Julie Lavender

 Guest Blogger

My guest blogger today is Debra DuPree Williams. Debra and I recently returned from the North Georgia Christian Writers Conference, in Toccoa, Georgia, where we mixed and mingled with new writing friends and familiar writing friends and some stellar conference presenters. (And Debra won an award while there for a poem she submitted! How awesome is that?)

Please enjoy reading her blog about fall that first appeared on her site, http://debradupreewilliams.blogspot.com/. 

Visit her website for more of her work - you'll enjoy her writing, just like I do! 

Fall - The Glory of God's Creation 

by Debra DuPree Williams 

@DDuPreeWilliams

Almost everyone I know says fall is their favorite season. It happens to be my favorite, too. I love watching the leaves change from their summer green into the yellows, oranges, reds, and even browns of fall. It’s their way of bidding us goodbye for a season, with a promise to return in the spring.

All the leaf-hoppers in those parts of this great country of ours must agree with us. In the Asheville area, where I live for a portion of the year, the hotels and parkways, scenic-vista-pullovers and area restaurants, are filled with those coming to view God in all of His glory. When we were recently up that way, we took two lovely drives to view the leaves. I guess that makes my hubby and me a part of the very group about which I just spoke. 

We had been to my high school reunion in south Alabama. From there we drove to Birmingham to visit with Jim’s sister and to reunite with cousins we hadn’t seen in a while. As we left Birmingham, we headed north through Chattanooga. And yes, we sang, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, how could we not?  But I also quoted Sondra Boynton’s board book “Chattanooga Piggy-Piggy-Pigledy-Dee”. I love that little book.

The Cherohala Skyway

From Chattanooga we drove over to Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where we hopped onto the Cherohala Skyway for the first of our scenic drives. If you’d like to read more about this route, go to this linkhttp://www.cherohala.org/ . This is a beautiful drive with many photo opportunities. It is one of the most popular scenic drives in the country. If you’ve never taken this route, do yourself a favor and try it the next time you are in that area. It doesn’t disappoint. I’ve not been on it in the springtime, but from the abundance of rhododendron we spotted along the way, I imagine it is just as gorgeous in that season.

We exited near Robbinsville, North Carolina, on our way to our home near Asheville. Robbinsville is very near the famous Tail of the Dragon, the twisting, winding road well-traveled by motorcyclists. Here is a link to The Tail of the Dragon.https://roadtrippers.com/stories/tail-of-the-dragon

Skyline Drive

But our grandbabies awaited us in northern Virginia. So, after a quick stop of a couple of days, we hit the road again. This time we stayed overnight in Harrisonburg, Virginia, so that we could hop on Skyline Drive which winds through the Shenandoah National Park. Like the Cherohala, this, too, is a beautiful drive with many photo opportunities. Here is a link to Skyline Drivehttps://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/driving-skyline-drive.htm .

We love these drives. They aren’t difficult and speed limits are such that even those who fear such roads will be comfortable driving either of these routes.

I’m not the best photographer in the world. If you want to see great photos of the beauty of God’s creation, check out my friend Edie Melson's photos. Now she is a photographer, as well as a writer. You may find links to her photos herehttps://www.instagram.com/stop2pray/.

I’m one of those people who likes to photograph the things on the other side of the road. You know, the one opposite the pull-off area. I like to find that odd little thing─a bug, a weird flower, a weed─something most people wouldn’t even see because they are busy looking at the big scene across the way.

The Hand of God

But in all of these things, I see the hand of God. I see His majesty and glory when I look to the mountains, covered in their finest fall raiment. But I also see His hand in even the tiniest of things, like the little grasshopper who cocked his head to one side as I photographed him. Somehow, I think he knew I meant him no harm.

I see God’s promises to never let us go in a tiny plant that clings to a crevice in a rock. I see Him in a crude cross created by a dead tree, standing sentinel against the clear-blue skies and the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I see him in the weed whose seeds will give life to the foraging wildlife.

Scenic Route

I do love fall. Let me encourage you to take one of these scenic routes one day. And if you are not able to do so, use the links to check out the information, and photographs far superior to those I’ve posted here. I wish you happy travels and I pray for traveling mercies as you take the scenic route on life’s byways.

Have you ever driven on the Cherohala Skyway or Skyline Drive? Tell us about that. What impressed you the most? 

Author bio: 

Debra DuPree Williams is an award-winning author whose work has appeared in Stupid Moments, Additional Christmas Moments, Michelle Medlock Adams’ Love and Care For the One and Only You, in addition to other publications. 

When she isn’t busy writing, you will likely find her chasing an elusive ancestor, either through online sources or in country graveyards. 

Debbie is a classically-trained lyric coloratura soprano whose first love is southern Gospel. She has been married forever to the best man on earth, is the mother of four sons, mother-in-law of one extraordinary daughter-of-her-heart, and DD to the two most-beautiful and talented young ladies ever. 

Debbie divides her time between North Carolina and Florida.