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When Betsy and I visit Pisgah Inn, the early mornings are often foggy or very cloudy. But this year we had a morning on which the sky was mostly clear at dawn. I was able to get some pictures of the color in the sky, even though there was some for in the valleys below. O, What a Beautiful Mornin’! June 24, 2024.
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For the past several years Betsy and I have been celebrating our wedding anniversary at the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina. The inn has a wonderful restaurant, and the views from the rooms are absolutely beautiful. And it helps that we’re high enough in the mountains that air conditioning is not needed. I imagine we’ll keep going back for more years to come.
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The iris in our yard have finished their blooming cycle several weeks ago, but I still remember how wonderful some of them looked. Daughter of Star iris was new this year, but I think she was beautiful.
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While visiting my son in Florida this past March, we were sitting in his back yard enjoying the setting sun. After the sun disappeared, I captured this photo of the sky through the trees in the yard.
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I captured this picture of Fontana Lake several years ago while Betsy and I were driving through the North Carolina side of the Smokey Mountains. This part of the Smokies is often referred to as the quiet side of the Smokies. That may be true, but it is as beautiful as any other section of the park.
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Back in 2011 Betsy and I took our first trip out west. Among the places we visited was the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. I was impressed at the time with the examples of petrified wood that we saw, but recently, when reviewing some photos taken at the time, I became even more impressed with the detail and color of the petrified wood.
These first two pictures were taken in the Jasper Forest of the park. In that section of the park erosion of high bluffs caused petrified logs to bear strewn across the valley floor.
These next two pictures show petrified wood from the Crystal Forest section of the park. Here the petrified logs are very colorful due to glassy amethyst and quartz crystals that were embedded in the logs.
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Over the past few days the iris in our yard have been putting on quite a show. We’ve had such a problem with the deer eating our roses and daylilies that we have been planting iris around the outer edges of our property. Deer don’t like iris, so they can grow and bloom pretty much in peace.
We have many different varieties, but I have chosen three to feature in this post,
The first is Picasso Moon, a bold yellow that is Betsy’s favorite yellow iris. I’m not sure how it gets its name, but it sure does stand out.
The second iris is Second Fiddle. We’ve had this iris for several years, and it is a favorite. In my opinion it plays second fiddle to no other iris.
Daughter of Stars is a new iris for us this year. It is very vibrant and stands out in the flower bed. I’m sure this will become a new favorite.
That’s it for now, but we have many other beautiful blossoms that I will most likely be sharing in the future.
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It’s been several years since Betsy and I visited Petrified Forest National Park, but I have been recently going through some of the pictures I took during that visit. The petrified wood in the Jasper Forest section of the park was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t get over the detail of the wood that was captured in the stone. It was beautiful, especially when the afternoon sun hit the landscape at a perfect angle.
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My Beautiful Bride really likes tulips, so we make an effort to get to Biltmore to see the tulips in the Walled Garden. Some years we misjudge the weather and the blooms and don’t see much. Other years the blossoms are gorgeous. The picture above was taken during one of those years. We hope we’re as fortunate this year.
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Betsy and I made our first trip out west in 2011. Among the national parks we visited was Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. We found the badlands in the Blue Mesa portion of the park to be both forbidding and beautiful.
Senior Moments 