Have you been to the Great Smokies?  Although I do not frequent parks with relatively low elevation, I know that such parks have a beauty all their own.  Bastions of deciduous forests and lowland wildflowers, reflectors of immense color come the autumn, and lovely in the snow, the Great Smokies hold much treasure for those who enter into them.

     

     Why the Great Smokies?  The alpine heights offer ample opportunity for challenge and adventure, yes, but the Great Smokies, with their more aged peaks and longer history of exploration, provide us with different windows into why we are who we are.  Not only are we creatures who crave boldness, we are creatures who long for stillness.

     Like most animals.  And God.