It is during this time of the year, here in Western North Carolina that I get hit by 'the green wall'. Everywhere there is green -- and not just in lawns but in shrubs, bushes and trees - by the millions.
Each year I go through a semi-claustrophobic period. Most people would say I'm crazy - what's not to like about all the beauty around me? I think my feelings are based on being a 'western' girl. I grew up living on the beach -- I spent much of my adulthood in desert areas. I value the sight of the sun rising and setting in all its splendor. I value the night sky with the stars spread from horizon to horizon. I like knowing exactly where I am at any given time.
The first time we moved to the east and I made a drive out of my neighborhood, I got so lost. I must have passed the same place three times before I realized I was going around in circles. There was green everywhere. It all looked the same and it was quite unnerving.
I love the feeling of standing in the desert and seeing and feeling the world spread out before me. Its no longer about 'me' its about this incredible planet that we inhabit and the vastness of it compared to my smallness.
For now I'll try to push my 'green phobia' aside - because fall and winter will soon be here and then I can complain about the cold and the leaves to rake - but by gosh I'll know where I am at any one time. *smile*
"Any landscape is a condition of the spirit." - Henri Frederic Amiel
