The days continue to pass, each one fading at sunset and another beginning at sunrise.  I continue to have mornings in which I wake up and try to capture and hold in a photograph the beauty of the sunrise in the east and the fiery glow it casts as it shines on the ridge behind the house.

The sunset is not visible from our east facing slope but as I drive home over the mountain before I cross near the top I have been known to stop the car, get out, and catch a moment in time as the sun settles behind the mountains beyond.  Home is familiar now–but still I catch my breath as I realize that this place is now home.  A few years ago I was living outside of DC and teaching in the city with a 13 mile commute that could take 2 hours on a really bad day.  The bustle of downtown DC was full of energy and it was an example of another life and experience so completely opposite from the life I have now.  High speed everything has been replaced by joys of looking at the billion stars in the sky on a clear night and hearing the mountainside roar on a windy day.  Though I confess I do so miss high speed internet!  There are days I wonder just how I am being affected by the change in pace.

3 miles of dirt road to leave and another 3 to come home means that I rarely have a truly clean car any more.  Days of mud and snow mean 4 wheel drive use are common just going to work.  A flock of turkeys crossing the road or deer bounding away are what I see now and it seems those days of the beltway and parking lot traffic jams are a thing of the past.

I wonder if I am beginning to get a local reputation as this crazy woman who stops her car alongside the road to catch a precious shot with my phone camera.  My sense of comfort with this place is growing and yet the sense of awe at the mountain world around me is as well.  So this short post is just to provide you with a look at some of these photos I took recently as the mountain days begin and end.