Falls Creek Waterfall

I've lived here over 30 years and I just discovered this little waterfall up in Rockingham County, about 20 feet from the Virginia border. My exploring buddy, Dakota, and I made the trek down the trail and were rewarded with these views of Falls Creek waterfall, discovered of all days on Columbus Day. It's off the beaten path and though it is part of the NC Mayo State Park, there is no signage leading you to it. I found it on the internet site for the park and got an address which I plugged into Google. Though darting back and forth between state lines, you eventually end in NC just under the border on a dead end gravel road. It is in a deep forest where the road ends and there is a paved parking lot where you pick up the trail to the falls.

 Mostly downhill to the falls, it is a short hike through the deep woods. I kept listening and sure enough you could hear the falling water and the closer you got, the louder it became. It is not a raging torrent but a gentle roar that greets your ears as the rambling creek meets the enormous granite stones and drops for 25 feet into the pool below. No one else was there when we arrived and the solitude and peace overwhelmed me. God's architecture of sight and sound always wins out over my personal anxieties, shortcomings and failures. There is no medication better to relieve your stressess than being in the midst of God's handiwork.

 After a bit, a couple of other folks showed up, and we explored a little below the falls. Finding nothing of interest we decided to head back and look for flora, fauna, and critters. We found none of the above but we found some interesting fungi along the trail. And oh yeah, it is uphill all the way back, not bad. but up none-the-less. There was no fall color yet, but I suspect I'll be going back in a couple of weeks just to see.

December 30, 2021

"Wildflowers Don't Care Where They Grow"

One of my favorite Dolly Parton songs is "Wildflowers don't care where they grow." As I travel the backroads of surrounding counties, I find that to be true here in North Carolina. They pop up on roadsides, in the middle of a pasture, along a fence row or anywhere imaginable. Mostly yellow, gold, purple, blue or white, they dot the countryside wherever thay can find a sunny spot to thrive. I think there is something special about wildflowers or flowering weeds, as the case my be. Randomly finding a spot of fertile soil with adequate sun and rain has no rhyme or reason and I think we are kind of like that. We are sprinkled out in the sea of life and we find our purpose and our roots where we land and we flourish with the skills that God has given us. Not always in a beautiful garden space that we had planned, but spread out across the countryside and prolific where we root the deepest. Wildflowers are beautiful, and remind us that we can be beautiful too, no matter where we land.

"Tis I That Would be Gone"

You've been gone a year and more, I scarce can take it in,

The very life and breath of me is gone, like yesterday. 

For your heart endwelled in mine, as though we were one,

That you be gone and I remain was not for me to say.

For if I chose which one to part and leave the o'her behind

'Tis I that would be gone, and you would write the rhyme.

A sweeter heart ne'er roamed than yours, of this I'm very sure

A better choice to stay was you, and the parting should've been mine.

But not for us to choose our paths and dictate what will be

We are the clay in the potters hands and must just wait to see

Whether our vessel be pure and fine, or flawed and easily broken,

What the Master has designed, will be revealed  to thee.

For life is brief, and though we would extend it for more time,

It's not our choice to make, but ours to take, and live it as we find,

For if I chose which one to part and leave the o'her behind

'Tis I that would be gone, and you would write the rhyme.

In Ghirardelli park in San Francisco Bay

Thoughts on your Birthday

 

There once was a maiden named Chess,

Whose singing would absolute bless,

She'd sing to the stars and bring Heaven 'round,

What a blessing to hear such sweet sound.

She'd play all those keys, both black and white,

Till they filled all the room with delight,

You might say, not one key excluded,

Our heartstrings, of course were included.

"Great is Thy Faithfulness" rings in my ear

Galen joining, would draw angels near,

It is, what it is, I heard someone say,

And it was, what it was, just like yesterday.

A sweet lady

Another old guy

Sir Galen

Written by David Warbritton for Chessene on the occasion of her birthday 2021.