Watching the Trees Transform

As time passes and life adjusts, comfort can be found in familiar sights and places. Two confidently staggering oaks stand along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The leaves fall and shift colors, the branches go from covered to bare, and the surrounding landscape follows in the features of each season. Western North Carolina falls in a Appalachian Temperate Rainforest, because of this location we are lucky enough to be immersed in all four seasons throughout the year. The crisp air of fall, striking wind of winter, fresh green grass of spring, and cloudless skies of summer create the beautiful landscape Watauga locals call home. Starting on September 30th we follow the journey of this oak tree and can observe its physical changes throughout this fall. 

Through each photograph and each passing week, we can clearly see how fall progresses along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Standing just before Thunder Hill Overlook in Blowing Rock, both trees stay rooted through every season, yet the display of branches and color changes with time. While we know the leaves will change from green to gold and crimson, and soon after fall to the ground, it's easy to overlook this beautiful process. While life can slip away and the clock seems to move twice as fast, fall serves as a reminder of the beauty around us. We need to take a step back, pause amid the chaos, and truly observe and appreciate the gifts of our surroundings, because these moments of beauty, like the leaves on the trees, don't last forever.