Tennessee Spring

Many first responders and veterans are so dedicated to service that they forget self care should be an important part of all of our lives. A particularly poignant line in a movie I recently saw (Mending the Line) went something like “In the book of every soldier’s life, the military is a chapter. That’s it. Some people think it’s the whole book. No, it’s part of you. It never . . . never leaves you. But, it’s not . . . not the whole story.” We have to write the other chapters. No matter how bad ass the first responder or military chapter was, there will be something afterward. It’s up to us to author those subsequent chapters. With that in mind, some time ago I adopted the philosophy of trying to say “yes”. Yes to new challenges. Yes, to travel. Yes to new friends, places and experiences. It doesn’t always work, but mindfully making that decision to say “yes” was a leap in the right direction. So, when family members said they were camping in Tennessee this spring, I said yes, convinced my oldest son to go and the adventure began.

After a very long drive on my own and overnighting by myself, I picked my son up and we headed for Cumberland Mountain State Park. This was my first experience in a Tennessee state park and I found them nothing short of excellent. Clean, beautiful, well laid out and picturesque. We got set up, snapped a few pictures of birds on the feeders outside the office and went hiking. The trails wandered through mixed forest where the sunlight filtered through and made taking good photographs relatively easy. The trails were dotted with bridges, creeks, rapids, and lush undergrowth.

Once we exhausted the trails in Cumberland Mountain State Park, we set out to explore some nearby trails. The weather turned from near perfect to cool, very windy and raining. Not deterred, we set out to find a short section of the Cumberland Trail near us. When we arrived, it was drizzling and we parked in a parking lot near the base of a radio tower atop the mountain we were on. The wind was blowing with such force that it literally howled through the radio tower making an eerie noise as we set off. Although cold, the beauty of the trail was worth the trip and mild discomfort.

Our final day of exploration and hiking took us to Fall Creek Falls State Park. It was a good drive from our campground but absolutely worth it. As soon as we entered the park, we knew we were someplace special. Wild rapids, towering old growth trees and silence of the forest that I’m always drawn to with the background orchestra of a roiling river.

In spite of another day of rain, we were not deterred. The main attraction of the park awaited us. 150 foot waterfalls with shorter falls next to it. The hike down to the base of the falls was slow going over wet, slippery, jumbled rocks that was tough on my aging knees and would have made a tumble laden with camera gear unpleasant. But the views…the jaw dropping views. The views were enticing from above…

And only got better as we descended.

After we maxed out my heart rate climbing out of the falls, we checked out another set of falls nearby and some other sights in the park but barely scratched the surface of what there was to see and do. This place is special, beautiful beyond my poor command of the English language allows me to articulate, wild, and waiting for you to say “yes”.

After dropping my son off, I spent hours a state of semi-shock mire in interstate traffic having believed the alluring tale of the GPS (again) that the interstates were faster. The contrast between that mess and the beauty I had come from was too much to contemplate. After hours of agonizing traffic and increasing rain, I arrived in Florence Marina State Park in the RAIN. I set up in the rain and then the DRIVING rain. Which was, needless to say…unpleasant. I slept late the next day and spent some time looking for birds to photograph.

There have been times that I have regretted saying “yes”. This was not one of them. The trip included precious time with family, unparalleled low mountain beauty, and it surely qualifies as self care. I urge you all to extend yourself and after a life of service, say “yes” to new adventures, new friends, new beauty, to your family, and most importantly…to yourself.

A few of the photos above were taken by the much more talented photographer Colin Abbey. His work can be found at: https://colinabbeysphotography.com