View From Heaven
Open Edition
It was one of those evenings where things were either going to be great or a real disappointment. There were not very many clouds in the sky but there was the normal haze being down in the Great Smoky Mountains. As the sun approached the horizon a whole new layer of clouds appeared. They mimicked the mountain ridges giving the impression that the mountains were not bound to the earth but leaking into the sky. Sure enough, the haze began to light up creating a yellow orange glow from everywhere. And those few clouds in the sky began to cast shadows as the sun dropped ever lower in the sky. In the glow it was getting hard to tell where one mountain ridge ended and another began. The cool, crisp fall air grew colder until the scene had faded but I felt I had captured the whole glory of what lay before me. As I packed my gear up I felt the exhilaration of the chase and in this case, the capture of a beautiful scene.