The desire to escape & explore beyond our five acres has hit hard three months into the pandemic. Our little Batesville road has entirely too much traffic now so we’ve branched out to quieter side roads! It feels good to be outside with lovely views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Bird song fills the air as we stroll in the early morning, before the oppressive heat & humidity hit. Chicory, milkweed, day lilies, blackeye susans and swaths of black cohosh are blooming. We pass over a couple of babbling brooks as well!

My fitbit says the hills we walk equal 45 flights of stairs over just shy of 4 miles! It’s a wonderful way to start the day!

I am eternally grateful that we live out in the country, cannot imagine how urban dwellers maintain their sanity during the never ending sameness of “Groundhog Day”.