Simplicity

It'd be hard to convince me there is a place that is as beautiful in it's simplicity as Tennessee. I know there are places with more grandeur than my little piece of countryside.

There are taller mountains, bigger skies, more stylish architecture....but the effortless beauty of this state stands apart in my (admittedly biased) opinion.

Just look at the color of this field and the bright blue sky with it's fluffy clouds. Imagine the breeze blowing and the sound of hammers as neighbors help neighbors rebuild their lives.

I wish this picture, taken off my front porch this morning, didn't include the injured tree towards the left. I'm learning to tune out the uglier stuff but sometimes it's impossible. Every morning I open my kitchen curtains recluctently because I know I'm going to be met head-on with the image of a crumbling brick house that used to be so pretty. The trees I loved so much aren't there and if I look around a bit more there's more evidence of The Storm..debris here and there...trees uprooted, etc...but there is still beauty, as in this fog hanging low over the mountains at daybreak.

While we're on the subject of my neighborhood, look at the lovely dinner my neighbors brought us last night. They had leftovers and decided to share.