Brevard

My parents came down to visit and on Sunday we went to Brevard to see the parkway and various waterfalls along the way. As we walked along trails and streams Dad recited this poem, which fit my mood perfectly.


O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists that roll and rise!
Thy woods this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart, -- Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;
My soul is all but out of me, -- let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

Edna St. Vincent Millay


Though I believe in limiting exclamation points, she hit the feeling.
When you're so surrounded by beauty that any change, anything more beautiful will be too overwhelming. When you're so blissful that you feel as if your chest will bust open if it swells any more. Hiking along those trails made me so happy it was almost painful.

North Carolina, I cannot get thee close enough.