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These Mountains

      Next to Monticello mountain, in a range of similar small mountains, is one called Pantops. It's a dome-shape mountain overlooking the river and offers a breathtaking view of the city at its feet. Its covered with commerce, more than its neighboring mountains, and is getting more crowded all the time. A major highway from the state capitol cuts across it and leads across the river into the city.

    I grew up immediately below Pantops on the east of the river. I knew my little section of the river well. Now I live outside the city limits on Pantops, in a nicely wooded subdivision. where the houses aren't so close together. From my neighborhood, I can see only trees. But if I drive three minutes away to my church, I get that breath-taking scene that gives you peace and awe all at once. Maybe I love that scene because when I was in college, riding a Trailways bus home to visit, that scene always signaled that I was home again. I thought it was awesome then, and still do. The view is not only the town, but the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.The mountain chain got its name from the blue mist the evergreens emit each morning, something about the oxidation of the trees in the cool morning air, casting a bluish mist about it, visible from a great distance. The mist dissipates with the heat of the day.

      This morning I drove the ten minutes into town and stood in a parking lot on East Jefferson St-see, his name is in everything-looking at a clear full view at the series of mountains to the east and southeast, Pantops barely visible to my left through the trees, then Monticello, Carter's, Brown's, and one I can't name. I felt exhilarated. All this beauty. These mountains have been such a source of joy. They have had their place in history, commerce and the unfolding story of people. I recall when I've had out of town guests who have been flabbergasted by the views I take for granted.

      I feel blessed that I have been born and raised and returned to this little part of the earth.