaly towing her 22’ camper and is an ocean kayak instructor in her second retirement. She celebrated her 70th birthday while she was here. They are all so inspiring and amplified the fire that is already within me to keep going and keep exploring. They encouraged me that I’m on the right track by living in the now, being open to life, asking questions, pushing beyond my own boundaries of comfort, and truly going with the flow. To think, if I’m lucky enough, to have 20, 30, 40, or more years of this. The next night, Sandy invited me to join her and Paula in Franklin, NC at a coffee shop/bar to see some of their friends play in a blue jazz band. They are all so talented! I promised Sandy after our winery event the week prior, that if we saw her friends play again, we would dance. So dance we did. If things couldn’t have already felt more kismet and special than they had on Thursday, I was able to reconnect with 4 of my friends from my Jacksonville and Atlanta days on Saturday at our friend’s cabin. Jimbo made an incredible chili and we ate, and caught up, and went for an easy stroll in the mountains. I know I keep talking about joy and gratitude but this stuff just keeps coming. Sunday morning I went to Wayfarer’s Unity Chapel with Sandy and Paula and it was so very special to me. They had a little band, started and ended with meditation, and we had a group discussion about thankfulness vs. gratitude. We were able to go around the service and share what we were grateful for. My favorite take away from that service were the words, “God, as you perceive it.” That felt profound to me. Their chapel is welcoming to all humxns and celebrates the deep soul of spirituality, without all of the need to pin it on any one religion or supreme entity. They also do not have one particular minister, but are a lay ministry, meaning they have a collective of selected people to share the pulpit as it were. And later that Sunday, I connected with my darling friend Claire, that I met when I was living in Savannah, for some refreshing conversations catching up on our lives and queer culture, on tap proescco, and yummy food truck ahi tuna. She, and all of these folx, are so incredibly dear to me. My heart cup is so, so full, so much so it overflows.
This was my second to last week here which is unbelievably bittersweet. I couldn’t have predicted the friendships and connections I would make, but I am hoping this time of year will bring a new tradition with my new friends going forward. The next post will wrap my time here in Scaly Mountain, and include my Nashville and Lexington stopovers, and will likely be more brief. After this I head back to Ohio for the December holidays and to regroup/pack for my month in New Mexico. Stay tuned and as always, thank you for joining me on this sojourn. Enjoy the photos below, in order of how I described above, of my jaunts, and friends both new and old.
Love Jessica, Finley, and Pito
