The last of Lake Susan (for now)

One third of the walk around the lake goes through woods.

McAlister Hall

The family that had parked next to my car, were fishing in the area that's set aside for it.

A few more photos of Lake Susan

 

Looking back to the Ten Thousand Villages store on the left, another gazebo, and the Assembly Inn overlooking Lake Susan.

Since the sidewalk crosses above the dam, this is how you can see Flat Creek continuing downstream from the waterfall.

I guess you could call this a waterfall.

Each of the pillars in the fence around the lake has dedications to whoever contributed to the construction.

Yes, there are more...I'd barely gone halfway around by now.

And on another note:

I had lunch Thurs. afternoon at Lake Tomahawk, and here's a photo of our group! This is my former daughter-in-law, and my oldest granddaughter. They were on their way home from a visit over in Gatlinburg, and I loved that they took the time to come see me. We all held our breath for an unmasked photo! They ate lunches they'd picked up at the Blue Ridge Biscuit Company, and I stayed masked. Since I don't have COVID, I know my similar symptoms mean I've got a cold. No need to share that with them!

Lake Susan, second chapter

 I enjoyed this walk, and possibly was very aware that sunny warm days were soon going to be a memory!

Looking uphill past the lake, there are vacation homes which often sit empty through the winter...though some (most) might belong to retired members of the Presbyterian Church, which started the college.

Another view of that dormitory. I would imagine the rooms on this side of the building are premium, but maybe the other side offers good sunsets and mountains.

My eye was caught by the patterns of this gazebo's roof.

Another shot of the happy couple, at least they looked happy.

Lake Susan is formed by a concrete dam, which receives water from mountain streams, the main one being named Flat Creek. It pours over the dam in this photo, and runs through several play areas designed for children to play in the water.

Ten Thousand Villages has a store and great views of the lake, the dam, and the stream below. I love to shop there, but it wasn't in my plans last Saturday.

I appreciate everyone's wishes for my health to improve. My COVID-19 test was negative. But I may have a regular cold, as suggested by a friend. Or something like a flu, though I had the vaccine for it. But as of now the fever has subsided and I'm sneezing. Is that a good thing? I hope so!

Lake Susan, Montreat NC

 The last Saturday in November was warm and sunny...so I decided to drive up the valley to Montreat College...which is most of the town of Montreat.

I wonder which little girl got home without her sneaker!

Assembly Inn is apparently the name of this dormitory.

And then I turned the other way from it, to see more of the lake.

Another family had parked right behind me, and they took off through the Belk Center, so I went another direction.

Of course I was masked, but I would pull it down under my chin until I looked like I'd be passing close to others. And I usually chose paths that kept me away from other people.

A lovey place to sit and just be.

The boat landing were empty. Perhaps because school is not being held at this time...and is just virtual. But then again, boating might not be in season.

More coming soon. I walked slowly and enjoyed using my phone camera.

As I'm still feeling sick, I'll just be posting old photos for most of this week. I won't find the result of my COVID-19 test for 3-4 days...but I have minimal symptoms today. Mainly frustrated by shaky hands! It's still snowing around noon on Dec.1.

Lake Susan into Flat Creek

Lake Susan is damed up and has a nice little flow into Flat Creek, which as it tumbles down the mountains is not ever a bit flat.

Ten Thousand Villages shop is on the upper floor of the building by the dam. About this time every year, The Sahara Women's Choir has sung to raise funds to support a local women's program, and the store has offered a percentage of sales to it as well. With the closures, no concerts, and no store sales, I wonder how the non-profits are also doing.

My friend, musician and poet, Annelinde Metzner, wrote a great poem...The Egg. Check out her blog!

The Egg

The egg, elliptical, luminous, whole,
separate, indivisible, complete,
nexus of life, invisible, unspoken,
unnamable ancestral pearl of power,
chosen one: you are my pride, my treasure.
I nurture and guard you with all my life,
a green dragon whose jewel lies hidden
in the humming recesses of her dark-red cave.
I share you with the mammals, and the fish too,
the birds, amphibians, insects, snakes:
our common inheritance, our common being.
All of us, whether we fly or swim,
trot, slither or leap beyond our height,
we all love you the same, and commend you
with lifetimes of attention and lavished care.
There are others, too, ferns and firs,
and maybe fruits, too, our cousins
guarded within the muscled trunks
of our rooted green sisters who grow in the Earth.
There they pull from the black nutrition
the crystals of power, the amino molecules,
fuel from which you radiate light
in fruit, in flower, in ovule, in shell.
I feel you well, with every moon,
through thirteen moons in every year.
You arise and make yourself plain,
crown jewel in the parade of our homeland,
flowering, intoxicating, odoriferous, fecund,
temple priestess of life everlasting
in burgundy velvet, concealing and beckoning.
It is easy, and not easy, to court you, egg,
and find you whole, enthroned in all life,
at once at the center and imminent in all things.
It is easy, and yet to properly seek you,
one must have peace, and presence, and life,
abundant life, and love without question
that leaps into the future, many times ones own height.
I bought a dozen of you today,
to boil you and color you, an essence, a symbol,
a ritual item more real than words
and you’re everywhere, among baskets and bunnies,
colored and white, foam and fluff,
and children’s hands under the bushes.
It is Eostar, your long-ago day
when Russian mothers baked you into bread,
and Czech mothers painted you for hours,
and my own ancestors walked for miles
to gather you one by one from afar,
all of us looking to the reborn world,
the flyers, the creepers, the unfathomable sea-swimmers.
These eggs are ours, our hours, our years,
the perfect pearls of our lives.

Annelinde Metzner
March 19. 1989

       "My German family had many deep memories of gathering and dying eggs at Easter.  In the Slavic countries there is an ancient tradition of Pysanka, engraving eggs with wax as protective charms for the house.  Read some fascinating history of pysanka here.

Annelinde Metzner

Lake Susan & Cherry Blossoms

Montreat College and conference center, is nestled up the valley where Flat Creek flows from mountain slopes...into first Lake Susan, then eventually into the Swannanoa river.