This Florida girl has been doing a lot of traveling lately.... 5,000 miles to be exact. You see and feel a lot along that many miles of highway. For a single season, flat lander like me, any highway that takes me anywhere above sea level is my favorite road. Seeing mountains and trees in flaming colors is just about the next best thing to heaven. If this old earth can be this full of amazing color and texture, then heaven is going to be mindblowing.
We peeped the leaves from Door County, Wisconsin, down through Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and got our last glimpse in the North Georgia mountains. It was a feast for these sand and sea soaked eyes.
Leaf color was not the only thing to see. In Asheville, I stopped by Earth Guild for a little fiber shopping spree, then on to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. These are the artists who work with and love sheep, llamas, alpacas, rabbits and goats. Many of them are raising and shearing the stock that produces the wonderful fleece they use.
There was a lot of talk about natural dyes made from berries and veggies, spinning wheels, and the warmth of cashmere and alpaca. The tables were piled high with roving, wool for rug hooking and applique. Bins of fleece, baskets of colored roving, and racks of every imaginable type of yarn, filled the hall to bursting.
I wanted to buy hats, mittens, scarves, warm vests and snuggly blankets, but alas, why would I need them in the 90 degree weather I was returning to?
Sure, I miss the fall, love the crisp air and misty mornings, but, would I want to be slushing through the muddy melting snow? I wondered about all of this along the 5,000 miles of highway and as we looked for a new place to retire. For now, it looks like the house in Florida is still my home, at least for one more winter. However, if you know anyone who wants to move to Florida and has a home to trade in the Smokey Mountains, let me know. I might be game for a new set of mittens.
