Peace...how do you define it?

I suppose that there are several definitions of that word. Depending on who you ask of course, some look for a heavenly peace that comes from God, others look for a type of peace that comes from solitude and getting away from the rat race for awhile. Me.....I look for both. I enjoy flying under the radar and slipping through life relatively unnoticed. Laying low so to speak. That is where I find my earthly peace.

This past weekend was our seventh anniversary and after tossing ideas around with Kim as to where to go and what to do for the occasion. Nashville was one location that popped up a couple of times. Being a musician, I like Nashville. It has this thing going on that makes musicians stand at attention when they are in that town. All those dreams I had as a young kid of being some famous musician are far behind me. I have had chances to make the move from porch picker to traveling musician and have passed it up every time, basically for the same reasons that i have already stated here. Peace....you can't have it when you are in the public eye. These mountains are home and will always be. I travel enough for my job and start feeling homesick the minute I see home in the rear view mirror.

So it is safe to say that when I take time off, I always want to go deeper into the mountains rather than head for a beach somewhere. I'm not going to give away any secrets here, but i will say this much.....after tossing around a few ideas for our anniversary get-a-way, I flew blind and picked a secluded mountain top cabin rental in Western North Carolina. Cabin rental is an understatement. I really can't explain this place nor will I speak the name of this place. sure, it's selfish... but I do not want the integrity of this location to be compromised. This is absolutely the most peaceful place I have ever found and still have all the amenities of home, minus the television and the phones which do not exist there. As dumb luck would have it and much to my surprise, this place was once the location of a Cherokee Ceremonial ground. The hill directly in front of our cabin had the remains of a medicine wheel in the ground until it was moved and a home built on that spot. Come to find out that since that home was built it has suffered a lightening strike, wind damage and foundation damage. Serves them well for disturbing a sacred place.

This region is a perfect excuse to be a conservationist. Waterfalls and hiking trails are at every turn. Of course we hit the trails as much as we could and hiked to a waterfall or two. The weather wasn't on our side. It was 15 degrees at night and the days didn't warm up much at all. It even snowed the first night there. We made the best of it. Next time we go maybe the weather will work in out favour.

We didn't let the hot tub go unnoticed either. The wind was roaring, but there we were in the tub on the deck acting like it was a summer night in the middle of record low temps. No less than four shooting stars flew overhead that night. Breakfast was delivered to our door by the staff that morning. They try really hard to blend in and go unseen so as not to disturb you in any way. A simple knock on your door at 9:30 am on the dot, and breakfast is waiting in a basket for you. Now that's service!

We all need time to decompress and let the springs uncoil and relax a little. This is the place for that. My only regret is that our time there was so short. It was really just a teaser to what could actually be gained by spending more time there. The good thing is that Kim likes this place also, so talking her into going back should be fairly easy. I never saw the sunrise. I had a problem getting out of bed for that. Kim was up for that and she says it was amazing. I did see the sunset over the mountains and if the sunrise was anything like that....I have no doubts that it was exactly as she says. We shall return.........soon.