Rhododendrons ablaze

Look closely

 I never noticed that each blossom has this green underbelly before it opens!

 It looks like each of these is just a petal, but no, they are whole flowers themselves!

More pretties...

 Rhododendrons overlooking the terraced beds where we just planted vegetables...beside Lake Tomahawk.  If you look closely you'll see the lone yacht being maneuvered about on the water by remote control.

 An interesting chocolate and creamy iris color...almost done blooming for this year.

 Miss bumble bee was doing her job!

White and green and wet

 The woods near Flat Creek have abundant Rhododendrons, the white ones flower later than the bright pink!

An Oak Hydrangea is also white against the deep cool green of the woody path.

I cross the footbridge and look down into cool shallows

Or look upstream to see how those huge rocks and that leaning tree are still there, year after year.  Many people come to Montreal NC for summer camp of retreats, or just vacations.  They enjoy seeing the familiar sights of nature, and hiking, wading, and laughing together.

There's always a new attempt at a dam to form a bit deeper pool, see the ripples in the stream all in a row to the left?

Flat Creek flows into the Swannanoa River, which flows into the French Broad, which flows eventually into the Tennessee, eventually into the Mississippi River.

This map is the United States showing the river drainage for each basin of water flowing...this is my preferred image of our country.  I live in the pink Mississippi basin, on the far right just barely down a few miles from the continental divide which flows deep blue into the Atlantic, probably the Pee Dee River Basin.  I'm not that sure but it's on the Old Fort Side of the pass on I-40.

Today's Quote:

Try not to take everything personally, things that people say and do don't always have anything to do with you.  Madisyn Taylor on Daily Om

Blooming where planted

The rhododendrons are coming soon...as one with a nice sheltered place by our church in Black Mountain shows.

These are indigenous to the North Carolina appalachian mountains, and grow into forests that are call "Rhododenron Hells" where people and animals have gotten lost and died.

They are a hardy evergreen that blooms once a year...and thus are popular plantings around buildings also.

Happy Beltaine, the celebration of another springtime from the Old Religions.

Todays Quote:

The time to blossom is now, not sometime in the future when you believe the stars will be aligned for you.  Madisyn Taylor, Daily Om

Beauty around the lake

It's heavy pollen season here these days. Achoo!

That dusty-colored cloud is pollen floating on top of the water.

The fountain is back though there are now no trees on the dam

Lots of views from the dam at least, the Seven Sisters Mountains, including Tomahawk

Lakeside of dam

Walk across the dam and see grass on each side...which was not the plan

I don't think the beautification committee will do much here this year...even the picnic tables are gone

Back near the Lakeview Center and the poolhouse, the Veterans Memorial now has a gateway

Alas, the brilliant red of the roses turned pink (at least in my eyes) through my camera

Rhododendrons look good 

Quote for today:

There is an undercurrent of energy thrumming through the Universe. Like the wind or a whisper, we can sometimes hear it and often feel it. Most of the time, we sense this energy unconsciously without any tangible proof it is really there. Thoughts, emotions, and the life force in all living things are forms of this kind of energy. So are creativity, growth, and change. The impressions, images, and vague premonitions we get about people and situations are other examples of formless energy.  Madisyn Taylor