The first time I visited the Smoky Mountains was in 1977 when we came to the area for the American Academy of Family Physicians conventions in Gatlinburg for a period of several years. The time here was always too short, and every time I had a sinking feeling of having to leave the area and go home to everyday life when I felt in my heart this area was my real home.
I always knew this was a place I wanted to come back to for vacations never thinking I'd actually live here. Then, in the year 2000, the opportunity arose and I have made my home here ever since. I have heard the Native American people have a saying, and I'm paraphrasing, If you visit the land and feel the spiritual nature of the area, you'll leave a part of your heart here, and will always return. Again, that is the gist of the phraseology and not an exact quote.
I feel very blessed to be living in the Smoky Mountains where life is a spiritual adventure every single day just gazing on the same mountain's ever-changing vista that is never the same as the day before...sometimes just a matter of hours and the color can change from blue-greens to purple. Time sort of stands still in the foothills of the Smokies. Must have left a part of my heart here a couple decades ago, so maybe the legend is right.
